How to Eat Healthy For $10 A Day!

rice

Trying to eat healthy can seem like a never-ending journey of confusion and conflicting information in this day and age. Paleo, Primal, Zone – the list of recommended diets goes on and on. One thing that always fails to be recognised is the cost of purchasing these perceived-to-be healthier foods. Most of you reading this have probably decided to go all-in on an organic splurge for a week only to be left with a $400 hole in your wallet and barely enough food to feed your now ever increasing appetite to go with your increased training volume. So, in a few short paragraphs, I’ll aim to cut through the bullshit!

Firstly lets take a slightly closer look at your macronutrients and the quantity of each you should be consuming:

Protein – have 20-30g at each meal. Probably the most important macronutrient for tissue growth and repair, but also the one most lacking in regular diets. This is also hugely important for effective weight loss and developing lean muscle!

Carbohydrates – don’t ever cut them out, but understand that starchy carbs are best consumed post-workout. Veggies, however, should be consumed at every meal.

Fats – avoid trans fats, but consuming healthy fats is an important physiological process in helping to keep you satiated and not constantly feeling hungry.

Shopping can be the hard part, but understanding that its not necessary to always buy “grass fed” or “organic” is important. Sure, this is optimal, but most of our members have families and need to be budget conscious.

Here’s a sample meal plan I would use fairly regularly:

Breakfast:
2 Slices Rye Bread with butter
4 Eggs, scrambled
2 Cups Baby Spinach
1/4 Avocado
1 Medium Tomato
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Snack:
1 serving Whey Protein shake with water
1 Banana
2 tbsp Natural Peanut Butter

Lunch:
200g Beef Mince
1 cup Jasmine Rice
1/5 Zucchini
1/3 Tinned Tomatoes
Dash of Soy Sauce

Snack
2 Hard Boiled Eggs
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 serving Whey Protein with water

Dinner
Baked Chicken Breast
2 Cups Broccoli
1/2 Sweet Potato
1 tbsp olive oil


This equates to a fairly even split between the macronutrients with a slightly larger preference shown towards fats and proteins.

Shop wisely and choose options that can be cooked easily and don’t cost an arm and a leg. Some examples that should be staples include:

Mince (beef or turkey) – can be as cheap as $5 per kg
Sweet Potatoes
Jasmine Rice
Eggs
Avocados
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

These days the supermarket price wars make it easy to find what you are looking for at a reasonable price. Its definitely worth checking out Aldi as they’ve really upped their game in terms of the quality of their produce and have maintained their hugely competitive pricing structure.

Finally…

It’s important to track your nutrition as diligently as you track your training. Our recommendation is to use the My Fitness Pal app and to input all your daily meals. Our coaching staff can help our members to set the app so that it measures your macronutrient breakdown as well. We also help our members to understand what their daily caloric intake should be.

Our next blog on a nutrition topic will explore the most highly recommended supplements for CrossFit athletes and those engaged in high intensity training!

 

WOD 1/8/15: “Hurry the Heck Up!”

  
Female runner up, Jen Hughes!

Part A:

Competition & Performance:

1 x Clean Pull + 1 x Low Hang Clean Pull + 1 x Hi Hang Clean + 1 x Jerk – find a heavy single 

Fitness:

1 x Clean Pull + 1 x Hi Hang Power Clean + 1 x Jerk – find a heavy single

Part B: “Hurry the Heck Up!”

Competition:

In pairs, complete the following for time:

30 x KB swings 30/24

Partner holds BB in front rack position

30 x SDLHP 52.5/35

Partner holds KB in standing Goblet position 

30 x Sit Ups

Partner holds Plank

Performance:

In pairs, complete the following for time:

30 x KB swings 24/16
Partner holds BB in front rack position
30 x SDLHP 42.5/30
Partner holds KB in standing Goblet position 
30 x Sit Ups
Partner holds Plank
Fitness:

In pairs, complete the following for time:

30 x KB swings 16/12
Partner holds BB in front rack position
30 x SDLHP 35/25
Partner holds KB in standing Goblet position 
30 x Sit Ups
Partner holds Plank

WOD 31/7/15: “Blood Rush!”

  
Male runner up, Jarryd Godino!

Part A:

All Levels:

Snatch Grip Deadlift 4 x 6, across

Part B: “Blood Rush!”
Competition:
With a 10 minute running clock, complete

4 Rounds of

4 x Squat Cleans 102.5/70

10 x T2B

In remaining time, complete AMRAP of HSPU 

Performance:
With a 10 minute running clock, complete

4 Rounds of

4 x Squat Cleans 70/47.5

10 x T2B

In remaining time, complete AMRAP of HSPU

Fitness:
With a 10 min running clock, complete:

4 Rounds of

8 x Power Cleans 42.5/30

14 x HKR

In remaining time, complete AMRAP of Pike Push Ups

WOD 30/7/15: “Ambidextrous!”

  
Kat with a 45kg Snatch PR!

Part A:

Competition & Performance:
A1) Push Press 5 x 2, across
A2) Supermans 5 x 12-15

Fitness:
A1) Push Press 5 x 5, across

A2) Supermans 5 x 12-15

Part B: “Ambidextrous!”
Competition:
4 Rounds For Time of:

14 x Single Arm DB Thrusters 20/10

7 x Box Jumps 30/24

(Alternating arm on Thrusters each round)

Performance:
4 Rounds For Time of:

14 x Single Arm DB Thrusters 20/10

7 x Box Jumps 24/20

Fitness:
4 Rounds For Time of:

14 x Wall Balls 10 (9ft) / 6 (8ft)

7 x Step Ups 24/20

WOD 28/7/15: “So Simple!”

  
Female champion, Jenna Lenich!

Part A:

Competition & Performance:
Squat Clean 7 x 3, ascending
Fitness:
Power Clean 7 x 5, across
Part B: “So Simple!”

Competition & Performance:
4 min AMRAP of:
Double Unders

(Every time you break, complete 5 x Burpees)

Fitness:

4 min AMRAP of:

Single Unders

(Every time you break, complete 5 x Burpees)

WOD 27/7/15: “Seventh Kind of Heaven!”

  
Male champion, Jamon Couch!

Part A:

Competition & Performance:

OHS 5 x 3, ascending

Fitness:

OHS 5 x 5, across

Part B: “Seventh Kind of Heaven!”

Competition:

7 min AMRAP of:

7 x OHS 42.5/30

7 x Ring Push Ups

7 x Slam Ball 20/10

Performance:

7 min AMRAP of:

7 x OHS 35/25

7 x Ring Push Ups

7 x Slam Ball 20/10

Fitness:

7 min AMRAP of:

7 x Front Squats 42.5/30

7 x Push Ups

7 x Slam Ball 20/10

Carnage In Coburg II Review!

11039098_558243374315032_6252585494182908190_n

On Saturday, we held our second annual in-house individual competition, “Carnage In Coburg II”. With the introduction of some big name sponsors, a huge prize pool and a hungry field of highly competitive athletes, the day had a “big match” feel to it!

We opened with two events running simultaneously, both designed to test the athletes capacity in a sprint setting. A short triplet of rowing for calories, lateral jumps over the rower and kettlebell swings had the athletes digging deep to prevent the inevitable onset of burning lungs! With very little between the top athletes, Jamon set the pace in the males division with Kate & Jen finishing the fastest in the female division.

kate

 

The second event was a CrossFit Games favourite and we created our very own version of a “Speed Clean Ladder”. In the female division, Kate reinforced her dominant start to the day with an outstanding time of 1 minute and 3 seconds. In the male division, Jake displayed a supremely efficient technique to secure the victory in the same time as Kate. The crowd were vociferously behind every athlete who took the floor and it was great to see the support shown to Kelly & Jian as they both attempted to equal their lifetime PR at the top of the ladder.

Event 3 brought along a different take on a CrossFit classic as we paired Thrusters and Pull Ups together in a 5 minute AMRAP.  In a gassy time based event, Jenna came into her own in the female comp. Her gymnastics skills shone through as her outstanding butterfly kip propelled her to a win in this event. Jen & Kate stayed at the top of the leaderboard overall with a 2nd and 3rd place finish respectively. On the male side of the draw, Lui showed everyone how he’s developed an engine as he cruised through the classic couplet to win his first event of the day. What was great to see in this event was that 50% of the female athletes did this event as Rx’d and on the boys side, only one of the 14 athletes completed the event with any scaling – this is a true statement about how much our athletes have developed in 12 months!

Our athletes love themselves a bit of Olympic Weightlifting and they were rubbing their hands together with glee when Event 4 came along. With 3 minutes to complete a heavy single on the Snatch, we thought PR’s would be few and far between. We were wrong!!! It was raining PR’s – on the girls side there were huge PR’s for Jenna (62.5kg), Jen (60kg), Pantz (50kg), Kat (45kg) and Em (40kg)! Em also produced the loudest victory scream of the day! In the boys division there were PR’s for Lui (100kg), Vito (65kg) and Tom (65kg). The leaderboard was getting tight at the top with a point seperating the top 3 girls of Jen, Kate and Jenna, while the boys side was equally close with only 3 points seperating Lui, Jamon and Jarryd.

lui

After the lunch break we knew that Event 5 could be the game changer and it certainly proved us right. We wanted this year to be a true test of overall fitness – any chinks in the armour would be exposed and our 1.6km Run followed by Overhead Squats workout displayed these. On the girls side, Megs proved herself to be the elite distance athlete amongst the pack with an electric pace on the run. Jenna & Jen showed how well rounded they are as athletes by coming in 2nd and 3rd off the run. Jenna ended up winning her 3rd event in a row by pipping Jen by 4 reps in the Overhead Squats. On the male side, Jamon looked to create some breathing space between himself and the other athletes by coming in first off the run and producing a dominant display in the Overhead Squats to win the event. However, Chris had been quietly climbing the leaderboard under the radar and his performance in this event pushed him into contention. Jarryd played it super cool as usual and claimed 3rd in this event to stay hot on the heels of Jamon.

run

And then there were 6!!! The top 6 athletes in each division qualified for the Final. In the male division, these were Jamon, Jarryd, Lui, Chris, Caveman and Jake. The knockout chipper was designed to get progressively more challenging and it proved so with only one man standing tall at the end. Jarryd needed some help from the other athletes to make up the lead that Jamon had over him, but bhe found himself to be the closest challenger to the man in front. Jamon proved his worthiness to the title of fittest male at CFT by completing the barbell and gymnastics complex superbly to win the event and take out the overall title. The podium finishers in the male division were as follows:

1. Jamon
2. Jarryd
3. Chris

IMG_1543.JPG

The girls followed the guys to close out the event. Our top 6 going into the final were Jen, Jenna, Kate, Emily, Megs & Pantz. This event was perfectly poised to be an epic finish to the comp with Jen & Jenna heading into it tied on points. They had some clear breathing space between themselves and the other athletes so the Final had literally become a winner takes all showdown! Jen took an early lead and looked to be dominating the field while Kate & Jenna followed closely behind. Kate chased hard as she had done all day, but eventually it came down to Jen & Jenna. Once the complex gymnastics came into play, Jenna suddenly stole the lead from Jen and proceeded to finish the event and take the title of fittest female at CFT! It truly was an unbelievable contest between some sensational athletes to close out the day. Our podium finishers in the female division were:

1. Jenna
2. Jen
3. Kate

IMG_1544.JPG

It was an incredible day once again at CFT and we proved that while we might not have the biggest box or the fanciest toys, we certainly know how to produce some of the best athletes floating around the local CrossFit scene. Our community is one of the most tight knit you’ll find and everyone was amazing in the support they showed throughout the day to make it such a special occasion. So much work goes on behind the scenes to make these events possible, but without the support and involvement of our members, we simply couldn’t host these type of events. Thank you to everyone who made it such a fantastic day and we can’t wait to see you all again at the next CFT event!

WOD 24/7/15: “Tomorrow We Battle!”

11039098_558243374315032_6252585494182908190_n

 

Part A:

All Levels:
A!) Bench Press 5 x 5, across
A2) Ring Rows 5 x 10-15

Part B: “Tomorrow We Battle!”

Competition:
Complete For Time:
5 x 100m Shuttle Runs with Med Ball 10/6
40 x Med Ball Cleans 10/6
30 x Pull Ups
20 x Walk Outs
10 x Thrusters 60/42.5

Performance:
5 x 100m Shuttle Runs with Med Ball 10/6
40 x Med Ball Cleans 10/6
30 x Pull Ups
20 x Walk Outs
10 x Thrusters 42.5/30

Fitness:
5 x 100m Shuttle Runs with Med Ball 10/6
40 x Med Ball Squats 10/6
30 x Ring Rows
20 x Walk Outs
10 x Thrusters 35/25

WOD 23/7/15: “Start Climbing!”

IMG_1607.JPG

Throwback to Carnage In Coburg 2014! Only 2 days to go!

Part A:

Competition & Performance:
A1) Deadlift 5 x 2, across
A2) Double KB/DB Push Press 5 x 6-8

Fitness:
A1) Deadlift 5 x 5, across
A2) Double KB/DB Push Press 5 x 6-8

Part B: “Start Climbing!”

Competition & Performance:
8 min AMRAP of:
4 x Dead Ball G2SO 20/10
4 x Dips
(Ascend by 4 reps each round)

Fitness:
8 min AMRAP of:
4 x Dead Ball G2SO 20/10
4 x Ring Push Ups
(Ascend by 4 reps each round)