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Free Intros
Stay tuned to the Corps Fitness Facebook page and blog for a special Free Intro announcement later in February!

 CrossFit Open
The CrossFit Open will take place from Feb 23 - Mar 27.  If you want to register (gives you access to website to see how you’re ranked among others nationally), visit https://games.crossfit.com/

It’s not required to register online - you can still do the workouts at Corps Fitness during the times we’ll set up.  Corps Fitness does not get anything for you registering; it’s a personal thing if you want to.

We WILL need judges for the workouts - the judges course is available online.  I haven’t tried it yet, but it appears to be open and ready at any point (and a good way for XF to make $10 a pop…).  No doubt it’s a good way to learn the movements and what IS vs ISN’T a rep in CrossFit.  We’ll gather a list of all who take the judges course and can then score workouts when they come up.

Have ??, Will Travel
Friday, February 10th, any interested CFers wishing to participate in a CrossFit style throw down, we will be heading to CrossFit Ephrata to join their gang at 7:00PM. This is just a friendly CrossFit style workout done with CrossFitters from nearby. So that we can get a decent head count, please give [email protected] a shout to let her know if you’ll be able to attend.

Functional Training for Runners
Are you a runner, or do you want to become a runner!  Check out our great new partnership with A Running Start!

Personal Training

Our very own Jay V is now a certified personal trainer!  Check out the info above for a great opportunity for someone looking to get started on a fitness journey….or for someone looking to achieve specific fitness goals!

Delish

You like kimchi? What is it? Never had it?
Kimchi is a Korean fermented vegetable dish (mainly cabbage) that has oh-so-many benefits.
First, it is super tasty.
Second, it is rich in Vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. It’s also full of essential amino acids and minerals such as iron, calcium and selenium.
Third, it is brimming with beneficial gut-boosting lactobacilli bacteria, and a happy gut, is a happy YOU.
And fourth, it assists in digestion, it’s low calorie, and has healthy functionality (as reported by Journal of Medicinal Food) such as anti-cancer, anti-obesity, anti-aging, and beneficial effects on cholesterol among many other things.
CFers, you are in luck! CFer Michelle Gauby is a terrific kimchi-maker, and she will be providing samples to taste available this Wednesday (after 9:30AM class) thru Saturday. Please take a moment to try some (it will be staying cool in the fridge….ask front desk for help). After anyone interested has had a taste, Michelle will be taking orders for purchase (details on sizes and cost will be coming soon!). In the meantime, be sure to give it a taste-test. Many CFers can already attest to its deliciousness!


AND…we have Raw Honey!!!
Fellow CFer Emily Bundy brings to us raw honey from her family business, The Honey Bee Tree. There are delicious and beautifully packaged jars of honey for sale in the cafe (and information as well).
Why honey, and why RAW honey? Raw honey is unprocessed, pure, unpasteurized which helps to retain all its natural vitamins, enzymes and phytonutrients. Additionally, honey is a good source of anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties!
Check out the display in the Cafe. Purchases can be made at the front desk. Thanks Emily Bundy for bringing this to CF!!

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microbiomehq.com: click image for link to article

Not the courageous type this time, but the literal type.  Your guts contain loads of information that make you who you are, maybe more so than many other organ systems!

Some signs your digestive microbiome may be out of whack include intestinal issues, mental issues (depression, brain fog), stress, weight issues, and skin conditions.  Surprisingly, you can change your own microbiome for the better if you work at it.  A few tips include: getting dirty and sweaty, incorporating more fermented foods and good veggies into your diet and reducing sugar and meat / animal products.  Check the links to learn more!

A couple more interesting articles here and here.  Enjoy!

Friday Food for Thought - Are you really human?

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memegenerator.com / ETP

If you’re using a fitbit to track your activity and food intake, here are a couple very informative articles on why it may or may not work out as you planned:

Fitbit: You’re Doing it Wrong, P Nobles
“The problem with eating inflexibly for too long is your body adapts to that. FYI — that’s also the reason you are under-eating your Fitbit burn by 700 calories and still not losing weight. The body searches for balance (homeostasis), so if you feed your body an inadequate amount for your activity level, it simply adjusts. That’s why what we teach is so important. You can only dig a hole for so long before you hit a point of resistance.”

“So, should you be eating the number on your Fitbit? I’m going to say yes, you should. This assumes you understand a bit about how things work, and if you don’t, we have a staff of 35 people who can help. But if you aren’t seeing results with your fat loss goals, it’s probably because you have been burning the candle at both ends for too long.”

PFFL: We’re All Athletes (Doing your Fitbit Right), P Nobles
“The biggest problem with the “calories in/calories out” crowd is that they miss the real magic. There’s no question that calorie counting is a great tool for making people more aware of how much they do and how much they eat. But if you keep banging that same “do more/eat less” hammer, your body will simply adjust (i.e., down-regulate).”

“What does that mean for you, specifically? If you are a 350 pound male with more fat to use, your intervals between PFFL periods might be shorter. If you are a 110 pound female, you might never need to do PFFL. Ultimately, it can be customized for anyone, and this is the point. “One size fits all” dieting is a myth. Everyone needs to get a little specific to see real results. Long story longer — if you are using your Fitbit as a way of creating a deficit,  you may see much better long-term results by eating what you burn, because that’s the way your body wants to work.”

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Most Americans are getting way too much sugar. It shows up in hidden foods you might not realize: pasta sauce, yogurt, salad dressing, “healthy” breakfast cereal…  And sugar is a crazy addictive substance - for a good reason - it provides quick energy and fat storage that our ancient ancestors could use to get away from danger and/or hold on to extra calories in case food became scarce.  Why not create an innate drive to find and consume it?  The problem with modern society is that sugar is now everywhere and food is hardly every truly scarce.  So how do we adapt to modern times?

  • Eat real food (per Michael Pollan: not too much, mostly plants)
  • Eat like your grandparents would have.  No constant access to sweets, treats, snacks.
  • Make your own food, own the ingredients and the process
  • Maybe even start a garden or at least shop at a local farmers’ market
  • Plan your meals - less ingredient waste, more real food, less propensity for snacking when you know what you’re going to have next

Check out these links for more facts, opinions, and information:
Mark’s daily apple - definitive guide to sugar
Yuri Elkaim - Sugar Detox
Evolutionary reason why we love sugar

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Here’s a good Mark’s Daily Apple post on reasons not to trust the latest nutritional study.

A few highlights:
Who paid for the study… “An earlier analysis of milk, soda, and fruit juice nutrition studies found that those sponsored by milk, soda, and juice companies were far more likely to report favorable results than independent studies.”

Correlation and causation…Guns and Butter! “Correlations provoke interesting hypotheses and tests of those hypotheses, but they’re very often spurious. Everything we eat is associated with cancer if we look hard enough. Does that actually tell us anything useful?”

Statistical significance vs practical significance… “‘The association between fat and type 2 diabetes is unlikely to be a coincidence.’ It says nothing about the size of the association. It doesn’t mean eating fat doubles your chance of getting type 2 diabetes. The clinical significance—the biological effect—is very likely trivial.”

And a reminder about a previous post about why we believe what we do.

Really it all comes down to using your own brain, thinking critically, forming your own beliefs, and practicing moderation.

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RESTART® 5 Week Detox 
Beginnig this Wednesday, April 6th
in the Water Room of Bldg 7 Yoga
Real Food. Real Learning. Real Support.
Part nutritional education, Part sugar detox, part support group - an empowering combination!
Last series before Summer!
 
The 5-week RESTART® Program is a simple, powerful way to give your body a vacation from having to process toxins like sugar. With a 3-week sugar detox built right in, the program focuses on how to use REAL FOOD to boost your energy and cut sugar and carb cravings. Discover how good you can feel!
  • 5 Weekly Meetings Once a Week
  • 60-90 minutes per meeting
  • 4-10 people per group
  • Meetings held at BLDG. 7 Yoga | Earth Room
BENEFITS you can expect from the Program:
  • Weight Loss
  • Increased Energy
  • Better and more restful sleep
  • Boosted immune system
  • Mental clarity and improved mood
  • Decreased anxiety
  • Reduced PMS/Menopause symptoms

YOU’LL LEARN

  • Week 1:How to prepare for your REAL FOOD sugar detox
  • Week 2:Your digestive check-in
  • Week 3:What sugar really does in your body
  • Week 4:The truth about FATS
  • Week 5:How to move forward and celebrate your success!
 Learn more about Freya at www.bio-logicnutrition.com
$120 after April 1st
 
Additionally, Bldg 7 will be holding a FREE Stark Juice tasting this Saturday:
FREE Stark Juice Tasting
Saturday April 9th
Stark Juice is raw cold pressed juice sourced from locally grown fruits and vegetables operating out of an old feed mill in Kempton, Pennsylvania. All juices are cold pressed and hand crafted in our certified, commercial kitchen to get the maximum nutritional benefit. Cold pressing preserves the plant’s live enzymes that would otherwise be destroyed by the heat created in other types of processing. We do not use any pasteurization or heat of any kind so all nutrients are left untouched.  Picking the vegetables the day before pressing also ensures optimal vitamin and enzyme content along with incredible flavor and taste.  Although our fruits and vegetable are not certified organic, they are carefully sourced from homegrown, local farms.
Want these products available for purchase all the time? Let us know!
Learn more about Stark Juice at www.starkjuice.com
Stay in the know for Bldg 7 Events and Workshops at this link: http://bldg7yoga.com/classes-2/workshopsseries/
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Diggin’ back in the archives for this one.  As spring approaches, think fresh!  Fresh food, fresh air, fresh perspective.  Maybe some fresh comments?  Did you know comments are back?  Happy Wednesday, CFers!

From “FOODIE BRAIN DUMP” MAY 30, 2014:

If we’ve said it one, we’ve said it a thousand times… Fat DOESN’T make you fat!!!  There have been several contradictory health / nutrition studies in the past few decades, serving to do nothing more than confuse the $@&% out of everybody…  Leading to people just throwing in the towel and doing whatever they want to because “blah, blah, blah.  Nobody knows anything anyway…”

Here’s a brief overview of what we’ve learned through our CF food challenges of the past:

It’s hard.  Yep, it can be.  Let’s move on.

Insulin spikes = bad.  Keep that blood sugar steady and avoid the constant highs and lows associated with quick sugar rushes (and subsequent crashes, leaving you craving more).

Watch for the hidden sugar.  It’s everywhere!  Vitamin water?  Not so much…  Low fat?  High sugar…  New and improved?  Doubtful…

Go clean and natural.  It’s hard to hide additives in a head of lettuce or a carrot (though not impossible, and surely food companies are working on it at this very moment).  Go natural / locally grown / non-processed / clean food!  Know where your food comes from.

Or go organic.  If you want to, it’s probably a great idea.  But still know where it comes from!  Did that organic, grass fed steak travel from Australia or Uruguay?  …and how does it only cost $7.00?  …and where do I get that plane ticket?

Or grow your own!  What better way to reconnect with the earth and feel that much more self-sufficient than by digging in the dirt and watching food grow straight out of the ground?!?

Start small.  Substitute fruit for candy, replace a soda with water, sub salad for fries at the restaurant.  Sure, it’ll seem different at first, but is different inherently bad?  I think not.

Don’t do it because everyone else is.  Educate yourself about the hows and whys of dietary changes.  You’ll understand what’s going on with your body and be more motivated to step away from the bad stuff…

It’s not a diet; it’s a lifestyle.  “Diet” has become a dirty little word with temporary connotations.  Avoid the hype and make the change.

Figure out what works for you.  What works for someone else may not be your cup of tea, and that’s ok.  Figure out what works for you (it may take weeks / months to figure out) and tweak it until it’s just right.  Don’t make excuses and don’t give up.  Just figure it out!

But if this is all a little overwhelming, just consider: everything in moderation!  There’s nothing wrong with an occasional meal out or sweet treat from the store.  Just don’t do it all the time.  And chances are, if you’re eating clean, you’ll really notice the negative effects of putting junk into your body and be that much more likely avoid it the next time.

-G Kaag

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A few great articles on nutrition from Breaking Muscle.  If you haven’t checked out this site, it’s always got a ton of great information and thought-provoking articles!

Good vs Evil: Food is not a competition
“If you feel like you are on a diet, you are, and you will fall off. Eat foods you enjoy so you won’t feel deprived. Make a huge list of foods that you love. Forget the healthy or not thing, and just write them down. Then consider how you can include them in your menus and still be aligned with your health objectives.”
-Mark Halpern, RD, Breaking Muscle

What people eat is none of your business
“If you have found that adhering to a particular testament in your diet has worked wonders, congratulations. But understand this does not mean your revelation will hold true for your unsuspecting victim. People ask for help, and can only be helped if they want it. Discovering what works for them with their own agency is fundamental to individual empowerment and the success that follows. So let coaches coach. And get on with your own workout.”
- Sam Macintosh, Breaking Muscle

Your diet is not normal: Here’s why
“Similarly, basic diets might work for many people who are overweight. But as you approach your goal physique, your nutrition needs to be tailored to you. Someone else’s diet might not be the best solution. As you build your individualized nutrition plan, remember that systems interact, and your digestive system is as unique as you are.”
- Craig Marker, PhD, Breaking Muscle