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Athlete-Torturer Masseur, Ed Rockowitz, prominently featured in .com video today.
WOD 091128
3 Rounds for Max Reps:
Overhead Squat 95/65
Rest 3 minutes between efforts.
Post reps completed on all three rounds.
Followed By:
Every minute on the minute until failure:
95 pound Thruster, 5 reps
Sprint 75 meters.
Post rounds completed to comments.
If you are paying attention you may notice that today's programming is a little different from what we have been doing. This sort of training (brief intense efforts, both ME and metcon back to back) will become more of a staple after we finish this training cycle in January.
This is my take on old-school roots CrossFit as first envisioned by Greg Glassman in the seminal CrossFit Journal Article, "What is Fitness and Who is Fit" from October 2002:
"One of our favorite workout patterns is to warm-up and then perform three to five sets of three to five reps of a fundamental lift at a moderately comfortable pace followed by a ten-minute circuit of gymnastics elements at a blistering pace and finally finish with two to ten minutes of high intensity metabolic conditioning."
Most of my influences and 3/5 of the top Affiliate Cup finishers use this type of training. CrossFit Central posts mostly metcon, and CrossFit Calgary uses a MEBB-type template of the kind we are using now (40%+ ME).
CrossFit Oakland (Mike Minium, L3)
CrossFit Virtuosity (Keith Wittenstein, L3)
Optimum Performance Training (James Fitzgerald, Winner 1st CF Games)
Catalyst Athletics (Greg Everett)
Northwest CrossFit
CrossFit Central (Jeremy Thiel)
CrossFit Norcal, 4th Affiliate (Robb Wolf)
CrossFit Calgary
CrossFit Invictus
James Fitzgerald AKA "OPT" gives recommendations for PW0R ratios based on body comp:
post wod fuel male:
above 12% - 40g prot/10g carb
8-12% - 40g prot/25g carb
below 8% - 40g prot/40g carb
post wod fuel - female:
above 16% - 30g prot/10g carb
12-14% - 30g prot/20g carb
below 12% - 30g prot/30g carb
eat a balanced PFC meal 60 min after post wod fuel for everyone (P=protein, F=fat, C=carb)
I'm not endorsing this of yet, but it is interesting: not sure where he is getting this from. For now I am still recommending Chocolate Milk PWO for recovery. Yes, that's right, guilt-free chocolate milk!
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When I first pitched the idea of a monthlong dietary experiment with the Zone Diet to my highly dubious wife, here was my basic angle: "It'll just be thirty days. We'll do it as strictly as we can and we'll completely blow it out on Halloween." As it turns out, this is exactly what happened. So how was it? Well, I can pretty safely say it was an unqualified success for both of us, well beyond anything we were expecting or hoping for. Frankly, it has been astonishing to me. The most noticeable change has been much higher energy levels, which has translated to much greater intensity in workouts, shorter rest requirements and far better times on the metcons (I knocked 2:30 off the Fran time I set in June). This has come at no noticeable detriment to strength (Rebecca just matched or exceeded all of her previous strength PR's in this week's OT and CFT) or body composition (we both lost a couple pounds, but nothing dramatic).
There was a period of adjustment. While I did ok with my 16 blocks, Rebecca started out too low with 11 blocks. We were both feeling hungry a lot, but her hunger was more intense than mine: it affected her mood powerfully, and she was feeling underfueled in her workouts. Bumping up a block and doubling her fat blocks fixed the problem right up, though, and her performance took off almost immediately. The first couple weeks were also annoying with all the weighing and measuring, but (just as everyone said would happen), once we established a stable of recipes we really like that fit zone proportions, it got much easier. And we've found some really delicious meals.
Halloween was interesting. True to the original plan, we completely threw the diet out the window for the day. We went to Rudy's for lunch and had french fries, french toast, and a shake. We indulged in chocolate, candies, cookies and alcohol throughout the day and evening. I had anticipated that I might pay a price for this indulgence, but just as I didn't appreciate how beneficial the Zone would be, I also did not appreciate how bad it would be to stop. I felt awful. My entire digestive system was in painful revolt, my head was thick and achey, my breathing felt shallow. By the end of the day, I couldn't believe how eager I was to go to sleep so I could wake up and just eat some...oatmeal. Lesson learned.
Looking forward, we are definitely staying on this path. We still cook from our menu of zoned meals, and still come up with new ones. Maybe with a bit less OCD about the weighing and measuring in the meals we cook, but we both have gotten pretty good about estimating and assembling zone meals of the right size in our heads, even when eating out.
And as always, the emphasis is on quality of ingredients. Side story: at some point last month, we went for a hike with my parents that we realized we were underprepared for - we only had a two-block snack of jerky, nuts and fruit in our packs for a full-day hike. So we stopped off at a Whole Foods and picked up a couple Clif Builder bars, which (as it happens) are just about a perfectly-proportioned 3-block meal. The trouble was, they didn't feel at all satisfying, compared to the jerky snacks - they just had too much sugar and other bad ingredients. Another lesson learned.
So now Gita's happy, because the month is over and I'll finally shut up about the Zone after this post (no promises, man), but my final word is this: try it. Quit putting roadblocks and silly excuses in your way and just do the damn thing for a month. Everyone's different, so I can't promise that it will work miracles for you, but I do know that the risk is so low and the potential gain is so great, that you'd be a fool not to at least give it a shot.
As always, let me know if you have any questions or need any help setting your diet up.
Man, I love breakfast. I'd eat it all day if I thought I could get away with it. I generally start looking forward to breakfast just after dinner the night before. So imagine my relief when I discovered that breakfast is just about the easiest meal to make in zone proportions. Here are two of our favorite quick-and-easy recipes we've spent the last few weeks honing to perfection. Enjoy!Four-block scrambled eggs, toast and fruit
3 eggs
1 oz grated cheese (monterey or colby)
2 slices sprouted flax bread from TJ's (15g carbs for two slices!)
1 apple (or any 2 blocks of fruit)
1.3 tsp butter
Scramble the eggs with the cheese in a little bit of butter, saving the rest of the butter for the toast. Quarter and core the apple.
Three blocks of the best damn oatmeal, ever
Rebecca cannot get enough of this one.
3 blocks oatmeal (1/2c rolled or 1/4c steel cut), cooked with water
1/2c cottage cheese
1 slice bacon, fried crispy
1 tsp butter
Make the oatmeal per the instructions on the package. Melt the butter into the hot oatmeal. Chop the bacon into small bits and stir into the oatmeal with the cottage cheese. Make little noises of appreciation and do a little happy dance in your chair.
If you want to make it four blocks, add a block of fruit, 1/4c cottage cheese or another slice of bacon and a little more butter (or cut back on the butter and use walnuts instead).
Skins: highly reccomended.
Social Climbing at GWPC 6-9PM.
Come climb with the CFEB crew. If you don't know how this is a great opportunity to learn to top-rope: you don't need to own equipment, but there is a nominal fee for harness and shoe rental.
Post routes completed or attempted to comments.
So far, my dispatches from my Zone Diet experiment have been, I would say, quite positive. I have observed good results in myself and others, and learned some valuable takeaways. This week I want to touch on what I would consider the dark side of the Zone, and one of the main reasons I stayed away for so long: it can be a mental trap.
I blame the numbers. You've got blocks, grams, ounces and pounds, "activity levels," percentages of macronutrients and bodyfat, weighing, measuring, calculating - it gets very absorbing. Annoying, at times, yes, but also very engrossing. It is for this reason that I would never recommend the Zone to anyone with a history of eating disorders: paying so much attention to the minutiae of what you eat and when you eat can veer alarmingly close to OCD at times. It has a tendency to spin people off in the wrong direction.
A lot of folks have been coming up to me with math questions. I find this pretty amusing, considering the relationship I've always had with math. They want to know what their activity factor is, how many blocks I think they should be eating in light of their goals, etc. I certainly don't mind the questions, and I'll answer to the best of my ability, but I want to be sure we always have our eyes on the REAL prize: athletic performance.
The numbers you need to watch
You see, in my mind all these formulae, all this zoning, should just be tools to be used in furthering athletic goals. The best mantra I've learned in all of this is simply this: Let your performance be your guide. Because getting caught up in all the dietary stuff for the sake of body image is a chump's game with no way of winning. Scales are unreliable, and bodyfat calculators even more so - and even if you have the "real" number, it's meaningless! You could be in all the "right" places by those measurements and still be totally unhealthy, sickly or weak.
But if you focus on the numbers in your workouts, the body just takes care of itself. Show me someone with a 2x bodyweight deadlift and a sub-six mile, and I'll show you someone who looks good naked. And I don't care what your morphology is: if you can turn in a 300+ FGB and a Fran in under 5 minutes, you're hot.
So by all means, follow the Zone or whatever diet works best for you, but let your diet serve your body - and not the other way around.
This week's recipe: the five-block salad
I don't do it as often as I did before the Zone, but I'm still Intermittent Fasting a couple days a week. It's a lot trickier on the Zone, as it can be tough to fit 16 blocks into 8 hours, particularly around a work schedule. I make this salad as my breakfast on Fridays, when I don't eat until around 1pm or so, and it's a great, very filling meal - I look forward to it every week.
Ingredients:
I blame the numbers. You've got blocks, grams, ounces and pounds, "activity levels," percentages of macronutrients and bodyfat, weighing, measuring, calculating - it gets very absorbing. Annoying, at times, yes, but also very engrossing. It is for this reason that I would never recommend the Zone to anyone with a history of eating disorders: paying so much attention to the minutiae of what you eat and when you eat can veer alarmingly close to OCD at times. It has a tendency to spin people off in the wrong direction.
A lot of folks have been coming up to me with math questions. I find this pretty amusing, considering the relationship I've always had with math. They want to know what their activity factor is, how many blocks I think they should be eating in light of their goals, etc. I certainly don't mind the questions, and I'll answer to the best of my ability, but I want to be sure we always have our eyes on the REAL prize: athletic performance.
The numbers you need to watch
You see, in my mind all these formulae, all this zoning, should just be tools to be used in furthering athletic goals. The best mantra I've learned in all of this is simply this: Let your performance be your guide. Because getting caught up in all the dietary stuff for the sake of body image is a chump's game with no way of winning. Scales are unreliable, and bodyfat calculators even more so - and even if you have the "real" number, it's meaningless! You could be in all the "right" places by those measurements and still be totally unhealthy, sickly or weak.
But if you focus on the numbers in your workouts, the body just takes care of itself. Show me someone with a 2x bodyweight deadlift and a sub-six mile, and I'll show you someone who looks good naked. And I don't care what your morphology is: if you can turn in a 300+ FGB and a Fran in under 5 minutes, you're hot.
So by all means, follow the Zone or whatever diet works best for you, but let your diet serve your body - and not the other way around.
This week's recipe: the five-block salad
I don't do it as often as I did before the Zone, but I'm still Intermittent Fasting a couple days a week. It's a lot trickier on the Zone, as it can be tough to fit 16 blocks into 8 hours, particularly around a work schedule. I make this salad as my breakfast on Fridays, when I don't eat until around 1pm or so, and it's a great, very filling meal - I look forward to it every week.Ingredients:
- Half a package TJ's organic baby spinach (about 3 cups)
- 1 can Tongol tuna (4.5oz)
- 0.5oz feta cheese
- 1 apple, diced
- 1 rib celery, sliced
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp salad dressing
- 2 blocks of fruit on the side
So here we are, nearly two weeks in. How are you doing with the diet? Still waffling? Just so you know: waffles aren't part of a healthy zone diet. How about those of you that have joined in? From the conversations I've been having this week, it seems those who are doing it are seeing favorable results from their efforts, and some of the rockiness of the first week has evened out somewhat.
We had our first non-proportioned (ie, "cheat") meal at Alex & Rebecca's the other night - it was amazingly delicious (thanks again, guys), but as I was wolfing down my third helping of jambalaya, I was thinking to myself: yeah, I'm not measuring it, but it's not that far off, really: a sensible dose of protein and fat surrounded by a healthy variety of natural carbohydrates. I mean, when the unhealthiest thing on your table is rice, you're in pretty damn good shape.
And that's the takeaway I'm developing so far with this month's little adventure: balance. I don't know if I'll keep weighing and measuring after October (I suspect I will, as I'm liking where this is going), but the diet so far has taught me nothing if not this: carbohydrates can be a good thing, as long as you get most of them from fruits and vegetables and scale back your protein and fats accordingly.
It was a good week for me, workout-wise. Yeah, the 115# thrusters on Wednesday were a disaster, but thrusters always are and I feel like I did really well on everything leading up to them. Although my strength levels seem to be more or less the same, my mood and met-con performance have noticeably improved. I feel like I made real strides in both double-unders and chest-to-bar pullups. My weight has stayed pretty flat so far, but if I wanted to lose or gain, it would be a simple thing to just drop or add a block. I've been sore, but not uncomfortably so. One odd side effect seems to be an increased sensitivity to caffeine - Rebecca and I both had some unusual reactions to coffee recently. I'm curious to see if this week brings anything new.
What about you?
Zone Recipe: Butternut Squash Curry
Here's a tasty fall recipe that makes exactly 15 blocks - portion it out evenly and you've got five convenient 3-block meals.
Whisk the curry paste and coconut milk together and set aside.
In a fairly large saucepan, heat the oil and add the onions. Saute over medium heat until the onions are soft. Add the garlic and stir until just fragrant, then pour in the coconut milk and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer, then add all the veggies and stir. Cover the saucepan, turn the heat to low, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not mushy (unless you like 'em that way). Add your pre-cooked meat and let simmer for a couple more minutes to heat, then remove from stove, portion out and serve!
We had our first non-proportioned (ie, "cheat") meal at Alex & Rebecca's the other night - it was amazingly delicious (thanks again, guys), but as I was wolfing down my third helping of jambalaya, I was thinking to myself: yeah, I'm not measuring it, but it's not that far off, really: a sensible dose of protein and fat surrounded by a healthy variety of natural carbohydrates. I mean, when the unhealthiest thing on your table is rice, you're in pretty damn good shape.
And that's the takeaway I'm developing so far with this month's little adventure: balance. I don't know if I'll keep weighing and measuring after October (I suspect I will, as I'm liking where this is going), but the diet so far has taught me nothing if not this: carbohydrates can be a good thing, as long as you get most of them from fruits and vegetables and scale back your protein and fats accordingly.
It was a good week for me, workout-wise. Yeah, the 115# thrusters on Wednesday were a disaster, but thrusters always are and I feel like I did really well on everything leading up to them. Although my strength levels seem to be more or less the same, my mood and met-con performance have noticeably improved. I feel like I made real strides in both double-unders and chest-to-bar pullups. My weight has stayed pretty flat so far, but if I wanted to lose or gain, it would be a simple thing to just drop or add a block. I've been sore, but not uncomfortably so. One odd side effect seems to be an increased sensitivity to caffeine - Rebecca and I both had some unusual reactions to coffee recently. I'm curious to see if this week brings anything new.
What about you?
Zone Recipe: Butternut Squash CurryHere's a tasty fall recipe that makes exactly 15 blocks - portion it out evenly and you've got five convenient 3-block meals.
- 15 oz meat of your choice (I used one of those Trader Joe's "Just Chicken" packs)
- 4 cups butternut squash (1 medium), either diced raw or pre-roasted and spooned out
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 1 parsnip, 9" or so, diced
- 1 tbsp olive or coconut oil
- 1 can lite coconut milk
- 2 tbsp Thai Kitchen red curry paste
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- Cilantro or parsley to garnish (optional)
Whisk the curry paste and coconut milk together and set aside.
In a fairly large saucepan, heat the oil and add the onions. Saute over medium heat until the onions are soft. Add the garlic and stir until just fragrant, then pour in the coconut milk and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer, then add all the veggies and stir. Cover the saucepan, turn the heat to low, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not mushy (unless you like 'em that way). Add your pre-cooked meat and let simmer for a couple more minutes to heat, then remove from stove, portion out and serve!
OK, nearly a week into the October Zone challenge, Rebecca and I have learned an awful lot. If you've joined us, I would love to hear your stories and any tips or tricks you may have picked up. If you're sitting on the fence, I encourage you to try it: it's really not as difficult as it sounds! Here are some of my observations:Performance. I have not seen a noticeable performance increase, but it's only been a week. What I have seen, and saw almost immediately, is a big jump in energy and attitude. For months now, I've been fighting a tired feeling of dread at the start of workouts - I'd set out on the warmup run and immediately begin a mental argument that would go something like this: "I feel crappy. Maybe I'll take it easy today. No, that's stupid: I won't get any better if I don't push" etc., etc. The Zone has cleared that feeling like a bad fog. On my first day, I realized halfway through a two-mile run that I was actually enjoying myself, feeling fit and pushing my body to see what it could do.
The obvious answer for this is the increase in carbohydrates - my diet has typically been very low-carb (under 100g) modified paleo, and I suspect it was putting me in a state of permanent bonk. Gita is no doubt laughing at me by now, but I have to concede that more-than-doubling my carbohydrates has indeed increased my supply of ready glycogen, which translates to more energy. While that may not translate to better performance immediately, I can only think that it will allow me to attack workouts with greater intensity, and thereby reap a greater benefit. I'd be curious to hear about this from somebody coming to the Zone from the other side (ie, a typical high-carb, low-fat diet). I'm also very curious to see if gain, lose or stay even eating this way.
The weighing and measuring has been a bit of a pain, but quickly gets better as you get used to it. We also tend to eat the same foods a lot, so you learn what's what and gravitate to those things that are easy (ie, TJ's makes some chicken sausages that are exactly 3 blocks of protein each). We've also been making large meals in the proper proportions, then dividing them up into 3 and 4 block tupperwares for leftovers, which makes lunches really easy.
The carbs have been the trickiest part. Four blocks of broccoli or raw spinach is an INSANE amount of food - far more than can be reasonably eaten in a sitting - so we've been seeking out the denser favorable carbs. Thank goodness for yams and beans. That there are people out there who do both Zone and strict Paleo boggles my mind: they must spend two hours each day simply eating.
Anyway, there are some personal observations after a week. Are you doing it to? What have you discovered? Still hesitating? Come on in - the water's fine.
Here are a couple of the more successful recipes we've found this week:
Dinner: Sausage, Spinach & Sweet Potatoes (SUPER easy 3-block meal)
- TJ's Pesto or Andouille chicken sausages (3P blocks each)
- Bag of TJ's organic spinach (1C block)
- Half a 5-6" yam (2C block)
- 1 clove garlic (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- 0.5 Tbsp olive oil
- a little butter for the yam
Cut the sausage(s) and saute in a large skillet in the olive oil until lightly browned. Empty the bag of spinach over them, lower the heat to medium and cover for 2 minutes or until the spinach is soft and wilted. Stir to mix. Add crushed garlic and stir just until fragrant, and remove from heat. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the yam.
Need 4 blocks? Serve with a cup of cold milk.
Snack: Cottage cheese and fruit (2 blocks)
- 1/2c cottage cheese
- 3/4c applesauce OR 2 diced peaches OR 5 dried apricots OR use your imagination
- 18 slivered almonds (if you don't feel like counting, just two small spoonfuls)
- sprinkle liberally with cinnamon
I'd like to take a moment to call out our friend and fellow athlete Raphael Dozzi. Now, athletically speaking, Raph has a few things going for him that make him a great CrossFitter: yes, he's young and has good genes, but he's also dogmatic about coming to as many workouts in a week as he can, and making up those he can't. And we've all seen the passionate intensity he brings to his workouts.
All of this is great, but I could also point to several other CFEB regulars who share the same traits. So why am I focusing on Raph this week? Because lately Raph has an ally in his corner that, to my knowledge, none of the rest of us (besides Max) do: the Zone diet. Since he started zoning strictly, Raph's performance has gone through the roof - he's been shedding bodyfat noticeably, his Clean & Jerk is one of the best in CFEB, and his Fight Gone Bad went from an already respectable 270 to a very impressive 306. At that level, a 36 point jump in your Fight Gone Bad score does not just happen - it is a solid indicator of athletic improvement.
His story, while impressive, is not unique - you read about it all the time from CrossFitters who fix their diet, typically by starting the Zone. The Zone Diet is the official diet of CrossFit. While variations of Paleo are also popular, Zone is what they taught me at my level 1 cert, and Zone is the first thing they advocate on CrossFit.com. Nearly all the top performers at the Games swear by the Zone. I've even heard that CrossFit NorCal (Robb Wolf's box), flat out will not let you join the gym unless you agree to eat Zone.
I blush to confess that I have never personally tried the Zone. I am intimidated by all the math that's involved. I almost never use measuring implements when I cook, much less the scale. But inspired by Raph, I've resolved to put my misgivings behind me and commit to going strict Zone for the month of October - and I invite you to join me. I will dedicate CrossKitchen for the month of October to an exploration of the Zone, and share with you any recipes, tips and insights that I gain, and hope you will do the same. 30 days, and we can blow it all out in style on Halloween. Let's do this thing!
OK!...but...uh...what is the Zone?
Sorry. I got ahead of myself there. First things first: the Zone Diet is a somewhat unique take on dieting invented by Dr. Barry Sears. His theory is that the human body performs optimally on a diet wherein the ratio of each meal is 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrates. When eating this way, the body enters a "Zone" where it is firing on all cylinders, easily converting bodyfat to energy and sidestepping the rollercoaster of hormone release caused by eating things all out of proportion.
You can read more at the official Zone Diet website, but it's something of a marketing nightmare. I would encourage you instead to consult the Bible of the Zone for Crossfitters: Journal issue #21. It's freely available, and packed with far more practical information in an easy-to-read format than any of the Zone materials I've read. I will endeavor to provide a quick overview here, but if you're serious about trying this I highly recommend reading the journal article at least.
A quick rundown: Meet the Block
The Zone Diet is built out of "blocks." A block is made of 7 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of fat and 9 grams of carbohydrates. Consuming food in these proportions will meet the 30/30/40 requirement.
The next step is figuring out how many blocks you should eat in a day. There is a calculation for that. Here's what you do: head over to my blog, and on the right you'll see a bodyfat calculator. Fill in your numbers, and you'll get a lean body weight. Multiply this number by 0.7, then divide by 7 for your block count. Using me as an example: a lean body mass of 157 times 0.7 comes to 110, divided by 7 comes to 15.7, so I can eat 16 blocks a day. This could be four 4-block meals, or (more likely) three 4-block meals and two 2-block snacks, or... well, the permutations are extensive.
(Side note: if you are already at a very low bodyfat (ie, 8% for men, 13% for women), then you should double or triple the amount of fat you're allowed in each block, or risk losing too much weight).
Practical application
CFJ #21 is full of helpful tips on how to convert all these numbers into actual food that you can eat. Take one food from the protein column, one from carbs and one from fat and you have a block of food - multiply quantities for more blocks. Or just pick something from the sample menus. There are also plenty of online resources for zone recipes. If I find anything particularly compelling, I'll be sure to share it - I hope you'll do the same for me.
So who's on board?
Anyone else ready to take the plunge? Sound off in the comments! Questions? Fire away and Max, Raph and I can do our best to clear up confusion.
All of this is great, but I could also point to several other CFEB regulars who share the same traits. So why am I focusing on Raph this week? Because lately Raph has an ally in his corner that, to my knowledge, none of the rest of us (besides Max) do: the Zone diet. Since he started zoning strictly, Raph's performance has gone through the roof - he's been shedding bodyfat noticeably, his Clean & Jerk is one of the best in CFEB, and his Fight Gone Bad went from an already respectable 270 to a very impressive 306. At that level, a 36 point jump in your Fight Gone Bad score does not just happen - it is a solid indicator of athletic improvement.
His story, while impressive, is not unique - you read about it all the time from CrossFitters who fix their diet, typically by starting the Zone. The Zone Diet is the official diet of CrossFit. While variations of Paleo are also popular, Zone is what they taught me at my level 1 cert, and Zone is the first thing they advocate on CrossFit.com. Nearly all the top performers at the Games swear by the Zone. I've even heard that CrossFit NorCal (Robb Wolf's box), flat out will not let you join the gym unless you agree to eat Zone.
I blush to confess that I have never personally tried the Zone. I am intimidated by all the math that's involved. I almost never use measuring implements when I cook, much less the scale. But inspired by Raph, I've resolved to put my misgivings behind me and commit to going strict Zone for the month of October - and I invite you to join me. I will dedicate CrossKitchen for the month of October to an exploration of the Zone, and share with you any recipes, tips and insights that I gain, and hope you will do the same. 30 days, and we can blow it all out in style on Halloween. Let's do this thing!
OK!...but...uh...what is the Zone?
Sorry. I got ahead of myself there. First things first: the Zone Diet is a somewhat unique take on dieting invented by Dr. Barry Sears. His theory is that the human body performs optimally on a diet wherein the ratio of each meal is 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrates. When eating this way, the body enters a "Zone" where it is firing on all cylinders, easily converting bodyfat to energy and sidestepping the rollercoaster of hormone release caused by eating things all out of proportion.
You can read more at the official Zone Diet website, but it's something of a marketing nightmare. I would encourage you instead to consult the Bible of the Zone for Crossfitters: Journal issue #21. It's freely available, and packed with far more practical information in an easy-to-read format than any of the Zone materials I've read. I will endeavor to provide a quick overview here, but if you're serious about trying this I highly recommend reading the journal article at least.
A quick rundown: Meet the Block
The Zone Diet is built out of "blocks." A block is made of 7 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of fat and 9 grams of carbohydrates. Consuming food in these proportions will meet the 30/30/40 requirement.
The next step is figuring out how many blocks you should eat in a day. There is a calculation for that. Here's what you do: head over to my blog, and on the right you'll see a bodyfat calculator. Fill in your numbers, and you'll get a lean body weight. Multiply this number by 0.7, then divide by 7 for your block count. Using me as an example: a lean body mass of 157 times 0.7 comes to 110, divided by 7 comes to 15.7, so I can eat 16 blocks a day. This could be four 4-block meals, or (more likely) three 4-block meals and two 2-block snacks, or... well, the permutations are extensive.
(Side note: if you are already at a very low bodyfat (ie, 8% for men, 13% for women), then you should double or triple the amount of fat you're allowed in each block, or risk losing too much weight).
Practical application
CFJ #21 is full of helpful tips on how to convert all these numbers into actual food that you can eat. Take one food from the protein column, one from carbs and one from fat and you have a block of food - multiply quantities for more blocks. Or just pick something from the sample menus. There are also plenty of online resources for zone recipes. If I find anything particularly compelling, I'll be sure to share it - I hope you'll do the same for me.
So who's on board?
Anyone else ready to take the plunge? Sound off in the comments! Questions? Fire away and Max, Raph and I can do our best to clear up confusion.
Thanks to a particularly extreme workout on Wednesday, many of us have experienced a inordinate amount of discomfort this week. Hell, it's MONDAY and I'm still having difficulty standing up. I've already made a post about ways to combat DOMS, but there's one point in there I'd like to elaborate a bit more about. You're not going to like it. Sorry.All that Naproxen (Aleve), Ibuprofen (Advil), Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and Aspirin you've been popping like M&M's? They're bad for you, and I want you to avoid taking them if possible.
Those drugs are the most popular forms of NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs). Which, according to Wikipedia, are:
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, usually abbreviated to NSAIDs or NAIDs, are drugs with analgesic, antipyretic (lowering an elevated body temperature and relieving pain without impairing consciousness) and, in higher doses, with anti-inflammatory effects (reducing inflammation).Why are they bad for you? Here's two major reasons:
Exhibit #1: Dementia.
NSAIDs may increase your risk of dementia. In a large-scale study of the elderly published in Neurology, scientists followed 2,736 people over 12 years. Of the participants, those who regularly or heavily used NSAIDS were 66% more likely to develop dementia. Granted, this was a study of the elderly, for whom Alzheimer's disease is a far more pressing threat than for the typical CrossFit athlete - but I need all the help I can get in keeping my brain sharp.
Exhibit #2: They inhibit protein synthesis.
A study of 24 young, able-bodied men broke the group into three groups, one of which took the maximum dosage of Ibuprofen, another of Acetaminophen, and a third a placebo before performing heavy eccentric movements designed to induce muscle soreness. Both the NSAID groups showed diminished protein synthesis afterwards compared to the placebo.
Note that it said "diminished," not "none." You can still gain muscle while taking pain pills, just not as much. Which leads me to my ultimate point:
Moderation
Like with just about everything, occasional use of NSAIDs is fine - even beneficial in some cases. It's just chronic use that can be problematic. If you're in so much pain from DOMS that you cannot function normally in your life or job, then for God's sake take an Aleve. Overdoing it, as many of us did this week, is an inevitable part of training and teaches valuable lessons. Just save the big guns for the special occasions, and rely on the homebrew alternatives the rest of the time.
With the recent heat wave, I was feeling the urge for a special summer treat: something cool and refreshing and, yes, sweet to battle the hot sun. As you may know, Alex and I have embarked on a beer-brewing adventure together, but we won't see the results of that for a few weeks still. I wanted something more immediate. Ginger beer has long been a favorite of mine, but it wasn't until I discovered Reed's that I learned the pleasure of a strong ginger beer, as opposed to the extremely timid ginger "ale" that we mostly get here in America. Even Reed's doesn't give the kick I crave, though, so I started looking around to see about mixing up a batch myself.Ginger: good for you
Ginger has been used medicinally for about as long as mankind has been around. It's a mild stimulant with a unique and powerful flavor that has long been used to combat things like colic and dyspepsia. It's frequently used to combat colds and flus, though there aren't any studies that support its effectiveness in this regard. It IS, however, widely acknowledged as an effective cure for nausea and upset stomachs, whether caused by motion sickness, morning sickness, chemotherapy or just feeling yucky. It has also been used historically as an anti-inflammatory, long used to combat arthritis (the studies to support this are mixed).
I can testify to the nausea bit. I'm prone to motion sickness, particularly on boats or very curvy roads, and have used ginger supplementation to very good effect to fight this. In fact, I have brewed up this very beverage as a prophylaxis against seasickness. There are plenty of ways to supplement with ginger: ground ginger in gelatine caplets, ginger tea, candied ginger or (my favorite): ginger beer.
The best tasting medicine I can make
I should warn you now: this recipe contains sugar. So if you and sugar have parted ways forever, you can just stop reading now, and feel free to cut loose with a smug little smile. Go on, you've earned it. For the rest of us, I'll borrow the wisdom of the great sage Cookie Monster and classify this as a "sometime food." Proceed accordingly.
Ingredients you'll need:- A gallon of water
- One or two large ginger roots (I like mine STRONG, so I use two big roots)
- A lemon
- 2 cups of sugar (I like a mixture of brown and white)
- 1/2 Tbsp bread yeast
- optional: 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar (balance the acidity)
- optional: 1/2 tsp Cayenne (pow!)
- A large pot
- A metal sieve or strainer
- A gallon jug (or a couple half-gallon jars)
- A funnel
- Several small plastic bottles with twist caps
If you have a juicer, juice the ginger. I don't have a juicer, so I grated it with the Cuisinart. You could use a blender, or just chop it into small chunks. I didn't bother peeling it, but you do want to wash any loose dirt off the roots.
Combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the yeast in a big pot, and bring it to a boil. It'll look like this:
As the water's heating, mix a teaspoon of sugar with 1/4 cup of warm tap water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water, but don't stir it in. It should take a while for the mixture to boil, but you want the yeast to get at least 15 minutes of activation time.
OK, your mixture has started boiling. If you're using chunks/slices of ginger and lemon, you might want to let it boil for a few more (~5) minutes to extract more flavor. Fill your sink with cold water - put ice cubes in it if you can - and carefully lower the hot pan into the cold water bath. You want to cool it to lukewarm (below 100 degrees F) quickly, to avoid any bacterial contamination.
Once it's lukewarm, strain the chunks out of your liquid into your big jug/jar and stir in the activated yeast. Seal LOOSELY, so that air can escape but bugs can't get in. Easiest thing would probably be to put a clean cloth over the top. You really, really do not want to seal this thing airtight, unless you fancy repainting your room with glass shards and ginger juice.
Watch the sides of the jar closely - after a few hours, you'll see some small bubbles. Once you see a regular stream of bubbles (kind of like a carbonated soda), you know the yeast is happily working away. If you never see any bubbles, then your yeast is probably dead or something went wrong - you should probably just toss it down the drain and try again.
Now it's time for bottling! Go ahead and pour the brew into your plastic bottles, but not all the way to the top - leave some space at the top. Seal the bottles tightly, and leave them in a warm spot (but not directly in the sun).
What's going on: The yeast is busily eating up the sugar and expelling carbon dioxide as waste. The CO2 has nowhere to go, so as pressure builds it gets "carbonated" into the liquid. You're making it bubbly! The warmer it is, the faster this process will go - at normal Berkeley temperatures you probably want to leave it overnight, but this weekend it was so hot that my batch was done in three hours. You can test its progress by squeezing the plastic bottles - when they don't give at all, you know there's a lot of pressure built up inside. Move them into the refrigerator to halt the process. It's all done!
Serve cold, as you would any ginger beer. It's very good mixed with iced tea. There are also other, more adult options, if you feel like throwing more dietary restrictions out the window.
Sláinte!
Combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the yeast in a big pot, and bring it to a boil. It'll look like this:
As the water's heating, mix a teaspoon of sugar with 1/4 cup of warm tap water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water, but don't stir it in. It should take a while for the mixture to boil, but you want the yeast to get at least 15 minutes of activation time.OK, your mixture has started boiling. If you're using chunks/slices of ginger and lemon, you might want to let it boil for a few more (~5) minutes to extract more flavor. Fill your sink with cold water - put ice cubes in it if you can - and carefully lower the hot pan into the cold water bath. You want to cool it to lukewarm (below 100 degrees F) quickly, to avoid any bacterial contamination.
Once it's lukewarm, strain the chunks out of your liquid into your big jug/jar and stir in the activated yeast. Seal LOOSELY, so that air can escape but bugs can't get in. Easiest thing would probably be to put a clean cloth over the top. You really, really do not want to seal this thing airtight, unless you fancy repainting your room with glass shards and ginger juice.
Watch the sides of the jar closely - after a few hours, you'll see some small bubbles. Once you see a regular stream of bubbles (kind of like a carbonated soda), you know the yeast is happily working away. If you never see any bubbles, then your yeast is probably dead or something went wrong - you should probably just toss it down the drain and try again.
Now it's time for bottling! Go ahead and pour the brew into your plastic bottles, but not all the way to the top - leave some space at the top. Seal the bottles tightly, and leave them in a warm spot (but not directly in the sun).
What's going on: The yeast is busily eating up the sugar and expelling carbon dioxide as waste. The CO2 has nowhere to go, so as pressure builds it gets "carbonated" into the liquid. You're making it bubbly! The warmer it is, the faster this process will go - at normal Berkeley temperatures you probably want to leave it overnight, but this weekend it was so hot that my batch was done in three hours. You can test its progress by squeezing the plastic bottles - when they don't give at all, you know there's a lot of pressure built up inside. Move them into the refrigerator to halt the process. It's all done!Serve cold, as you would any ginger beer. It's very good mixed with iced tea. There are also other, more adult options, if you feel like throwing more dietary restrictions out the window.
Sláinte!
A note on the alcohol content
Any time you ferment something, alcohol is a byproduct. So yes, this does contain some alcohol - about 0.5% alcohol by volume, or 1 proof. If that's unacceptable to you, there's a good alternative: simply omit the step of adding the yeast and letting it sit. You will still have a mighty strong and tasty drink. You can either add bubbles with a carbonating device (ask Alex), or just mix the drink with some seltzer water over ice.
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