15 January 2013

The Top 7 Myths about Crossfit and Why They’re Totally FALSE

I understand that Crossfit isn’t for everyone. I GET IT. But don’t let the myths about Crossfit give you an excuse not to try it, okay? If you’re even a little bit interested, I would highly recommend trying it at least 4-5 times (once isn’t really enough to get a good feel for it). It’s literally changed my life.

Myth #1: Crossfit is only for super-fit people.

Entirely untrue. One of the best and most amazing things about Crossfit is that it’s scalable to any level. I think people hear that and don’t believe it, but it’s true. We have people of all ages, shapes, and abilities at my box, and the most wonderful thing is that everyone cheers everyone else on. I’m genuinely happy when my friends get PRs or push themselves to new heights. Warm and fuzzy feelings abound in Crossfit!

So obviously, Camille is super-fit. But you don’t have to be to get a LOT out of Crossfit!

Myth #2: Crossfit is expensive.

Crossfit is only expensive if you compare it to regular gyms. It’s CHEAP when you compare it to the cost of personal training, which to me, is a more apt comparison. I paid around $700 for three months of personal training at one 60-minute session per week. Crossfit costs anywhere between $150-300/month, depending on where you live, but you can go as many times as you want. Since each session is like a group personal training session, it actually costs about half as much as you’d get charged at a standard gym!

Myth #3: Crossfit is a cult.

GAHHHHH, I’m so sick of hearing this. Crossfit is a cult as much as any group of people interested in the same thing is a cult! We all like talking about Crossfit when we’re together because we all DO Crossfit. If you got together with a bunch of coworkers outside of work, isn’t it likely that you’d spend at least part of the time inadvertently talking about work? Same concept. It’s what we all have in common, so it’s easy to talk about!

Keep reading for Myths #4-7!

Potlucking Out

I told you guys that I’m doing a January Whole30 with my dad, my sister, and a few people from my Crossfit box. Well, we all got smart and decided to throw a Whole30 potluck. Let me tell you — that was ageniusidea, for a few reasons:

It reminded me of all the delicious Whole30 food out there, because sometimes, it’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut.
It’s a fun, food-related event we could all participate in without feeling at all guilty or pressured to compromise our goals.
It was an opportunity to trade Whole30 tips, tricks, raves, and woes.

I tried to make Paleo banana bread from this recipe (yes, totally SWYPO, but we all agreed that SWYPO was okay for this potluck!). Unfortunately, as I tried to flip it out of the pan as instructed, it completely broke in half. Though my kind friends tried to persuade me to bring it anyway, I just couldn’t serve a crumbled mess of a dish. So I made fruit salad instead.

Everyone else had better luck. Check out my plate!

There was eggplant parmesan without the parmesan (breaded in almond meal), veggies and guac, egg muffins, roasted veggies, delicious salad, a unique potato and venison dish with egg that would make a really yummy breakfast, and of course, my boring fruit salad.

We also had a drink that will go down as my favorite Whole30-compliant drink EVER:

It’s Peach-Pear LaCroix (apparently a new-to-2012 flavor!) with lime and pomegranate seeds. AWESOME and so festive!

There was plenty of good company too…

My Crossfit coach Jarrod is on the left and bad-ass Crossfitter Jen is on the right. She’s a quiet beast! If you live in the Detroit area, please don’t sleep on Crossfit Benchmark Workouts. It’s the best box around!

More CF friends: Terri and Becks.

So if you’re on a healthy eating/living mission in 2013, please don’t be afraid to get your friends involved. Having a healthy potluck is probably one of the best ways to share recipes, ideas, and dang good food.

Happy potlucking!

9 January 2013

Celebrating Others Healthfully

I think one of the most difficult things about being on Whole30 is participating in the celebrations of loved ones. Saying no to non-Whole30 foods is just half the battle. The other half of the battle is trying to explain why you can’t partake in birthday cake, drinks, etc.

Since I’m now on my third Whole30, I feel like I have a little bit of experience with this. Just last night, I celebrated my man’s birthday without indulging in anything non-Whole30. Of course, it’s easy with him since he knows what I’m doing and gets why it’s important to me. It’s trickier if you’re around people who aren’t as close or don’t really understand why you eat the way you do.

Here are the things I’ve learned about celebrating others healthfully along the way:

It’s okay — I mean really OKAY —to say no to food.
We’ve all been in situations where we feel really guilty about turning down food, mostly because of who’s offering it to us. But you really CAN say no to food and not offer any explanation!

Sometimes no explanation is better than the truth.
People have a harder time arguing with no explanation than trying to explain that your eating plan doesn’t allow a certain food. “No, thanks,” is absolutely acceptable in almost all situations!

You can still participate in your own way.
Whether that means bringing your own special food, deciding to celebrate without food in a special way, or promising you’ll treat yourself after the event, make sure you do something special or different. Otherwise, you’ll feel deprived all around.

Your loved ones will never remember what you did or didn’t eat.
I promise you, they’re not the food police. Even if it becomes a little awkward to say no to food you’re offered, no one will remember who ate in no time at all. It’s not worth caving just to avoid a slightly awkward situation because it won’t matter at all soon enough.

You can celebrate without food.
I promise, you can! For my birthday this past year, I hosted a big Zumba class. Tons of fun, no food involved.

What other tips do you have for celebrating others healthfully?

6 January 2013

Wedding Dress Shopping: Health for a Wedding vs. a Marriage

As I mentioned in this post, I’m getting married in the spring at two separate ceremonies (one in Mexico over Memorial Day weekend and one in my hometown three weeks later).

You can ask any of my friends to verify this, but I’ve never been a wedding person. I’ve never fantasized about my own wedding, never gotten addicted to any of the seemingly omnipresent wedding shows on TLC, never read wedding blogs, and to be honest, never really saw myself having a wedding in the conventional sense. I always said, “If my husband-to-be wants to have a wedding, we can have one. But I don’t need one.”

Well, guess what? My husband-to-be wants a wedding. Don’t get me wrong: he would be completely fine eloping or just taking our families to a nice dinner after a courthouse ceremony, but he’d definitely rather have a wedding. Okay, cool. I can do that.

Once I dipped a toe into the wild, wild world of weddings, I realized I didn’t know anything about them. Not having been a “wedding person” growing up was actually kind of a disadvantage. Suddenly not only did I need to find a venue, a caterer, a florist, etc., etc., etc., but I also had to find THE dress — and look the best I’ve ever looked in it. Talk about pressure, right?

New Year Egg Drop Soup with Pork

This is, hands down, my new favorite recipe. I’ve already made it three times and I’m not sick of it. That’s saying a lot because usually I have a hard time eating something more than two or three times in a row.

It’s an easy recipe, but one ingredient you really can’t skimp on is this one:

Sesame oil makes this recipe, so please don’t try to make it without some!

You’ll need (makes 4-6 servings):

2 boxes chicken broth (organic, free range is best if you can swing it)
4-5 Tbsp sesame oil, divided
5-6 heads baby bok choy
1 cup green onion, diced
1-2 lbs ground pork
2-3 Tbsp coconut aminos (or substitute with soy sauce)
4-5 eggs, whisked together
crushed red pepper to taste
salt to taste

Make it:

Begin by sauteing the ground pork in 1-2 Tbsp sesame oil in a large soup pot. When the pork is around 75-80% cooked, add the broth, coconut aminos, and crushed red pepper. The pork should look kinda like this before you add the additional ingredients:

Bring everything to a boil, then add the bok choy and green onion. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat source. Wait until the soup has cooled just a bit (1-2 minutes). Then, add the eggs by stirring the pot consistently while you slowly pour in the egg mixture. Turn the heat back on to low/simmer, and cook for another 5-10 minutes to help marry all the flavors. Add salt if necessary.

Garnish with more green onion if desired.