Wegmans Disappoints!?

I originally hail from Western New York and grew up grocery shopping at Wegmans. When I moved to the DC Metro Area for college, the likes of Safeway and Giant replaced my glorious Wegmans. Yes, Fresh Fields (which is now Whole Foods) was nearby but far too pricey for a poor college student. Trader Joe’s was years away. Fast forward a few years and Wegmans made its grand debut in the DC Metro Area; well outside the beltway, but it was here! 30-45 minute drives each way were nothing more than a minor inconvenience to enable me to have my beloved Wegmans again!

When the nutrition challenge started in January, we only needed small add-on items to have on hand – no justification for the trek out to Wegmans. But as the weeks have passed, and my commitment to paleo has remained, I have tried to branch out a bit more in the kitchen. So, we ventured out to Wegmans with the excitement of kids visiting Disney World. To our shock and dismay, Wegmans did not deliver!

Nutrition Challenge Wrap-Up

I owe you a much overdue update on BCF’s Winter Nutrition Challenge.

As a refresher, BCF – my crossfit box – began a 6-week nutrition challenge on January 24. The challenge generally followed Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint.

Participants were divided into teams, awarded points for eating well, attending WODs, completing weekly challenges, sleeping for at least 7 hours, recording what we ate daily, and setting and achieving a physical goal at the gym. We lost points for cheating.

Summary of the Challenge

Coach Sarah kicked off the challenge a nutritional seminar where she explained the ground rules and provided some interesting background regarding the body’s response to carbohydrates, sugars, and processed foods. Our guiding principle came from Crossfit’s founder, Greg Glassman, and his definition of “World-Class Fitness in 100 Words”:

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.

Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.

Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.

Regularly learn and play new sports.

Coach Sarah’s Paleo Brownies

Coach Sarah is one of the AMAZING coaches as my Crossfit box and the coordinator of our nutrition challenge (which finishes up next Wednesday, March 6!). From the first time I met her (the ridiculous Hurricane Sandy WoD) to the occasional interaction in class (whether she is there as an athlete or coach) to her nutrition challenge seminar, I continually find myself inspired by her attitude, her approach to life, her acceptance of challenge, and her desire to always be more. Coach Sarah served as my inspiration to start this blog and give the paleo lifestyle a try. So … thank you, Sarah!

Last night I made Coach Sarah’s paleo brownies; now you can be inspired too:

Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 1 egg
• 1.5 tbsp almond butter
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• cinnamon (optional)
• nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in microwave-safe bowl
2. Microwave on high for 3 minutes

Recipe Notes

These ingredients make a large, single-serving (think of a full cereal bowl). Slightly increase or decrease the cocoa powder depending upon your affection for chocolate. Use cinnamon and different nuts to add some variety, flavor, and texture variations.

Trying a Blog and Trying for Paleo

This blog isn’t going to be anything fancy – at least to start. We’ll see where it goes and whether I actually post. This past October (2012), I was researching gyms in the area and specifically looking for some higher-end gyms that also offered pools. Although I couldn’t find any near by, I did come across a number of reviews and discussions for nearby Crossfit “boxes.”

I’ve heard Crossfit mentioned here and there over the last couple of years and did catch some of last year’s Crossfit Games on ESPN. I thought … what the heck? And signed up for the “Foundations” course at my local box – Ballston Crossfit. It is a 2-week/3 days per week introductory course to the foundational moves of Crossfit. I started, and I was hooked!

My first, official WoD (Crossfit lingo for “Workout of the Day”) was specially developed by the owner of BCF in honor of Hurricane Sandy (this was as the Hurricane moved up the East coast, brought rain and winds to the D.C. metro area, and closed schools, the government, and most places in the private sector – before bringing utter destruction to New Jersey and New York). The “Hurricane Sandy” WoD was certainly one way to be introduced into Crossfit. Yes, I did significantly scale that workout 🙂