Whole 9 Nugget #4-
FRUIT
1. As you most likely know, fruit is a carbohydrate and is broken down into sugars just like any other carb that you eat. Like I mentioned yesterday, veggies give you much more bang for your buck nutritionally AND they don't raise your blood sugar like fruit does. However, we all know that fruit is SO EASY to grab and eat and tastes SO GOOD!
2. If you are trying to lean up, fruit consumption makes a difference! I speak from experience here. :) When I first started eating Paleo, I was so upset about the poultry-eating, that I ate apples like they were going out of style. It was the only part of my day (in terms of food) that made me okay with the world. Well, that and raw crunchy almond butter from Trader Joe's. Most days I was eating 5-6 pieces of fruit or some sort of fruit salad. I put on 5 lbs from the Paleo challenge the first six-week round. Part of that was a tiny bit of muscle perhaps as I did get stronger. All my lifts slowly started to go up and have continued to do so. But, looking back, the bulk of that was the fruit. My body puffs up every time there is too much sugar in play.
John Lake and some other Paleo success stories at our gym had similar experiences. When you change your diet, it's STRESSFUL for most of us, and we fall back on what is comforting. John was eating PLATES of fruit at night and fruit throughout the day. We were tweaking his diet through the challenge and after it was over, and once he cut back, he lost another 8-10lbs.
It's still sugar, folks.
(We'll delve more into the hormonal responses to food next week, but when you eat sugar your insulin level rises to store that energy. If you eat A LOT OF SUGAR, your body can't store it all and it GETS STORED AS FAT in your body).
3. Cut down the fruit intake to 2-3 pieces a day TOPS and replace those carbs with veggies. I bet you see a difference pretty quickly.
4. On top of SEEING a difference, you will also FEEL a difference. Fruit, for most people, is not filling. It leaves you hungry after an hour or so and craving more food. Another reason to put the brakes on a bit.
5. Best choices? Berries, apples, oranges, peaches, nectarines, cherries, pears.
If you've read the Zone information, you know that grapes, tropical fruits like mango, papaya, pineapple, bananas, as well as watermelon are more rapidly digested and spike insulin levels more than other fruits...and leave you hungry.
6. Dried fruits are highly concentrated carbs, and people tend to eat more than they realize. Think a handful of raisins versus a handful of grapes. Same sugar content, but you're eating 2-3x as many grapes in raisin form.
7. Also, juices should be avoided completely. The fiber is removed, which makes digestion super speedy. Refreshing and delicious, but shoot for water as a beverage and get your carbs from food- not drinks.
Whole, fresh fruit is KEY!
Another rave review for TIME FOR DINNER!
I got 2 whole orders of the Luau Pork from Time For Dinner. Last night I put one in the crock pot. Literally, I took it out of the freezer and stuck it in the crock pot, foil and all. Turned it on high at about 8 pm, woke up about 6 this morning, unwrapped it, shredded and stirred with a fork and it was ready to rock! All the juices ran out into the bottom of the crock, but the pork soaked it all right back up once I stirred it around a little bit. It said some nonsense on the package about cutting the fat off, but I ignored that because FAT IS GOOD. Had a couple servings for lunch today with a side of carrots and bell peppers and it's amazing, didn't add a single thing to it. I'll be getting a couple more of these on the second order window ...
Trainer Tim
PALEO QUICK START GUIDE FROM ROBB WOLF!
For our newer members, Robb W. used to be the nutrition certification expert for CrossFit, recently published a great book, "The Paleo Solution," and owns a gym in northern California. His site (linked in the right-hand column) has LOADS of great info for getting started eating Paleo- the why, the how, the in's, the out's...and sample meal plans to boot! Here's the direct link to that portion of the web site:
KATHY THAMES:
In addition, I've added the link to contact Kathy Thames if anyone is interested in meeting with her one-on-one to get solid, practical advice on how to improve his/her diet. Many options here- she can help tweak, she can help make major changes, she can do body composition testing, she can meet with couples or even a family. If you know her, you love her! :) We haven't pinned down when our next Paleo challenge will be as we have several events coming up along with some travel, but we're shooting for May. For those who are ready to jump in headfirst or start making changes now, Kathy is an awesome resource!
Lazy Lunch!
Lots of color. Have my clean protein (Rich's almond-flour coated chicken bites. My fave. Made in bulk and kept in fridge for ease). Threw in some veggies- carrots, grape tomatoes, snow peas. Scooped out part of an avocado for the healthy fat.
Eating it right now as I work! Tasty, hormonally balanced, nutritionally balanced.
And, best part. No effort in the middle of the day!
THE NEXT KSTAR MOBIILITY WOD- Death by Chair:
Doin' the "Guy Smiley"!
Surrender!
Heh...heh...heh!
"That's it?" a few asked. :)
Throwin' up the white towels after the fact.
Pretty sure T.W. lost count as he was burpee-ing forever, but he still got top Rx time for the day. And, check out MegMahn! Top Rx'd lady for the day! Solid burpees and stringing together those double unders! Going to town, she is!
Some solid examples from class:
PULL UP BRAGS!
EHiss reached his goal post and Miss Emily and McSteamy got their FIRST kipping pull ups! Emily was a little giddy on the inside. :) Eric kills me- came to class Monday and worked on just the swing for the skill- was muscling it up and trying to get the rhythm down. Then Wednesday night after class, he hops up there and starts to get it! You can see how he starts to smooth things out the more pull ups he gets.
GREAT JOB!
See for yourself!
RX here too - just saying
Posted by: brett | March 03, 2011 at 04:37 PM