End-of-Challenge POTLUCK

This FRIDAY (the 30th) will be the end-of-challenge potluck! It will start at 7:30 pm so people can either come for the 6:30 class and workout before or just show up at 7:30 for some food! The original plan was to bring a dish you discovered over the 6 week challenge, but feel free to bring any dish you would like to share.  I will take care of drinks and we have plenty of plates/cups etc at the gym. Again- please come even if you didn't complete the 6 weeks. We would love some feedback from everyone so as to better plan for future Nutrition challenges. 

Home Stretch

Well we've almost made it! Week 6 has begun! We didn't have anyone show up for the check in meeting last week so there wasn't anything to report back:) I have talked to some of you at the gym or heard from you via email and am so happy to hear about people's positive results! I also want to say that even if this challenge hasn't gone quite as you have hoped, we hope that you have all learned something or made changes of some kind in your lives in regards to food.  Food is a completely personal issue for each=of us and making a change in your diet can be a process. We hope that you will continue to try to make the changes that you want to make in your diet even though the challenge is coming to an end.  


So what comes next? We need to plan a date for the potluck!  We would like to see as many of you as possible so I'll throw out a few options and hopefully we can get some feedback.  We could do a weeknight, but it would have to be fairly late in the evening to be out of the way of our classes (probably around 7:30 or 8).  A Saturday late afternoon would be an option or a Sunday night or we could even do Sunday before the noon class and have a lunch potluck, I would like to plan it for sometime next week so please let me know if there are preferences for days and times.  I also want to stress that we want EVERYONE to come! Even if you didn't stay strict on the diet or if you don't think you lost any weight, we just want you there.  This was our first go at a Nutrition Challenge so we want to hear feed back from all of you so we can keep this stuff going.  So-- email me or talk to Amy or I at the gym about Potluck dates and we will try to choose a date by the end of the week.  Hope everyone is doing well! Looking forward to catching up with you all at the potluck.

4 weeks in!

We thought we would offer a check-in mini meeting this Sunday directly following the noon class at CrossFit Davis.  Please let us know if you would like to attend or just show up! We can talk about anything that people are struggling with or just swap stories with how everything is going. At that point we will have 2 weeks to go and we can work on picking a date for the End of Challenge Potluck! Hope everyone is doing well and we look forward to seeing anyone who can make it on Sunday! 


Also here are two more recipes for some inspiration!


The first comes recommended by Andrea:
Eggs nested in chard and mushrooms
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggs_nested_in_sauteed_chard_and_mushrooms/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A


The next two are from Beth:

Swiss chard pesto! It's great on eggs, salmon, or chicken!

http://www.closetcooking.com/2012/02/swiss-chard-pesto.html

Spaghetti squash w/ sausage, kale, and sun dried tomatoes (swap out the wine in the recipe and can get rid of cheeses if you are reducing your dairy):

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/spaghetti-squash-with-sausage-kale-and-sun-dried-tomatoes-recipe.html

Robb Wolf video

Here is a Q&A video with Robb Wolf. He answers a lot of common questions people have about the Paleo diet: "What about cholesterol?" and "Cavemen didn't live very long, why would I want to eat like them?" Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/-PpuIKTg6QE#t=39m26s

Gary Taubes video

Here's a video where Gary Taubes, author of Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories, talks to Crossfit trainers on how to eat.

http://journal.crossfit.com/2012/03/garytaubesqna.tpl#featureArticleTitle

Week 3 Here We Come!

Hi all! We're in to Week 3! We hope everyone is feeling good and keeping up with the nutrition challenge. Making a change like this is certainly not easy, but we believe it will be worth it for y'all if you can stick with it.  


The most important thing to remember is that we are in this together! Please let us know how you are doing by commenting below. You can ask questions here to each other or to Amy, Matt and I or just let us know how your experience has been so far.  We want to hear all of it  - what is working for you or what you have struggled with. 


Also, if you have found any great recipes that you want to share with the group please feel free to email Amy or I and we will post them to the blog.  We are considering having a "check in" meeting possibly next week if that would be something you guys would be interested in, so please comment below about that as well so we can set something up. 


Like we have said before, we want you to feel supported during this challenge and always feel free to contact us at any time or pull one of us aside at the gym.  Hope everyone is well and we look forward to hearing from you! 

-Kirsten and Amy

Yummy Veggie Recipes

Roasted Asparagus

-1 lb asparagus

-1 Tbsp olive oil

-1 medium lemon, zested

-1/2 Tsp kosher salt

-1/2 Tsp freshly grated nutmeg

-black pepper 

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Lay asparagus on a long double layer of aluminum foil. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat. Spread the spears into a single layer. Fold the edges of the foil to make a tray. Roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Toss the spears with tongs and roast until tender and the tips begin to brown (about 5 more minutes). Sprinkle with the zest, salt, nutmeg, and pepper to taste. 

• Sesame Broccoli 
• -head of broccoli, cut into florets 
• -2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• -2 tsp salt
• -Pepper 
• -Sesame seeds
• 
  
• Over medium heat, warm sesame oil in a skillet. Add broccoli, toss to coat. Cook for ~5 minutes (until bright green in color and cooked through), stirring often. Add salt, pepper, and sesame seeds to taste. 

Acorn squash

-2 acorn squash

-2-4 Tbsp walnut oil

-Freshly ground nutmeg (normal nutmeg is fine)

-Maple syrup, optional

-Ground walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the squash on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, until soft enough to easily cut in half. Cut in half, and scoop out the seeds and membranes.

2. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Put the walnut oil in a bowl, then brush over the cut surfaces of the squash. Sprinkle with a very small amount of ground nutmeg. Place in the oven and bake one hour, brushing every 10 minutes with more oil and maple syrup if using. When the squash is tender, brush once more, then spoon a tablespoonful of finely chopped walnuts into each cavity and return to the oven for five to 10 minutes, until the walnuts are toasty. Remove from the heat. Serve hot or warm.

Week One Done!

1 week down! Hope everyone is doing well and starting to come out of the no-sugar fog. Make sure you are checking the blog (cfdnutrition.blogspot) each week for new recipes and more! We would love to hear feedback from you as the weeks go on so feel free to send emails to let us know your progress!


Easy tip for the week: Trader Joe's sells cooked, pre-packaged chicken in single servings. Use for lunch or quick meals, or even a snack on the run!

Zucchini Egg Bake:

Great to make ahead of time for a quick breakfast! 

4 tablespoon of butter

1/4 cup of chopped onion 

2-4 zucchinis grated 

Ground meat (I use breakfast sausage. I cook it separately and break it into pieces and then put it in the egg mixture)

3 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup grated cheese (Remember to leave cheese out if you have any concerns about being able to digest dairy properly)

Salt and Pepper to taste

You can also add broccoli, spinach, mushrooms or any other veggies

Cooking Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grate the zucchini. (Chop any other veggies you're using)  Then in a sauté pan heat butter, onion and zucchini until the zucchini is tender (about 7 minutes for me).  Drain off liquid from the pan and then add beef, season to taste, cook until meat is almost fully cooked.  (Meat can also be cooked separately if preferred) Add eggs and mix thoroughly.  Then dump the pan into an 8×8 baking dish.  Grate the cheese on top and bake in the oven uncovered for 35-40 minutes (I did 30 minutes ovens vary).  

**I usually use 6-8 eggs and make it in a larger pan so it lasts longer!!

**Muffin pans also work as now there are individual servings that can be eaten more easily on the go! Just shorten cooking time to 20-30 minutes until eggs are no longer runny.

Kale chips

This is a standby Crossfit/Paleo recipe, and much more affordable than buying the premade chips at like Whole Foods. A bag of washed kale can be found at Trader Joe's for 2 bucks!


Ingredients:
Kale. (Trader Joes has Kale already cut and bagged!) 


Drizzle a little olive oil on the leaves (about 1 T), sprinkle with some salt, and spread them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350  degrees for about 25 minutes. They get nice and crispy.

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Spaghetti Squash "Spaghetti" and Meat Sauce

1-2 spaghetti squash (depending on size) One big or 2 smaller ones
Cut in half and boil for 20-25 minutes.  

Sauce: 
1-2 pound of ground meat (I prefer pork, but it's totally up to you)
1 can of Classico brand Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce. (This is the lowest carb I could find)
1/4-1/2 of a Red Onion
3-5 Garlic Cloves
1 Bell Pepper
1 Zucchini
2 Tomatoes

First cook meat with onions and garlic. Once meat is cooked add sauce and veggies. Feel free to add any other veggies to the sauce! Add salt and pepper to taste and ricotta or Parmesan cheese if you can do dairy.  When Spaghetti Squash is ready scrape with a fork (The squash should come out easily when it is ready and it should look like noodles. You should not have to scrape it hard to get it out. If this happens, put it back in the water and continue boiling until it is ready) Add the squash to the sauce in the pan you have it cooking in and let it all simmer together for 15 minutes or so.  

This is a great recipe to make a lot so you can use it for lunch and dinner for the next few days! Enjoy!!

Kickoff!

CrossFit Davis 

Invites you to a Nutrition Challenge!

What:

A PLAN to help you adjust your Food for

Weight Loss

Change in Body Composition

Performance Improvement

PARTICIPATION IS FREE

When:

Kickoff meeting will be Thursday February 9th at 7:30 pm at CrossFit Davis

The program will begin February 13th

and will last 6 weeks.

Email Kirsten ( kirsten@crossfitdavis.com)

or Amy ( amy.c.chow@gmail.com) to reserve

your spot or visit http://cfdnutrition.blogspot.com

for more information.