Let’s take a deep breath. Slow it down. Take a look around.  Good old January is upon us.  How is your trek into this first week of the year going?  Is there a spring in your step? Or is it a laden march or somewhere in-between?  It is a bit of a heavy plod at this end. I’m in holiday recovery mode.  It was fun while it lasted though too many sweets made it through security.  Each year I enter the holidays with the best of intentions but, invariably, an event occurs which throws me off course.  This year though was different. I learned something valuable about myself.  I cannot process sugar anymore. Some years ago I gave up booze which is a combination of sugar and carbs. Drinking left me feeling anxious, bloated, and not at all motivated to work out. So it’s not surprising that consuming sugary treats would have the same effect on me.  Like drinking, eating sugar also makes feel on edge, bloated and with little stamina to workout.  Not fun.

Sometimes you have to repeat a lesson a million times over before it sinks in. Breaking the habit means, when the urging to eat treats comes calling with a vengeance I will have to make a choice. Do I want to workout and feel strong or eat this junk? Take a choice.  It is game on now for life!  I’ll report back in 6 weeks with measurements, wod data and photos.

If you would like to learn more about the impact of sugar and processed foods on your system take CrossFit’s new nutrition course.  I completed it over the holidays and it reinforced (yet again) the negative impact processed foods and sugar can have on our waistlines and mental health. The simple, but not so easy to follow, CrossFit dietary prescription remains true:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

Knowing all this it still took a major effort for me to resist throwing a bag of chocolate almonds into my cart at the grocery store last night. As I said, old habits die hard. This dietary prescription takes work but the results you will achieve if you adhere to it are worth the effort.

If you need a boost, here are 5 steps you can take to get back on track after the holidays.

  1. Clear all leftover treats out of the house. Throw. Them. Out. Or give them to The Touch to handle.
  2. Commit to a 30-60 minute daily walk while nose breathing if possible. Do this walk in addition to your regular fitness regime.
  3. Clear a bag of clutter from your home and donate it to charity. It will free mental space for other matters.
  4. Spring ahead in your mind. Think about where you would like to be on March 21, 2022. Sign up for an event as motivation, such as the CrossFit Open starting February 24, 2022. The biggest bang Open competitors can get for their buck right now is to maintain good nutrition.
  5. Invest 12 minutes to watch Jocko Willink’s New Year Strategy. Refuse to partake in nonsense.

A nutrition consult and personal training sessions can take your fitness to new heights.  Click here for options at Empower or sign-up for a No-Sweat Intro and we’ll customize a plan for you!

Shades

ZWOD 1.5.22

QOD: What type of book would you write?
Warm up 
Dynamic Warm-Up
Snatch Drops
Tech 
Snatches
Burpees
WOD
Home Dumbbell 17 min AMRAP
40 DB Facing Burpees
30 Alt  DB snatches
30 DB Facing Burpees
30 Alt DB snatches
20 DB Facing Burpees
30 Alt DB Snatches
10 DB Facing Burpees
Watch Corey’s at home demo video here
or
13.1 
17 minute amrap
40 burpees
30 snatches 45/75#
30 burpees
30 snatches 75/135#
20 burpees
30 snatches 100/165#
10 burpees
max snatehes 120/210#
Cool Down