We’re back from our Whole9 Nutrition Workshop at CrossFit Stamford this past Saturday, and we are ridiculously excited about how ridiculously excited THEY are about the Whole30 program! We had about 25 people at the workshop, and spent almost four hours presenting our material and answering participants’ individual questions. In response, they group has committed to the full “Whole30” program, and even created a nutrition blog to post questions, comments, share good information and offer support.
CF Stamford owners Kristie Bickler and Andy Parker are leading by example, jumping right into the program with their members (and providing all the resources, encouragement and tough love necessary to ensure their clients’ success). In our view, this is the way to do it! Promoting positive change should start at the top, and we think Stamford has amazing potential to (as Robb says) “look, feel and perform” better as a gym with with Kristie and Andy leading the charge.
While not every workshop will run four hours (we schedule them for three, and limit each session to 25 participants), we do make the effort to spend as much time as possible answering everyone’s individual questions as pertaining to THEIR unique goals and nutritional requirements. We aim to bridge the gap between all the reading, researching and planning you do on your own… and what your dinner plate looks like on a typical Wednesday night. In the business world, even a good strategy can fail without proper execution. And when it comes to health, fitness and nutrition, even if you’re well-read, educated, and intentioned… that information is useless unless you know what to do with it.
That’s NOT to say we’re offering a “Paleo 101” – there’s plenty of that information out there. However, just because you’ve heard a thousand times that “grains aren’t Paleo” doesn’t mean you understand the mechanism by which they affect everything from body composition to health conditions to your training goals. We want you to know how your diet can promote better recovery and performance – or contribute to keeping you All Banged Up. We’ll explain how the foods you eat can affect everything from sleep quality to fat loss, even if you don’t notice their immediate impact. And we’ll help you figure out how to keep your nutritional plan solid under any circumstance – not just the perfect laboratory setting of your own kitchen. So do all your reading, researching and planning up front – then come see us. We’ll drop some knowledge, answer your questions and send you home with a specific, simple, sustainable game plan to help you look, feel and perform your personal best. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning, huh?
Check the sidebar for upcoming workshop locations. We’ve received lots of email requests, so we thought we’d mention that these workshops are not just limited to current CrossFit clients! If you live in a workshop area and are interested in fitness, nutrition and CrossFit, you are welcome to register. Email us or our CrossFit gym hosts for more information.
Stay tuned for more information on upcoming workshops, a delicious and easy Whole30 recipe creation (spawned from our post-travel laziness + desire for a really hearty home-cooked meal) and a Gym Jones-inspired workout guaranteed to kick your butt from here to 400. (But only if you’re really good at counting.)
We can help you live the Whole9 life.
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Melissa & Dallas – Thank you so much for getting us started on our 30 Day Challenge. You broke everything down into easy to understand concepts and taught us how to apply our new knowledge of food to our everyday lives. I love your no nonsense approach, changing eating habits isn’t easy but neither is anything worth doing. I will continue to be a loyal blog reader and look forward to sharing all of our new PRs with you!
Nice shirts!
Melissa & Dallas –
Can’t thank you enough for your time and sharing all that great information. The comment that really resonated with me is how we each “revel in bloody hands from pull ups, sweat and cry through workouts, and bust out hundreds of burpess but we are throwing the towel in on on giving up the cream in coffee…” Screw that… no food is owning me!! So…Day 3 and doing well…coffee is ok black, oatmeal craving is low and energy is high…success so far!
Wanted to ask about vinegar again. I know it is based on acidity levels but is it a complete no no also? Salad dressing, hot sauce, etc all have traces of vinegar in them…I wrote down some notes and can’t read my scratches.
@Kristie: You and Andy were fantastic hosts. Can’t wait to see how this group does, we’ll be checking in for sure on your blog.
@Bobbi: I’m glad something we said resonated. You are tougher than your oatmeal! As for vinegar, I think it’s fine to include a small amount in your diet. I know my favorite brand of organic salsa has “vinegar” as one of the last ingredients, but it’s not prominent enough to make me shy away. Stick to distilled varieties (or products that say “gluten free”) and use in moderation and you should be fine.
Nice….hopefully I can catch your guys gig in Philly.
-Nathan Magniez
downanddirtypaleo.blogspot.com
Any plans on coming to Atlanta?
Love your blog, thanks for sharing all your information.
Way to go Moxy Boss, keep spreading the good info!
@Nathan: We’ve got two workshops booked in the Philly area now… see our sidebar for details.
@Wade: We’d love to come to Atlanta… especially right now. It’s freakin’ cold up here. :) We usually are approached by the box owner directly to schedule a workshop, but if there are enough CrossFitters in one area who want a visit, we’ll make the trip for sure.
@Jesse: Holla! Hope things are going well.
Melissa and Dallas, thanks so much for Saturday’s seminar! I left with such a better understanding of not only how food affects the body but also how important the quality of the food is. I’m on day 3 and so far so good. I do have a question. I find myself snacking more than I did before. I’ve been sticking with fruits and hard boiled eggs in the morning but somehow in the afternoon, I’m snacking every 2 hours, even after lunch (had small steak with snow peas) Is this normal?
Thanks again!
@Rita: Glad you picked up what we were throwing down. (We’re also glad that you had the patience to hear our full presentation.) Assuming you are not attempting to make significant changes to your food quantity this month (which should not be a central goal right now), if you’re hungry, eat. Sounds like you’re making pretty decent food choices, but I’d recommend adding some fat to your snacks. It helps moderate your insulin response (to the fruit) and satiates you. Don’t be afraid to crank UP your vegetable intake. I’d sub out the fruit in favour of some more veggies, but overall, you’re on track.
@Rita: Dallas is spot-on. What you’re feeling is totally normal – especially the “in the afternoon” part. (How many of us crash around 3 PM every work day? And how many use sweets, treats or coffee to get through until 5 PM?) For one, I don’t know what your diet looked like before, but your body goes through a lot of changes in the first few weeks of the strict W30 approach. You’re used to propping up energy levels with carbs/sugars/caffeine, and now you’re asking your metabolism to make the switch to using fat for energy. That takes time, and can be a little confusing for your body.
As Dallas said, you’re on the right track with your steak and snow peas – because slamming a pile of fruit at 3 PM isn’t helping your cause. We’re trying to break that “need energy, eat carbs” cycle, and feeding your body “nature’s candy” isn’t going to cut it. Once you recondition your body to using fat for fuel, you’ll notice energy and hunger levels improving day after day… becoming more consistent, especially first thing in the morning and mid-afternoon.
Hope that helps!
Melissa
Melissa & Dallas-
Thanks SO much for an incredibly educational and motivating seminar last Saturday. I am working on incorporating everything you taught us about. I am having no problem removing dairy, beans, lentils, peas, and peanuts from my diet. BUT, I am really struggling removing grains. I didn’t eat that much to begin with since I have been on Zone for the last couple of months but I’m dying for my half of a whole wheat english muffin at breakfast and a whole wheat tortilla or pita at lunch with my protein. Additionally, I am having major cravings for caffeine. I am not a coffee drinker, I am an ex-Diet coke drinker and really want one.
Is this normal? Will I get past these intense cravings once I break my routine? Oh, one other thing I am not going to lie about: I have a low-grade headache and I am digging deep to deal with it!
Thanks!
Stephanie,
Your experience, both with cravings and with headaches, is a common one. While it won’t take away your headache, you might be able to take some solace in the fact that literally hundreds of people have experienced – and survived! – these same symptoms. But to answer your questions directly, yes, these cravings will subside as your body “detoxes” from those foods that were causing some degree of metabolic dysfunction. The more science-y explanation has to do with restoring insulin sensitivity, normalizing blood sugar levels (likely responsible for your headaches), and decreasing systemic inflammation by removing these poor food choices from your diet. The blood sugar “roller coaster” should become more like a gentle walk in a (slightly hilly) park, and that’ll get your metabolism humming right along, using more fat as fuel and relying less on the short-term carb “burst” to get by. But the short answer is, yes. Hang in there, take an aspirin if the headaches get intolerable, and envision the new, healthier you that will emerge out of this challenge. Keep digging deep!
Stephanie- I’m not big on the science like Melissa and Dallas are, but I went through similar stuff when I first started paleo. It really will get better, especially the cravings! Food withdrawals are tough, but you can do it! It took me about a week, and I wanted to do terrible things to my roomates for bringing pizza and loads of soft drinks around, but it really does get better.
Melissa- Doing great running MEBB with some skill work inspired by you guys. Meeting and beating PRs, and keeping my diet dialed in. I’ve noticed I can keep lifting when eating bad, but my metcon completely goes out the window after a cheat meal or two, and comes right back after a couple of days dialed in.
~Jesse
P.S.- I totally second the Atlanta suggestion! It’s only 5 hours away, I could totally drive down and actually get to see you guys!
@EVERYONE: Remember when I said, “It gets worse before it gets better”? The first week or two are the hardest, as people are now starting to experience. Headaches, lethargy, crankiness, cravings, digestive issues… the list goes on as your body starts to adjust and heal. But as Jesse said (and you should LISTEN to him, because he’s pretty much our Whole30 Superstar), hang in there, because it WILL get better.
@Jesse: We’re working on Atlanta right now! Once it’s up, I’ll let you know – it would be awesome if you could come down for it!
Great seminar. It was great to have the opportunity to compare what I’d learned on my own off with your research and experience. No cravings, except for fat and protein, mildly problematic on my non-existent budget…and I’ve noticed an improvement in my WODs just with being more strict about my diet. Still no improvement on sleep though, even with the magnesium. Does that take a while to kick in?
Woot! Just got registered for Atlanta, already looking forward to it!
I’m very interested in trying this, but I’m not a lifter of weights (yet), and I don’t understand all the abbreviations in the original post, so I’m not entirely sure what to do.
If I bring this to a trainer at my gym, will they be able to translate? What are “double-unders”, KTPs, and KB/DB snatches, for example?
I’d love a hyper-linked version of the http://whole9life.com/the-603-ptp/ post showing what each exercise is, when done properly.
Failing that, just non-abbreviated names would probably give me a great start for talking to a trainer…
Thanks so much for all you guys do! I started my Whole30 yesterday, and I’ve been doing an “Feb AbFab” core workout challenge since Feb 1. I’m looking forward to adding some strength training, too!
-Rick
@Rick – totally understand where you’re coming from. The lingo can be confusing at first. KB/DB = kettle bell or dumbbell and snatches are a weightlifting movement. Double-unders are a jump-roping movement (passing the rope two times under your feet on one jump). I believe most trainers these days will know what you’re talking about when you use these terms. Otherwise, probably the fastest way to figure out what they are is to Google them. I’ll be sure to make the suggestion to Melissa about the hyper-linked PTP post. Best of luck to you on your Whole30 and exercise program!
Thanks for the quick response! I’d never have guessed the “double-unders”! :)
I’ll look into making an appointment with a trainer soon, and see if they know ’em all (and maybe pick a different trainer if they don’t!), or google them, then.
Thanks!