4 Rounds for reps:
With a 3 minute clock perform:
10 Deadlift, 135#(95#)
8 Hang power cleans, 135#(95#)
6 Shoulder to overhead, 135#(95#)
With remaining time as many toes to bar as possible

Rest 2 minutes

Second round = as many burpees over bar as possible
Third round = handstand push ups
Fourth round = pull ups

Post reps to comments or BTWB

MINDFULNESS – Anna Mattson along with the guidance and tutelage of Time Ferriss

What is mindfulness?  According to psychologytoday.com it is “a state of active, open attention on the present. When you’re mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience.”  From that definition, my takeaway was that mindfulness will help me to appreciate and celebrate my achievements more, appreciate people/things around me more, and complain/let negativity creep into my mind less.

Mindfulness = GOOD!  So how do I become more mindful?  Tim Ferriss, via his Podcast The Tim Ferriss Show recently did a short discussion called THE MAGIC OF MINDFULNESS (I highly recommend you listen to it).  Tim covers many great tips and tricks that he uses to be more mindful, but I will just review 4 key takeaways that I am going to try to put into action in my own life to make myself more mindful.

#1 – 21 DAY NO COMPLAINTS
WORD CHOICE DETERMINES THOUGHT CHOICE!!! This is a quote I will never forget because it bears so much truth.  This tip utilizes a physical object to help remind you when negative thoughts, verbiage, or whatever mindful goal you have set, goes awry.  Here is how it works:  Your goal is to not complain for 21 days; your definition of complaining may vary based on your mindfulness goals.  You will wear a bracelet, doesn’t have to be fancy.  Every time you break your mindfulness goal, such as negative speak towards someone else or about someone else or yourself, you will switch the wrist the bracelet is on and reset the 21 day time clock.  Even if this just lasts a week, you have begun to draw awareness to negativity that can creep into your mind.

#2 – JAR OF AWESOME
Some of you have heard or done this before, but it bares reminding.  We all have strong tendency to put energy into focusing on the negative things that are happening in our lives and not celebrate the positive things, no matter how big or small.  The JAR OF AWESOME helps us to focus on those small achievements.  Here is how it works:  Make yourself a large jar, a mason jar works very well.  Decorate said jar to the level that you want, glitter, puff paint, stickers, whatever!  Glue a sticky note pad to the top and place the jar in an open area so you will constantly see it.  Every time something positive happens, ANYTHING, write it on a sticky note and stick it inside the jar.  You can take time at the end of the week/month/year and review those notes.  Even if you never read those notes again you have celebrated, even for a brief moment, positivity.

#3 – 5 MINUTE JOURNAL
This is a quick 5 minute ritual that will be done in the morning.  The journal itself doesn’t have to fancy, even though I am sure you can order a really expensive pre-formatted one online.  This journal is like a daily affirmation journal, similar to the JAR OF AWESOME, it helps focus your attention on the positive things/influences in your life.  Here is how it works:  Keep this journal right by your bedside and set your alarm 5 minutes earlier than you normally would wake.  When you wake, grab the journal and write things your are grateful for.  Here are a few suggestions for topics to write about:
1 – A relationship, either new or old, that you are thankful for like a teacher or friend from the past2 – A great thing that happened to you or you saw yesterday such as someone being kind to a homeless person or you helping an elderly person with their groceries
3 – Something small near you that you are grateful for like the warm blanket you are sleeping under, your clean bathroom, the pajamas you are sleeping in that your great grandma got you
These things don’t have to be huge/prolific like children, jobs, etc. because the small things ARE the big things.  Make a goal to never repeat an item.  Friends of Anna – You will be receiving one of these for the Holidays, so get ready!

#4 – TAKE 3 BREATHS
This is a small, easy to execute form of meditation.  We all have times when we get overwhelmed, anxiety and negativity creep into our minds.  When this happens, recognize it and take 3 deep breaths.  Unknowingly, this action causes a pattern interrupt and will calm your body, clear your mind, and help you to refocus.

Whether you choose one or several of these tips, you absolutely WILL NOT regret it.  It is very easy to go through the day, watch the news, talk with loved ones and only see the negative in our daily lives.  So much positivity takes place that goes unnoticed; LET’S START NOTICING!!

Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3-3
Front Squat 3-3-3

Then, 3 rounds for quality:
10 single leg steps-ups (5 per side), 24″(20″) @ 40% of 3 rep back squat

Post loads to comments and BTWB

Is the obesity crisis hiding a bigger problem? By Dr. Peter Attia

“As a young surgeon, Peter Attia felt contempt for a patient with diabetes. She was overweight, he thought, and thus responsible for the fact that she needed a foot amputation. But years later, Attia received an unpleasant medical surprise that led him to wonder: is our understanding of diabetes right? Could the precursors to diabetes cause obesity, and not the other way around? A look at how assumptions may be leading us to wage the wrong medical war.”

Dr. Attia opens this TED Talk with his story about his overweight, diabetic patient. The thoughts he had regarding his patient I think are, unfortunately, thoughts some of us may have had at some point in our lives. We don’t have to be doctors to encounter someone that is overweight. As much as this is hard to say because, for someone close to me, it may be hard to hear, but have we ever thought to ourselves that a person’s obesity is simply their problem? Dr. Attia expresses the way he felt when he first met his patient,

“You see, unlike the woman the night before, this woman had type 2 diabetes. She was fat. And we all know that’s from eating too much and not exercising enough, right? I mean, how hard can it be? As I looked down at her in the bed, I thought to myself, if you just tried caring even a little bit, you wouldn’t be in this situation at this moment with some doctor you’ve never met about to amputate your foot.”

The purpose of this TED Talk is to take a beginning look into the fact that perhaps we look at the relationship between obesity and diabetes (insulin resistance) incorrectly, 

“Now, most researchers believe obesity is the cause of insulin resistance. Logically, then, if you want to treat insulin resistance, you get people to lose weight, right? You treat the obesity. But what if we have it backwards? What if obesity isn’t the cause of insulin resistance at all? In fact, what if it’s a symptom of a much deeper problem, the tip of a proverbial iceberg?”

I think we can all agree that what we consume has an impact on our lives. It doesn’t just impact our weight, it affects our mood, our sleep, our performance in sport and the gym, it can affect our sex lives. But the hard part is actually understanding what is and is not the best food to consume. 

” I’d hypothesize that it might be our increased intake of refined grains, sugars and starches that’s driving this epidemic of obesity and diabetes, but through insulin resistance, you see, and not necessarily through just overeating and under-exercising.”

Dr. Attia had a very personal experience regarding insulin resistance that left him asking the question “If the conventional wisdom about nutrition had failed me, was it possible it was failing someone else?” Hearing this question may be an eye opener for some of you, because maybe you’ve been thinking it too? Maybe you’ve been following a diet plan, maybe you think you’ve been doing it all right, but your blood work disagrees or you are still battling medical problems that you were hoping your diet could correct. Or perhaps this isn’t happening to you but to someone you love. 

Obesity and diabetes affects many of us, either personally or a family member or friend. I would highly suggest you take 15 minutes to sit and listen to Dr. Attia and hear the future of studying these two epidemics. 

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
250 Meter row
25 Kettlebell swings, 53#(35#)
20 Burpee box jumps, 24″(20″)

Post rounds to comments and BTWB

Hold up, rowing is not on the schedule for the month of December?! Jigga what.

Truth. Verve will have to find another loud, rambunctious, and charmingly inappropriate (6:30 PM, cough, cough) group to disrupt the WOD while becoming impeccable rowers over the month of December as I am is hitting the road all month. Technically I’m  going to Thailand for three weeks.

Will rowing come back in January? Do 2ks steal a tiny amount of your soul? Of course! Rowing will return in full force at the start of the new year. We will also start up a new progression soon after that so if you saw this email and it made you realize how desperately you want to come to rowing so that you don’t have to hate it quite so much: don’t fear. Simply use this whole month to build that rowing fire deep down in your very being. Come January, you will be 90% of the way  towards becoming a real, live rower. You can up that percentage by realizing that sitting down while working out is really the best thing ever and becoming significantly worse at all things involving hand-eye coordination. Welcome to my life.

Can’t wait to see you all in January!!!

Maddie

5 rounds, each round for time, of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Ab mat sit ups

Rest 3 minutes between rounds

Post times to comments and BTWB

*Get ready to get dunked!! Rosanne is bringing the Body Fat Test truck to Verve all day on Thursday December 3rd. What does that mean? It means if you have been curious as to what your body fat percent is recently, this is the best opportunity to find out. You will be asked to hold your breath under water for the measurement to take place. The truck will be parked in front of Verve, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

· Bring a swimsuit & towel
· Plan on getting wet (hair too!)
· Water is warm, 90-99 degrees
· Appointments are only 15 minutes long
· Unfortunately they cannot test pregnant women
· The cost for a first time test is $49. Retests are $35 (We will be planning a follow up apportionment in a few months)
· They accept Cash, Checks and Credit

Click here to sign up for a time. Click here to see what the testing process looks like.

*Sunday December 6th Josh Wrede at Til Death Tattoos will be hosting the DeVito Strong Tattoo Fundraiser. Pick from a selection of set designs and get inked for $100 by one of Denver’s best. All proceeds go to the DeVito Strong Fund. For more details click here.

*Saturday December 12th Verve is hosting it’s first competition!! The “It Takes A Team Challenge” is an all day team competition. All 32 teams sold out within 27 hours. For more details about the event, click here.

If you are interested in volunteering, please click here and sign up. Specific jobs will be assigned at a later date.

Still want to compete but missed out before the teams sold out? Matt Chan has a team but it’s missing two additional male teammates. He is raffling off those spots. Simply click here to go to the raffle site. Each $10 donation made equals 1 raffle entry. There is no limit to the number of times you may enter the raffle, donate $100, that’s 10 entries into the raffle. The raffle will close December 4th. Names will be drawn and announced December 8th. 

*Christmas and New Years are quickly approaching. We will have abbreviated schedules surrounding the holidays, please check MBO for all class times. 

Partner “Holleyman”
40 Rounds for time:
5 Wallballs
3 Strict handstand push-ups
1 Power clean, 225#(155#)

*One partner works at a time. Partner will complete a full round and then switch.

Post times to comments and BTWB

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

For several years now it has been in my weekly regiment to do Thursday’s post. Which means for several years I have found myself doing the post on Thanksgiving day. And over the years I have shared with you the things that I am most thankful for, here are a few throwbacks. . . since it is also #TBT.

In 2013 I was thankful for:

I am thankful for my orthopedic surgeon and my physical therapist. I am grateful they understood what activities I was passionate about and provided their care accordingly. I am grateful I am physically capable of doing all the activities I love and then some without pain.

I am thankful I was blessed with sweet, sweet dance moves. I am grateful I am often moved by the music and feel compelled to bust them out for all to enjoy.

I am thankful for James P. Whitmire esq. He can always be counted on to read the WOD blog and leave a comment. The jury is out as to whether or not I am always thankful for his comments, but it is always nice to know the blog is read.

In 2014 I was thankful for:

I am thankful for my work husband Eric Clancy for taking on this big challenge of being business owners with me. I truly don’t think I would have said yes to it without him.

I am thankful for my massage therapist Jason Thompson of MyaTherapy. He is the best at what he does. He keeps my muscles and joints healthy, and he relaxes my mind after I deal with Clancy all day.

And, again, just like last year, I am thankful for a Verve member that I feel I can very consistently count on to read and comment on every blog. It’s always nice to know someone is listening. Thanks James “O.G.” Whitmire, even if I’m pretty sure half the time you don’t know what you are talking about.

What am I thankful for in 2015?

The things that I’m thankful for don’t seem to change much over the years. I am always thankful for the love and support of my family, my boyfriend, and my furry child. But this year, after officially ringing in 1 full year as a co-owner at Verve, I have 3 people I am beyond words, incredibly thankful for:

Anna is one of the most caring, compassionate people I know. It goes into everything that she does. On top of that she is . . . on top of it, like always. She is offering help, she is thinking ahead, she is getting it done. Thank you for helping make my job easier.

Danni is the most heartfelt, genuine, and least selfish person I know. Which, coincidentally, pops up everyday in the work that she does. She is the first to ask “how are you?”, she is the first to ask “do you need anything?”. She constantly puts others before herself, and as a result, she too makes my job even easier.

Clancy is not the most compassionate, caring, heartfelt person I know. But I couldn’t do what I do everyday without him. Clancy is a hard worker, who gets things done when they need to be done, he doesn’t wait on anyone. I’m thankful for our partnership. Plus, whether or not he will admit it, I know he likes me a little bit because I’m the only girl he has seen cry and he didn’t run away. He third makes my job the easiest.

And, as all good things must come to an end, so does James Whitmire’s run of being on my most thankful list. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still thankful for the loud mouth, back talking lawyer, however a new Verve member has taken over the title of person I am most thankful for reading our blogs and letting Verve know whats up from time to time. I’m thankful for Drew Corbett, mostly because he assures me it is completely appropriate to refer to one’s mouth as a pie-hole.

Enough about me, how about the rest of Verve’s trainers, what are they thankful for?

“It sounds sappy, but I don’t care. I’m thankful to have a job that I GET to go to, not a job I HAVE to go to. Seriously, I love that my work can be my happy place, and I’m surrounded by so many people that I genuinely care about. Even Clancy.” -Danni

“I’m grateful for the rivers being full this past summer and El Niño. ” -Patrick

“I am thankful for deodorant, pizza, and the people in my life (past and present) who have led to me to where I am on this exact day!” -Anna

“I’m thankful for all the people that have supported me on my journey from place to place, which inevitably landed me in Denver, doing the thing I love the most.” -Paul

“I am grateful for all the verve peeps and trainers who have held, rocked, walked, etc. my babies so I can work out. Even Clancy has reinserted a pacifier here and there! It takes a village to lose the muffin top ;).” -Beth

“Friends, family, mentors supportive co-workers and the freedom to live my life as I please.” -Dan

“I am thankful for hugs, my mom’s chocolate chip cookies, the challenges in my life that have helped mold me into the person I am today, and for all the ordinary moments in my life that turn into something special.” -Ali

“All the crazy humans in my life who make it perfectly hilarious, gorgeous, and mine.” -Maddie

“I am thankful for the Orthopedic Surgeons statewide and for the owners of Verve who are too busy with other stuff to think about firing me.” -Zink

“I am grateful for all my friends and family near and far, that I’m able to pursue my new dream, and of course tacos, nachos and booze!” -Robyn

“I’m thankful that after 12 years of higher education, pharmacy school is almost over….and also for booze for helping me get this far.” -Nate

“Pete..that is it..and most times not even him. Actually, there are two other people in my life I’m super thankful for, my amazing, hard working, partner Courtney and my brother from another mother Paul. If I don’t see them or talk to them at least once per day I feel lost. I’m thankful for whatever alchemy brought them both into my life.” -Eric

“I’m grateful for my kids and an amazing wife. In addition, I’m thankful that she lets me hang-out with all you crazy folk at Verve.” -Jay

“I’m thankful for my supportive family, also pizza, ice cream (I think just carbs in general), and for having a job.” -Ryan

**Alright folks, now it’s your turn. Let us know what you are thankful for this year in the comments.

Every 3 minutes for 21 minutes:
20 Jumping lunges, bear hugging a medball, 20#(14#)
100 Meter sprint

*Score = slowest time to complete the the 20 lunges and sprint

Post score to comments and BTWB

Ahhh yes, the holiday season is upon us. The season of work parties, family get togethers, homemade desserts, endless bottles of wine, and a varietable buffet of appetizers. It’s the time of year we love because it brings families together but unfortunately it’s a time of year many of us hate because we fear our inability to say no, our inability to show minor restraint, and our inability to consume in moderation. Here are actual things I’ve heard people say in the past few weeks leading into the holiday season:

“I’m going to stop worrying about my diet. Why? Because it’s the holidays, I already know I can’t keep up with it.”

“I guess we’ll see how my body (speaking about it’s physique) holds up through the holidays.”

And my recent personal favorite, the Facebook call out after announcing the Body Fat Test would be coming to Verve on December 3rd. . .

“The week after Thanksgiving- brutal.”

Brutal? Really? I’m about to lay a truth bomb on you all right now. . . if you have spent a considerable amount of time paying attention to what you put in your pie hole throughout the year, on top of which you come to Verve consistently to get your daily WOD on, what can you possibly think you can do to your body in one evening of consumption that it will all suddenly be undone?

I’m going to drop an additional truth bomb on you. . . stop using the holidays as an excuse. Yes, there will be parties, yes there will be desserts and adult beverages. . . but those things will not be placed in front of your face 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the next 4 weeks. We are talking about single meals in a day. We can all make plans throughout the rest of the day that set us up for success when we get to the party and want to throw down at the open bar and buffet. Knowing that we may have a fairly hefty, unhealthy meal in the evening doesn’t mean we should just throw caution to the wind and eat with reckless abandon the whole day.  There is no need to say to one’s self “screw it, it’s the holidays.” Unless of course you want to. Maybe “the holidays” is your CrossFit Games. Maybe this is what you have been training for all year. If that’s the case, godspeed my friend, and may the force and all delicious pastries, be with you. 

But if you are one of those people that says “screw it” but come January 3rd you hate yourself, you hate your body, and you utter one of my favorite phrases of all time. . .”Alright, now I’m gonna get back on it”, how about you just stay on it. . . don’t leave it. As I said earlier, if you already pay attention to what you eat and you workout constantly, staying as close to on track as possible won’t leave you with nearly as much damage control at the end of this time of year. You don’t need total restraint, a minor to moderate amount of restraint will still leave you in pretty good shape. Here are a few tips/ thoughts:

1) Don’t skip meals. Your body is a machine that must be fueled throughout the day. If you were driving a car and knew you were about to take it on a long haul, would you stop putting gas in it until that time? It needs to run to get you through all the minor trips along the way. So eat, throughout the day, just as you would any other day. Don’t show up to the family dinner starving because you wanted to “save” all your calories for the big meal. It doesn’t work like that.

2) Since you are going to eat throughout the day, the best things to eat are lean proteins. I think we all know that when we get to the party all we want to shove in our faces are all the sweet, delicious, scrumptious carbs. Which carbs? All of them. The alcoholic kind, the mashed kind, the baked kind. . . no one is walking to the dinner table wondering where that delicious side of lean chicken breast is, we want the dinner rolls. So focus on those wonderful protein choices earlier in the day. 

3) Drink plenty of water. In general many of us have a feeling of being hungry when in actuality it’s really us being dehydrated. It helps you feel full and helps with the hang over, so drink up.

4) It would be easy to say those cliche tips like, “keep your hands full so you won’t be able to grab food”, “stay an arm’s length away from munchies”, “eat before you get to the party”, “bring your own healthier food”. . . yada, yada, yada. But none of that is fun and the reason we work so hard to be healthy throughout the year is to allow room for fun. So have fun. . . but keep the fun to one meal a day. Or to one day of the week. Try to avoid the mindset of “screw it”. You work hard, don’t give up so easily. It’s only food. 

Now go forth and enjoy the holidays. 

For time:
Run 1200 meters
25 Burpees to a 6″ target
Run 800 meters
25 Med ball cleans, 20#(14#)
Run 400 meters
10 Rope climbs

Post times to comments and BTWB

*We have had a lot of folks ask about this, so we got it scheduled. Rosanne is bringing the truck to Verve on Thursday December 3rd for a full day of getting dunked. What does that mean? It means if you have been curious as to what your body fat percent is recently, this is the best opportunity to find out. You will be asked to hold your breath under water for the measurement to take place.

The truck will be parked in front of Verve, we will provide a link to a google doc for you to schedule your time to get tested. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

· Bring a swimsuit & towel

· Plan on getting wet (hair too!)

· Water is warm, 90-99 degrees

· Appointments are only 15 minutes long

· Unfortunately they cannot test pregnant women

· The cost for a first time test is $49. Retests are $35 (We will be planning a follow up apportionment in a few months)

· They accept Cash, Checks and Credit

Click here to sign up for a time. Click here to see what the testing process looks like.

*This weekend is the Turkey Challenge!! Verve has 7 teams and 5 individuals competing all weekend at MBS CrossFit in Broomfield. For more information, including location, heat times, and workouts, click here.

*Thursday November 26th is Thanksgiving Day. Verve will have an abbreviated schedule on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Be sure to check MBO for class times and get signed up.

*Sunday December 6th Josh Wrede at Til Death Tattoos will be hosting the DeVito Strong Tattoo Fundraiser. Pick from a selection of set designs and get inked for $100 by one of Denver’s best. All proceeds go to the DeVito Strong Fund. For more details click here.

*Saturday December 12th Verve is hosting it’s first competition!! The “It Takes A Team Challenge” is an all day team competition. All 32 teams sold out within 27 hours. We will be posting a sign up sheet soon for volunteers to help with the event. Otherwise head on down to watch, have a few beers, and even get in on some fun spectator challenges. For more details click here.

Take 10 minutes to build to heavy a 1 rep max back squat
Then, 20 reps @ 60% of 1 rep back squat

Take 5 minutes to build to a heavy 1 rep back squat
Then, 15 reps @ 65% of 1 rep back squat

Take 5 minutes to build to a heavy 1 rep back squat
Then, 10 reps @ 70% of heavy 1 rep back squat

Post loads to comments and BTWB

I chose Prego over Ragu. . . I wonder what other bad decisions I’ve made?

So this post is not necessarily about CrossFit but I think we can all agree there is a mental component to CrossFit and this post is about our brain. . . so there. We make decisions every day, just so I can make this post be more related to CrossFit, think about all the decisions you make when you walk into the gym. What weight will I use for my workout? When it gets a little too hard do I want to quit or do I want to push through? What shoes best match my Lulu pants and tank top? You get my point. I think we can also agree that some of our decisions are better than others. Unfortunately we don’t know the decision is a bad one until after it’s been made. So what goes into our bad decision making paradigm? It turns out, a lot. I would now like to introduce you to “Twenty Cognitive Biases That Could Be Helping You Make Bad Decisions”, courtesy of Tom Hale at I F**king Love Science. 

The human mind is a beautiful thing. Our ability to perceive, manage and express our individual experiences has been a huge reason for our success as a species. However, let’s not get too narcissistic. As rational as we like to think we are, our brain is riddled with ingrained patterns of thought which can lead us to be very irrational.

Cognitive scientists and psychologists call these blips “cognitive biases.” Simply put, cognitive biases are mistakes made by the brain when reasoning, evaluating or other cognitive processes. They are usually caused by an association with previous emotional memories. We experience and perform these deviations on a daily basis, even if we are utterly unaware of it. In fact, in the business, political and marketing worlds, these little shortcomings of the brain are regularly used and abused against you.

Here are just a few of 20 of these cognitive biases that make us realize how irrational and malleable our little meat-bag brains can be:

1) Availability heuristic- People overestimate the importance of information that is available to them. A person might argue that smoking is not unhealthy because they know someone who lived to 100 and smoked three packs a day.

2) Bandwagon effect- The probability of one person adopting a belief increases based on the number of people who hold that belief. This is a powerful form of groupthink and is reason why meetings are often unproductive. 

3) Confirmation bias- We tend to listen only to information that confirms our preconceptions. One reason it’s so hard to have an intelligent conversation about climate change.

4) Conservatism bias- Where people favor prior evidence over new evidence or information that has emerged. People were slow to accept that the Earth was round because they maintained their earlier understanding that the planet was flat. 

5) Ostrich effect- The decision to ignore dangerous or negative information by “burying” one’s head in the sand, like an ostrich. Research suggests that investors check the value of their holdings significantly less often during bad markets.

6) Stereotyping- Expecting a group or person to have certain qualities without having real information about the person. It allows us to quickly identify strangers as friends or enemies, but people tend to overuse and abuse it.

7) Survivorship bias- An error that comes from focusing only on surviving examples, causing us to misjudge a situation. For instance, we might think that being an entrepreneur is easy because we haven’t heard of all those who failed. 

8) Zero-risk bias- Sociologists have found that we love certainty. Even if it’s counterproductive. Eliminating risk entirely means there is no chance of harm being caused. 

If you find yourself curious about the rest of the biases. . . click here.  

As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
3 Snatches,  135#(95#)
6 Clean and jerks, 135#(95#)
9 Chest-to-bar pull-ups
54 Double-unders

Post rounds and reps to comments and BTWB

Fructose is a poison.

Powerful and profound words, but it’s not a statement of an opinion. It’s a statement made by Dr. Robert Lustig followed by medical proof that, once ingested, the impact fructose has on our bodies is the same as that of a poison/ toxin. The above video is one I HIGHLY suggest everyone watch. I know, once you open it you may notice it’s an hour and a half long, who has that kind of time? Should you find yourself sitting around getting a pedicure, or waiting at the DMV, or you’re the passenger in a vehicle sitting in I-70 weekend mountain traffic, perhaps you can pop this video on to pass the time. Now that I’ve watched it, I’m going to say something cliche here, I can not un-see or un-know what I’ve seen and learned. The information was impactful and dare I say it, mind-blowing. When Verve and CrossFit became a part of our lives there was an additional path we began to follow with regards to understanding nutrition and a greater appreciation for what is healthy eating. This video will aid us in our journey of really understanding what we put in our pie hole and how that translates to a long, healthy life.

Dr. Lustig starts off with a general premise most of us may be thinking: calories in, calories out. Meaning that if I want to lose weight I simply need to burn off the calories I consume. The truth is we as a society eat more than ever before, “we all weigh 25 lbs more today than we did 25 years ago.” Compared to 20 years ago men are eating approx 180 more calories/ day and women eat approx 330 more calories/ day. The question is, why are we eating more? We have a hormone called Leptin, it comes from our fat cells and tells our brains, “hey, I’m all full up. I don’t need to eat any more.” The fact that we are all eating more tells the scientific community this negative feedback loop in our bodies is no longer working right. The next question then is why? I can’t answer that for you, well I can because I watched the video, but I don’t want to spoil it for you.

Where are all these extra calories coming from? They are coming from the increase in carbohydrates we consume. In 1982 the FDA recommended a low fat, high carb diet because at the time fat consumption was associated with heart disease. Well food that was cooked without fat and void of fat did not taste as good as it’s high fat counter part. So in order to make low fat food palatable sugar was added. The fat content decreased, carbohydrate content increased.

Let’s talk sugar, specifically glucose, sucrose, and fructose. On a sweetness scale glucose sits at 75, sucrose sits at 100, and fructose sits at 120. Well if we were talking adding these sugars to food to improve taste because fructose is sweeter than glucose we would possibly believe we would not need to add as much of it. Unfortunately the opposite is true, we use even more. Hence the eventual development of high fructose corn syrup, an incredibly cheap, and easy way to enhance food.

Drinking 1 can of soda per day equals out to 15#/ year of added weight. This is not because of the calories, it is because of the sugar and our bodies response to it. We have another hormone in our body that tells us we are hungry. Fructose does not allow this hormone to be suppressed, meaning we continue to believe we are hungry. Fructose does not allow for the stimulation of Leptin, the hormone telling us we are full. So we always believe we are hungry and we never getting the feeling we are full. With that in mind exam the following picture:

Over the years our serving sizes of sugar have increased. In certain convenience stores in Texas you can get a 60 oz. soda, candy bar, and a bag of chips for 99 cents.

In a study shown in this video Dr. Lustig makes a comparison to chronic ethanol consumption (alcohol) to that of chronic excess sugar consumption. The are 12 major health risks that are linked to alcoholism, 8 of those 12 health risks are the same for people chronically consuming high levels of fructose. Fructose is a poison.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of information to be gained from watching this video. If you like getting your world rocked, this 90 minutes will do the job.

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
Row 500 Meters
10 Handstand push-ups
10 Burpees over the rower

Post rounds to BTWB

I like Tim Ferris but the man does put himself through some ridiculous situations just to see what will happen.  He once went 5 days in a row without sleeping.  I love sleep and am always looking for ways to improve the quality of my sleep.  Ferris presents some tips to help you hack your sleep.  Click HERE for the full article.

Consume 150-250 calories of low-glycemic index foods in small quantities (low glycemic load) prior to bed.

Morning fatigue and headache isn’t just from sleep debt or poor sleep. Low blood sugar following overnight fasting is often a contributing factor. Just prior to bed, have a small snack such as: a few sticks of celery with almond butter, a mandarin orange and 5-8 almonds, or plain low-fat (not fat-free) yoghurt and an apple. Ever wonder how you can sleep 8-10 hours and feel tired? This is part of the explanation. Make a pre-bed snack part of your nutritional program.

1-2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil (120-240 calories) can be used in combination with the above to further increase cell repair during sleep and thus decrease fatigue. It tastes like a mixture of cat urine and asparagus, so I recommend pinching your nose while consuming it — thanks Seth Roberts, PhD. for this tip — or using capsules.

Eating your meals at set times can be as important as sleeping on a schedule.

People talk a lot about circadian (circa dia = approximately one day) rhythms and establishing a regular sleep schedule, but bedtime timing is just one “zeitgeber” (lit: time giver), or stimulus that synchronizes this biorhythm (like pheromones and menstrual cycle). Eating meals at set times helps regulate melatonin, ghrelin, leptin, and other hormones that affect sleep cycles. Other “zeitgebers” for sleep include melatonin, light, and temperature. Parting suggestion: Get a sleep mask if you have any degree of light in your bedroom.

Use ice baths to provoke sleep.

Japanese have longer lifespans that do most other ethnicities. One theory has been that regular ofuro or hot baths at bedtime increase melatonin release, which extends lifespan. Paradoxically, according to the Stanford professors who taught Bio 50, cold is actually a more effective signaller for sleep onset, but it could have no relation to melatonin production.

I decided to test the effect of combining 10-minute ice baths, timed with a countdown kitchen timer, one hour prior to bed (closer to bed and the adrenergic response of noradrenalin, etc. won’t allow you to sleep) with low-dose melatonin (1.5 – 3 mg) on regulating both sleep regularity and speed to sleep. The icebath is simple: 2-3 bags of ice from a convenience store ($3-6 USD) put into a half-full bath until the ice is about 80% melted. Beginners should start with immersing the lower body only and progress to spending the second five minutes with the upper torso submerged (fold your legs Indian-style at the end of the tub if you don’t have room). I’ll talk about the fat-loss and sperm-count benefits of this in future post.

The result: it’s like getting hit with an elephant tranquilizer. Don’t expect it to be pleasant at first.

There are few more tips to hacking your sleep as well as articles on many other great topics.  Click HERE to check out the full article and have access to many other great topics.