3.30.2010



Its time for the third CrossFit KoP Kick the Sugar or Paleo/Primal/Zone/Whole 9 Challenge...


The kick off party will start WEDNESDAY MARCH 31st at 7:30 PM
, Coaches will be on hand to help you, answer questions and discuss these varied concepts of eating and which is best for your specific lifestyle.

For ONE month - ONE MONTH ONLY -just try it. Make the effort, see what it does for you. See how you feel, look, perform. You can do ANYTHING for one month, especially knowing it's for your HEALTH and PERFORMANCE. If you choose not to do it, if you haven’t sincerely tried committing to good nutrition, maybe it’s time you looked at your reasons. What are your excuses? How valid are they, really? Are you so invested in them that you’re willing to sacrifice your potential and long term health?

Here is a brief overview of a few concepts of eating:


Paleo:

What is Paleo?

Paleolithic people were hunter-gatherers. All their food came from what they could hunt and find around them. For most of the period, most of the cultures tended to be nomadic, following food sources.
The period after the Paleolithic period is called the Neolithic, which began approximately 10,000 years ago. At this point, agriculture made it possible for people to settle in one place. People’s lives became more sedentary, although still active by today's standards. Especially, people started growing sources of starch, especially grains, which could be stored. Another big innovation in the later part of the Neolithic period was the development of pottery, which made it easier to cook and transport staple foods. Writers espousing Paleolithic diets point to evidence regarding both prehistoric people and more recent hunter-gatherer populations that agriculture increased chronic diseases such as heart disease in these populations.

Types of foods
Early on, before fire was controlled, only food which could be eaten raw was consumed. This ruled out grains, legumes, and some tubers such as potatoes. Even when early people started to use fire to cook food, they were mainly limited to roasting or toasting it. Besides meat, a few roasted nuts or grains by the fire were pretty much it. Additionally, before animals were domesticated (around 5,000 to 6,000 years ago) milk and dairy products were not consumed.
Obviously, any refined sugars other than occasional honey, or any processed foods, were totally out.
What exactly was eaten by early people clearly varied according to geography, but most of the diets are thought to be at least half animal foods (including insects), and many up to 70 percent food of animal origin. Gathering enough plant food to support highly active people simply wouldn't have been feasible in most places. Despite this, large amounts of vegetation were consumed; some estimates are that in many areas early humans ate up to 6 pounds of greens per day. This is a lot of greens -- about a grocery-bag full, but this produces only about 400 to 700 calories. However, the nutrient load of those greens is huge, producing many times the minimum daily requirement of most vitamins and minerals. Of course, other parts of plants were eaten, including nuts and fruit, though we probably couldn't recognize the ancestors of the sugary fruit we eat today.


Primal:

What is Eating Primal?
Eating Primal is eating the way nature intended.
It's not eating anything that didn't exist when man first walked the earth.
It's eating simply- fresh foods, whole, natural and non-processed foods free from hormones, chemicals and pesticides.
It's eating REAL foods, not the fake stuff.
It's shopping the perimeter of the grocery store for organic and hormone-free foods.
It's buying local at Farmers Markets. It's doing our part to reduce our carbon footprint by not eating foods shipped to stores from countries 3,000 miles away.
It's being aware of what we put in our bodies and avoiding poisonous things like refined carbohydrates (sugars, flours etc...), trans-fats, chemicals, pesticides, MSG, additives, food colorings, artificial sweeteners, most all dairy products and gluten. Read the ingredients, if you can't pronounce it, chances are you should not eat it.
By avoiding these things, we are able to eat the best foods possible in order to give our bodies the best nutrients available in order to live healthy lives free from the dark hole leading to no where- known as the Standard American Diet (SAD).


Zone:

What is the Zone?

The concept of "the Zone" is that food should be balanced "40:30:30" ratio of calories obtained daily from carbohydrates, proteins and fats respectively. This will promote the desired hormonal response throughout the day.

The goal of Zone dieting is to eat the correct balance of carbohydrates and protein so that glucagon is produced instead of insulin, because glucagon promotes the formation of "good" eicosanoids while insulin promotes the formation of "bad" eicosanoids that cause all sorts of diseases.
The Zone converts grams of Protein, Carbs and Fat into blocks of protein and carbohydrate and provides food lists and meal plans for these. No more than 5 blocks should be consumed in one sitting and no more than 5 hours below. The CrossFit Journal link below will explain in detail how many blocks for your body size and will list some great Zone Performance meals.

Click here for CrossFit Journal Issue 21, Zone Performance.

Whole 30:

Eat real food – meat, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, oils (like EVOO or coconut). Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re fresh and natural.

Do not eat dairy. This includes butter, cheese (hard and soft), yogurt (even Greek) and milk (including cream in your coffee).

Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, corn (I count corn as a grain), oatmeal, and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains. That’s not real food, right?

Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds, lentils, and peanuts. (No peanut butter, kids.)

Do not eat sugars of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, etc.

Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, processed bars (like Zone bars), dairy-free creamers, etc.

Do not drink alcohol, in any form.

If you have serious inflammation issues like arthritis, you may want to consider avoiding nightshades for 30 days as well.

Click here to read more details about the Whole 30 Challenge from Dallas and Melissa at the Whole 9.


The Rules:

1. All participants must commit by posting to comments below. You can choose one of the above options or try a combination of all four that works for you. The Challenge starts on April 1st and ends at midnight, on April 30th. The CFKoP crew will post some helpful tips, recipes and ideas along the way. Please feel free to post and ask questions about how you are feeling on your NO-Sugar Journey!

2. The way to kick sugar is to not eat ANY sugar of ANY kind.

3. Only consume sugar that is found naturally in foods such as fruit - and limit the consumption of too much, choosing low glycemic index fruits primarily.

What is the significance of Glycemic Index? Not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, in fact they behave differently in our bodies. The glycemic index or GI describes the difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose and insulin levels.

4. The best way to be successful with this is to eat clean. Create meals from meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and NO SUGAR. No processed and refined foods with high fructose corn syrup and high sugar content (i.e.: chips). Shop the perimeter of the grocery store; avoid the aisles where labels and long shelf-lives increase the sugar content.

5. Keep a food log, writing down EVERYTHING you eat. At the end of each week, show it to Aimee or a CrossFit KoP coach and have them help you with your choices of foods and staying on track. The winner will be the person with the most consecutive days completed successfully. The runner-up will be the person with the most overall days completed successfully. This may be the same person or persons.

7. Please feel free to email myself or post to comments with your own input, comments, encouragement, articles, recipes, struggles and victories.

*There will be a special prize for those who complete all 30 days!!!*

WHO’S IN???


Previous Winners:
Laura
Mike F.
Plentus

23 comments:

Melanie said...

This challenge scares the crap out of me which makes me think I need to go for it. See you tomorrow night then.

Aimee Lyons said...

Mel- Don't be scared! It's a start to bettering your health and overall fitness that should last a lifetime, not just the month. You have a community of supporters, many of who have tried all 4 of these options.

In my mind there is no right choice for everyone and it has to fit into the confines of your lifestyle. No matter which path you choose we are here to support you!

Can't wait for tomorrow's kick off!

Mike F said...

The best part of these challenges is the recipes that everyone shares.

Jeff said...

I'm in - but expect a lot of grumpiness as I give up my dark chocolate fix. And if the special prize is burpees, it will not be pretty. My performance has definitely improved as I've been eating cleaner in general, this challenge comes at a great time right before Masters. Can't wait!

donkey said...

i'm in. i just did 30 days, and i wanted to go 60 to really see how it works for me. plus allergy season kicks in shortly and i want to know if this will ameliorate/prevent it. so far, so good.

i was thinking about hosting a paleo/whole 9 potluck at my house. everyone brings a dish and recipe cards so people can try a bunch of different ideas and take recipes home with them that they liked.

anyone interested? i live 6 blocks from the box. we could do it on a monday or wednesday night. or even a weekend if people would prefer and it would be easier.

Miranda said...

I'm in

Patti said...

I'm in. I want to make better food choices.
I agree with Mel that this makes me nervous.
I am a picky eater and afraid I may starve.
The zone seems like my best choice.
This is exciting!

Kit said...

I'm in. Dan might be in too. He's gonna sleep off whatever he was drinking tonight and let me know in the morning...he's curious as to what the special prize is at the end of the month...It might be enticing enough to get him to do it! Working on getting the rest of the family in on it too...we'll see

Unknown said...

Would love to do it, I am sure it is just what I need.

Just before Easter.. will be fun not picking at what I am cooking.

Jason Lyons said...

i will try this yet again. last time i went 14 days, a new record. i must say it is amazing what you learn about your diet. here is what i took away.

1) i would always wake up with a stuffy nose. after day 4 of the whole 30, i no longer had this issue

2) i lost 10 pounds in 12 days doing the whole 30

3) remarkably, i did not feel badly at all

4) watch your caloric intake. you are not eating those empty calories so you need to make sure you have enough food.

5) i will try to get the whole month with the exception of April 4, 6, 16, and 17. soooo, the number to beat for second place is 26.

Anonymous said...

JZ and I are in :-). I had done something similar
to whole 30 a while back. Felt great--and similar
to Jason had no stuffiness or headaches which I
get more often than I should.
See u tonight!

Stephanie Vincent said...

I am in...FOR LIFE...does that count?? :-)

Donkey, hells ya to the Paleo Potluck!!

Cutting out grains and sugar (and (adding A whole lot of WHOLE foods)CHANGED MY LIFE. I feel better than I ever have. And i have lost (i don't usually count) Almost 70lbs since september, without counting, without measuring, with out effort...and with JOY!! Crossfit prob had something to do with it to ;-) but i think I would never have been as successful without the combo of a clean diet and a kick ass place to move my body!

Jen S. said...

I'm always in...and surprisingly convinced my boyfriend! So we'll see how he does... :)

I've done Zone and Paleo...I'm going to try the Whole 9, but not really sure how different it is from Paleo???

KDitty said...

Alright, tax season is almost over so I need to get back on track. Here goes nothing!! Can't wait for the withdrawals.

I'm in! I am going to try Whole 30, but I am really just going to focus on eating clean.

Laura Pappas said...

I'm in for Paleo/Primal, after the Whole 30 I found that I really feel much better, and am cascading most of my diet changes through. This next 30 days I'm going to try tweaking what I've learned to see what results I get.

Miranda said...

Laura,
I can't saty too long after the 630 tonight, but can we go over so Paleo recipes? I have been dairy and grain free for 2 weeks and i feel a lot better. Jason and Jaime, I agree no more headaches or stuffy nose either.

Joe D said...

I'll go with Primal. Any man who includes butter in a top 10 ingredients list on his website is obviously dispensing dietary wisdom.

Laura Pappas said...

Everyone is worried about what you are going to eat, no matter what program/challenge you decide to do, the Whole 30 portion of the Whole 9 blog has a lot of really great information. One of our favorite recipes is the Mexi-salad with fresh guacamole, it’s delicious. From the Whole 30 Resources, here are some basic Paleo resources to get you started.

Dr. Loren Cordain’s site http://www.thepaleodiet.com/

Robb Wolf’s blog (start with the FAQ) http://robbwolf.com

Paleo Shopping List http://www.goodharvestmarket.com/special_diets/paleo_foods.html

As far as recipes, we've found that simple things are really good and easy to make. Mix up your protein (beef, chicken, pork, fish, turkey) and veggies and you get plenty of variety. Buy what is on sale at the grocery store and try to make it…I made beets for the first time last month. We are making double batches of dinner so that we have extra for lunches. Salads based from baby spinach with whatever meat we had the night before are great lunches. Also double the veggies at dinner make a big salad + broccoli or something else.

Another idea is take a look at what you usually eat and then just modify it. You don’t have to eat all new foods just because you’re changing your diet. If you’re doing no sugar – make chicken parm without the breadcrumbs or try almond meal instead of flour. Try stir-frys they are easy, quick, and incorporate tons of veggies. Eat eggs for dinner. I look through cookbooks for ideas on how to combine ingredients and go from there, also go to the books store and look through some of the paleo books and get ideas.

We made a great Paleo chicken cacciatore dish - put chicken breast in a glass pan (spray the bottom with a little evoo) sprinkle some oregano, pepper, basil on top of the chicken. Then top all of it with a can of diced tomatoes (or fresh if you want), chopped/diced onion, red and green peppers, mushrooms, and carrots. Cover with foil, bake at 375 for about 30-40mins, and its done. This is great as leftovers for dinner again the next day or for lunch.

Hope some of this helps! If I make it home tonight before coming to the box I'll grab my food journal and you can take a look at what I ate over the past 30 days.

Melissa Hartwig said...

ROCK ON, KOP! Way to jump in as a group. We've seen other gyms have great success with the program when everyone is in it together - and especially when the challenge is being supported from the top down. Kudos to Amy and Jason for leading the charge, and keep us posted as to how things are going!

Best,
Melissa & Dallas

AJ said...

Congrats on taking this on! There's a ton of great supporting material at Nutritionize - CrossFit Unlimited's Nutrition Blog. Including a power packet download with everything you need to get started living a healthy lifestyle!

http://www.nutritionize.net/

CC said...

Alright, I will give this a whirl. I am unsure which plan to follow so I will talk with you guys tonight regarding it.

I know my exception will be April 5, I am going to DC for the Phils first game. I am fairly certain my diet will consist mostly of Miller Lite this day.

So I am looking to try for 29 days then.

Unknown said...

I'll give it a try with the Zone. Has anyone found a good website / application that calculates blocks for different foods?

Jen S. said...

Deb, Aimee has a great link on the blog for Zone Blocks. I had mine out everyday for like almost a year when I was strict on it.