We post often about food and nutrition, typically more that we post about training itself.  If your nutrition is out of whack your physical performance will be negatively impacted (thus affecting training and the results it yields).  Nutrition is also the one area where you potentially have the most [...]]]> Friday, December 25, 2009

We post often about food and nutrition, typically more that we post about training itself.  If your nutrition is out of whack your physical performance will be negatively impacted (thus affecting training and the results it yields).  Nutrition is also the one area where you potentially have the most control in comparison to training.  For example, you can elect not to train but eating is not an option; you need to make time for it and need to actually do it and can choose to do it right or not.  As well, the quality of your training can depend somewhat on your level of skill at performing particular movements.  Skill takes time to develop, not so with sound nutrition.  You may not have got your clean and jerk down solid yet, but you sure can dial in your nutrition right off the bat.

Now that the incessant writing about food and nourishment has (at least partially) justified, check out the Christmas Recipe Roundup over at Elana’s Pantry.  Elana’s Pantry boasts organic and gluten free recipes, and although they not always Paleo, with a little tinkering they can be brought into Paleo-friendly compliance (or at least nearly so).

We have just posted some new pics in our gallery

We now have a Twitter page so you can keep up with all CFTO happenings through your regular Twitter reader.

Workout

Complete 10 rounds for time of:

• 20 Walking lunges
• 10 Sit-ups

This tasty, gluten-free recipe was found over at Paleo Mama’s Cave Chick Cuisine.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Life is so unfair.  First TTC fare went up to $2.75 (old news, you say?  I’m still irate!), then your PVR didn’t reprogram itself when the hockey game was moved to a different channel, and now your favorite foods might be trying to kill you.  Wait.  Back up.  What?

It’s [...]]]> Friday, December 4, 2009

Life is so unfair.  First TTC fare went up to $2.75 (old news, you say?  I’m still irate!), then your PVR didn’t reprogram itself when the hockey game was moved to a different channel, and now your favorite foods might be trying to kill you.  Wait.  Back up.  What?

It’s quite common among people with celiac disease to crave bread, crackers, and pasta.  What the hell?  Why would your body direct you to consume the very substance which is doing so much damage?  Theories abound.  Specific to gluten intolerance: Gluten irritates your intestines, making for really inefficient nutrient absorption.  Simple, refined carbohydrates are absorbed earliest, in a less-irritated region of intestine… so your body craves white flour and sugar because those are pretty much the only things making it through in a useful form.  Here’s one theory about why we might crave or be addicted to other foods (including, but not limited to, gluten) to which we’re intolerant.

Image credit: World’s Healthiest Foods

Does the thought of cleaning up your diet leave you in a panic?  Is there one food or food group that you think of more as a close personal friend than as fuel?  Consider this:

Hint: how do you know you may have these food sensitivities?  There are all sorts of ELISA allergy tests you can take, but if you feel particularly “addicted” to something, it may actually suggest you are sensitive to it.  When we took our kid off milk, he acted like he was coming off heroin for the first few days, he kept screaming for milk and cheese.  If you’re intrigued, take yourself off these things for a few weeks and introduce them back in, and then see how you feel.  (from Green Fertility)

You can do anything for a week, right?  Except hold your breath.  Or stand on one foot.  Or run nonstop.  Or… well… ok, so there’s a lot you can’t do for a week.  But avoiding, say, cheese?  Just to see if it changes your wellbeing for the better?  Might be worth a shot.

Workout

Complete 5 rounds for time of:

• 5 One arm dumbbell thrusters, left side (1/3 of body weight)
• 5 One arm dumbbell thrusters, right side (1/3 of body weight)
• 30 Double-unders

I want you all to be having lots of sex and making lots of babies.  There.  I said it.  In fact, I’ve been saying it in various ways since I started contributing to this blog!  Every time I suggest that a lower carbohydrate diet made up of real foods [...]]]> Thursday, December 3, 2009

I want you all to be having lots of sex and making lots of babies.  There.  I said it.  In fact, I’ve been saying it in various ways since I started contributing to this blog!  Every time I suggest that a lower carbohydrate diet made up of real foods might be a good idea, every time I mention intense exercise or strength development as a means for improving insulin sensitivity… Well… That’s all just double-talk for “make lots of babies”.  It’s obvious, isn’t it?  I go on and on about lowering your carbohydrates and maybe even fasting a little here and there… it’s all been a covert op: when you’re struggling with infertility one of the drugs you may be prescribed is:

Metformin (Brand name: Glucophage).  Metformin is an insulin-sensitizing agent… Metformin may increase your fertility to the extent that it reduces insulin resistance, and thus helps to normalize insulin.  (from Natural Health Solutions for PCOS)

Weird, right?  And it’s not just you gals I’m after.  Oh, heck no.  Boys, I want your swimmers to be doin’ their thang and doin’ it well.  Turns out you guys can be just as affected by gluten sensitivity and insulin resistance as the ladies.  (See celiac disease and infertility, as well as gluten sensitivity and infertility).

Sure, we claim that the CFTO blog is all about fitness and nutrition and gym-related exploits, but it turns out we’re all about the horizontal mambo around here.  Take heed: If you’re not looking to produce a mini-you and you’ve just jumped into a Paleo lifestyle, maybe double up on the protection.  Just sayin’.

Workout

Split jerk 3-3-3 reps

Rest 5 minutes

Complete 3 x as many rounds as you can in 5 minutes of:

• 7 Pull-ups
• 7 Kettlebell swings (boys: 32kg; girls: 24kg)

Rest 1 minute between rounds

I was walking down the “baby stuff” aisle at the grocery store today and wow are there ever a ton of variations on the “teething biscuit” theme! In our house we don’t do gluten or grains, so we’ve never had occasion to buy teething biscuits. We’re travelling soon, and [...]]]> Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I was walking down the “baby stuff” aisle at the grocery store today and wow are there ever a ton of variations on the “teething biscuit” theme! In our house we don’t do gluten or grains, so we’ve never had occasion to buy teething biscuits. We’re travelling soon, and our tiny cavelady will need some fairly durable travel food. Cheerios may be tiny gluten bombs, but they sure are good for keeping a baby occupied on a plane. So what’s a paleo family to do? Our requirements: Grain free, sugar free, real food that is not a choking hazard and is gummable by someone without molars. Bonus points for tasting good enough that parents will enjoy what the babe doesn’t consume. Here’s what we’ve got so far:

• Travelin’ Tubers: Roasted chunks of sweet potato sprinkled with cinnamon (parent tip: roasting instead of steaming avoids the slippery-tuber-chunk-shooting-across-the-room phenomenon)
• Jerky: Excalibur Dehydrator (thanks Aimee!) to the rescue! Baby-friendly jerky is a breeze… minimal salt in the form of wheat-free tamari sauce, perhaps a touch of maple syrup, some garlic. Slice, marinate, dehydrate. Try to save some for the kid.
• Meaty Fruity Pebbles: 1 grated apple, 1 lb ground chicken, 1/2 cup finely ground dessicated coconut, ginger, and curry powder all mixed up and cooked in silicone mini-muffin pans (sounds gross, tastes amazing, and she can feed herself!).

Any Paleo Parents out there with child-friendly recipes?

(Thanks to John for letting me hijack the blog for my own nefarious purposes.)

Workout

Push jerk 5-5-5 reps

Yet another reason to avoid packaged foods… especially if you’re sensitive to MSG / monosodium glutamate.  MSG can lurk in the ingredient list of innocuous-seeming products.  The following are ingredients that always contain MSG (follow this link for a complete list):

You’ll see it on a lot of “diet food” packages: Guilt Free.  It’s on baked chips, fat-free cookies, sugar-free candies.  What is all this emphasis on guilt?  If I eat a bowl of ice cream it makes me a little wired, then a little sleepy, then a lot hungry, but it doesn’t make [...]]]>

You’ll see it on a lot of “diet food” packages: Guilt Free.  It’s on baked chips, fat-free cookies, sugar-free candies.  What is all this emphasis on guilt?  If I eat a bowl of ice cream it makes me a little wired, then a little sleepy, then a lot hungry, but it doesn’t make me immoral or bad.  The people in charge of food packaging are playing with your emotions… by saying that this granola bar is “guilt-free”, they’re implying that any other choice you might make is “guilt-full”.  I prefer to shop the perimeter of the grocery store… none of the fruits, veggies, or meats try to mess with my head.

One of the things I love about the Paleo way of eating is that the focus is on what will be delicious fuel for my body, and also on knowing exactly what’s happening when I make a less than ideal choice… I know exactly what will happen to my insulin and energy levels if I eat a big plate of pasta.  That doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to eat the pasta, it just means weighing the options: do I have time for a two hour nap afterwards?  Will the gluten wreak havoc on my digestive system, or do I tolerate it reasonably well?  Did my grandmother make it for me?  Do I really really really want it?  Sold.  If I have something else to do that evening I might make a different choice, like meat and veg, that will allow me to stay conscious and productive.  But notice how none of that assigns a value judgment to one food over another.

As Robb Wolf said in the Nutrition Seminar: “Food is just food.”  This is the food you eat, this is how you feel.  That is all.

Workout

Jackie

For time:

• Row 1000m
• 50 Thrusters (boys: 45#; girls: 35#)
• 30 Pull-ups

So, it’s the weekend and time to let a little lose from the life of clean and healthy living.  But do you really need to give in to temptation and throw caution to the wind?  Not with these bad boys.  Now you can have the best of both worlds: tasty, [...]]]>

picture courtesy squawkfox.com

So, it’s the weekend and time to let a little lose from the life of clean and healthy living.  But do you really need to give in to temptation and throw caution to the wind?  Not with these bad boys.  Now you can have the best of both worlds: tasty, sweet snacks that are still pretty Paleo-friendly!

“Flour-free, gluten-free, egg-free, and bake-free.  These little balls of goodness strike an honest balance of heart healthy and dishfully delicious. They are made with almonds, dates, fresh lime juice, and cacao powder.  This recipe makes about 8 truffles.”

Thanks to squawkfox.com for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 10 Dates, pitted and unsulphured
• 8 Whole Raw Natural Almonds
• 100g (3.5 oz) Ground Raw Almonds
• 2 tsp Cacao Powder OR Carob Powder
• Finely grated Rind and freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 Lime

1. Place the pitted dates, ground almonds, cacao powder, lime rind and juice in a food processor.  Blend until the mixture forms a stiff ball.  If necessary, add more lime juice to help bring the mixture into balls.
2. Remove blade and roll date mixture into balls.
3. Fill each ball with a whole almond.
4. Roll each ball in ground almonds (optional).
5. Refrigerate for one hour.  ENJOY!

Workout

For time:

• 20 L-pull-ups
• 40 Deadhang pull-ups
• 60 Kipping pull-ups

Partition workload any way you like

One of the big things missing from a Paleo diet is crunchy snack food… so I present to you: Crackers!  Real, honest-to-goodness crunchy crackers that you can flavour in any way you like.  And they’re gluten-free!

Paleo Crackers (adapted from this recipe at Elana’s Pantry.)

3 cups almond meal/flour (or [...]]]>

picture courtesy www.elanaspantry.com

One of the big things missing from a Paleo diet is crunchy snack food… so I present to you: Crackers!  Real, honest-to-goodness crunchy crackers that you can flavour in any way you like.  And they’re gluten-free!

Paleo Crackers (adapted from this recipe at Elana’s Pantry.)

3 cups almond meal/flour (or any nut meal)
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup pine nuts, chopped walnuts or pecans, or sesame or sunflower seeds
2 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil, coconut oil, or lard… pesto is also delicious here

1. Stir everything together
2. Separate dough into two halves
3. Line two large (12 x 16) stainless steel baking sheets with parchment paper
4. Place one half of the dough in the center of each lined sheet
5. Cut another piece of parchment paper and place it over one of the balls of dough
6. Roll dough out between the two pieces of parchment paper, until it is 1/8 inch thick and covers the entire baking sheet; remove top paper and repeat process with the other piece of dough
7. Cut the dough with a knife or pizza cutter into 2 inch squares
8. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown
9. Cool and serve

The crackers at the edges may cook more quickly if you’re an uneven roller-outer.  If you don’t want to add another kind of nut to the mix, just use 4 cups of nut meal.  Warning: these are dangerously addictive!

Workout

Back squat 5-5-5 reps

We know full well that many of you will be out this weekend, reveling and imbibing, hopefully only deviating somewhat from your otherwise clean living.  With the weekend only 1 day away, we think it therefore appropriate to share with you the NorCal Margarita, courtesy of who else, but the good folks at NorCal [...]]]>

We know full well that many of you will be out this weekend, reveling and imbibing, hopefully only deviating somewhat from your otherwise clean living.  With the weekend only 1 day away, we think it therefore appropriate to share with you the NorCal Margarita, courtesy of who else, but the good folks at NorCal Strength and Conditioning/CrossFit NorCal.  This version of the classic drink is devoid of processed sugars, gluten, and other nasties that we do our best to stay away from, regardless of the occasion.  We hope you enjoy.  Here it is:

• 2 Shots of tequila (make it the good stuff)
• Juice of 1 lime
• Splash of soda

Please note that the gym is closed today for professional development.

Workout

Complete 3 rounds for time of:

• 30m Walking lunges
• 20 Squats
• 30m Walking lunges backwards
• 20 Push-ups