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...