We hope you all had fun stuffing your faces with all of the "Turkey Day" food! We had a great time with Sincity CrossFit and the "TURKEY BOWL!" I mean who wouldn't have fun playing football and doing burpees before the grazing began? Now it is time to get back after it. We have only 26 days till Christmas and Santa wants you to work off some of that stuffing. So get in here, and let's get to work!
The "WALKING BOOT" can not stop Andrea from getting back to work!
Tomorrow's Turkey Bowl will be at Stone Water Park in Sourthern Highlands. We will be meeting at the Gym at 9:15 and leaving at 9:30. Do not forget to wear your Kaizen Shirts for game day!
Is the impossible an option? Do you feel like you can't? I can not say that I have never thought of those two words before but since CrossFit they are no longer an option to think about! Have you thought about the impossible workouts you do on a daily basis? You all inspire and amaze me on a daily basis! I see the impossible become possible daily and the thought of "I can't!" becomes "I can!" and "I will!" It is why we do what we do and it is the best thing I have been a part of! Thank You to all of our students and to all of the CrossFitters worldwide who give me the opportunity to do what we do!
Here is the schedule for this week. Monday-Wednesday regular scheduled classes, Thursday 8 am and the Turkey Bowl at 10 am, Friday there will be a 8 am-noon-3pm class (pictures for the food challenge are due!) Saturday normal class schedule! In honor of Thanksgiving Week here is a recipe for the Holiday!!
Today, Martha stuffs a free-range organic turkey from upstate New York with
a fruit-and-nut stuffing that contains neither bread nor rice, the
conventional foundations for stuffing. You will need to soak the dried
fruit overnight in bourbon (named for Bourbon County, Kentucky), which,
aside from the whole raw cranberries in this recipe, is perhaps the most
American of its ingredients.
If the nuts are salted, place them in a strainer, run cold water over them,
and then dry on paper towels. After you've stuffed the turkey, insert an
apple into the cavity to seal it. Sew the turkey with a trussing needle and
string. Then truss the turkey with string and poultry lacers—
stainless-steel skewers used to secure the stuffing in the neck end of the
cavity.
Always take care to stuff the bird just before cooking. To ensure that the
stuffing cooks evenly, don't overstuff the bird. Never mix raw meat or
vegetables into a stuffing, and don't leave either stuffing or turkey
sitting out for more than two hours.
FRUIT-AND-NUT STUFFING
Makes about 10 cups
18 whole pitted prunes
1/2 cup dried currants
1 cup dark raisins
24 dried apricot halves
1/4 cup orange juice
3 tart cooking apples, unpeeled, cored, chopped
3 large onions, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
6 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup whole macadamia nuts, unsalted
2/3 cup whole brazil nuts
1 cup walnut pieces
2 cups whole raw cranberries
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried chervil leaves
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1. Put the prunes, currants, raisins, and apricot halves in a bowl, and
pour the orange juice over the fruit. Cover bowl, and soak overnight.
2. Combine the apples, onions, and celery in a large skillet along with
four T olive oil. Cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring
occasionally, until the onions are soft and the celery is tender, about 10
minutes.
3. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a skillet and add the nuts. Toast them,
stirring constantly, until golden.
4. Transfer the sautéed onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add the
macerated fruit, the toasted nuts, and all remaining ingredients. Gently
mix the stuffing with 2 large spoons or your hands until evenly blended.
Set the stuffing aside while you prepare the turkey for roasting.
5. After the turkey has been stuffed, any remaining stuffing can be cooked
separately. Place stuffing in an oiled baking dish, cover and bake at 350
degrees for about 45 minutes until heated through.
There is a wealth of information out there on the internet. Information on CrossFit, Nutrition, Olympic lifts, training pathways, life, you name it good and bad you can find it on the internet. There is a newsletter that I rediscovered last night and I would like to share with all of you! The Paleo Diet Newsletter (http://www.thepaleodiet.com/newsletter/) is a great free resource on the Paleo Diet and it is straight from Dr. Cordain who wrote The Paleo Diet and Paleo Diet for Athletes. Check it out it is FREE and a really good resource!
Sometimes we are always looking forward and not taking time to look at how far we have come. The progress that we have made should keep us motivated to keep moving forward but sometimes "It is hard to see the Forrest through the trees." This is why I would like all of you to take a little time today and look at how far you have come, give yourself a pat on the back for a hard earned job well done! For example, Andrea below has made many strides since coming to us in the park 9 months ago but I think one of her biggest is when she realized that it is better to do 21 unassisted pull-ups with just a little chalk than it is to do them with goalie gloves on! That is PROGRESS!! All kidding aside, take a little time to celebrate your successes no matter how small!
Andrea playing goalie while doing pull-ups....
Andrea with a little chalk and no longer playing goalie.... PROGRESS!!
Today's workout
Romanian Health-lift (stiffed legged health-lift)
5x5
Here is another great recipe for the Performance Menu!
Stuffed Baked Pumpkin
Nikki Young
November 2009
1 medium Japanese pumpkin
2/3 cup vegetable stock
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red onion, diced
2tbs rosemary leaves, chopped
1tbs olive oil
½ cup quinoa
½ cup black olives, seeded and chopped
2/3 cup shelled pistachio nuts
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
Chopped parsley to serve
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius, fan-forced.
Cut the lid off the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Make the hollow where the seeds were bigger by scooping out more pumpkin flesh.
Chop pumpkin flesh that was scooped out of the pumpkin and add to a frying pan on medium heat along with garlic, onion, rosemary and oil. Cook for 10 min or until pumpkin has softened.
Meanwhile, boil quinoa in stock for 4 min (Quinoa will be only half cooked at this stage to avoid over cooking later).
Combine together quinoa with cinnamon, nutmeg, olives, pistachio nuts and pumpkin mix. Place into pumpkin hollow and cover with pumpkin lid.
Wrap the pumpkin up in aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 60-80 minutes or until pumpkin and quinoa have cooked through.
Cut into slices to serve and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.
Just wanted to take a moment and Thank one of our students! We talk about taking charge of ourselves and being the master of our own universe all the time. Al Sanchez has taking the bull by the horns and run with it! He is just one example of many who have changed their lives for the better and he leads the charge in doing research on his own to not only improve himself, but his beautiful family, co-workers, and his extended family here at Kaizen CrossFit! This past week Al has been doing a little research on Virgin Coconut Oil and we thought it my be a good idea to share it with all of you who might be interested. Check out this link ( http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/coconut_oil.html ) and THANK YOU Al for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us!
Al is thinking about how Coconut Oil can get him through the WOD...
Doug can't believe he has to look into another oil....
So there is no magic pill but maybe a magical land of Virtual 3-D where we can cure everything. Just like eating vegetables, fruit, meat nuts, and seeds, no sugar, little starch, some fish oil and CrossFit can help prevent a lot of things and give you a better quality of life! I came across an article that said researchers are working with people in the virtual 3-D world to help cure everything from anxiety from being bullied in school to quitting smoking and even getting rid of pain. ( http://news.discovery.com/tech/virtual-cure-all.html ) So I am wondering if someday we would be able to program this 3-D world to do workouts like Fran, Helen, Murphy, etc.... to give us the same results we get in reality or maybe even get a little more accustomed to the pain to improve our times in the real world Until researchers do that study, I am just fine living in the real world of CrossFit working towards a better quality of life and getting accustomed to the pain in REALITY is just fine with me!
'Patric who has done a GREAT job improving his sdhp, is working to finish first during the WOD the other night!
SU TIEMPO PARA COMER - ZIJN TIJD OM TE ETEN - その時間に食べ-
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Can you learn what the Spanish, Dutch and Japenese sentence is above? First person to post the answer wins a prize! Here is a recipe from Elena's Pantry yummy!!!
Agave Lime Chickenprint friendly recipe
1 whole chicken
1-3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon celtic sea salt
3 limes
2 onions
1 head garlic
dash cumin
dash chili powder
Rinse the chicken and pat dry
Place chicken in a 9 x 13-inch oven proof baking dish breast side down
Drizzle with olive oil and agave, then sprinkle with salt, cumin and chili powder
Stuff one lime into the cavity of the bird
Cut the other 2 limes and place in the pan
Cut the onions in half and place in the pan (I left the skin on)
Leaving the skin on the garlic, break the head apart and scatter the cloves around the pan
Bake at 350° for 45+ minutes until the skin starts to brown
Remove chicken from oven and raise heat to 450°
Turn the chicken over so that breast side is now up
Bake for an additional 15 to 25 minutes or until thigh temperature (taken with an instant read meat thermometer) is 170°-180°
Remove chicken from oven
Carve chicken and drizzle with pan juices before serving
Today's workout
Hang Power Snatch
10,9,8,7...........1 Wall-balls
1,2,3,4...........10
Yesterday, we had an opportunity to spread the word of CrossFit to a group of students looking to get in the fitness industry! We would like to just say Thank You! to PFI for letting us give our view of CrossFit to the students and we look forward to getting together again! On a side note rent or go see FOOD INC.
Do you have a purpose when you do things or are you just going through the motions? Whatever it is in life you do, you should have a purposeful mission behind it, otherwise you are going through the motions. CrossFit (constantly varied, high intensity, functional movement) has a purpose of increasing your work capacity, across broad time and modal domain which will in essence give you a better quality of life! My purpose coaching is to reach-out to as many people as possible and help them achieve this better quality of life. What is your purpose? Do you have one for eating, crossfiting, drinking, and life in general or are you just going through the motions? Dutch Lowy is a good example of someone who has a purpose. He wants to not only make his students better but he also wants to make us as coaches better checkout his blog below on CHEATING... or go to his website (http://www.dutchlowy.com) and tell me what you think? Can you feel his purposeful mission or do you think he is just going through the motions? My point is have a PURPOSE!!!
Cheating....
So i feel like alot of people are up in arms after hearing my comment about cheat meals. I will come back to this point in just a second but i want to lay some ground work so you know what i am thinking.
First of all lets talk about why I do the things i do.
I drink Coffee black for the caffeine.
I drink Tequila on the rocks for the alcohol.
I eat beef, barely cooked and with little seasoning for the nourishment.
I lift heavy weights so i can be strong.
To me this all seems pretty simple. I think it is important for people to shift their perspective to why they do something. Bottom line, we eat for nourishment so why muddy the waters with food that won’t nourish you? I don’t want you to think that i am perfect with regards to nutrition so here is my reasoning for not allowing/ liking cheating.
Would you cheat on your taxes? (those that would probably aren’t checking my blog so i’ll assume everyone tries to be legit)
The word cheat, to me, is a big negative and makes people feel guilty. Have you ever been accused of cheating in a sport or even a family game of monopoly? It doesn’t feel good. I hate the word, especially when it is used in regards to diet. It gives what you did a negative feel and only sets you up to feel like a failure. I would never encourage someone to cheat on their taxes, so why would i tell them its ok to be unhealthy. If you can’t stick to a healthy diet (when i say diet i mean what you eat on a daily basis over a long period of time, not what you find in “diet” books) you need to shift your perspective and quite using food as a crutch.
I don’t want anyone to feel like i never have a vanilla shake, or go party my ass off occasionally, because i do. I just don’t set out to cheat, nor do i see this as cheating. I have curbed the craving for these things by being disciplined. I no longer crave that sort of stuff. I now dream about steak and bacon…
Shift your perspective, don’t cheat, its never ok.
If you do something, do it for a reason. If you enjoy training and don’t care about seeing results then do the same with your eating. If you train for a reason, and you should have a defined goal, grab a little focus and get down to business.
Drink your coffee for a reason, train for a reason and if you are gonna eat something, eat it for a reason.
Ari and Roland working during the "500 Club"!!
Today's workout
"Bring on the Hopper!"
Pick a card from the deck and get after whatever fate it has for you!
Here is another recipe to help out in the kitchen!
Spicy Salmon Tacos
• 4-ounce salmon fillets (or halibut, snapper)
• 2 T olive oil, plus more to brush the fish
• juice of two limes
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 T cumin
• 1 t cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 t sea salt
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1 head butter lettuce
• 1 head radicchio
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/4 c chopped scallions
Preheat grill to 400 F. In 13x9 baking dish, combine olive oil, lime juice, and spices. Add fillets and turn them so every side is coated with marinade. Let marinate for 10 minutes.
Form lettuce cups by gently separating the heads of butter lettuce and radicchio. Line a whole leaf of butter lettuce with radicchio.
Brush fillets with olive oil before placing them on the grill. Cook until they begin to turn opaque on top (cooking time will vary, depending on thickness of fillets). Fish should be firm to the touch, flaking easily.
Flake a generous amount of fish into each lettuce cup, or cut the fish into small chunks and place them in each cup. Top with tomato and onion. Garnish with scallions. Serves 4. (recipe from live primal)
Above Paul (on the left) visiting us from Oregon and Todd (on the right) our newest member, who happens to be Paul's brother going to work on some pull-ups!
Today's workout
Pull-up & Box jump ladder
With a continuously running clock do one pull-up and one box jump the first minute, 2 the second minute, 3 the third minute, and so on until you have reached your max reps or your reps run in to the next minute.....
The ten characteristics of fitness - strength, stamania, felxibility, cardiovascular endurance, balance, agility, power, speed, accuracy, and COORDINATION . We talk about these all the time, today I would like to focus on coordination. Coordination is the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement. Can you see in life where you may need a little coordination? Let's take for instance chewing gum, rubbing you tummy, and standing on your head can you see where you might need that in life? No seriously coordination is a characteristic that we can use everyday and just not realize it. Being able to carrying groceries while talking on the cell phone, getting the kids out of the car and opening the door to the house for example takes a little coordination. Just as doing a jerk, clean, snatch, jumping rope, kipping properly on a pull-up, a handstand, iron-cross and too many other examples to list takes some coordination. The thing is whether you are chewing gum on your head or juggling the kids and groceries or working on your clean coordination is a vital part of your overall fitness and well being.
Heather and Emma working some pull-ups..... Nice job girls!
By definition is cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal. Teamwork is exactly what you will need today to get yourself and your fellow students to the goal of the day!
I was looking at this over the weekend, and thought that these principles are "GREAT" to keep in mind throughout your journey in CrossFit. Let me know what you think in the comments below?
We wrote these to put some handles on training at CFLA. What do you think? Did we miss anything?
1. Do not think you can master CrossFit or achieve elite fitness in a day. It will take an entire lifetime to learn. Keep showing up. Be consistent, even when you don’t feel like it. That is the key.
2. Arrive early and stay late. Anything less is to cheat yourself of the experience, and to rob others of the gift of your presence and support as part of the community.
3. Virtuosity is defined as performing the common, uncommonly well. Master your body and the mechanics of movement. Practice the fundamentals. Then add speed and intensity.
4. Accidents and injuries usually come as a result of impatience. Don’t be greedy. Slow down. Ask questions. Ask for help. Check your ego at the door.
5. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Clean up after yourself. Wipe down and put away all equipment, clean up sweat, spit, blood, chalk, dirt, and handprints after every workout.
6. Empty barbells were not designed to be dropped. Neither were dumbbells or kettlebells.
7. Chalk is useful, even necessary. It is also messy. Use as much as you need, but keep the excess inside the chalk bucket.
8. Grunting, screaming, cussing and otherwise making noise are all welcome and encouraged during a workout. Also remember that there can be such a thing as too loud, crass, gross or rude – be respectful.
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That is PROGRESS!! All kidding aside, take a little time to celebrate your successes no matter how small!
Until researchers do that study, I am just fine living in the real world of CrossFit working towards a better quality of life and getting accustomed to the pain in REALITY is just fine with me! 
No seriously coordination is a characteristic that we can use everyday and just not realize it. Being able to carrying groceries while talking on the cell phone, getting the kids out of the car and opening the door to the house for example takes a little coordination. Just as doing a jerk, clean, snatch, jumping rope, kipping properly on a pull-up, a handstand, iron-cross and too many other examples to list takes some coordination. The thing is whether you are chewing gum on your head or juggling the kids and groceries or working on your clean coordination is a vital part of your overall fitness and well being. 
