Nutrition

And the survey says...

After much deliberation and (a seemingly unreasonable amount of) calculation we have come up with our winners. One of our biggest considerations once we got to the subjective part of the decision was length of time a person has been involved with CrossFit. Some of our participants were very new to the program and thus were much more likely to see big performance gains (and often weight loss). As a result, we have a couple of ties.

Results

For the ladies:
1st place – Shannon
2nd place – Marni & Weesa
3rd place – Stacia
4th place – Carmen
5th place – Vicki
6th place – Caitlin

For the guys:
1st place – Pete
2nd place – Sef
3rd place – Reid & Gary
4th place – Derek & John (actually exactly tied)

We were so impressed with how both of our winners did. Heres the breakdown. “Places” were determined by inches/pounds lost and percentage improvement on the WODs.

Shannon
Weight=1st, Waist measure=4th, Filthy Fifty= 2nd, CF Total=1st, Helen=4th
Shannon added 100 lbs to her CrossFit total. (Her actual increase was 145 lbs but she was not able to do the shoulder press on the first round due to an injury and added a 45 lb press on the finale)

Pete
Weight=4th, Waist measure=2nd, Filthy Fifty= 2nd, CF Total=2nd, Helen=1st
Pete used a lighter band on his second try at Helen and still improved his time by 28%

Other outstanding improvements included:

Stacia cut her Filthy Fifty time nearly in half on her second try

Carmen nearly halfed her Helen time in the final round

Reid lost an amazing 17.8 lbs and added 80 lbs to his CrossFit Total

All these guys lost 10 lbs or more during the six week competition:

Sef
Reid
Shannon
Abby
Vicki
Marni

So many of you had so many great things to say about what this experience did for you. We are thrilled to hear how many plan to stay with it (with a few minor concessions) and look forward to seeing where you are six months from now. Congratulations to all of you for having the courage to try something new and hard, and the tenacity to see it through. You are excellent examples to the rest of the gym.

  1. Congrats to the winners! Well done. Can’t wait for the next challenge…

    — caitlin · ∞

  2. Thanks to John, Kelly, and Amy for hosting an event like this to give everyone the support they needed to take such an endeavor! We appreciate it!

    — Tessie · ∞

  3. congratulations to everyone who participated in this challenging endeavor! thanks so much to kelly, john and amy!

    — stephanie · ∞

  4. Great job!!

    — Denise · ∞

  5. Congratulations to the winners and all of the participants of the challenge. Your hard work and commitment is definitely inspiring. I look forward to the next challenge.

    — Iraida · ∞

|

Resources

The Skinny on Nutrition

In CrossFit we talk about the Theoretical Hierarchy of Development of an athlete. In other words, what are the fundamental components of the development of athletic performance and what is their relative influence. If you click on the link above (scroll to the bottom of page 8) you will see a pyramid diagram with Nutrition as its base. What we eat from day to day has a profound impact on the hormonal balance in our body. And since pretty much everything our body does is under hormonal control, you have the power to influence your ability to perform at work, at school, at the gym, and on the field, simply by making the right choices about the food you eat.

What is the Paleo Diet?

The Paleo Diet was developed by Loren Cordain, PHD, a professor of Health & Exercise Science at CSU. The concept (briefly) was to tailor our diets to the food sources that were available during Paleolithic times (think Hunter/Gatherer). In the CrossFit community, this make sense. Our fitness program is based on the kind of movements humans needed for survival from the dawn of man until technology basically eliminated our requirement to move. If we are going to exercise like Neanderthals, maybe we should be eating like them too (table manners aside, of course). To do this we need to remove all processed foods, including grains, as well as dairy and beans. Sugar is also off the table. There is extensive literature on why these foods are not good for us. We will include resources below.

What is the Zone diet?

The Zone was developed by Dr. Barry Sears in an attempt to stave off a familial predisposition to heart disease. To date it has worked. The concept of the Zone is to monitor and rigidly balance the macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate, & fat) content in our diet to keep the hormonal influences of these substances in check. Based on gender, body composition, and activity level, a specific “block” formula is derived for each individual to simplify the task of balancing macronutrients on a meal by meal basis.

Which one is right for me?

Ideally, both. To utilize the Paleo prescription within the Zone parameters would give you the best of both worlds. But quality of life, amount of free time, and degree of investment in total health and fitness will determine how far towards “ideal nutrition” each person is willing to go. Any of these options is better than the standard American diet and that is a great place to start. Come and talk to us and we will help you find that path that is right for you.

Online Resources

The Paleo Diet

Zone Diet

Paleo Brands

The Competition

Six weeks: Strict Paleo (Agoge style).

The Rules: Beginning on Oct 10, 2009, participants attended an informational session on the Paleo prescription and how to implement it in our daily lives. They were weighed, measured, and photographed. Three Benchmark WODs were completed prior to the beginning of the competition. Our selections were the Filthy Fifty, CrossFit Total, and Helen. Each participant is paired up with a buddy who will be not only provide support, but accountability. Weekly Food Logs will be reviewed and the precious “Cheat Day” coupons must be surrendered to their Paleo Buddy upon use.

To the winner goes the spoils
Participant entry fees were allocated to the Prize Pot. Male and Female participants with the best outcome, based on the above objective and subjective parameters, won 50% of their respective pots. Second place got 30%. Third place took 20%. Due to the disproportionate number of female to male participants, the Prize money was evenly allocated between the men’s and women’s competitions. In the event of a tie, the prize was not split but matched by the gym for the same amount.