Comments on: Relax, CrossFit Stamford…

By: Whole9 feels the East Coast love | Whole9

Whole9 feels the East Coast love | Whole9 — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:04:42 +0000

[...] Bickler, owner of CrossFit Stamford, a few weeks back. (If you recall, we first visited the Stamford crew back in January, after which the workshop attendees completed the full Whole3o program.) Kristie [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:07:52 +0000

OH! Me likey all this attention 
This is outstanding and fantastic. I feel like such an ass though because I really neglect to give you both crucial info. Ive been pretty paleo for quite sometime, not really pretty, while throwing in things that aren’t paleo and meals that are for sure post modern neo. I decided though, I am issuing a challenge at both gyms I work at, to go STRICT!! for 30 days. I have already decided, a week into, that I MUST continue this way. But I still want to ride the paleo pony (and eat it) for the whole 30days because the results are amazing. Im not exactly new to this kind of eating, Ive been doing it since the “cert” I did with Robb months ago, Im new to being SO strict though. I dont know about large quantities concerning eggs but sometime 10 a day was possible. Mainly though it was 5+ for 7 days (they were non O-3 cheap lil bastards too). But using Robbs ever so clever “tinker” philosophy, I decided to cut and see what happens. I feel super good, just wallet was a little light and I was getting concerned that meat would cost upwards of $60 (while deal hunting like a gypsy) a week. Thats just for the beef, and chicken, and fish, and bison. Listening to the podcasts and looking at my diet over a 3 day time period I felt O-6 high, even though I supplement fish oil at a heavy dose Ive been trying to clean out that 0-6 balance and really tip the scales. Im loving drinking coconut milk cause its cheap and tasty, though slightly concerned about the LDL raise it gives.
But yes thank you, when robb spoke of eggs he didnt break down whether it was the yolk or egg white or both so I decided to not screw around and get rid of it all.
And yes, thank you, that is the exact kind of shake I buy, using coconut milk, except post workout (then just h2o) with cinnamon. Im 2 weeks in so I think Im gonna try and make it but Im thinking of starting The Whole 30….Years!!! and the cost/convenience of the lil buggers I was debating.
Thank you both for your help in the matter.

By: Dallas @ Whole9

Dallas @ Whole9 — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:12:00 +0000

@Chris,

I’d like to chime in on this, too. I hear you on the desire to remove dietary factors that could be inflammatory (and thus cause symptoms like acne), but if you’re new to a good, clean nutrition plan (i.e. the Whole30), maybe giving your body a little time to heal and “cool down” would be effective enough before resorting to cutting out eggs and nuts, which in large quantities have the potential to be inflammatory because of the types of fats contained in them. Some nuts are worse than others; nuts containing a high proportion of omega-6 fats (like walnuts and brazil nuts) tend to promote inflammation, whereas nuts that contain higher levels of monounsaturated fats (like macadamias, pistachios, and hazelnuts/filberts) with less/little omega-6 are not really very pro-inflammatory. Keep in mind that the issue is how much omega-3 you get relative to omega-6, so avoiding high levels of omega-6 with tons of omega-6-rich nuts is a good idea. And unless I missed something along the way, I think the concern with eggs is the pro-inflammatory fat content in the yolks, so egg whites should still be an excellent protein source for you. I’ll second Melissa’s comment about your supplementation. Hope this helps.

Oh, and if you absolutely must do a protein shake, find one that’s unsweetened, with no artificial flavours, and is JUST whey protein, with no casein or soy protein added.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:52:14 +0000

Hi Melissa,
Thank you so much for responding. I didn’t want to ramble too much so I apologize for not divulging enough info.
I cut eggs because of robbs podcasts he said it could help with acne. Though I don’t have a bad problem with it I get white heads easily right under my eyes. So I cut eggs and nuts as per suggestion that it could be causing that type of inflammation. (Also nuts were cut because he suggested switching to other fat sources and away from nuts.)
Got it on the shakes. I’m finding ways to hold out its just kind of costly. Real food and time for meals (with a trainers schedule as you know) it’s difficult to reheat and eat. I also don’t feel that my increases in size/strength and hopeful gains are going to go super well with the amount im currently eating. Everything points to “increase pro/cal for gains in these areas” but it’s coming down to $$. Shakes are like $30 for 60 meals. It might give me diabetes but at least Ill gain (JK).
I am currently supplementing all of those and at good doses as well as some others. I was asking because I had good recovery from a certain creatine like product (I know there are a 1000 mixed reviews on that) and there are other products kind of geared towards performance. I’m not really into supplements but there are a few I cycled and noticed help from and was wondering if I could cycle for the 30days as well. Basically my training is geared towards winning 011 games. I’m trying to compete in this years affiliate games but running strength cycle and my programming is dialed in so actually I am not getting as sore or torn down as I thought. Because of the clean paleo switch in week 1 ive been rising in performance. Ive been able to move more weight easier and go against guys and their weights and win in wods. A lot of mentalness has changed as well though. The extra work is to flush the system and promote recovery (similar to what Louie Simmons mention in his CF interview).
Thank you again for your help and response in this matter and for doing what you do. Extremely informative and inspiring.
Much appreciation,
Chris

By: Melissa @ Whole9

Melissa @ Whole9 — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:48:25 +0000

@Chris: Thanks for writing. First, regarding your protein intake, why have you cut eggs from your diet? Unless you’re allergic (or have an auto-immune condition), eggs and/or egg whites are an excellent and cheap source of protein. As for whey, it’s both a sub-optimal protein source AND has a dairy protein component that means it’s a no-go on the Whole30 program. If you’re trying to gain strength and maintain muscle mass, you’ll always do better eating real food, so while you CAN add a whey shake in after your 30 days is up, we really don’t recommend it.

As for supplements, there are some naturally-occurring vitamins, minerals and other substances (like zinc, magnesium, Vitamin D3 and fish oil) that we feel good recommending for just about everyone… but before that, I’d ask why you’re adding in extra work/lifts/WODs? I have no idea what your training schedule looks like, but the word “extra” indicates you’re doing more than the usual 4-5 workouts per week. Your recovery will benefit the most if you allow yourself to actually RECOVER between workouts… perhaps look at your training volume first. That’s a much higher priority than supplementation.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:13:30 +0000

Also (sorry) and this may be a more stupid question (sorry for that too) what about supplements? I havent heard it brought up in much but basically in prep for the games doing the whole30, cutting things out, adding extra work/lifts/wods Im trying to keep recovery top notch so what about recovery like products, besides sleep/eat/ice/foam roll? I understand that its going naked natural for 30 days but better living through chemistry is excluded too?
THanks!!

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:29:35 +0000

Quick off topic question regarding Whole 30 program; I am almost 2 weeks into it and I’m finding that getting enough protein (zone and regular measurements would have me at 5blocks for meals) throughout the day a little difficult and mostly costly. (Note: I have also cut eggs out) I noticed the banning of protein shakes in 1 article but I’ve also read Wolf’s articles on them and was wondering if they are to be for sure excluded from the whole30 program? Could they be added in afterwards? I have spent a lot of man hours trying to find “clean protein shakes” and have a very very short list but still wanted to know if it would be ok to have. I also read that a high pro/fat diet will prevent muscle loss but I’m also trying to muscle/strength gain. Thus far performance is peaking fantastically but I’m concerned I am not getting enough protein. Advice?
Thank you so much for your time!