Monday, September 16th, a small group of us from CrossFit 2a began a Nutrition Performance Challenge.
The point is to be more conscious of how our everyday choices affect our health and well-being. Things like real food, exercise and sleep.
Though most of us fancy ourselves as fitness freaks, the reality is that many of us still like our sweets, our bread & pasta, our beer, etc.
This challenge is different from others we have done in the past. Part of this is because we learned a lot from our past mistakes. Also because we recognize that, generally speaking, we are more fit than the general population. So rules than may seem valid for the general population, may actually be detrimental to many of our group.
Like what? Well how about daily caloric intake? Most charts or apps tell me to consume just over 2000 calories a day. But I do extreme physical exercise at least 5 days a week. I am not a sedentary 62 year-old man. I am not the norm. What I have experienced is that if I eat 2000 calories, I cannot gain strength or muscle. I have to eat about 3000 calories.
Another thing that we are now paying attention to is what makes up your daily calories? Are you loading up on Protein and Fat? Are you loading up on Carbs. Are the Carbs you are consuming coming from wholesome sources that will not spike your glycemic index?
Have you drunk too much Paleo Koolaid and believe anything that is 100% Paleo is 100% good for you? If so, you are heading down a hard road. Because a recipe does not contain white cane sugar, does not mean it doesn’t contain sugar. Look at the photo above and read this post I wrote a couple days ago. This recipe is touted as 100% Paleo, it contains enough dates to build a “crust” on the bottom of this dessert that is three-quarters of an inch thick. This two square inch dessert is an Express Train to Insulin Resistance!
To solve a problem, one has to first identify the problem. That is a lot of what we are doing with nutrition. If we do not know or understand something, it is imperative to ask someone. The moral of this story is that we are consciously working together, to support one another, to educate one another to attain a healthier life in 30 Days. We will not fix everything, but we will be healthier than we are now.
In addition to the things noted above, we have three Benchmarks Workouts that we accomplished this week. In 30 Days we will do them again and see how our times have improved with our new and improved healthier bodies.
Another part of the challenge is to set goals. Since the purpose of Defiant Wellness is to share my experience of getting well, I will post my goals here for all to see.
- Do not eat ANY dessert for thirty days. Yes, you read that correctly.
- Monitor and log my Fasting Blood Sugar every morning
- Reduce my Blood Sugar by 10 Points
- Monitor and log my Blood Pressure at least five times per week
- Take my Supplements daily (my daily supplements may be a future post)
- Run at least a half-mile five days a week (that may sound trivial to many readers, but if you knew how I abhor running, you’d understand)
- Workout at home every day, for at least fifteen minutes, with bodyweight or dumbbells.
- I want to look better in the “After” photos than I did in the awful “Before” photos
How will we measure my results? The tale of the tape. The scale. The Glucometer. The Spreadsheet. The Camera.
There you have it friends and colleagues, in writing, with specific goals and quantifiable. Would like to share a couple of your 30-Day Challenge goals with the readers?
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