Wednesday Wins! New Year Nutrition Challenge Participants
EVERYONE IS A WINNER (WELL, LOSER!)
We wanted to celebrate the 25 incredible athletes who committed themselves to good eating, consistent training AND incorporated positive lifestyle changes for 35 days. For those of you who are new to the Cove or did not participate in the Challenge, Coach Brittany led a group of us in a team-formatted clean eating challenge that produced INCREDIBLE results across the board. We did pre-post body composition testing (as we know the scale does not always tell the real story) and took pre/post photos to demonstrate proof of performance with several data points.
And the results are in! We have pooled the total figures and as a group they WELL OVER 100lbs of fat resulting in a decrease of body fat by 32%. On top of the fat loss, muscle was gained and PRs were crushed!!!
Each person had different reasons for signing up. Some were looking to simply clean up their nutrition after the holiday season, others were looking for fat loss and increased performance. Here’s what Coach Brittany had to say about what unfolded, but her advice is universal and relevant to everyone at the Cove (not just the challenge participants):
“I was blown away by the number of people who tracked their intake for the 5 weeks and even gave macro counting a shot! Can we also give a shout out to those who stayed alcohol free for 5 weeks and those who had perfect nutrition logs….never once going off plan!!!!!
No matter what your reason you should be very proud of yourself as you took 5 weeks to focus on you and figure out a system that is individualized to you. I provided you guidelines but the work put in was ALL YOU.
It may not be realistic to keep all sugar out forever but I do recommend that you keep your level of awareness high. When you look at a nutrition label think of this….for every 1 gram of sugar, you are eating a sugar cube….so if a drink or food has 20g sugar, would you sit down and eat 20 sugar cubes?!?!? Slowly add foods back into your diet and see how you are feeling. You may find that a food you enjoyed before the challenge no longer satisfies you. Also, if you lost a significant amount of weight and are closing in on your goal, be patient with yourself. The closer you are to goal the slower the weight loss. AND as many of you experienced, the scale may not not move as much as you would like but what is your body doing? Are you losing fat and gaining muscle? because if that is the case you are going to be tighter, wear smaller clothes and have an increased body composition. So do not let the scale rule be your ultimate measure of success.
Moving forward….
- Follow the healthy habits
- veggies at EVERY MEAL
- Protein at EVERY MEAL
- Starchy carb post workout and 2 hours pre workout
- Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water
- Plan your treats!!!!
- Limit alcohol to 3-5 drinks a week (f/m)
- If you go off the rails, the next meal is an opportunity to set yourself straight
- If you are low energy, you are probably NOT eating enough!!!!
- Remember each day is a new day!!!!!
The winning Team (Coach Marina’s) will receive a personal plan from me. Be on the look our for an email/questionnaire to fill out so I can obtain additional, specific information to you. For the rest of you, I would love to provide you additional guidance to assist you in achieving your goals. For the Challenge members, I will open up FLEX TOTAL, (3 month program with weekly checkins) as well as the FLEX Jump Start (1 time 1:1). FLEX TOTAL is $100 a month and Jump Start is $75.
I want you all to give yourselves a HUGE pat on the back and high five one another when you see another nutrition challenger at the gym.
We will be looking for feedback to enhance the program and we WILL do this again!!!! The format may change slightly, but we will be beach body ready come the summer! Again, congratulations to all the Challenge participants and please remember that the entire coaching staff looks forward to supporting you on your continued path to good eating, increasing fitness and overall better health!
THE CROSSFIT OPEN STARTS THURSDAY!!!
We are up to 76 athletes registered! Keep it up!!! You have until Thursday afternoon to sign up; once the first workouts are announced, sign ups are CLOSED. You cannot sign up mid-way through the Open, so do it NOW!
Every Friday night (the workouts are released Thursday evenings) we all get together for a “Friday Night Lights” style WOD. We cheer each other on, we act as judges (counting reps and checking movement standards) for each other so we can submit those official scores to CrossFit.com but most of all… we have a BLAST. But don’t worry if you can’t make it here on Friday nights; during the Open every Friday WOD will be the Open Workout for that week (partner WODS go on hold for those weeks). Trust us, those five weeks are some of the best ever here at the Cove.
Sign up now at THE CROSSFIT GAMES.
WOD
(AMRAP – Reps)
30 min EMOM
Min 1: 15 Wall Balls
Min 2: 15/12 Cals on the Rower
Min 3: 12 Dumbbell or Barbell Thrusters
Min 4: 15/12 Cals on the Assault Bike
Min 5: 1 minute rest
Max Score Male: 342
Max Score Female: 324
Min 1: 15 Wall Balls
Min 2: 15/12 Cals on the Rower
Min 3: 12 Dumbbell or Barbell Thrusters
Min 4: 15/12 Cals on the Assault Bike
Min 5: 1 minute rest
Max Score Male: 342
Max Score Female: 324
Coach’s Tip: We ALWAYS care about movement quality, but if you are participating in the Open, not hitting standards will result in a ‘no rep’. Today’s EMOM is extra focused on high quality movement. There are five stations (one being rest) and we want you to hit targeted rep counts for each station with some rest time to spare. We are no providing weights as we want you to pick a load that you can move well from the first rep to the last.
Another great shot from Saturday’s 2nd Anniversary Bash! Meet Arianna and Michelle B… they just finished up the Fresh Start Challenge, are officially chugging the Cove Kool Aid and joined us full time. Give them a fist pump or hi five when you see them!
