WOD
Jessica’s B-Day WOD!
2 Rounds:
34 Calorie Row,
34 Walking Lunges 45/35,
34 Burpee Onto Plate,
34 Pull-ups.
22 Minute Cap.
Tuesday Night Musings by Coach Kris.
How to Thrive on a Helo Challenge!
Helo’s Nutrition Challenge season is upon us again! I thought I’d use this blog post to share my tried and true tricks to not only survive the challenge but thrive during it. Even if you aren’t participating in the challenge, I think everybody can benefit from these habits so give them a try.
Prep, prep, prep! This is my biggest piece of advice for being successful, plan ahead! Map out a meal plan beforehand, shop for it, and get as much prep done on your less busy days as you can. I especially recommend batch cooking your protein to have on hand in the fridge throughout the week as this can be the most time consuming macro to hit. Whenever you are cooking dinner, double or triple it so you have easy compliant lunches for a few days. Also, pick two days during the week (ex: Sunday and Wednesday) to wash and cut a variety of fresh veggies to keep on hand in the fridge for the week. This may take some getting used to up front but once you build these habits in to your routine they are game changers for eating well and saving time.
Water! Never mind that staying hydrated has a million benefits for your body but you guys it’s seriously an easy daily point during the challenge. You have to hit at least half your body weight in ounces of water. Buy a water bottle you really like and figure out how many times you need to fill it to reach your number and drink up. Also, if you’re using distilled water add a couple pinches of Himalayan pink salt to re-mineralize the water and you’re good to go!
Veggies for the win! At the risk of sounding like an old mom cliche, you have to eat your veggies and a lot of them – at every meal. Not only will they help fill you up but they are chock full of micronutrients your body needs to optimize performance. These micronutrients will help combat fatigue, muscle damage, and improve immune function. Keeping a wide variety in your rotation will help your meals from being boring and help your body get the range of nutrients it needs. Fruit is also important for this purpose but during the challenge you want to get the bulk from veggies.
Ditch the scale! Yes, the scale is a helpful tool for determining if weight loss is happening but for a lot of people it can be a big mind screw. I’m here to tell you that the number on the scale will fluctuate up or down depending on lots of factors that aren’t necessarily to do with gaining or losing fat. Sleep, stress, morning versus night, muscle soreness, etc. are all things that can impact that number. So, yes, I recognize that to be compliant for this challenge, you do need to weigh yourself once each week at the box and write it on your log, however, I want you to know it is just one way we measure progress but it certainly isn’t the only way nor always the best way. If you must weigh yourself, or are doing this challenge, take what it tells you with a grain of salt and don’t let it discourage you from continuing the challenge or your nutrition journey. Let how your log looks, how you feel, how your clothes fit, and how your workouts are going be your guide.
Take a walk! If the weather ever cooperates, add in an after dinner stroll with your family or your dog or just yourself. CrossFit is high intensity and so are a lot of our lives! Carve out a little time for low intensity movement each day to decompress. While you won’t get a point for it, the benefits are numerous and it can be a nice change of pace, literally.
Hopefully, these few things will help make this challenge more successful for you whether it’s your first or fifth one. As always hit up any of the coaches for more specific help or tricks, we’re here to help!
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Coach Kris
Attention: Just a reminder that on Memorial Day we are doing Murph and having a BBQ thereafter (we will talk to the weather gods beforehand) with our Spikeball tournament, so make sure you sign up for your spot and we will also get a food sign up on the board as well!
