CrossFit South Bend

In this video we discuss why food habits matter as much, if not more, than what you eat. Our culture is obsessed with different ways of eating with multiple books on each: Keto, Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, Carnivore, Calories In/Calories Out, South Beach, High Carb/Low Fat, Low Carb/Fat, High Protein, South Beach, Atkins, Zone, and literally hundreds of others. But get this: while what you eat is important, the habits you have around food are just as important and maybe more more important than what you eat for long-term health. Furthermore, these habits apply no matter what way you choose to eat. For example: That's cool you went keto bro, but do you know how to navigate social situations and peer pressure? Going keto doesn't magically give you those skills. That's awesome you're eating Paleo, but do you still use food as reward and punishment and an emotional crutch? If so, that needs to be addressed in order to live long, healthy, and happy life. Good job on going vegan, but do you know how to cook real whole foods or are you just eating hyper-processed vegan junk foods? The point here is that there are certain habits you need to master no matter what way of eating you choose. Furthermore, while our culture's "What to Eat" books promise results in 21 days or 30 days, habits don't change in days or weeks. They take months or years to change and they're way more likely to change when you have someone coaching you. Whatever flavor of the week is your preferred diet, that's cool. But don't forgot about the habits necessary to eat healthy for the rest of your life that underlie any way of eating. Be sure to Subscribe for more CFSB content: https://goo.gl/SSrrFC Connect with us online! Facebook: https://goo.gl/5p2b8d Twitter: https://goo.gl/6AFGFf Instagram: https://goo.gl/rsbCHh Visit the CFSB website! https://www.crossfitsouthbend.com/ CFSB Mission & Purpose: To assist, walk alongside, and empower the individuals we interact with on a fulfilling journey toward long lasting success in their fitness and health goals, as well as their personal lives.

Is Salt Healthy or Not? As usual, it depends, but generally speaking salt/sodium is incredibly healthy and a vital nutrient for overall healthy function. That being said, it's always worth checking with your doctor about what's right for you if you have specific medical conditions like high blood pressure, kidney stones, etc. that would require special consideration. There are a few important things to keep in mind when it comes to salt: 1. Where do we get it in our diets? -Almost all the sodium in the modern diet comes from hyper-processed foods that are meant to be shelf stable until the apocalypse and to taste better because of the sodium in them. -It's this type of sodium from hyper processed foods that is problematic NOT real whole food with added real salt for seasoning -Unlike potassium, there's very little sodium in most real whole foods. Where's the sodium in beef, kale, an apple, etc? -Yes there are some that have more than others, like celery, but most of our sodium needs to come from salt. 2. How much should you get? -3-6g a day is what has been shown in the published research literature to be most effective for heath outcomes. This equates to 1.5-3 teaspoons a day -This is quite a bit higher than the standard recommendation of 1.5-2g a day 3. What kind should you get? -Celtic Sea Salt or Redmond real salt -Ideally avoid hyper-processed salts 4. How do you incorporate it? -Season your food with it. Any chef will tell you salt is an integral part of good cooking -You can also add finishing salts at the end of cooking to bring out saltiness if that's what you like -Generally speaking, salting your food before it' cooked just naturally enhances its flavor without adding saltiness per se. Meanwhile adding salt afterwards does add saltiness 5. Why is it important for health? -Energy production-on all of our cells there is a sodium-potassium pump, that, among other things, is heavily involved in energy production -Nervous system function-all the signals sent in via our nervous system rely on electrical conductivity to do their job and sodium is one of the most important electrolytes -Hydration-water cannot be properly absorbed and utilized by our body without adequate electrolytes like sodium 6. What about blood pressure? -Again talk with your doctor about your individual case, but one of the main takeaways from the research literature is that salt/sodium is NOT the issue but rather the balance between sodium and potassium. For our full video click here: https://youtu.be/W7waW0l2KH8 Studies on Salt  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1105553  https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/diet-nutrition/2010-11-22-salt_N.htm  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21616196  https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/Elliot-brown-2007.pdf

There's 1 question I get more than any other when it comes to weighing and measuring food. Here is an example of the question: If I put a sweet potato on a scale and the scale says "227g" is that how many carbs are in the sweet potato? Put simply, no. There would only be 41g of carbs in that sweet potato. Why? Because that "227g" on the scale is the WEIGHT of the food itself, not the amount of macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) in the food. Seeing 227g on your food scale is equivalent to saying you have a half pound or 8oz of food by WEIGHT on your scale whether that's beef, chicken, sweet potatoes. etc. However, the amount of protein, carbs and fat in that food is different from the weight. For example when it comes to animal protein: 8oz/.5lb/227g by WEIGHT of 85/15 ground beef has 42g of protein and 32g of fat. Meanwhile the exact same amount by weight of chicken breast has 52g of protein and 3g of fat. On the carb side here's a good example 8oz/.5lb/227g by WEIGHT of a white potato is 48g of carbs, and 5g of fiber Meanwhile the exact same amount by weight of butternut squash has 27g of carbs and 14g of fiber. So how do you know the conversion between the weight of the food and the actual macronutrient amounts for the food (protein carbs and fat). You can look them up online, but the easiest way is to use something like MyFitnessPal to do the conversion for you. Also with oils it's super easy to remember. 1 Tablespoon of oil=14g of fat. I hope that clears things up. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments.

Our CFSB Nutrition Class is officially live! This class is open to anyone, CrossFit South Bend member or not. It takes place every Saturday at CrossFit South Bend from 12:30-1:15pm.

Epic bars, bites, and sticks are some of our favorite on the go healthy snacks and now they're available at CrossFit South Bend. What's great about Epic? -Real whole food in bar, stick or bite form-good quality protein and spices in a bar -Nose to tail philosophy-rinds, animal fats, bone broth, etc. -Sustainable farming practices-grass-fed and pasture raised meats At the gym we carry -Bars-these are pemmican bars that are a mixture of fat and protein for a more chewy consistency. -Sticks-very similar to traditional jerky without junk or fillers -Bites-an interesting bite-sized option in-between the sticks and the bars. Not quite as stiff as the sticks but not quite as chewy as the bars. -Performance Bars-a combo of dried fruits, nuts, and different flavors. Give them a try if you haven't yet. Every product I highlighted in this video is either Whole30 approved or Whole30 compliant.

Carbs get a bad rap these days. At one end of the extreme, the Standard American typically includes 300-400g a day from grains, cereals, pastas, processed foods, fast food, etc. This is crazy, to put it mildly, especially for a sedentary population. At the other end of the extreme the keto diet recommends somewhere around 25-50g of carbs. This can be useful for some people, but not for everyone. We believe somewhere around 100-200g of carbs a day from real whole foods like starchy vegetables, non-starchy vegetables and fruits is a good place to start for most people. So what plant foods count as healthy carbs Starchy Vegetables/Fruits -White Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Cassava, Plantains, Butternut Squash, etc. More Carb Dense Vegetables -Beets, Carrots, Onions, Turnips, Parsnips, etc. Non-Starchy Vegetables -Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach, Kale, Cucumbers, etc. Fruits -Apples, Oranges, Strawberries, Blackberries, etc.

Coming in January 2020 CFSB Nutrition will be offering: -A One-Day Whole30 Seminar at CrossFit South Bend on Saturday January 11th -A dedicated ongoing nutrition class starting Saturday January 18th -One-on-One Whole30 coaching to help you achieve Food Freedom Forever. In preparation for all these big events in January 2020 we’re highlighting some of the best client stories from 2019. In this video we sit down with Angie who did our three month one-on-one nutrition coaching program. During the program Angie: -took control of her eating and her health -found out she didn't need to have things like chocolate every day by paying attention to how food made her feel -figured out that dairy was a major cause of skin flare ups for her -her sleep was much better -changed the way she responded to and thought about cravings -was able to share what she learned about healthy eating with her family to help not just this generation but future generations as well. From my perspective, working with Angie was definitely an awesome coaching experience. People always ask me: "Does the program work? Will I get results?" and I always say "Yes...if you do it". That's the key bit, actually putting in the hard work and doing it. Angie's a perfect example of someone who put in the hard work and got results. She also learned a lot about herself and her relationship with food. Congrats on all your progress Angie! We're super proud of you!

Coming in January 2020 CFSB Nutrition will be offering: -A One-Day Whole30 Seminar at CrossFit South Bend on Saturday January 11th -A dedicated ongoing nutrition class starting Saturday January 18th -One-on-One Whole30 coaching to help you achieve Food Freedom Forever. In preparation for all these big events in January 2020 we're highlighting some of the best client stories from 2019. In this video we sit down with Olivia who did our three month one-on-one nutrition coaching program. For those of you who don't know Olivia her favorite song is "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, which she would routinely play multiple times on her way to the gym. Thus, the title of her story. During the program she: -Lost 10lbs of body fat and 3 inches off her waist -Still made progress even though traveling for 11 out of the 12 weeks we were working together and she was in her last semester of Law School -Was surprised at how easy the transition was to eating healthy because she didn't feel like she was changing everything all at once -Felt like eating this way long-term is definitely sustainable. In terms of Olivia's Non-scale victories she: -Had improvements in her digestion -Said her workouts have been easier and recovery has been better -Said her headaches has made a big difference -Said her emotional eating improved things a lot Congrats Olivia on all your progress! We're super proud of you!  

Coming in January 2020 CFSB Nutrition will be offering: -A One-Day Whole30 Seminar at CrossFit South Bend on Saturday January 11th -A dedicated ongoing nutrition class starting Saturday January 18th -One-on-One Whole30 coaching to help you achieve Food Freedom Forever. In preparation for all these big events in January 2020 we're highlighting some of the best client stories from 2019. In this video we sit down with Ben and Amy who did our three month one-on-one nutrition coaching program. What changed? -Amy got way more control over her food choices rather than food controlling her -Both of their energy levels were way better -Ben lost 30lbs and 13% body fat. -Ben got a couple strict pull-ups -Amy's body composition was already quite good when we started, but it got even better throughout the process. They tell us -what life was like before we started working together -how their 3 months of nutrition coaching went. -how their lives changed -how they navigated this program with jobs, kids, and other time commitments -how they plan to stick with the plan long-term.