What's for Dinner?Last week I introduced to you the first step in learning how to count your Macros. Counting macros means to consume a precise amount of each macronutrient according to your macro plan. Through counting macros, calories are controlled for weight loss or weight gain. (There are 4 calories per 1 gram of protein and 1 gram carbohydrate and 9 calories per 1 gram of fat.) To lose weight you have to be in a caloric deficit. To gain muscle you need to be in a caloric surplus. Yes, calories do matter in the end. But, all calories are not equal, that's why we're counting macros, not calories. Today I'm exploring how to actually figure out how many macros you need to eat to achieve your body composition goals. There are several good macro plans, some of the most popular with CrossFitters are the RP (Renaissance Periodization), WAG (Working Against Gravity), IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros), and Macrostax. All of these plans aim to maximize your caloric intake through prioritizing protein and controlling your carbohydrate and fat intake based on your training load and body composition goals. Some of them also cost money to calculate your macros. I calculate your macros for free during our Check-in, this is one of the reasons for measuring your weight and calculating lean body mass. Using your lean body mass I calculate your minimum protein and calculate carbs and fats based on your personal body composition and performance goals. Be sure to book your mid-year check-in with me so we can calculate your personal macros. Now that we have your macros, the next step is to get a good kitchen scale, a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons. You'll need these measure how much food to eat. Now, the real work begins. You will need to weigh and measure everything you put in your mouth. If you cook most of you food, rather than purchase food in boxes, bottles, bags or cans, you have some extra work to do. Let's look at today's Foodie Friday recipe and calculate the macros. Let's make Well Fed's Hamburger Salad for dinner. I used Self Nutrition Database to determine the Macros.
3 ounces of cooked ground beef = 23g of Protein + 14g of Fat 1/2 of the entire salad = 7g of protein + 32g of carbs 2 TBS of the salad dressing = 24g of fat 2 TBS mayonnaise = 22g of fat Total Macros: 30g of Protein, 32g of Carbs, 60g of Fat. This meal provided ALL of my fats for the day. If I skipped the mayo I could have some fat in another meal. I also need to make sure I eat more carbs and protein (which I do in my post workout-out protein + carbs shake.)
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Why I Celebrate Pride MonthI celebrate pride month because I absolutely believe that human rights are non-negotiable. The struggle for equality and justice for the LGBTQ community has impacted my life in a way that many people might find surprising.
As most of you know, I was in the US Marine Corps from 1989-1995. This was before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Back then it was illegal and a crime to be gay in the military. You could not serve if you were gay, and you could be legally prosecuted and discharged if you were found to be gay. While I was deployed to Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War (also known as Desert Storm) I was stalked and eventually sexually assaulted by one of my fellow Marines. Lucky for me, my flight or fight response is highly developed for fighting and I successfully fought off my attacker with a knife. However, at the end of the assault he threatened to kill me if I told anyone about the incident. As most women (and I suppose some men) do, I told no one about the attack. It wasn't until I was with a bunch of other female Marines that I felt brave enough to tell them about the "crazy thing" Cpl. White did to me. After I shared my story, about 5 other women said, "Me, too." This was in 1991, a full 27 years before our current #metoo movement. We all decided to report Cpl. White's abuse to our Sergeant Major. Lucky for us, this crusty old Vietnam veteran took swift and decisive action and Cpl. White found himself on a plane bound for the US where he would remain in custody while awaiting trial. After all of us returned home the Court Martial began. Cpl. White's defense argument was that all 5 of us women were a band of "man-hating lesbians with an axe to grind." Because he accused us of being gay the Court Martial shifted. All 5 of us now were legally obligated to prove that we were not lesbians. Remember, he stalked most of us for 3 months, assaulted all of us, and threatened to kill the rest of us. However, at this point in the Court Martial none of that mattered. The entire focus of the Court Martial was on us women to prove that we were not lesbians. How where we obligated to do this? We had to provide personal testimony from a man with whom we had sex. Yep. It's true, I had to bring a male witness to legally testify that he had indeed had sex with me. It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I was 19 years old. Eventually, all of us were able to convince the court that we were heterosexuals and the Court Martial could continue. Cpl. White was found guilty of conduct unbecoming with regard to the women who were equal to our above his rank and sexual harassment with me because I was lower rank. You see, back then, the Code of Military Justice did not recognize sexual harassment from a person of lower rank to a person of higher rank. Since then, because of the brave souls of lesbians and gays in the military, the laws have changed. Don't ask, don't tell was repealed (believe me, this was stupid law) and gays and lesbians can serve openly. Since then, because of these brave souls, transgender people can serve openly. Since then, because of these brave souls, military sexual harassment laws have changed to no longer be specific to rank. Since then, because of these brave souls, women and men who are stalked, assaulted and abused do not have to have their sexuality on trial. All of these human rights are only possible because of the courage of early leaders. They stood tall and proud in the face of unbelievable hate. One such leader was Harvey Milk, a US Navy veteran, and visionary civil and human rights leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. His remarkable career was tragically cut short when he was assassinated nearly a year after taking office. Milk often spoke of the American ideal of equality, proclaiming, “Gay people, we will not win our rights by staying quietly in our closets. … We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions. We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I’m going to talk about it. And I want you to talk about it. You must come out.” Harvey knew, as did Martin Luther King, that equality and justice will elevate our entire society. Dr. King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Harvey Milk knew this. His fight for equality and justice for LGBTQ community ripples across all of humanity. Salute the Summer SolsticeToday is the summer solstice, the longest day and shortest night of the year. We are so fortunate in our northern latitude to have such long days during the summer. Of course the flip side of these days in the winter can get a bit rough. It is a modern Yoga tradition to do 108 Sun Salutations on the winter and summer solstices. In fact, we have done this several times together both at the gym and at home. This year we don't have plans for an organized 108 Sun Salutations. So, I thought it would be fun to turn our solstice tradition into a challenge. Starting today and ending next Wednesday, June 28th, I challenge you to do 15 Sun Salutations every day. This, of course, only gets you to 105, so you need to add 3 more in there somewhere. The Sun Salutation is like a long slow burpee. There are several variations, and they all have the benefit of moving every joint and making you feel really good. You don't have to do these all at once. In fact, I recommend breaking them up into 3 sets of 5 every day. Do 5 when you wake up, 5 mid-day and 5 in the evening a few hours after dinner. You can also do them as part of your warm-up for class. Here's a video demonstration from Alo Yoga of a Sun Salutation for beginners. Enjoy! If I had a dollar every time someone said to me they need to do more "cardio" to loose weigh or get into shape I could sell the gym and retire. Ask anyone who's never done CrossFit what you should do to get into shape and they'll tell you to start running. The long slow run has a tight grip on the misbelief that it is the best way to lose weight and get into shape. Don't get me wrong, a long slow run has its place in a well round and varied fitness program. We regularly program 5 and 10k runs for the gym (Sweet Pea, Huffing for Stuffing, Run to the Pub.) It's also great for mental health. A long slow run can help you get into a mental state where you can either solve all of your problem, or completely forget about them. However, the long slow run will not, exclusively, make you lose weight or get into shape. What helps you do both of those things? You guessed it, high intensity interval training AKA CrossFit CrossFit is a general physical preparedness program with an aim to improve physical competence across 10 general physical skills. CrossFit methodology trains each skill so that all are improved; CrossFit does not specialize. CrossFit has been the foundation of thousands of #transformationtuesday stories and understanding how and why it works can help you be more successful in writing your own transformation story. Enjoy this very good discussion about the CrossFit methodology and why it works so well. |
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