CrossFit Jackson

CHALLENGE DETAILS:

8 weeks long      September 24 – November 19

This will give you time to blow it all on the busy, carb loaded holiday season and pick back up with Nutrition Challenge 2012 in January.

Nutrition classes will be Sunday, Sept 18th at 6PM at the gym and Tuesday, Sept 20th at 5:30PM at TLM Associates downtown. PLEASE let me know which class you will be attending. Classes are free for members and $10 for non-members. This will be a great opportunity to share the Zone diet and get your family on track to a healthier lifestyle starting with their nutrition.

The baseline WOD and photos will be done between Saturday, September 17th and Saturday, September 24th at the gym. To be considered for the prize, you must be available to complete your WOD and photo shoot (haha) by September 24th.

 A workout will be done at the beginning and end to determine performance change and will account for a percentage of your score (see Scoring below).

 Eating will be Zone/Paleo (your choice, nutrition class will teach Zone, but Paleo info is available on the January 2011 Nutrition Challenge Link and could greatly benefit you as well)

Cost is $10.00 (cash) to be put into a prize pot

All of the prize money will go to the winners. We will have 60% of the money go to the 1st place winner, 25% go to 2nd place and 15% go to 3rd place.

3 ‘Before’ pictures will be taken: front view, side view and back view. Men are in shorts; Women are in shorts and sports bra/bikini top.

3 ‘After’ pictures will be taken between the days of November 18th – 21st, no exceptions (you will forfeit if you cannot make this time frame)

All photos will be viewed and judged by trainers only.

Scoring

Most improved body based on before and after photos (not best looking body, but who shows the most overall improvement in body composition) will account for 25% of your score.

Improvement in the assigned WOD will account for 25% of your score.

Finally, % body fat lost will account for 50% of your score.

The challenge and winner will not be based on the weight of participants. Some people don’t actually loose that much weight but the change to their body is significant. We will weigh everyone for documentation, but it will not be used in determining the winner of the challenges.  People want to look good naked and pictures don’t lie.  Body fat measurements take more time, but paired with performance gains and photos, we are sure to find a very worthy winner of this challenge. The pictures are kept private. I can’t emphasize that enough, only the coaches will see them.  I can send your Before and After pictures to you via email.  I keep the pictures on a private computer.

 

What Do I Eat? Guide to Eating

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar.

MEAT:

“In order to get enough protein and calories you should eat animal food at almost every meal” (Cordain, Page 101)

Eat the leanest cuts you can and trim visible fat.

Eggs are good.  

Buffalo, elk, venison and other types of wild game are excellent choices if you can get them.

VEGETABLES:

Time to get creative.  Non starchy vegetables should be a big part of each meal.  Virtually all vegetables offer excellent nutritional value.

 Avoid starchy vegetables – potatoes, corn, etc.  If you must eat starch (it happens) try yams and sweet potatoes.

NUTS & SEEDS:

Filling and nutritious.  Nuts and seeds are packed with protein, fatty acids, enzymes, antioxidants and lots of vitamins and minerals, especially potassium and magnesium.  It is possible to screw up your fat profile with nuts though.  Lots of nuts have an unacceptably high omega 6 / omega 3 ratio.  Here are the best choices:

Walnuts

Macadamia nuts

Pecans

Nuts in moderation are very healthy but overeating them can stall weight loss.  Cashews especially are delicious but surprisingly high in carbohydrate and contain too much omega 6.

FRUIT:

A little fruit juice occasionally can be okay but, fruit juice is really candy.

Some fruits like bananas have a high glycemic load and should be avoided if you are trying to loose fat.

Berries!  Eat lots of berries!

FATS:

Fat is good for you.  Fat is essential to your well being and happiness.  (This is not hyperbolic writing. Having the proper fat profile makes a huge difference to your mental outlook and moods).  Fat is a great source of energy.  Fat triggers our sense of being full. Fat is an essential part of many of your cellular and hormonal processes.  We sicken and die fairly quickly without adequate intake of essential fats.

However….there are many bad fats in our food supply.

Fat from healthy animals is good for you! Chicken, duck, goose, lamb, beef and pork fat can all be eaten and is an excellent choice for cooking because of heat stability.   

Coconut oil is good for you and a good choice for cooking.  Choose organic, cold processed coconut oil.

Olive oil is very healthy.  Go for the extra virgin, cold pressed and use liberally. Olive oil does not have great heat stability so use something else for high heat frying.

Fats to Avoid:

Trans Fats– fats damaged by heat.  Trans fats can be extremely destructive to our health. 

Hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated oils. Terrible!  

Canola – should be avoided.  Canola has a very good omega 6/ Omega 3 ratio.  However, to be used commercially it has been genetically modified, highly refined, partially hydrogenated and deodorized.  Yikes!

Peanut, cottonseed, soybean and wheat germ oils…Not good!