Happy Halloween

This Is It Movie Lanyard

TGIF

I am so glad it's Friday. I took the morning off from working out since I have been hitting it hard the last four days. I am also really sore from the last couple of CF workouts. It is really not a wise choice to take three months off from working out. So...I decided I will get a three mile run in after work.



The weekend plans so far look like dinner at the Fitness Grill and a movie (This is it...got to go see it), sleep in tomorrow...at least until 7am, a motorcycle ride with a bunch of the guys and dinner with the wife for my two year wedding anniversary.

Wow two years...it goes by so fast.



Ohhh yeah...I forgot. Watch USC beat Oregon and the Broncos go to 7-0.

Workout of the Day - Thursday 10/29

Workout
Spin 30 minutes
Jump rope 10 minutes

Warmup for barbell snatch
6 x 2 barbell snatch

30 x Pull ups
50 ft bear crawl
30 ball slams

20 x Pull ups
50 ft bear crawl
20 ball slams

10 x Pull ups
50 ft bear crawl
10 ball slams

5 x Pull ups
50 ft bear crawl
5 ball slams

Crossfit Wallpapers I Created

Click on the images to download wallpaper...

Want to lose more ? Try HIIT-ing it off

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an exercise strategy that uses sprint intervals to improve performance and has been shown to help increase fat lose more than long cardio sessions. A typical HIIT session lasts 15 to 30 minutes and has a 2:1 ratio of slow to fast exercising. So if you where running, you would jog for 2 minutes then run for 1 minute. You would start with a warm up, then repeat the interval cycle 6-8 times followed by a cool down.

Interval training can be used for running, cycling, swimming and more. You should use a scale of 1-10 to base your exertion level. Level 1 being very slow walk and Level 10 being an all out sprint.

A typical HIIT session could look like this:

20 minute running intervals
Min 1 - Scale Level 3 Warm up
Min 2 - Scale Level 3 Warm up
Min 3 - Scale Level 4 Warm up
Min 4 - Scale Level 5 Warm up
Min 5 - Scale Level 5 Warm up
Min 6 - Scale Level 8 Sprint
Min 7 - Scale Level 5 Jog
Min 8 - Scale Level 5 Jog
Min 9 - Scale Level 8 Sprint
Min 10 - Scale Level 5 Jog
Min 11 - Scale Level 5 Jog
Min 12 - Scale Level 8 Sprint
Min 13 - Scale Level 5 Jog
Min 14 - Scale Level 5 Jog
Min 15 - Scale Level 8 Sprint
Min 16 - Scale Level 5 Cool down
Min 17 - Scale Level 5 Cool down
Min 18 - Scale Level 3 Cool down
Min 19 - Scale Level 3 Cool down
Min 20 - Scale Level 3 Cool down

The goal of the rest session between each interval is to allow your heart rate to come back down. This may require you to walk if you are a beginner.

Fat Aids Absorption of Nutrients

A study at the University of Ohio has shown that eating small amounts of fat with vegetables increases the absorption of vitamins. The study used salsa with and without avocado to test the absorption of carotenoids.

Carotenoids such as beta-carotene are a precursor to vitamin A, essential for good vision. Carotenoids can also act as antioxidants which fight free radicals and ward off cancer.

Most of the valuable nutrients in vegetables are fat-soluble or lipid-soluble vitamins. So in order to be absorbed into your cells they need to grab a ride on a fat molecule. So next time you're eating raw carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, and peppers for a snack you might want to consider adding in a little healthly fat to help take full advantage of the vitamins you are consuming.

Any type of fat will make fat-soluble vitamins more absorbable, but it is best to consume healthy fats, like olives, olive oil, nuts, peanut butter, avocados and guacamole, instead of saturated fats.

Link to study

Note: When making changes to your diet such as adding fat like I have talked about above, you should use caution. Whenever you make changes to your diet or exercise routine you should do it slowly over a period of time such as a few days or a week to make sure that you do not experience any ill effects.

Energy Bars – Marketing at it’s best

Manufactures of “Energy Bar’s” have done a great job at training us to think of these foods as weight loss supplements, pick me ups, or meal substitutes. I have read that according to the FDA, the word “energy” on any label means that the food item supplies calories to the consumer. Eating these foods will not necessarily make you more energetic! This is great marketing, but misleading to a consumer. If you actually look at the labels on many of these bar such as Cliff Bar, PowerBar and Marathon Bars, these products are just about as bad as eating a Snickers bar.

When these bars where first created they where designed for endurance athletes such as marathoners and triathletes. The athletes needed something that they could easily carry with them, (that didn’t melt or wasn’t messy) that they could easily consume during long periods of training or racing. For these individuals that are burning 500-1000 calories per hour for multiple hours, these types of products are great. These bars delivery a rush of sugar to the blood stream which helps maintain their energy levels.

Now for someone trying to lose weight, these products do really provide the proper nutrition. When you consume these types of bars you end up with a rush of sugar enter your blood stream with does give you pretty instant satisfaction and energy, but the blood sugar crash that follows quickly leaves you feeling hungry and tired again.

Let take a closer look at some of the more popular bars:

Cliff Bar
250 Calories
5g Fat, 2g Saturated Fat
45g Carb, 21g sugar
10 g Protein
21% Fat / 61% Carbs / 18% Protein


PowerBar
240 Calories
3.5g Fat, 0.5g Saturated Fat
45g Carb, 16g sugar
10 g Protein
13% Fat / 72% Carbs / 16% Protein


Luna Bar – For Women
180 Calories
6g Fat, 3g Saturated Fat
23g Carb, 12g sugar
10 g Protein
25% Fat / 55% Carbs / 18% Protein


Snickers Bar - my weakness
273 Calories
14g Fat, 5g Saturated Fat
34g Carb, 28g sugar
5g Protein
14% Fat / 48% Carbs / 7% Protein


You can see that all of these products are packed with useless, processed carbohydrates that someone trying to loss weight does not need.

Now that being said there are meal replacement bars that are advertised specifically to people trying to loss weight, but you still need to look at what these products are providing. Just because they are lower calorie, doesn’t mean they are better for you.

Slim-Fast
120 Calories
4g Fat, 2g Saturated Fat
21g Carb, 12 sugar
1 g Protein
29% Fat / 16% Sat Fat / 68% Carbs / 3% Protein


Kashi TLC
120 Calories
2g Fat, 0.5g Saturated Fat
24g Carb, 8g sugar
5 g Protein
13% Fat / 72% Carbs / 15% Protein

My pick for best bar if you are going to eat one is:
Balance Bar
200 Calories
6g Fat, 2g Saturated Fat
22g Carb, 17g sugar
14 g Protein
27% Fat / 44% Carbs / 28% Protein

So what I am trying to do is get you to think about want you are putting in your mouth.

Well what is a better choice? I eat the following for breakfast or a snack almost everyday and it is just about the same calories as the bars above; apple, ½ cup of cottage cheese and 2oz of grilled chicken for 270 calories. This will leave you feeling fuller for a long period of time.

Apple, ½ cup cottage cheese, 3oz grilled chicken
238 Calories
4g Fat, 2g Saturated Fat
28g Carb, 18g sugar
30 g Protein
15% Fat / 46% Carbs / 39% Protein

Dear Jack Movie Avaliable on 10/3

http://www.jacksmannequin.com/dearjackmovie/

Workout of the day - 10/28

This was my second day back from a 3 month break at CrossFit Brea. I will definitely be hurting tomorrow.

Run 3/4 Mile and Stretch

3 Times through:

• 10 x Kettlebell Swings
• 10 x Box Jumps
• 10 x Air Squats

Max Squat

Food Totals for 10/28

I Love This Shirt

Found this shirt on Shirt.Woot.com. Sums up my will power for cookies!!!

Great Photo

WOD - Tuesday 10/27

10 min of jump rope and streching

4 times through:

• 200 meter row
• 25 burpees
• 1/4 mile run

Hold stuff and walk...heavy stuff for 5 minutes, switching on the minute

Every Second Counts - Crossfit Games

Watch out for killer condiments!

I know I keep trying to pound home the point of counting your calories…blah, blah blah, right! Well you’ve got to trust me on this, at least for a while. Reading product nutritional labels and looking up restaurant food’s before you eat them is going to teach you how to properly estimate the calories you are taking in. There are great sites out there like http://www.fitday.com/ or http://www.calorieking.com/ which have all of the basic food as well as most of the major brands and restaurants.

One of the reasons people like Weight Watchers so much is because there is “NO COUNTING CALORIES”, but really what they have done is make counting calories easier for you by assigning a point value.

I have found the key to a successful diet is planning. Take 5 minutes in the morning or before you go to bed to plan what you are going to eat in the coming day. This plan will help keep you on track.

One of the big derailers to your diet can be uncounted condiments. Those sneaky little things can really hurt you.

Ketchup
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 15
Fat 0g / Carbs 4g / Protein 0g

Mayonnaise
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 90
Fat 10 / Sat Fat 1.5 / Cabrs 0g / Protein 0g

A-1 Sauce
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 15g
Fat 0g / Carbs 3g / Protein 0g

Butter
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 101
Fat 11.5g / Sat Fat 5.8g / Carbs 0g / Protein 0.1g

Bleu Cheese Dressing
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories: 60
Fat 6g / Sat Fat 1.25g / Carbs 1g / Protein 0.5g

Ranch Dressing
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories: 70
Fat 7g / Sat Fat 1.25g / Carbs 1g / Protein 0.5g

BBQ Sause
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories: 19
Fat 0.05g / Sat Fat 0g / Carbs 4.5g / Protein 0.1g

Now as you look through this list you may be thinking that these really don’t look all that bad. Note that the serving size for each of these is only 1 tbsp. When was the last time you only had 1 tbsp of ranch dressing on your salad? Have you ever measured? Well if you haven’t you should.

The problem isn’t just one of these condiments, its not accounting for how quickly they add up during the day. When you have butter for breakfast, mayo for lunch along with ranch dressing and BBQ sauce for dinner you have added close to 300 calories to your diet that you may not be accounting for.

Now sure there are low calorie and low fat substitutes for a lot of these, but you need to realize that the majority of restaurants aren’t using these low calorie products.

So next time you order that salad for lunch, ask for the dressing on the side and use it sparingly. The problem is that our American diet has dulled our taste buds over the years. We fill need to add extra flavor to everything. If you slowly start you cut these products out of your diet, eventually you won’t miss them.

Side note: Today was the first time I have completely cut out sweetners from my coffee. I did it slowly over the past couple of weeks and I didn't miss it.

Kekick's Credo of the day
#3.
Think carefully before making any offers, commitments or promises, no matter how seemingly trivial. These are all contracts and they must be honored. These also include self-resolutions.

#4.
Real regrets only come from not doing your best. All else is out of your control. You're measured by results only. Trade excuses and "trying" for results, and expect half-hearted results from half-hearted efforts. Do more than is expected of you. Life's easy when you live it the hard way... and hard if you try to live it the easy way.

Egg-u-cation

For those of you looking to increase your protein intake, eggs are a great source. You just need to be smart when making eggs. Let start by looking a the nutritional information for one whole egg.

Egg – Yolk & White
Calories: 77
5g Fat / 0.6g Carbs / 6.3g Protein / Cholesterol 210mg

Note that the cholesterol in one egg is 210mg, this is two-thirds of the 300mg daily limit recommended by the American Heart Association. Now how many of us eat just one egg for breakfast? Typically I eat 2-3 eggs. This would put me way over the recommend limit for cholesterol as well as give me a total of 231 calories, with 15 grams of fat, but 18.9 grams of protein which is great and only 1.8 grams of carbs. Now this is 230 calories without any side dishes such as cottage cheese, fruit or veggies.

The smarter choice would be to use just eggs whites. Take a look atthe nutritional information for one whole egg, whites only.

Egg – White Only
Calories: 17
0g Fat / 0.3g Carbs / 3.5g Protein / 0mg Cholesterol

As you can see, all of the fat and cholesterol of an egg is contained in the yolk, and more than half of the protein is in the white. In this case we could eat 4 egg whites for a total of 68 calories with 0 grams of fat, 14 grams of protein, 0 grams of cholesterol and only 1.2 grams of carbs. The only down side I see to using just egg white is that majority of the vitamins are also contained in the yolk, but you should be getting plenty of these from the vegtables and fruit you are eating.

Now some people may not like eating just egg whites, so you could use a combination of the two. Try two egg whites and one whole egg. This would give you a total of 111 calories, with 5 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein, only 1.2 grams of carbs, but you do still get 210 grams of cholesterol.

So next time you make breakfast make sure to remember this egg-u-cational tip.

Meal Replacements

Yesterday I talked about energy and meal replacement bars. I pointed out that you need to be careful what you eat. Just because these products are marketed as energy/weight loss supplements that aren’t always your best bet. I also gave you one of the snack/meals that I eat almost every day (apple, cottage cheese, and 2-3oz grilled chicken). I always try to eat “real” food such as nuts, veggies, fruit and lean meat as much as possible. It is hard to stay away from the quick convenient replacement meal that we have all come accustom to eating, but doing so will make you healthier and you will start to seeing weight loss results. With that being said, I know there are times that you just don’t have time to make or pack a healthily lunch or snack. In those times I have found a combination that I feel is a great snack or meal replacement.

I carry a shake mixer in my lunch box to work with me everyday. This is a plastic cup with a lid that has an insert that sits in the top to help mix powdered drinks. With this I can mix a Slim-Fast Optima Shake, one scoop of vanilla whey protein powder and one cup of water. This is a great tasting substitute when you just don’t have time to eat something healthier. As you can see in the table below this combination is a total of 310 calories with 21% Fat, 35% Carbs, and 44% Protein. This is very close to the 20-40-40 diet rule.




The reason I recommend adding the protein powder is because Slim-Fast alone is not a great choice because it is very high in carbohydrates and it will spike in your blood sugar without the extra protein in it to help slow the absorption of the sugar into the blood stream.

The great thing about Slim-Fast is it is available at just about any grocery store. The vanilla whey protein is fairly inexpensive and can be picked up at most health food stores like Vitamin Shoppe, GNC or Max Muscle. I prefer the Optimum Nutrition Vanilla Ice Cream Whey Protein Powered. I like it because it doesn’t taste bad by itself. Click here for their website: http://www.optimumnutrition.com/products/100-whey-gold-standard-p-201.html. By the way, drinking this won’t make you look like the guy in the picture!

Want to Lose Weight? Which Diet? Apparently it doesn't Matter

Is it time to lose some weight again? If so, you have a big decision make. Which diet should I choose? There is a new diet making the news headlines every week. They all claim to have found the secret to fat lose. Well it turns out the choice is simple, pick any of these diets, they all work the same.

It turns out that in a study done by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of the Louisiana State University System found that it really doesn't matter if you follow a low-fat, low-carb, high-protein or vegetarian meal plan. What really matters is how many calories you are taking in.

It really quiet simple: Calories ingested minus calories burned needs to equal a negative number to lose weight. If you are trying to maintain your weight the number needs to be close to zero.

The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and it compared several diet plans with varying degrees of fat, protein and carbohydrates intake and found that weight loss occured on all of the plans as long as you consumed less calories than you burn.

The author of the study Dr. Frank Sacks, a professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at the Harvard School of Public Health, says, "It doesn't really matter much the specific type of diet. See what suits you best. The focus should be on reducing calories. That's what really counts."

The study involved 811 overweight volunteers and randomly assigned them to follow one of four diets: -

• Low-fat, average-protein diet made up of 20 percent fat, 15 percent protein and 65 percent carbohydrates.
  
• Low-fat, high-protein diet of 20 percent fat, 25 percent protein and 55 percent carbohydrates.
  
• High-fat, average-protein plan containing 40 percent fat, 15 percent protein and 45 percent carbohydrates.


• High-fat, high-protein diet of 40 percent fat, 25 percent protein and 35 percent carbohydrates.

All groups kept their saturated fat consumption to less that 8 percent a day, along with at least 20 grams of dietary fiber. All participants also engaged in 90 minutes of physical activity each week.

The study went on for two years with each participant entering their diet and exercise into a computer log. After six months, all participants had lost an average of about 13 pounds. After two years, the average weight loss was down to 6 or 7 pounds. Blood pressure and cholesterol levels where also recorded and where similar between the groups.

Dr. Sacks says. "The bottom line... if you want to lose weight, eat a heart-healthy diet and be very careful about how much you eat."

Breaking weight loss plateaus

As the weeks pass in our weight loss competition you my start hitting a weight loss plateau. This is a pretty common problem. The reason is our body works very hard to keep itself in balance, always monitoring our energy intake and output. The body does not like to lose weight and after that initial loss your progress will start to slow or even stop as you continue to exercise and eat at a deficit. This is why we have to constantly be switching up our workout routine.

Here are a five things that could be causing you to plateau:

#1: Make sure you are getting at least 2-3 days of exercising in per week. A combination of both weightlifting and cardio.

#2: Lowering your calories to much can actually cause you to stop losing weight. If you decease your calorie intake to low your body responds by lower your metabolic rate. You need to make sure you keep your calorie deficit around 500 - 700 calories maximum.

#3: Not getting enough sleep can actually make you gain weight. Experts are not exactly sure why a lack of sleep causes the body to gain weight, but it has been shown that women who sleep 5 hours per night where 32% more likely to experience major weight gain (an increase of 33 pounds or more over 16 years) and 15% more likely to become obese over the course of the 16 year study, compared to those who slept 7 hours a night.

#4: Losing weight requires cutting more calories. You need to remember that once you have lost some weight, it takes less calories to keep your body going. A loss of weight leads to a reduced energy requirement, which means you need to recalculate your daily calorie need.

#5: You are now in better shape. The more you exercise the better the body gets at performing these exercises. The better you get at it, the more efficient you are, and the fewer calories you burn. This means it's time to switch up the type of exercise you are doing.

Fruit Juice versus the Whole Fruit

One of the easiest ways to pick up empty calories is in fruit juices. These juices such as orange juice do contain vitamins such as vitamin C, but they are also packed with a ton calories are from sugars…empty, useless calories. Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t drink fruit juices, they are defiantly better than a can of coke or any other sugary, high-fructose-corn-syrupy beverage. Juices do have a place in our diet, but you should use them sparingly in you are trying to cut the calories.

Here are a few facts to think about:
It takes about three to four standard oranges to make one 8-ounce glass of orange juice. Wow, that must mean you are getting three to four servings of fruit, Right? Wrong. The fact is that you lose a lot of the vital nutrients when juicing a fruit and end up just consuming more of its empty calories. Here are some of the benefits of eating the whole fruit.

• Carbohydrates: In one glass of orange juice you get 26 grams of carbohydrates. Most of these calories are from sugars which are empty, useless calories. While eating one orange will provide only 11 to 20 grams of carbs with a lot of the calories coming from fiber, which are more filling and also provide more nutritious health benefits such as lowering blood cholesterol and glucose levels.


• Fiber: Most orange juices don’t even contain less than 1 gram of fiber in an 8-ounce glass, but one whole orange will get you 2 to 4 grams of fiber.


• Calories: Consuming one glass of orange juice will add around 110 calories to your diet, while if you ate the whole orange you would only be getting 45 to 85 calories.

So to help cut some calories, drink some water and eat an orange, a grapefruit, a cup of berries, or banana instead of drinking that glass of juice in the morning. If you are worried about getting in your vitamin C add a multivitamin to your diet.