quick thought.

I have been thinking a lot lately. Not that I don't always think (I find my mind going 100mph sometimes, other times I do a decent job of shutting off), but the last few weeks have been more internal than normal. 

I was fortunate enough to go to a seminar at a private 'gym' in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago. It was a 2 day seminar on how that gym operates. The what, where, when, and why of all things Gym Jones. What was taught and what I got out of it were vastly different than my assumptions going into it. Day 1 affected me the most. Day 2 was great, and was some sort of 'redemption/practice' for Day 1, but Day 1 was the money maker. 

I parenthesize gym because a gym describes a physical place, where people sweat. They come, they sweat, they leave. 24 hour fitness is a gym. Gold's gym is a gym, as well as Balley's total fitness. All places where people have gone before me and sweated and lost weight. However 99% of those people stay fat, are delusional, and dissatisfied. Why? Why is it that people constantly stay overweight? Too many of my friends have been upset with the way the look, the number that is on the scale when they step on it, and the amount of time spent attempting to be a certain body type. These same people are too quick to blame something or someone else. They want to lay the negativity on their genetics, their work schedule, or their inability to control themselves. 

That is all bull shit. Genetics do shape our somatotype but it doesn't determine our body fat. Work 'schedule' has not bearing on if we have the ability to get in the gym or not (schedule not stress, everyone has different work stress and different ways of dealing with stress, however last time I checked the avg person did not work a 16 hour a day work week). I recently read an interesting post about timing and using the excuse for not being able to workout/train. 168 hours exist in a week. If you sleep 7 hours a night, and work 10 hours a day/x5, that leaves you 69 hours during the week to train. Do not tell me that you cannot find 5-10 hours a week to do some high quality training. 

Training and working out are completely different. Most of my friends who I described earlier go and do their 45' of a 'cardio sesh' and then 'weights', can't understand why they are still disgusting, why they are still a slob. Could it be the rice-a-roni they eat? How about the late night taco bell but no soda cause they are watching their sugar? That is ridiculous because their elliptical said they burned 300 calories. How could that person not loose weight? Unfortunately that is 99% of the United States, the unhealthiest and fattest country on earth.

They need to look at themselves and really self-assess what they are doing. They need to learn the difference between putting in hard work and going through the motions. They need to learn why humans store fat (it is not calories in calories out, sorry). They also need to learn what it really means to use their mind. Lifting a 35 pound bar a bunch of times, or moving 15 pound dumbbells paired with riding the bike is what I call movement. Movement is not training, it's not even working out. You crossfit people 5x a week are no better. You're 8 minute subbed down fran is no better than their 45' 'cardio sesh'. 

Currently I can row a 2k in 6.53. That time is decent. For a rower that is a laughable number, but for a shitty crossfitter, it is decent. I rowed a 5k the other day and at the 3000m mark (which meant I had rowed 2,000) I was 7.13 in. I could have gone faster but I knew if I wanted to keep pace I had to maintain a certain power output. The difference between those two times is very small, however the difference in intensity is huge. Intensity, is what is lacking from most of the worlds 'movement, working out'.  Intensity is instituted from the mind and no where else. Working out is easy, movement is easy, training of the mind is simple, yet incredibly challenging. When was the last time your training/workout/movement session made you nervous? When did it make you so nervous that it forced you to mentally make a decision half way through about being a quitter or finding a way? I am going to guess for most of you never. There lies half of the problem. Intensity is gone from most gyms (Crossfit gyms you aren't different). Learn what 'they' are doing and implement it into your own program.

The seminar in Salt Lake taught me a lot, it forced me to think a lot. How good was I at what I do? More importantly how did I view myself against others in my field? Am I being a good coach? What about a good son/cousin/friend? I don't know the answer, I do not know how my family and members would answer that. This made me feel uneasy, which was not acceptable. 

Complacency is the killer. Surround yourself with C effort people you will become a C. The day is yours and for most of us we wake up hoping it is over closing in on the weekend. What kind of day is that? Control your mind, live for you, and improve you first and judge everyone else last. 

Balance.

Everything costs something. Your job, your social life, your love life, fitness. It all costs something. It costs time, it costs money, and it costs neglect from other areas of your life. What is 'it'? 'It' is whatever you choose it to be. We only have 100% effort to give in this life, and too often we do not give 100%. In many, the things we do do not add up to 100% effort, however others do possess the ability to give that 100. We cannot be the best father, best friend/confidant, best athlete, best cook, best employee. We simply do not have enough hours in a day to become the best in multiple areas of our life. It has been said that one must practice 10,000 hours in their chosen skill to become a master at it. That is 3 hours a day, Monday through Sunday, for a decade (kinda). 

I am a coach, not a personal trainer. I've done the personal training route, however, I do not feel it's for me. A trainer, of course trains their client. They help them, mold their form and give them a program to succeed in whatever they hope in succeeding at (most likely loosing weight). A coach is different. A real coach, is in their clients head 24/7. They listen, they hear, and they FEEL their (players, clients, members, athletes). A good coach knows their athletes insecurities, knows their likes and dislikes, yet does what is best for them. Coaching someone does not take place physically, it takes place in each players mind. The player has great ability and aspirations physically, but what they do not realize is that to get there, their mind needs evolve. It needs to be shaped by outside factors, and typically that is where a coach comes in. 

I have accepted that I am a coach. I love influencing people, that is my passion. I do not possess the knowledge of trainers around the world, nor do I possess the background of psychologists to help people mentally, however I feel I have invested enough time and energy (through trial and error) to apply experiences gained through my members to become a prominent coach in the area that I belong. 

We need to choose what we want to be good at. 'Good' is a relative term, yet good to the individual means something spiritual. To be good at being a father might mean giving their child a smile. Good for coach might be having a breakthrough in overcoming a box jump fear. You get the picture, are we the best father or coach? No, however we attempt to apply the time and effort to being good in the hours and energy we possess in a given day, week, month, year. 

I hope one day to be a great father, lover, coach, friend, and athlete all in one. Will I be the best? I will not, however balance is what will make me a good man. I want to leave a positive influence on my kid(s), my wife, my members, friends, and anybody I come in contact with. I fall short in a lot of categories in my life currently, and have no significant other. I have no kids, and am currently starting my life as an adult. I am attempting to find my balance, I am attempting to be adequate in various areas to make me a well rounded human being. It is not always the hardest worker, however it is often the person who can balance(manage) the various things thrown at them in life that make them someone to look up to, to aspire to be. We all have those people and we need to realize that they are not the best in what they do, however they manage their costs and realize that everything costs something. They balance out their energy, putting their time in the right places. I suggest we plan out where we want to put in that energy, that love. 

health

I have been fortunate to be around some great minds in my young life, minds much more methodical and academic than I.  From these people I take what I can and what seems applicable to my job, as well as attempt to better my knowledge on my own. I am not an expert in any topic that I use daily for my job but I feel for the community I am apart I have a wide array of abilities to help people to become healthier. I give away a lot of free advice which should or should not be paid for. That is a topic for another day, but I feel that many in Crossfit gyms take for granted what some trainers know and have the ability to do. This is where the problem lies, most do not take advice, nor do they feel like they should listen. They all know everything, right? Right.

First we need to define health. Websters defines health as the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigor

I believe one should be a bit more holistic. It is too easy to get caught up in the rush hour of life with work, stock market, politics, petty differences between people, and things that matter not in the long run.  When is the last time you woke up and turned your phone on/checked your phone 10 minutes later because you wanted to catch the still of the morning and smell of your morning coffee? 

How often do you say to yourself that you have to workout extra because you ate extra? Do you skip sleep to go workout? 

When was the last workout you had, where the goal was to train your mind and not your body?

Health and Wealth in our society seem to be so synonymous. I find this disturbing. Sure, I hope all to have a roof over the head, live in a safe place, and eat quality foods to ensure their life is one of health, not wealth.  Health is waking up refreshed, enjoying your job, and getting out of the day what you wanted instead of trying to get it over with so you can wake up tomorrow and get it over with  again so you can get to Saturday to enjoy your day. 

When was the last time you looked in the mirror at yourself and were completely happy? Do you have people in your life that are quality (quality meaning that you will not make excuses to put them on that list)? How long have you said "I want to loose 15 pounds" or said other people are stronger or leaner than I because of …excuses excuses excuses. Make the change. That change is listening to your coaches, but that starts inside you.

In my opinion, the thing that halts any type of health we are hoping to gain, is stress. Stress is not something we relate to problems at work (even though that is true), but stress is anytime where our cortisol levels are elevated, the fight or flight response hormone. Problems at work, stress. Problems with relationships, stress. Having kids, stress. Moving, stress. Starting a new job, stress. Going for a new one rep max deadlift, stress. Stress, again, is anything that elevates our cortisol. The problem with most people is that regardless of what is going on in their life, bad or good, they decide to come to my gym and attempt to put out full effort. "I have been sleeping awful lately", so they decide to come to the gym and add more stress. "I had a fight with my significant other so I decided to come to the gym." "I drank too much last night, so I decided to come to the gym." None of these are positive excuses to come in and add more stress to your life. Yes coming to my gym and putting out effort for an hour is stressful. 

Our minds and bodies can only handle so much of it. Think of it as a bucket. If we add stress from our job, our relationships, traffic, eating healthy, our team loosing on Monday night, a friend dying, and then adding on any type of training you want to accomplish at the gym there will be a point where that stress spills over and we crash. We have a meltdown. In some people this can be incredibly serious. This is overreaching, overtraining, or adrenal fatigue.

Hormones play a massive role in our health. Insulin and Cortisol are incredibly powerful and have so much to do with our ability to lift heavy weight, sleep well, feel good, and be lean. Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal cortex whenever our mind is stimulated to be a bit more alert (deadlifts, fights, powerful dreams, negative talks at work). A bit of cortisol is fine, and is needed, however whenever it is elevated too often it inhibits our ability to sleep properly, supresses our immune system, and elevates a blood sugar (which can be lethal) where the hormone insulin comes in and pushes that blood sugar out (into cells). As you can see, if we elevate our cortisol too often our immune system will not work properly (in addition to adding so much stress it will not be able to cope with all the negative chemical reactions in our body), we will not sleep where our ability to recover through our immune system takes place, and then we will have elevated blood sugar where insulin spikes. 

Insulin is the reason why our body stores fat. It is a storage hormone, and when we eat food, mostly carbohydrate of any kind, our blood sugar elevates depending on the density of the carb source. Here the problem lies in our society. We are fat and sick all the time, and we attempt to have more chemicals and drugs fix this. If we constantly are stressed with elevated cortisol levels, we cannot cope with it because of our immune system and lack of sleep as well as having continually high blood sugar. If we eat horrible processed foods our blood sugar will be constantly elevated in addition to the cortisol blood sugar, which will require insulin spikes far too often, which stores fat on our body, way too often. 

Now that you know what hormones do to our body, I will tell you why calories in and calories out are not what you think. I had a member ask me today what I cheated with over the weekend. (since we ran into each other at the grocery store and I glanced and possibly commented on her shopping cart : ) ). I said I had tacos, chips and salsa, and beers Saturday. I had some pancakes on Sunday (this is NOT what I normally eat, but I felt the need). She was appalled and then asked what extra workouts did I do in the gym to fix that? Absolutely nothing. I lift weights, I run, I row, I jump, and I do things heavy and fast, typically heavier and faster than the average person. I have more muscle than the average person and because of this, as I sit here and eat my dinner and watch monday night football, I am burning calories. You on the other hand who did your 30' of stair master today and curls and calf extensions are not. You are storing fat, I am burning it. The reason for that? Muscle burns calories, more muscle, more calories burned. To have high levels of muscle, we need to practice the major lifts; cleans, snatches, deadlifts, presses, jerks, and rows. These 'coincidentally' have the highest hormonal response on our body. It requires a bit of 'everything' to deadlift 2.5x your body weight. Squat twice your body weight, or run a 6 minute mile at 200 pounds. 

2,000 calories are not 2,000 calories. If I ate 2,000 calories of broccoli and you ate 2,000 of white table sugar do you think that our body would look the same? Would we sleep the same? Absolutely not, so why are we a calorie counting nation, when will we realize the importance of insulin and cortisol?

Our hormones have a powerful ability to build is up, at the same time have that same ability to break us down. Once broke down, it is too late. Sleeping improperly, being irritable, having weird food cravings, lack of sex drive are all signs of on the way of being broken down. What is life without proper sleep and waking up feeling well? What is life being angry all the time and eating fake foods (processed, nastiness), and what is life without sex? What is health without these things? 

Knowing what stress does to our body, why do members in my gym always want to do more? Why do they always want to long met cons which levels our bodies with high levels of cortisol? When they wake up tired, sore, and mentally beat down, why do they think the answer is more? The answer is they need more intensity. Last friday, at my gym part of the day (the main part) was devoted to a 10' work capacity test, it was simple. 10 minutes on the air dyne, attempting to gain 300 calories. It is the worse activity I have ever attempted, for you cross fitters, Fran feels like a warm up compared to this. I have done it twice, and last time I almost started crying during it. After it, I layed on the ground for I do not know how long trying to regain my center. Too many of my members simply got off the bike, walked to the board and wrote their score. It was amazing, in the worse kind of way. The thing they lacked was intensity, they lacked the ability to mentally produce any type of urgency to get the task at hand done. Anybody who did the challenge correctly felt the need to do nothing after their 10 minutes of 'riding a bike'. FIGURE IT OUT.

10 things to become healthier.

1. Sleep

2. Eat Meat, vegetables, olives (oil), coconut (oil), avocados, eggs, some fruit and starch (gluten free oats, potatoes), and no sugar or processed food.

3. Do activites that bring you happiness. Read, meditate, go to the beach, play basketball, anything that restores your mind.

4. Take vitamin D, C, b-complex, and panothenic acid (b5), and some type of fish oil

5. Love

6. Laugh

7. 2 days of cardio based exercise (hike, run, row, swim, bike) and 2 days of heavy lifting (squats, presses, pulls, etc)

8. Take time to rest while awake. Take 10 minutes at lunch before you go back to work to sit in silence, sit in the sun, in a park. Sit in quiet.

9. Listen to your body, I know you are tough, but when you are sick and tired, your body is telling you something.

10. Educate yourself on all things you find interesting. 

9/11

I rarely cry. Not because I am unemotional or lack feelings, but I just somehow don't allow my tear ducts to water up. Sure I get sad, have bad days, feel like everything is going the wrong way but somehow pull it together enough to not tear up. That is not to say that tearing up is bad, we all just have ways of dealing with stress, emotions. Some cry, some alienate, some drink, I like to life semi-heavy things : ) 

I will cry tomorrow. I don't know why, and can't really pinpoint the emotion but, September 11th brings about a tenderness that I rarely have. 

If you have not heard the story of the Sheep, the Wolf, and the Sheepdog check it out, its a good little story. I feel that it depicts much if not all of our society. Most of us are sheep. We go about our business and try to lead a decent life hopefully living for the right things (good people, fun times, bettering ourselves). However sheep are harmless, we are incapable of wanting to hurt somebody and in those regards, cannot do harm unless by accident. Then there are wolves. Wolves feed on the sheep, without pity. They see the sheep and understand their gentleness, they know of their lack of capability to produce violence, therefore feed. Then there are the few who are sheepdogs, who mentally possess the notion of violence and kindness at the same time. They have a bit of wolf in them but are more sheep than anything. The sheep never know when it is coming, they never have a clue. They sleep better at night having sheepdogs who are slightly violent, a bit of wolf in them, walk around unknowingly, bust most of all willing. 

When the sheepdog is asleep, the wolf feeds on the sheep. 

September 11th, 2001 was a feeding. Such a feeding that it compares to December 7th, 1941, if not supersedes it. Nearly 3,000 sheep died because of what the wolf, Osama Bin Laden ordered on 9/11. The main wolf let loose the ignorant, supposed martyr wolves which led to the largest attack on American soil.  

We get up everyday, typically to an alarm clock, which we hate and drive to work, which we typically hate. We focus on the negatives and how early it is or how we would rather be sleeping, or doing pretty much anything else. I do it often, too often. Life can be a beautiful thing if you look through eyes that are attempting to be beautiful. Imagine waking up and hating your alarm, being upset that your coffee took a little longer than expected to receive, or that you had to eat your healthy breakfast again because you feel that you are 10 pounds overweight which consumes your mind everyday making you miserable. Imagine that is your typical day and you go to work and find out upon arriving that it's your last, maybe even your last hour on this earth. Well spent? I hope not. That happened for many New Yorkers. That happened to many families in New York. Death does not affect just the deceased, it affects the people that they inspire, love, and care for.  

Almost 3,000 people woke up that disastrous day in September, 2001 not knowing that it'd be their last.  Waking up to my clock radio with reports of a building being blown up left me puzzled, but seeing live the 2nd building being hit left me speechless. To this day it has left my speechless. 

I was 15 when 9/11 happened and really could not comprehend it but in 2004 I saw a HBO documentary titled '9 Innings from ground zero'. It told a story of families and people in the city and how they dealt with the attacks. Some people in the documentary had family members in the towers, or others were just New Yorkers dealing with the injustice put on them on that day. The common thread between everyone is baseball, yankee baseball to be more specific. Yes, the yankees are the evil empire, however the things that they did for that city; the people hugged, the houses visited, and minds put on hold for just a bit to forget the atrocious acts are things of legends. The visits to firehouses, to houses of 3rd graders who lost their dad on a flight, or to a grown man contemplating suicide because of his brothers death in a tower. The common feeling of patriotism at the yankee games in late 2001 were what got the people of New York through the hard times. The chants of USA on a nightly basis, wearing flags around town, and players from all nationalities running onto the field with flags of the stars and stripes was a thing of pride, is still a thing of pride as I have watched the documentary everyday on 9/11 since 2004. Where has this gone? Where has the random hug of a neighbor, and salute to the 50 stars on our flag, or the emotional pick up of a stranger gone? (If you have not seen this, please seek it and watch it, it is truly amazing)

Life is bigger than me, it is bigger than you, and its certainly bigger than our daily problems that bring us down. I take the attacks on the towers personal, I do not know why but knowing and attempting to comprehend 2,500+ being killed for fanatical reasons that have no stage in a rational mind is not ok with me. I hope it is not ok with you, and the 11th of September is a reminder how fragile life can be, how short life can be. At any instant we can be taken, worse for us personally, someone we love could be taken. Do not go by tomorrow without taking in fresh air, hugging the people that you care about, or recognizing that you are still on this earth and people just as good as you were taken for no reason at all. 

I look at the flag differently, just as I look at 747's differently. The day changed me forever, and will never forget where I was. Innocent people were taken, sheep were fed on and massacred. This is not ok, and never will be ok. A flame will always burn in my heart for the victims, as well as a flame of disgust for wolves. Be in the moment and cherish the little things, because one day that external flame will be gone regardless of what side you are on.

...

7 years does not feel like 7 years.

I miss my friend. As I sit on my balcony in perfect beachfront southern California weather, I miss my friend. Is that selfish? I hope not, I hope with so many 'I's' in this blog that, that thought is not selfish. I want to see him. I want to talk to him. I want to hear his mocking tone again. Most of all I want to talk about life with him. Maybe it's selfish, maybe it's not. I never shared a legal beer with him, I never was able to give him advice on this, or have him tell me that I am being irrational on that. I never will be able to share the experiences I have had, and the people that have affected me, or my ability to have (hopefully) positive influences on the people I see everyday. What do we know at 19?  

It has been seven years, and still I will never forget the transformation that my friend Brian's (Bubba) death brought me, brought us. He was known by many, and loved by the dozens. He was killed at the age of 19, 19. The one that everyone loved, adored, and went to for help, whatever the need may be. He was the guy. Besides my parents he was the oldest and one constant in my life. 

I am twenty-six now, and to this day my life has felt as if I have lived two parts. A life prior to his death and one after. When I learned of his passing, I sat in silence for probably 5-10 minutes, I sat alone not really knowing how to respond. I was 19, ambivalent to the notion of death and at one enraging moment I punched the wall. That was my emotion, anger. Again, maybe thats selfish but thats how I left. However, I will never forget my time before this death, the moment of, and the time after. The moment of having to embrace his father, hug him, and share a disconnect followed be an emotional reconnect is something that imprinted itself on my brain forever. 

This is not about me, however, I feel that out of the experience that this is I can reach back for guidance and knowledge of life's lessons. Money problems, relationship problems, and other issues that matter not, really are small dips in the road. What are we doing? Working for a means to an end? Do we affect people and make the community around us better? The job I currently hold carries a strong ability to affect people in the randomness and most awesome ways. I sometimes take it for granted because at points I am selfish. I slept poorly, I managed my time incorrect and am running a bit late, or did not get to do the things I wanted to do during the day. All of those are not excuses but just what they are, excuses. My job has the ability to change peoples minds, to get rid of their negative feelings about themselves and change their life for the better. It is an empowering notion of self-improvement. It is beautiful actually, and to me if I can facilitate that, it brings about accomplishment that I can share with others and that makes me feel right.

I never got to share this with Brian. He was a beautiful person and made people around him better. I hope when I pass, or when I leave peoples lives that people can respond with 'I was better for knowing him', because I am better for knowing Brian. He was my best friend and cared for me when others didn't. I will never forget him and never let pass the emotions I feel on a constant basis, especially on the 28th of August. 

I love you and miss you.

Growth.

As a crossfit coach, I get many members and outsiders who assume too much. I am guilty of it myself at times, however too often I see gyms and the community get to wrapped up in the 'sexy met con'. Light weight met cons which is another form of circuit training. Doing light weight met cons all the time, is not how you get better (broad domains right?). There is a place and time for everything and 95# thrusters will always just be 95# thrusters if we don't attempt to improve our conditioning or strength in the areas we fall short.  I love Crossfit for what it can be. It is a tool to make people move better, faster and longer, if done right. What the community needs to understand is that we do the best job to our ability to create an atmosphere that can promote growth, mentally and physically, but we have to be met half way. Meeting us half way involves showing up and putting out you best effort (if you do not know what that is, look in the mirror and ask if you put it all out there), writing down daily what you do (weights, reps, sets, time, etc), listening to your body (if you have extra stress at home, sleeping bad, moody, maybe today isn't the day to come in, or maybe it is and you just want to hang out and see people). That is meeting us half way. With that being said, I often hear some people behind the scenes with some grumblings about 'programming' and relating it to their lack of gains (looking leaner, getting stronger).  We have to remember that we are here for workouts. The reason is this; a crossfit class is not a strength and conditioning class, it is a workout for the masses. NFL players have designed workouts on individual basis', not because of their large amounts of money but because they have different needs than you and I, just as a program designed for NFL players will differ from position to position.  You can only call it training if in fact you are training for something. Be a sponge when you have a good coach around. Listen to him/her and if you truly appreciate them, attempt to emulate the areas in which you want to aspire too. Pick your coaches' brains, if they are good, it can only be positive for the community. With that being said, if you aren't feeling the results you desire, talk. 

We cannot have it all. We cannot have continual fat loss with continuing strength gains. First we have to define what we want, there needs to be a plan, just as in strength and conditioning, there needs to be a direction. You cannot get better at running a 5k, snatching, and hand stand pushups all at the same time. Thats why in off-season sports programs (the good ones), it goes through progressions. Randomness will never get you better. Just as having a plan in training will get you to your goal, diet is the same way. 800m sprinters, olympic weightlifters, and Hockey players all eat differently, just as A 28 year old male at 8% body fat competing in the Crossfit Games eats differently then your 50 year old female doing a crossfit class 4 times a week. I hope you understand what I am getting at. We that do crossfit classes to 'look good naked' are eating for aesthetics, not performance. So when I hear complaints about paleo not working, I always tell them bluntly 'because you are doing it wrong'. I have never heard of anyone not loosing weight eating a steady diet of meat, vegetables, and healthy fats. 

Here are 10 things you need to be eating regardless if you are eating for performance or aesthetics:

10 things you must consume: (in no particular order)

1. Water, if you don't you will die (seriously). A gallon a day will help detoxify your body.

2. grassed beef - The fat in grassfed beef is not as high in omega-6(inflammatory fat) along with on the other side, fat from cows fed corn and soy their whole life along with antibiotics, have incredibly disgusting hormones and disease causing particles.

3. coconut - meat, butter, oil, water, in that order. Crack a coconut open and drink the water and scoop out the meat, put real coconut milk in your coffee is a creamer, and spoon some coconut butter for a perfect snack.

4. wild fish - if not consuming wild caught salmon, mackerel, or other fatty fish like these, fish oil should be taken.

5. blueberries, rasberries, and blackberries

6. eggs - pastured eggs are a great source of protein and fat and cheap.

7. leafy green veggies - kale and spinach need to be eaten on a daily basis. Lightly steam them, throw them in eggs (don't over cook them as nutrient density will diminish) or make a salad.

8. olive oil - Put EVOO on salads, on meats, on eggs, drink it even.

9. supplements - vitamin c (at least 3,000mg), b5(panothenic acid), and a b-complex. Hormones are the gateway to changing our body composition, b vitamins help with our adrenal glands which regulate many hormones in our body.

10. avocados - high in good fats, potassium (more than a banana per grams) and b-vitamins

Eat unlimited amounts of 1,2, 4, 7, and 8. Limit 3, 5, 6, 9, and 10.

10 things you are doing wrong with your diet/fitness (in no particular order)

1. You are not pushing yourself to the limit in your workouts. When is the last time you failed? When is the last time where you broke down in a class, mentally? Without failure, we will not know our limits.

2. You got sick, back squat max went down, and did not sleep well all week but continued to come to the gym. We only get better with rest, not work. If this is you, keep having bad numbers, crappy form and feeling bad. STAY OUT OF MY GYM (and rest of course)

3. You read about paleo and how you can eat unlimited amounts of meat fruit, nuts and veggies. The problem is the unlimited amounts of fruit and nuts. Guess what fruit is? It is sugar. Guess what happens when you eat sugar? Insulin spikes. Guess what happens when your insulin spikes and you are trying to loose weight? You do not loose weight, you store fat. Guess what that means? Limit insulin spikes. How do I limit insulin spikes? Eat meats, veggies, coconut, and olive oil. No nuts, and not a lot of fruit. Again if you are 7%body fat its different, if you are 27%body fat its different. Stop saying you eat paleo if you have fruit and almond butter for breakfast and lunch.

4. Calories matter to an extent. 3,000 calories of table sugar and 3,000 calories of broccoli will affect your body differently.

5. People hear me say that and think they can eat 10,000 calories a day of the above list, read number 3 everyday. Calories do count.

6. You ignore sleep. Sleep is when our body recovers.

7. You aren't lifting heavy enough weights. Lifting heavy weights (75% and above of your max) will not make you look like a body builder, it will make you look like an athlete. Compare 100m sprinter vs. a marathon runner. Guess what the first one does? Sprints, power lifts, and oly lifts. Guess what the marathon runner does, runs long slow distances. Guess what we do in crossfit?

8. You worry about finishing first vs putting out 100% effort with great form.

9. You eat too many 'paleo baked goods'. Eating almond flour and sweat potatoes with honey is gateway to fat. Limit this as a treat, just as you do other sweat things. Stay away from 'foods' like that. They are not food. 

10. Research intermittent fasting, I know many who have tried with great results. Large windows of fasting with smaller windows of feeding. If decided to do this, your food intake needs to be timed and well planned out

my life lately.

People are important in my life. Not many, but they are. People are what get me through my day. Interactions, conversations, jokes and laughs are what allow me to keep my sanity and do what I do. I don't write for me. I do not coach for me. The things that I routinely do on a daily basis are not for me. They are for a community. 

I have been a crossfit coach since 2008. When I first started I did not get it. I did not get it one bit. I could not teach someone how to squat, how to jerk, or even how to eat right. All I knew how to do was to 'push someone harder', someday I'd get it. 

In college I took my 'job' for granted. Steve and Alec hired me very young and looking back I am extremely appreciative. I moved to Texas and worked for a gym, and again, did not quite get it. I thought maybe I would grow up. I don't think I ever got there. I finally got it; I got it when at the lowest point in my life I needed people. Adrenal fatigue had taken over my life. I could not work, workout, socialize, be happy, walk up stairs, or have a sexual drive. I was 25. 

I needed someone to help me, take me in, and I received that help. Erik and Darlene of Crossfit Brea took me in. They allowed me to live at their house when I did not have many places to go, and they gave me a job when I needed one the most. This is where I learned how to be a coach, it was where I grew the most allowing me to become a better coach. It was the first time that I did not take my job for granted, I understood that I was fortunate enough to have the ability to affect people that later gave me the title, 'coach'.

It was an opportunity to help people. I needed help, I received it, now it was my turn to give back on a daily basis. I began to develop relationships with members unlike any others I have ever had before. Coaching was not teaching someone how to squat, it was learning about their life; their kids, their jobs, their social outlets. The platform is Crossfit, the gateway is me, and the reason is something deep routed in their life and I get to help them with it, such an honor. Everyone has issues and stress, and more often than not, members seem to blow off that steam at my gym. Every once in a while a member will allow me to make an impact on their life and I will do the best to my ability to comfort them. I have had members cry in my arms, call me at midnight to talk, and ask me out for a beer to learn about me. It is not about me! It is about them and about their life growth and again, Crossfit is the platform for that, it facilitates that and I am fortunate to be apart of the Crossfit family to help my 'friends'. 

I have not written in a long time. Some 'big' things have happened in my life since I last wrote. I quote 'big' because I competed in regionals and I left a job for another, big deal. People do it all the time, I understand, however the circumstances that surround it, I feel are a bit different. I have been apart of the Crossfit Costa Mesa community for a long time (lucky to be so). I have seen it grow and become what it is today and was proud to be part of it. I competed in the Crossfit regionals, which is  not much to say, but for that gym, for me, it was a big thing. I was fortunate to fly a flag, and flying a flag to me, is incredibly empowering. It is a symbol, a symbol that means different things to different people, and to me a crossfit gym allows people to overcome fears, their self-perceived inadequacies, and allows them to grow in ways never thought possible. That was the flag I was flying. Sure there are reasons I competed for that had to do with me, but without a community around me I would not have been able to accomplish what I did. 

When I competed in regionals the support was unbelievably emotionally shocking. I have never had that much support in my life, ever. I did the best that I felt I could and came up short. However, it was not about me, it was about the people that showed up and cheered me on. My friends, co-workers, members of the gym, my parents, and most of all; ex-members. I could not and wouldn't have been the same without Ray's support, without constant text messages of encouragement, or without nightly conversations to calm me down from Rory. There was a point at which I did not know how to respond because so many ex-members had showed up that I almost could not comprehend. It was a family, a family that I am not worthy to have, but I have it and I am grateful everyday for it. These are the people that taught me how to coach, how to care, and how to build a community. I think about them everyday and will always thank Erik and Darlene for the guidance that they gave me.

I did not choose this job for money, this job is out of pure love of members and their mental growth. Lately, I felt that the direction had changed a bit. Certain things were being ignored and the ability to affect members in a way that I thought best, was being taken away. It had become about personal agendas and not the people that drive the gym, the members. 

Leadership is a big thing with me. It is the groundwork for any business or group and I felt that some important important things were maybe missing; tact, selflessness, integrity. I feel this lead me to change jobs, on good terms, and was welcomed and embraced by a whole new community that seemingly (and oddly enough) acted fortunate enough to have me before my first day, a rather remarkable feeling. The excitement and expectations for me present themselves to be immense, but it is nice to be recognized and appreciated for the things that I feel I do. 

The support and love that I received from people in my life was completely overwhelming. My phone had never rang that many times from calls, texts, and emails congratulating me or expressing sorrow for me leaving. It was truly amazing and something I will never forget. I do not wish that it was this way but at this moment in time, it had to be. There are things that I can support and things that I cannot, and this unfortunately took me to a different direction in my life.

I love what I do, however I would not be the person that I am right now as I write this, if it was not for the members of gyms that I have been allowed to be apart of. I want to thank all of you that gave me an ounce of support, know that it did not go unnoticed. My avoidance and mental absence has not been because I don't care, but because it was taking time to process all the love being received. I am lucky to have you guys. I am lucky to have my job and the people that I have met and learned from.  

People are important in my life. They help me as I help them; it is an on-going family. You that are touched by this are my family and I would be nowhere without you.