PaleoKits by Steve's PaleoGoods

I apologize for taking a week+ off. Time to get back to business...

Some of you have heard of PaleoKits by Steve's PaleoGoods. For those who have not, you'll want to continue reading. It's a company started by Steve Liberati who also founded Crossfit Tribe in Pennsauken, NJ. He sells a wide assortment of products from grainless cereal and grainless granola bars, to grass-fed beef jerky and dressings and marinades all made in his warehouse.

I heard about his company about a year ago, but never looked into it. Last week I went to CrossFit Tribe (don't worry, all my love is for Renaissance!) and picked up a few items while I was there. Apple Pie Grainless Cereal, grass-fed beef jerky, combination of beef jerky, pecans, almonds and dried apples and two grainless granola bars - original and dark chocolate espresso! The cereal tastes great and would be a perfect snack as well. It's a nice change from my usual bacon & eggs breakfast. I'm not a huge beef jerky fan, but the grass-fed beef jerky tasted great, and i'm usually not the biggest fan of beef jerky. The regular beef jerky combo also tasted good, especially with the nuts and fruit. I have yet to try the granola bars.

There are a few reasons you should buy some of these products besides how good they taste! It's a great way for those of you who aren't on the Paleo diet to gradually start it. They are a perfect snack packed with protein that we all need. Another reason to buy these products? 15% of the proceeds go to his foundation, Steve's Club - a "non-profit that brings fitness, nutrition guidance and mentorship to at-risk youth." Most of the kids getting help from this non-profit are kids from Camden.

There are three ways to purchase items from Steve's PaleoGoods. You can easily buy directly from the website.. I have not looked to see how much shipping is. If it's too much, I can take orders from people since the warehouse is close to my house. His products are sold at Whole Foods. They are a tad more expensive there.

Check it out! Help a great cause while enjoying delicious Paleo food!

-Julie

Listen to your body

One of the most important things I’ve learned in my 13 months of crossfitting is to listen to my body. I went on a stretch where I did 30 consecutive scheduled wods. I was feeling weak and my performance was declining. In my 30^th WOD, I went to deadlift a weight that I have done a 100 times before and it wouldn’t move. I had over trained. Bill told me to take a week off. After the time off, I came back stronger.

Fast-forward a few months to the “Filthy 50”.   50 box jumps and 50 double unders left my Achilles tendon sore. With my Achilles sore I went for a 400m warm up run. I made it halfway across the street and had to turn around walked back. I  did the rest of the warm up and started  the WOD. A few minutes of clean and jerks I was in terrible pain and had to stop. Next morning, I couldn’t put weight on my foot. I was couch bound for two days. I could not effectively train for a good two weeks.  Had I taken a few days off I wouldn’t have lost that time.

Next is nutrition. I had started a low carb/Atkins type of diet, it was fine for about a month. I then hit a wall. I started to lose ground on my strength, the majority of my numbers were going down, I had no energy and was tired all the time. I felt just felt terrible. After adding smart carbs back into my diet I can say I feel great and my performance in the gym has improved.

So what I am getting at is that your body will speak to you. It may be that you are tired or hurting. You need to listen. We all work hard and demand a lot out of ourselves. There is a time when to go hard and a time to back off. If you listen, your body will tell when to back off. If things are not progressing the way you want i the gym, working around an injury, a week of rest or an adjustment to your diet may be what’s needed.

-Tom

Paleo Recipe of the Day - Grain Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to say, I was a little hesitant making these, but they are some of the best chocolate chip cookies i've had! I brought them to the Hope for Kenya fundraiser so a number of you were able to try them and some have asked for the recipe, so here it is! They are quite sticky when you transfer them from the bowl to the baking sheet because of the honey, and I would recommend using a tad less than 1/2 cup. The second time around I used the exact amount compared to the first time when I used a little less, and I thought they came out better the first time. I've bought the Enjoy Life CC at Whole Foods and Wegmann's. Thanks to Paleo Plan for the recipe - a website I've used quite frequently! If any of you would like to feature recipe(s) you've used in the past, please email me and let me know -> jshannon37@gmail.com

Have a great weekend and enjoy St. Patty's Day!!

Ingredients

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375℉.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Set aside.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs, honey, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer, or wire whisk.
5. Pour wet ingredients slowly into dry ingredients and beat with mixer or fork until combined.
6. Add the melted coconut oil and continue to blend until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Drop Tablespoon size balls of cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet.
8. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Sh*t Crossfit Girls Say

This video is something I have been meaning to post in the Facebook group. My boyfriend's roommate came across it about two months ago and it's hilarious. A Crossfit box in California put it together and it's basically making fun of girls at Crossfit - how they go about the WOD and outside of Crossfit with Paleo and the shit they say (hence the title!) ...I've probably watched it at least 10 times and laugh just as hard each time. Girls, as you're watching the video, I know you will think to yourselves, "oh my gosh, i've said that!" or "ugh, that's sooo true." Ok, now I sound like a valley girl. NOT cool, Julie. Guys, you will enjoy it just as much, maybe even more...and it might give you another reason to make fun of us. I will say though, the Lululemon quotes don't relate to Renaissance very much - thank goodness.

The part that relates to me the most is at 4:10. I won't give it away, but let me thank Yit, Lauren, Bill and everyone else who's helped me with those darn clips! I just gave it away, oops. I pictured myself at 1:56, too. The bands during pull-ups when they keep slipping off your feet!

Anyway, i'll stop rambling on, but check it out. It is kind of long at 5 minutes, but watch the whole thing. You will thank me later.

Sh*t Crossfit Girls Say

"Why is she with him? He doesn't even Crossfit!"

"Is this a legume? What's a legume??"

- Julie

Hope for Kenya Recap

The past few weeks have been quite eventful at Crossfit Renaissance. They had a great turnout at CFR Night Out in mid-February which was held at Interstate Drafthouse - thanks to the wonderful Meg Fonash who bartends there and helped organize the get together. Hopefully she didn't give out TOO many free drinks :) ...it looks like the next CFR Night Out is Saturday, March 30? Stay tuned.

Then there was the first CFR Fundraiser on March 2 - Hope for Kenya. A number of people from CFR and other Crossfit organizations came out to support Joyce and the children in Kenya. It started out with the WOD - AMRAP in 12 minutes of: 50 squats, 30 push-ups, 15 pull-ups. Three rounds of participants completed the WOD and the fourth round was Bill & Ray, who dominated and made the workout look easy. Pics below are from the fundraiser. WARNING - There's lots!! Thanks to Carrie Thomson for the pictures.

Warming up for the WOD

Time for squats, push-ups and pull-ups!

It was time to eat and I don't think there was one person who did not fill their plate. With all the delicious food options, including many Paleo items, how could you not? From blueberry pulled pork (!!!), plantains, bacon-wrapped weiners - yup, collard greens, chili, gluten-free brownies, paleo chocolate chip cookies and much more, everyone was satisfied and full!

Games and raffles followed, and to everyone's pleasure, Bill completed 301 burpees! My body is hurting just thinking about it. One of his personal training clients threw in another $40 to make it more interesting.

                                  

                                       

   

Bill tired??

                                 

I don't think so

It was a great day for everyone involved and an outstanding $3,700 was raised!! Joyce, Bill and the whole CFR family thank you. If you weren't able to make it or if you want to donate more money to this worthy cause, you can do so by clicking here.

This is the first of many posts i'll be sharing with all of you. Time to keep this blog going! I'll be posting about the events and activities going on at CFR, as well as random information such as recipes of the day (Paleo of course), the best times of each day and if any PR's were set, etc. A little of everything. If any of you have something to share, please do! You can reach me by email at jshannon37@gmail.com or by leaving a comment below.

Julie Shannon