Lunch: Arugula, Grilled Chicken, Carrots, Ginger, Tomatoes, Guacamole as dressing

Dinner: Shrimp, Red Bell Peppers, Kale,  all cooked in Bacon Fat

Don’t worry, this type of eating has taken me years to perfect, as evidenced below:

This post by Ryan caused a lot of confusion by people at Potomac Crossfit.

“Wait, so I can’t eat fruit?” was the most common question. “What kind of an asshole says eating an apple a day isn’t healthy?”

Here is what I posted to clarify what Ryan was saying:

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I think Ryan’s post brings up a really good distinction. There are two major types of Paleo eating:

1. “I just want to avoid metabolic derangement/live a healthy life” paleo. Much lower key. Think 80/20.

2. “I’m not losing weight. Eating like this doesn’t work. I need to lose 30 lbs. I have signs of autoimmunity issues” paleo. All out assault. No compromises, no cheat meals, no paleo smoothies.

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I think a lot of people fall into mode #1 too soon. If you have weight to lose, don’t make any compromises.

If you need to attach the word “paleo” in front of any food, then don’t eat it, particularly if you are in category #2.

Example: You don’t need to say “Paleo Grilled Chicken”. On the other hand “Paleo Brownies” are silly. Especially if you are trying to change the way you look.

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After that entire rant, I think it can all be summed up easily. “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit little starch no sugar”. Put the jar of sun butter down.

And remember: Eggs are just meat that hasn’t been born yet.

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Was Jeremy Bentham a modern caveman? How does an 18th century political philosophy called utilitarianism have anything to do with eating “meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit little starch no sugar?”

Simply put, our dietary prescription will do the “Greatest good, for the greatest number of people”. Making decisions based on the “Greatest good, for the greatest amount of people” is the cornerstone of utilitarianism. That’s the connection.

But there are exceptions and cases that break our simple rules.

Political Philosophy Scenario:

Five people  need an organ transplant or they will die. Should a doctor “harvest”  a random person in the waiting room to save five lives? What about to save 50 lives? 5,000? Why or why not?

Food Scenario:

If one out of five people can’t handle fruit well, does that mean we should tell everyone to avoid it? Some people can’t handle dairy at all. Does that mean nobody can introduce it?

I can hear it already. “But Jonnnnn, I know lots of athletes who don’t eat like this”. Yea, me too. There are always exceptions, get over it.

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What’s the solution?

1. Recognize that there isn’t a correct answer. It’s a gradual exploration of “the truth”.

2. Don’t be an idiot. Put your thinking cap on. Educate yourself and don’t believe everything you read.

4th place- Alex

Alex needs to work on a lot of stuff. He has super tight pecs, which is forcing the bar back, and him to cantilever his chest forward in order to sink into the bottom of the OHS.

Prescription: Soft Tissue work, Sots presses from different height, press outs.

3rd place- Steve

Steve has a lot of the same problems as Alex. I’d like him to be able to actively turn his arms out to better support the barbell. Not sure he has the flexibility to do this at this point.

Prescription: Same as Alex. Also add behind the neck snatch grip push press.

2nd place- Liz

Liz looks fine in terms of flexibility, but look at her pelvis at the bottom of her OHS compared to Kari (below). I want Liz’s pelvis pushed “under”. Liz’s torso angle looks too much like a low bar back squat to me. Liz needs to squat between her legs, not on top of them.

Prescription: Goblet Squats, snatch balances, doorknob squats

1st place- Kari

Kari is locked in. Elbows turned out, pelvis under the bar, knees over the toes, shoulder blades back and up.

Prescription: I’d guess with a solid OHS position like this, her limiting factor is going to be strength standing up with the bar. (This is very rare in CFers in the OHS).

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Pictures courtesy of the photographic guru NBedard.

I want to let the readers of B and B know about a project I have been working on for the last couple weeks. Basically, I got sick of having to fly across the country to learn from good coaches. It is expensive and time consuming. With the advances in web cam technology, we are now able to learn from really good coaches from around the country without leaving our homes. That is why we created The Athlete’s Forum. Connecting really good coaches with people around the world anxious to learn.

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Our next session is with Rob Orlando. Rob is CF’s go to strongman. During our virtual session, he is actually going to be demonstrating moves and coaching progressions with strongman implements. Log clean and jerks, Atlas Stones, and other strongman moves will be covered.

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Presenter: Rob Orlando, Crossfit Strongman and Owner of Hybrid Athletics
Date: Sunday, Feb 28th. 1-3 PM EST.
Topic: Getting Strong. Incorporating Strongman Training with Crossfit.
Registration and more details here.
Cost = $80

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Here are some videos from Rob in the CF Journal.

Strongman and CF

Strongman Hip Extension

Atlas Stone Lifts

Article on Rob doing Double King Kong. King Kong is 3 rounds of 1 Deadlift at 455lbs, 2 Muscle-ups, 3 Squat cleans at 250lbs , 4 Handstand pushups. He did 6 rounds.

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I’m really looking forward to learning how to start using some strongman stuff in my training. Hope to see you guys there. We have already had some good press on our events. Check out Dutch Lowy and Melissa Byers’ reviews of The Athlete’s Forum.

By Stephen Unterberg

Here is another very quick I made with my friend visiting for the weekend. My brother actually gave me this idea awhile ago, before I even began eating paleo, and it just so happened to fit perfectly into the daily routine. Its Spanish inspired, so I imagine my brother got the idea from some Tapas place in NY. It’s really tasty and something different.

Chorizo, Eggs and Clams

Ingredients

½ link of good Spanish chorizo

1 lb of clams, cleaned well

½ onion finely chopped

2 eggs, scrambled

First, finely dice the chorizo (remove the outer skin first) and place in a warm pot with a bit of depth to it. Let the chorizo crisp up and render most of its fat. Remove the chorizo with a slotted spoon and add the diced onion directly into the fat and let simmer until translucent. Next dump the clams into the pot, put a lid on top and let sit for about 5 minutes until they have all opened up (if some remain closed, discard them, they’re bad news). Remove the clams and set aside with the chorizo. Let the liquid released by the clams reduce down a bit and finally add your eggs to the dish and stir for a minute or so before adding back the chorizo and clams and incorporating all of the ingredients. You want to remove the pot from heat and place the dish in a shallow bowl before the eggs have completely finished cooking. Just like carry-over cooking increases the internal temperature in meats, the eggs will continue to cook while you take the bowl to the table. By the time you dig in they should be nice and silky. Salt and pepper to taste, but with the chorizo and sea water inside the clams; you may already have enough salt in the dish without adding any extra. Enjoy!

- When you are a consultant, every problem can be solved by fixing how the  business works

- When you are an Air Force officer, every problem is solved with more air power

- When you are a Crossfitter, the answer to every clients’ needs is more Crossfit

- When you are a nutritionist, every problem can be fixed with food choices

- When you are a powerlifting coach, the answer is always more back squats and presses

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The reality, of course, is that this isn’t always true. You need to evaluate the source of your information. Are you having a conversation with Buddy Lee? I’m gonna take a guess and say he’s going to recommend more jump roping – almost regardless of your issue. Talking to Mike Burgener? Snatches and Clean and Jerks. Barry Sears? More accuracy and precision with food.

You get the picture.

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Where do I fit into this?

I’m probably going to steer you away from doctors and physical therapists more than I should. Got a bad shoulder? I’m probably going to recommend barbell presses. In reality, you might need surgery. Need to mobilize your shoulders and hips? I’ll probably recommend PNF and  functional movement  based on my knowledge and experience. In reality, ART/soft tissue work might be the solution.

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Who’s opinion should you value the most?

–The general who occasionally recommends deferring to USAID to solve a problem.

–The management consultant who says you have an IT problem that he can’t help you with.

–The kettlebell guy who sometimes recommends more gymnastics.

– The Crossfitter who knows when Crossfit isn’t the answer

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Sometimes the best thing to say is “This is what I do and know well. My stuff isn’t the solution to your problem, and I’m probably not the guy to help you. But let me introduce you to someone”

By Stephen Unterberg

Now that exam period is over I can finally get back to the recipes…

The next handful of dishes I made a few weekends ago when a friend from Dallas came down to visit me. She’s a big fan of cooking as well, so we usually cook up a storm when we’re together. The dish below doesn’t deserve it’s own recipe since I basically used the same old braising techniques and flavors from previous posts, but I was really looking forward to making the pastured lamb shoulder I purchased a while back from the Burgundy Farm. Basically just braised it up with a more Mediterranean flare using spices similar to the Middle Eastern Chicken dish, made a nice sweet potato/butternut squash mash to go alongside for some contrasting sweetness, and topped it all off with a dill-mint-cheese sauce (the cheese was homemade, turned out alright, but had more of a thick yogurt-y flavor than cheese, worked well for the lamb).

The lamb turned out decently. I run into this type of problem every so often with grass-fed beef and it does pertain to its lower fat content. While everything was kept the same, and the cooking time was even increased an hour (4 hrs), it stilled turned out on the drier side. I just polished off a 3lb grass-fed brisket from the market in town which I’ve made before, and it is  the best meat I’ve ever braised. The pastured lamb on the other hand I think was just a bit too lean and so it wasn’t as juicy as I would have wanted. Regardless, it was still good eats. See below for the sauce recipe and expect a few more recipes to pop up soon from the weekend with my friend.

Yogurt (Homemade Cheese) Mint Sauce (not-paleo)

This is a quick, easy, and refreshing sauce for any type of meat dish that will help cut the richness. In a food processor through in a cup or so of full fat (as few carbs as possible) yogurt, some lemon juice, olive oil, dill, mint, salt and pepper. Give it a whiz and you’re good to go. Enjoy!

“You must sleep some time between lunch and dinner, and no half-way measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That’s what I always do. Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one – well, at least one and a half, I’m sure. When the war started, I had to sleep during the day because that was the only way I could cope with my responsibilities.”
- Winston Churchill