Thursday 090122… reflecting on yesterday (and beyond)

Yesterday was a trying day at work, and days like that really make you think about what you’d do if you were in the same spot.  Would you switch careers?  Would you try to find another of the same job?  Would you take whatever you can get and look in the meantime?

I think I’d look for a similar job, and start something else on the side.  The more I get into CrossFit and the more I teach at various gyms, I notice that there’s tremendous opportunity for technology to enhance the lives of us weekend athletes.

How many gym websites just suck?  Why shouldn’t you be able to comment on a class you took?  Why can’t the gym help you keep track of your workouts?  The list can go on forever…

There’s already a great social experience at many gyms, and I’ve noticed that those people tend to connect on places like Facebook, creating social networks of athletes.  Sites like Dailymile are great for tracking your workouts and creating a Facebook-like social network, but they lack the close-knit community that you see when you actually go to the gym.

Just some thoughts… obesity is a huge problem in the US, and health in general is a worldwide issue.  Technology can bring people together in the battle.  Quality content and great user experiences are few and far between on the subject of fitness, and often times the two are never seen together.

Why not?

Today’s food log

woke up at 6am, the soreness is starting to go away, and i think i’m getting over the allergies, for now (pollen count is way down, but still high).

6:00am: spark and arganine extreme into water, muscle strength.

6:20am: 3 catalyst.

6:45am: light crossfit at UT Clark Field.

7:50am: bowl of eggs, potatoes, sausage, pico.  mixed berries and kiwi.  chocolate milk.

10:30am: buffalo jerky, macadamia nuts, water.

12:30pm: buffalo wings, iced tea, fries.

3:30pm: beef jerky, macadamia nuts, water.

5:15pm: 3 catalyst.

5:50pm: 1 twinlab energy drink.

6:15pm: teach spin @ pure.

8:30pm: burger, fries, beer, and molten chocolate cake @ alamo.

11:00pm: feel like crap from 8:30pm meal.  move writstband to the left.

Today’s WOD

• CrossFit @ UT Clark Field: 10 shoulder press @ 25lb, 15 vertical jumps, 20 walking lunges; 9:26.  scaled for tapering purposes.
• teach spin @ pure austin

Primal Blueprint Sample Menu

This couldn’t be easier to do, even if you’re on the go. This is basically what I’m trying to transform my diet into, sans most sugars.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-sample-menu/

Ryon’s take on grocery shopping

A buddy of mine posted an entry on his blog about how not to suck at the supermarket.  Being someone who is not too good at the supermarket (I’m still learning…), this post breaks it down pretty well.

Don’t buy stuff that wasn’t previously alive (not too long ago), and don’t buy stuff that didn’t somehow grow (not too long ago).

Fits in well with the major CrossFit nutrition guideline

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

Staying away from starch and sugar is tough at first… no more pasta, no more bread… but eventually it just kind of doesn’t make you feel right.  And why would you ever eat something that doesn’t make you feel right?

when you change your diet…

suddenly things you used to eat/drink are totally disgusting.

for example, i got a burrito from Freebird’s today (yum!), and along with my burrito (see my food log for today for what was inside said burrito) i got a Sobe Lean something-or-other bottle.  i took one sip and thought “man this is terrible.”  then i took another sip just to make sure, “yep, it’s bad.”  at the moment it’s sitting on my desk in my office, waiting to be recycled.

what other food just doesn’t do it for you any more?  post to comments…

I was wrong… (cue social distortion song)

So I’m listening to CrossFit Radio this morning, and Coach BMack comes on for an interview.  About 30 minutes into the program, I come to find out that the shoes I’ve been using for CrossFit, Vibram FiveFingers, are actually holding me back.

Net-net: The lifts we do in CrossFit suffer when you don’t have proper shoes.  BMack recommends weightlifting shoes, but says that skate shoes or racing flats will even do better than being barefoot.  Box jumps, lifts, all the stuff we do during a normal WOD is better done in some sort of shoe than barefoot.

Barefoot running has its time and place, and in the CrossFit gym is neither the time nor the place.

So I don’t own skate shoes, and I don’t own racing flats.  But I do own some Adidas Samba Millenniums, and I’m willing to bet those’ll be my CrossFit shoes of choice.  So Friday, when I hit CFC for my workout, it’ll be in Sambas.

What do I do with my FiveFingers?  No idea.  I’ll figure that out later.