Green Cabage and Bacion recipe

Sorry for the posting hiatus , with the move to the new place there has not been much free time.

Make this simple poor people’s dish as the perfect accompaniment to your protein.

Here is our very easy cabbage recipe that serves 4 – 6 hungry folks:

• 2 large heads of white/green cabbage, washed. sliced and quartered
• 1 very large onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 2 strong pinches of sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 6 strip s of bacon

Fry up 6 strips of bacon until golden crispy, then add onions and caraway seed, salt and pepper. When onions and spices are glossy, add cabbage and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until semi-firm, but glossy – serve and totally enjoy this amazing side dish.

Sunday Funday

Hope you guys enjoy your sunday off. Remember,

stretching adds to more power and mobility.

Take sometime to stretch like Granny here. Or if possible, rollout on a lax ball or foam roller.

Assessment of Goals

Hey guys and girls,

So I been having alot of you guys hit some personal records this passed week. On top of posting your meals today, please look back at your goals and see if you obtained any of them yet. If not, maybe you can reassess them... maybe you might be doing better than you thought or maybe your doing worse? If so why? Is it your diet? Is it your training? You decide and let me know....

Dextrose

Hey guys and girls,
So, for those of you who may feel like your workouts may be plateauing and/or lacking energy, you might find this supplement helpful.
Dextrose is 100% on the glycemic index. It is sugar broken down into its simplest form (monosacharide).
Post Workout:
Depending on how hard your workout was can vary on the ratio of dextrose to protein you would use. You can range from a 1:2 or 1:1 ratio of dextrose to protein. It's really dependent on YOU and your workout.
Pre or during:
Dextrose can also be used before or during your workout. For instance, if your waking up first thing in the morning and have little to no energy, it may benefit you to throw a small scoop of dextrose and a little protein into a water bottle and work from there. The immediate sugars into your body can provide you with the energy to get through your workout.
By no means is this scientifically broken down. In fact, you can google the "facts" yourself, and you will see arguments ranging from people swearing to use up to a 2:1 ratio of dextrose to protein, to arguments of people not beleiving in any supplementation whatsoever. If it works for YOU, then go with it! Tamper around and see what works. Which brings me to my next point; POST YOUR RESULTS!! If your tracking your exercise and logging what you eat, you can see what type of diet works for your body the best. DOO ITT!!

Soul purpose of shake weight

Be sure to keep a tight torso and keep that weight in your heels people!

Todays WOD 10 min max reps of shake weight HA!

Hmm.. look functional to you??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f48d2ROwbo

Having a Paleo Snack Attack?

Try some "Sweet Potato Spears"
You can either grab some sweet potato spears from Trader or slice a few sweet potatos into thin strips; If you'd like to zest them up a little bit give this recipe a whirlRecipe (2-3 bags of sweet potato spears):

1 tbsp of chili powder

1 tbsp of cinnamon

1/2 tbsp of paprika

1 tsp of cayenne

Some black pepper and a touch of sea salt

1/4 - 1/2 cup of olive oil

Throw all the spices into a bowl, add the olive oil and whirl it up. Then toss the potato spears into the bowl. When the spears have a nice glaze place them on a cooking sheet. Bake approx 25-30 minutes depending on how thick the wedges are. Be sure to flip half way through.

YOUR NOT ALOUD TO USE THE MAPLE SYRUP DIPPING SAUCE .... AATHHANNKKYOU!!

Say No to Fruit

I see from those of you that post e consuming a few servings of fruit a day. This is a big no no if weight loss is your main goal.

Humans do not need fruit six days a week, and they certainly don't need it year round.

If your ancestors were from europe, for example, how much fruit did they eat in the winter 500 years ago? Think they had florida oranges in december? NOt a chance. But you're still here, so the lineage has survived.

The only exceptions to the no fruit rule are tomatoes and avocadoes, and the latter should be eaten in moderation. Otherwise just say no to fruit and its principle sugar, fructose, which is converted to glycerol phosphate more efficiently than almost all other carbohydrates. glycerol Phosphate > triglycerides (via the liver) > fat storage. Avoid fruit at all costs unless it is right after a tough workout or on a cheat day.

Why Paleo?

Need you ask anymore questions??

Sunday Feb 6th, 2011

Some paleo friendly superbowl recipes

Photograph your meals!

Sorry for the delay guys.

Here's a little fun fact that I picked up in some reading. Did you know that keeping a photo food log to compliment your written food log is three times more effective. In a university of Wisconsin study entitled the "flash diet" 43 subjects photographed their meals prior to eating them. Compared to prior studies using a typical food log these subjects lost three times as much weight. It was the awareness that came with the photgraphing that stopped the subjects from making poor choices. One subject said"I was less likely to have a jumbo bag of M&Ms. It curbed my choices. It didnt alter them completely, but who wants to take a photo of a jumbo bag of M&M's. "

I think this is a great idea for the next go around( LBN challenge Part II) but in the mean time start snapping some photos. Post them, don't post them, either way it will make you think about what you are consuming!

P.S. lets be honest with our friday posts, I saw a few non paleo drinks going down on friday night ha, good times none the less.

P.S.S as most of you know we signed our lease on Friday and are officially moving to 190 Belle Meade Rd Setauket within the next few weeks. We're really excited and can't wait to get in there.

Alcohol and Your Health & Fitness Goals

This question is posed to us quite often so I figured I would hit upon it a little bit.

In no way am I advocating for or against alcohol in this post. I do, however, think it is important to be well informed when making decisions about your health. The consumption of alcohol seems to be a question that comes up often, so I will use this as a platform to write a few facts about alcohol and its effects on your body. Remember that if you do enjoy having an alcoholic beverage, then moderation and balance is the key.

-Alcohol drastically effects the amount of fat your body can and will burn for energy. Here is the deal – when alcohol goes through the liver it creates a by-product called Acetate. Acetate is no good when trying to burn fat. Acetate does the opposite of fat burning; it puts the brakes on it. How so? Your body uses many types of fuel (protein, carbohydrates and fat) but the fuel used by your body is dictated by its availability. When you drink alcohol your acetate levels increase, therefore your body burns more acetate as fuel and stores the excess calories from food as fat.

-Alcohol decreases testosterone and increases Cortisol.

-Vitamin and mineral absorption is decreased. Your liver is too busy converting the alcohol to acetate to be concerned about the vitamins and minerals you have just consumed.

-Decrease in protein synthesis of Type II fibers – these are the fast-twitch fibers that make you strong and explosive. No! We love Type II fibers and want to avoid the possibility of ever decreasing the creation and accumulation of Type II fibers.

-Dehydration – dehydrated muscles are weak and more prone to injury.

-Osteoporosis and some forms of arthritis can be advanced by alcohol abuse. Alcohol can also lead to muscle atrophy.

-Prolonged exposure to alcohol can erode the stomach lining and cause chronic blood seepage into the stomach.

-Sleep! Alcohol can affect the quality of ones sleep. Please refer back to this informative post about the benefits of sleep.

http://lookbetternaked2011.blogspot.com/2011/01/good-sleep-more-important-than-food.html

Alcohol has a significant effect on the body and your possible health goals. So next time you go out for a drink or pour yourself a glass of wine, consider some of the effects that alcohol can have on your fitness goals.

Aricle Courtesy of Nichole DeHart of CrossFit Invictus

Eat This ...Not That

One of my favorite articles in Men's Health Magazine is the Eat This Not That. The offer healthy alteratives to dining out at certain locations in comparison to the typical choices made.

While at one of my favorite local eateries last night, Salsa Salsa (highly recommended) I thought why not apply this principle to the paleo diet.

EAT THIS:






Veggie Taco Salad
From the menu: (grilled vegetables, mixed summer greens, corn chips, brown rice, black beans, jack cheese, salsa fresca, guacamole & a cilantro-lime vinaigrette)

Note: This item takes some modifying. We know you don't like to be that annoying customer that says take this out, take this out, add this.... but for this challenge get used to it. So on this item take out the corn chips , brown rice, and jack cheese. Leave the beans if your primary goal is not weight loss. Tell them to load up on the guac . And most importantly we need to add some protein to this meal, so add your meat of choice. Add either beef, chicken, or shrimp.

NOT THAT:



SUPER ORIGINAL BURRITOS


All burritos are prepared with brown rice, black beans, jack and cheddar cheeses and salsa fresca wrapped with a warm flour tortilla. Super is with sour cream and guacamole.



This would be my weapon of choice if I were going for a cheat meal, with meat of course. This little sucker might seem healthy but the carbohydrate content of this meal is through the roof.

PS: Most of you guys are doing a goo djob posting your meals but some are still not. It does not take too much time and its for your benefit that you do so. So make sure you keep posting.
I will make sure to get some feedback out by this weekend on meals posted so far.

Stop Counting Calories

Sorry about the delay guys...

Just started reading Tim Ferriss' new book the 4 hour body. So far its very interesting and he brings up some valid points. Here are some of his thoughts on the the calorie as a unit of measure.

Some thoughts on the calorie unit.

The creator of the "calorie" as we know it, the 19th century chemist Wilbur Olin Atwater , did not have the technology that we have today. He incinerated foods. Incineration does not equal human digestion; eating a fireplace log will not store the same number of calories as burning one will produce. Tummies have trouble with bark, as they do with many things.

Scenario # 1: Three females of the same race, age, and body composition each consume 2,000 calories daily for 30 days. Subject 1 consumes nothing but table sugar, subject 2, consumes nothing but lean chicken breast, and subject 3 consumes nothing but mayonnaise. Will the body composition be the same? Of course not.

Rule # 2: The hormonal responses to carbohydrates, protein, and fat are different
There is no shortage of clinical studies to prove that beef calories do not equal boubon calories
One such study conducted by Kekwick and Pawan, compared three groups on calorically equal (isocaloric) semistarvation diets of 90% fat , 90% protein, or 90% carbohydrate. Though ensuring compliance was a challenge, the outcomes were cleary not at all the same:

1,000 cals at 90% fat= weight loss of 0.9 lbs per day
1,000 cals at 90% protein= weight loss of 0.6 lbs per day
1,000 cals at 90% carbohydrate= weight gain of 0.24 lbs per day

conclusion: Is counting calories better than doing nothing? Absolutely. However it is more efficient to keep an eye on the quality of the calories that you consume rather than the quantity.

( Source: The 4 Hour body, Tim Ferriss.)

Tuesday Feb 1, 2011

About to get a little technical on this one but some interesting reading...

New Evidence That Fat Cells Are Not Just Dormant Storage Depots For Calories

Scientists are reporting new evidence that the fat tissue in those spare tires and lower belly pooches - far from being a dormant storage depot for surplus calories - is an active organ that sends chemical signals to other parts of the body, perhaps increasing the risk of heart attacks, cancer, and other diseases. Read on...

The Paleo Read List

Here is a list of recommended reads on the Paleo Diet. All offer a bit of insight into its benefits and the best way to go about attacking the diet. Most of you seem to be doing quite well with it and any further reading will only help you out.

1) The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolff - A very practical guide to the paleo diet. Robb is an interesting writer and keeps it very simple for anyone to pick up. His how to implement is spot on and can be easily adopted by anyone. Buy Here

2)The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy . Author Mark Sisson takes the reader on a fascinating journey through human evolution, comparing the life and robust health of our hunter-gatherer ancestors with a day in the life of a modern family - exposing potential health issues that arise from trying to do the right things living in the 21st century. Sisson offers a solution in 10 empowering 'Blueprint Lifestyle Laws' that can help us reprogram our genes away from disease and pain towards a direction of effortless weight loss, vibrant health and boundless energy

Buy Here

3) The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance - A personal favorite of mine, this book is geared towards the endurance athlete. Cordain is the writer of the original " the paleo diet" and in this piece he details the correlation of diet and athletic performance. Buy Here

Guacamole Recipe

-3 ripe avocado
-peeled 1 ripe roma tomato
-chopped small cilantro leaves
-chopped 4 green onions
-chopped 1 tablespoon sliced jalepeno
-fresh lime
-chopped garlic cloves
Mix & mince in a bowl.. add a little salt and a little pepper
So what do you eat the guacamole with if you cant eat chips?? Plenty. I like to add my avacado to alot of my foods; all I think of guacamole as is some creamy seasoned up avacado. You can throw it on your burgers, eggs, turkey burgers, chicken, steak etc. Just depends on how froggy your feeling that day. Have fun with it.

Heres a link to the recipe above on how to prepare. Ignore the tosito/chip that he samples with HA!
http://inedible2incredible.com/guacamole-recipe/

Ahh the Holy Grail..

The Paleo Pyramid

Live by it...

(Or be in pain without it)

Norcal Margarita

Hey guys, I know its friday and the majority of you WILL be drinking tonight (especially Musto and Jep). So lets not try to stray too far off the beaten path. I'm gonna hit you up with a little drinking knowledge that we picked up from the good old Robb Wolf.

Drink of Choice Recipe:
~The Norcal Margarita~
-2-3 oz of clear alcohol (i.e. tequila, Rum, Vodka)
- 1 fresh squeezed lime (if your at a bar just ask for a bunch of limes, dont be the tool bag that asks for fresh squeezed anything.. I doubt you'll get a pleasant response)
- Splash of Soda (thats club soda.. the term "soda" doesn't mean you get a choice of what terrible sugar-filled, carbonated beverage you'd like)

** Now don't get it confused, do I encourage drinking? No. Do I do it? Yes. Do I know you're going to do it? Yes! So just do your best to stick the regimen. Enjoy the weekend!**

Killer Fashion Statement

Musto rockin' some vintage spandex!

Why look better naked when you have a wardrobe at home that looks like this???

Enjoy your snow day guys! Make sure that Hot cocoa is lactose free.

Not full?? Eat more!

Alright so a little feedback I've been hearing through the grapevine is that you guys are starving!
Key Point:
I know this "fat" topic may sound a little repitiuous but I have some more to add. Leptin, is released from not just food, but also from body fat. Leptin triggers a signal in your brain tellng your body that it is full. Of course if your body is not only ingesting less fat but also decreasing its own fat supply (body fat) our leptin signal is lower.
What should I eat to satisfy my hunger?
Well the answer isn't carbs!! As a matter a fact, carbohydrates stimulate hunger in many people. Protein on the other hand can be very *satiating. So eat more of it!!
Also, now that we learned fats send signals to our brain telling us we are full; What other foods do you think we can eat more of...??? FATS!
Some good fats: Omega-3 olive oil, avocado, nuts, coconut oil.
Now, I'm not saying to make fats a huge chunk of your daily intake, im just saying to moderately add them to your diet.

*Satiate- to satisfy (an appetite or desire) fully

Artificial sweeteners = Fat

It is very common when dieting to not only decrease your caloric intake but to also remove sugar from your meal plan. Along with this, most people turn to aritificial sweetened foods and drinks; zero-calorie sodas, yogurts, candies, baked goods etc. Although this does indeed decrease your caloric intake for that particular meal, it can ultimately lead to increased body fat.

Artificial ("natural") sweeteners (Sweet n' low, stevia, splenda etc.) although able to have no immediate caloric effect on the body, its evil trickery cannot fool your brain! After your brain detects any type of sweets (artificial or not), it prepares to burn off any ingested calories. However, since there is nothing to burn, your body now becomes oober hungry causing you to overeat!!!

So what does this mean?? Do we say what the hell, if artificial sweeteners are just as bad as sugar if not worse... should we just use the real thing?? Absolutely not, excess sugar not only will increase body fat, but can also lead to diabetes, heart disease and more.

I know I know, as if mondays arent bad enough already, I had to go ahead and drop this somber peice of information on ya. Sorry, the balls in your court.. but if you are going to slip up, be sure to do it in moderation!

Your Goals

Hey Guys,

I know this is somewhat belated but better late then never. While assessing your diets we need to have an idea of what you would like to get out of this challenge goal wise. Different goals necessitate different dietary guidelines, so to make it individualized please post all your goals for this 45 days. Don't get hung up on this, write whatever comes to mind. It can be a physical appearance goal (lose 5 lbs), physical achievement ( get 1 pull-up), or even a mental goal. Keep it simple.


PS I'm posting from connecticut right now while attending my first level OPT cert. Learning some great stuff to bring back to the gym next week.

Omega3 Fish Oil

Omega3 fish oil plays an important role in not just our brain functions but also fat loss and muscle maintenance. In earlier years, our animals would feed on grass and plant based foods which would make our food sources be rich in Omega3. Unfortunately, now they are GRAIN fed (because it is cheaper for farmers.. because Grains are the devil) decreasing the our Omega3 content and increase Omega6. Although Omega6 should be apart of our diet, its is found much easier than Omega3's.

Benefits of Omega-3 fish oil:
Increases Lean body mass
Helps heart beat strong and healthy
Maintains elasticity in cardio tissue
Increases metabolism by up to 400Kcal/day
Reduces inflammation within muscle and connective tissue
Improves fat burning
Improves insulin efficiency
Contains antioxidants
Prevents excessive muscle breakdown

A good recommended dose of Omeg3 fish oil would be 1 tsp (5 x 1g capsules) per 20 kg of lean body weight or no less than 15-20g per day.
of Omega3 fish oil

Get your APP in Gear

For those of you with iphones this could be a good app to purchase. The app provides users with over 2,000 specific meal suggestionsat 300+ of the nations leading chain restaurants, to help you stay paleo. So no more (insert chain restaurant name here) I didn't have any options I haaadd to cheat.

Cheers

Paleo Heaven (AKA Trader Joes)

With your new found Paleo style diet you will learn to love this place. They have a great selection of grass fed meats, veggies and fruits at very affordable prices. Give yourself a few hours go in, explore , and familiarize yourself with their products.



View Larger Map

Also good job on the posts. Keep them coming and we will leave feedback for everyone on a weekly basis.

Wednesday Jan 19, 2011

So we are fully underway at this point. There are a total of 13 of you that have " bought in" for the next 45 days to make some great performance and physical gains. Almost everyone has completed the benchmark workout at this point and this is how it has shaken out:

Total score:

Andy- 313
Mike C- 283
Chris I- 280
Musto- 260
Dan- 260
Doc- 207
Kyle H- 192
Jess- 178
Morg- 147
Gus- 145
Becca- 130
Lance- DNC
Mike R - DNC


Also everyone should be posting their meals on a daily basis at this point. If you haven't created an account yet DO IT!

Tuesday Jan 18, 2011

Monday Jan 17, 2011

Easy breakfast recipe using chicken sausage takes less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 Cup spinach
1 Chicken Apple Sausage link
2 eggs (only use the whites)
1/2 Avocado
salsa of your choice

This recipe is sort of like a stir fry so make sure to keep stiring the ingredients. It sure will not look pretty but trust me it is a delicacy.
-Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook for a minute. Add spinach and chicken apple sausage. Cook for a few minutes until the spinach starts to wilt and the chicken browns. Then add two egg whites to the mix. Cook for about another minute mixing the eggs in with the rest. Remove from heat add avocado and salsa.

Sunday Jan 16, 2010

DAY 1!


We are officially underway in the look better naked challenge. Going forward forget almost all you know regarding nutrition and try it our way for the next 45 days. Trust us if you give a little bit of effort you will see results. On a daily basis right here on this site we will be posting something to do with nutrition whether it be a recipe, interesting article, or just a photo. This is where we want you to leave your daily food intake, under the daily comments section. It is very simple, all you do is create a blogger account, become a follower of this blog and post away. Post what you eat on a daily basis, if you miss a day make up for it the following with both posts. A little trick for this is to carry around a small notepad and log your diet that way and then when you get in front of the computer at night you don't have to play guessing games. Also try and pick a username that can be easily associated with your name so that we can log in who it is. Once again it is on the honor system and it is up to you to be truthful as to what you eat. We can only critique based on what you tell us. If you have any questions regarding the diet just shoot us an email and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Good Luck!