Today I started my experiment of One month crossfit, zone/paleo. From now on I am going very strict with my plan.
I started my day with
Three eggs and a chicken sausage
a bowl of berries and a pear
for lunch
5 ounces of chicken
two pears and a cup of grapes
I'm planning on working out at 4:30
and creating a zone/paleo dinner.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Intermittent Fasting:
Intermittent Fasting is the Idea of short scheduled periods with out eating. After researching some about this topic I have been more and more turned on to the idea. Many people have claimed that the results are fantastic with lowering insulin and body fat percentage. I don't know to much about the whole 'science' behind IF but when you don't eat for a short amount of time your body relies on fat cells for energy, moving fat cells from storage to energy, this is cause for fat being burned.
People might say... isn't this an eating disorder? NO! In an IF cycle you are only fasting for a short period of time, where in an eating disorder you starve yourself all the time. This keeps your body 'guessing' so that it doesn't go into a rut, in which it is common for one to plateau, or not see as many gains.
Through research I have found a lot if different plans for fasting. On Mark's Daily Apple, he tried the plan of once a week on Tuesdays. This is what I will try to follow. So on Monday nights I will have my final meal for 24 hours. On Wednesday I will end the fast with breakfast.
It is mentioned that a high intensity workout is NEEDED on a day of fasting. If you do nothing on a fast day, your fat cells do not get burned and stay in storage.
More Info can be found on Wikipedia or Marks Daily Apple has a good article about it.
Intermittent Fasting is the Idea of short scheduled periods with out eating. After researching some about this topic I have been more and more turned on to the idea. Many people have claimed that the results are fantastic with lowering insulin and body fat percentage. I don't know to much about the whole 'science' behind IF but when you don't eat for a short amount of time your body relies on fat cells for energy, moving fat cells from storage to energy, this is cause for fat being burned.
People might say... isn't this an eating disorder? NO! In an IF cycle you are only fasting for a short period of time, where in an eating disorder you starve yourself all the time. This keeps your body 'guessing' so that it doesn't go into a rut, in which it is common for one to plateau, or not see as many gains.
Through research I have found a lot if different plans for fasting. On Mark's Daily Apple, he tried the plan of once a week on Tuesdays. This is what I will try to follow. So on Monday nights I will have my final meal for 24 hours. On Wednesday I will end the fast with breakfast.
It is mentioned that a high intensity workout is NEEDED on a day of fasting. If you do nothing on a fast day, your fat cells do not get burned and stay in storage.
More Info can be found on Wikipedia or Marks Daily Apple has a good article about it.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Nutrition
Nutrition is probably one of the most over thought subjects in the world today. From my experience all you need to do is loosely 'Zone' and try to 'Paleo' This may sound stupid... just wait.
The Zone Diet was created by Dr. Berry Sears. It's probably easier to follow than those god awful Lego instructions I struggled to follow 15 years ago. As quoted by Dr. Sears all you need is "one hand and one eye." The basic premise of the Zone Diet is its not about what you eat, just how much of it you eat and the proportion to the other foods in your meal. Sure you want to eat healthy foods, so the amount of 'unfavorable carbs' you are allowed to eat is very little and the amount of 'favorable' carbs you are allowed to eat is a lot! So in short... eating good carbs (most vegetable and fruit) allows you to eat more.
So back to the one hand one eye thing... to create a 'Zone Meal' all you do is have your plate and divide it into thirds.... simple right? So now, your protein should be no bigger than the palm of your hand, thats ALL the protein you need, period, end of statement. (I know I know people will say thats wrong, your not eating enough muscle milk or protein powder... well sorry guys... contrary to popular belief... they're wrong.) So now you have two thirds of your plate left, fill one third with a heaping amount of favorable carbs, and the other with a fat group (nuts and avocados are where I normally get mine from). It's just that easy.
But for me I'm going to be following it a little more strict. At home I have a digital scale and measuring cups... these tools are a Zoners best friend. When you get more intense about your Zoning you measure out something called blocks, this regulates more closely what you eat and how much. Blocks basically tells you how much protein, carbs, and fat you need in a day based on your activity level and weight, height etc. So I have been measured for 17 blocks a day, that means 17 blocks of protein, carbs and fats. This is nice because it allows me to have three 5 block meals and 2 one block snacks. it requires a little more work than the above stated method... but for a month I think I can handle it!
The Paleolithic Diet (Paleo) might be even easier than the Zone Diet to follow. Ask yourself... would a caveman have the availability to eat this? If answered yes, eat it. If answered no, don't. This Diet is based off the idea that our bodies only need exactly what they needed... hell i don't know... 50,000 years ago. Yes this eliminated breads, pastas, and starches from your diet... and I could go off about how those are actually bad for you... but thats another post.
The combination of Zone/Paleo provides the Crossfiter with the perfect nutrition set up. It supports lean muscle gain but you are not eating enough to support fat.
"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and NO sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat."
From "World Class Fitness in 100 Words"
The Zone Diet was created by Dr. Berry Sears. It's probably easier to follow than those god awful Lego instructions I struggled to follow 15 years ago. As quoted by Dr. Sears all you need is "one hand and one eye." The basic premise of the Zone Diet is its not about what you eat, just how much of it you eat and the proportion to the other foods in your meal. Sure you want to eat healthy foods, so the amount of 'unfavorable carbs' you are allowed to eat is very little and the amount of 'favorable' carbs you are allowed to eat is a lot! So in short... eating good carbs (most vegetable and fruit) allows you to eat more.
So back to the one hand one eye thing... to create a 'Zone Meal' all you do is have your plate and divide it into thirds.... simple right? So now, your protein should be no bigger than the palm of your hand, thats ALL the protein you need, period, end of statement. (I know I know people will say thats wrong, your not eating enough muscle milk or protein powder... well sorry guys... contrary to popular belief... they're wrong.) So now you have two thirds of your plate left, fill one third with a heaping amount of favorable carbs, and the other with a fat group (nuts and avocados are where I normally get mine from). It's just that easy.
But for me I'm going to be following it a little more strict. At home I have a digital scale and measuring cups... these tools are a Zoners best friend. When you get more intense about your Zoning you measure out something called blocks, this regulates more closely what you eat and how much. Blocks basically tells you how much protein, carbs, and fat you need in a day based on your activity level and weight, height etc. So I have been measured for 17 blocks a day, that means 17 blocks of protein, carbs and fats. This is nice because it allows me to have three 5 block meals and 2 one block snacks. it requires a little more work than the above stated method... but for a month I think I can handle it!
The Paleolithic Diet (Paleo) might be even easier than the Zone Diet to follow. Ask yourself... would a caveman have the availability to eat this? If answered yes, eat it. If answered no, don't. This Diet is based off the idea that our bodies only need exactly what they needed... hell i don't know... 50,000 years ago. Yes this eliminated breads, pastas, and starches from your diet... and I could go off about how those are actually bad for you... but thats another post.
The combination of Zone/Paleo provides the Crossfiter with the perfect nutrition set up. It supports lean muscle gain but you are not eating enough to support fat.
"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and NO sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat."
From "World Class Fitness in 100 Words"
Crossfit
Crossfit is a strength and conditioning program for.... well anyone. It has been used by the military, professional athletes, stay at home mothers, and hey... college kids trying to get in shape! It focuses on high intensity functional movements, and stays away from singling out a specific muscle group. Some of my favorite things about Crossfit are that the workouts are short, I can spend an hour out of my day and get a better workout than someone in a "Globo Gym" spending three hours, this hour even includes travel time. Also I really like the atmosphere and camaraderie between Crossfiters. No matter what your level of fitness is, as long as you are working hard and pushing yourself, everyone knows why you're there... and that is to get a good workout. And there seems to be some sort of unspoken connection between Crossfiters... no one really knows what its like unless you do it!
I highly recommend Crossfit for... as I said earlier... ANYONE!
For more information on Crossfit visit Crossfit.com
I highly recommend Crossfit for... as I said earlier... ANYONE!
For more information on Crossfit visit Crossfit.com
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