Recipe and Quote of the Day!

This is my own recipe for a breakfast casserole that can last you for the week. It's great for the people who need to leave early in the morning for work. I'll make it Sunday evening to have ready for the week. You can take this recipe and make it your own adding whatever spices or alternative veggies you may like!

Melisa's Breakfast Casserole

• 4 eggs and 6 egg whites
• 1/2 - 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1 small onion or 3-4 green onion stalks, diced (I prefer green onion)
• 1 cup of whatever peppers I have red, green or yellow, diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro or parsley
• 8 oz organic chicken sausage whatever flavor I'm in the mood for or whatever I have in the fridge
• salt & pepper to taste

The sausage is usually a link sausage. I remove the casing and completely ground it as if it were any other grounded meat. I brown the sausage in some coconut oil. Once the sausage is almost done I add all the veggies and saute for a few minutes. Once that's done, I whisk the eggs and add all my seasonings normally salt and pepper is enough because the sausage already has plenty of flavor. Pour the eggs and mix in the sausage all into a 2 QT baking dish (I rub olive oil with a napkin all over the dish). Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until the eggs have set. You should be able to stick a toothpick in and have it come out clean and dry.

This makes approximately 6 servings.

Quote of the Day!

"To overcome difficulties is to experience the full delight of existence."

Arthur Schopenhauer

Day 3 of Nutrition Challenge

Another lovely morning and day!! I'm dreading this afternoon as I have FGB to do - YIKES! Good thing, Homer's coming in and it should be a blast to workout with him and Drew.

Started my usual morning with my 2 cups of french pressed coffee, heavy cream and stevia.

Breakfast:

Omelet

4 egg whites

2oz roast beef

peppers, onions, mushrooms

1 tbsp of butter

*I used a full tbsp of butter today because I only used egg whites instead of 1 regular egg.

I love eggs in the morning!! :-)

So I was running late oops & my roommate ate my dam banana!!

Lunch:

Protein shake blended with

16 oz Almond Milk

1.5 scoops protein powder

1 tbsp of sunflower seed butter

Post WOD:

5 Strawberries

approximately 2 palms full of almonds ( I didn't measure guys I just ate what was out on the table)

Dinner with the cutest couple Alisha & Bill :-)

Pick up Stix

I ate a large beef and broccoli (I'm pretty sure since we ordered just before they closed they decided to give me the house special beef and stir fry in some broccoli & a few carrots). Either way it was good and I did have ONE small bite of my fortune cookie!! What?? I had to open it up right??!! :-)

WOD:

Fight Gone Bad - Terribly BAD!!!

Men's RX

20lb Wall Ball

20 inch box jump - Thank god I could make up some reps on here!

75lb Sumo Hp & Push Press

Row

My score: 212 I know very sad :-( But I'm glad I accepted the challenge and did it!!

PURE AWESOMENESS!!!

Thursday's Recipe and Tip of the Day

Chicken and Egg Salad with Almond Satay Sauce

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Ingredients

2 eggs, boiled, cut into quarters
1 chicken breast, steamed and shredded
2 cups rocket leaves
1 carrot, diced
½ green capsicum, diced

Almond sauce
1 small white onion, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1tbs oil
¼ cup almond butter
¼ cup coconut cream
1tbs soy sauce (optional)
Chili flakes

Instructions

To make the almond sauce by placing the oil into a fry pan. Fry onion and garlic on low heat for 5 minutes or
until slightly browned.
Add almond butter, coconut cream and soy sauce, stir constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and stir
in a desired amount of chili flakes. Leave to cool slightly and remove excess oil.
Place chicken, rocket, carrot and capsicum in a mixing bowl and combine well.
To serve, place rocket salad on a plate with egg quarters and spoon almond sauce on top.

Tip of Day!

"You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures."

Charles C. Noble

Day 2 of Nutrition Challenge

Woke up this morning feeling great!!!

First and foremost it's a must I have a couple of cups of my favorite french pressed coffee! Once you try french pressed coffee..you may never go back to drip again!!

My coffee always has 1-2 tbsp of heavy cream, cinnamon, and stevia.

Breakfast:

Shrimp omelet

3 oz of shrimp

1 organic veggie fed/cage free egg

2 egg whites

mushrooms

spinach

1/2 tbsp organic butter
Lunch:
4oz grilled chicken
10 Asparagus Spears
1 tbsp EVOO, salt & pepper to taste
Post WOD:
Protein Shake Blended with
1/2 Banana
16oz Almond Milk
1.5 scoops of protein powder
1 tbsp sunflower seed butter
Dinner:
Greek Chicken Salad from Lamppost
Huge bowl of
Romaine lettuce
Red Onion
Olives
Roughly 4 oz Grilled Chicken
2 tbsp feta cheese
Balsamic Vinegar & EVOO dressing on the side probably used 1-1.5tbsps
Dessert:
1 Coors light :-) Just being honest!!!

WOD:
7 Rounds for time: 15:20
5 Handstand Push-Ups (1 ab mat used)
10 Pull Ups
20 Squats

Recipe and tip of the day

It's getting warm and a nice refreshing salad is always great for lunch or dinner.

Zesty Lemon-Lime Seafood Salad with Homemade Salsa

Serves 4: Salad Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound cooked lump crabmeat (or lobster meat)
• 1/2 pound cooked shrimp
• 1/2 pound cooked sea scallops
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• Tabasco sauce, to taste
• Salt to taste
• 2 avocados
• Your favorite greens

Salsa Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped roasted tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Salt to taste
• To spice it up, add hot sauce or finely chopped jalapeno to taste

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, combine seafood, tarragon, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and Tabasco sauce and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Combine all the salsa ingredients. For a chunky salsa, stir the ingredients in a bowl. For a smooth salsa, blend in the blender. Letting the salsa sit for awhile helps the flavors blend.**The salsa can be made with raw tomatoes, but if you’d like to roast them for more flavor start by preheating the oven to 375-400 degrees. Slice each tomato in half and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for at least1 hour, until tomatoes are soft. Longer roasting evaporates some of the moisture and intensifies the flavor.

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits, and gently scoop the meat out of the shells keeping the shape intact. Slice each avocado half into thin slices.Place your greens of choice in four bowls and top with 1/4 of the seafood mixture, 1/4 of the salsa and fan the avocado slices on top. Delicious!

*Recipe taken from Mark's daily apple*

Tip of the Day!!

4 Ways to get that new nutrition way of life going

Want a better beginning to your weight loss plan?

1. Know Your Weight Loss Goals

Consider how much you need to lose before you decide how to do it.

2. Understand Your Weight Loss Personality

Personality plays a role in our attitude towards food, know your tendencies and tailor your plan to conquer the unproductive inclinations.

Impulsive. "If you have a tendency to be impulsive, you might see a pint of Ben & Jerry's in the freezer and go for it, Clearly you are a dieter who needs to remove those temptations.

Oblivious. If you tend to not pay attention when you eat -- maybe you're a TV snacker? -- you need to avoid such situations if you want to control portions.

Uptight. If you are highly anxious, you will probably have more difficulty, those who are anxious, nervous, and depressed might eat to feel better.

Tenacious. Certain personalities don't find it that difficult losing weight. If you are highly self-directed, cooperative, and have a lot of stick-to-it-ive-ness, you are going to have an easier time.

Sociable. You tend to monitor your food intake better than others.

3. Double Up: Diet & Exercise

It's a combination of diet and exercise that will lead to weight loss

4. Make a Firm Weight Loss Commitment

To be successful, it helps to understand why you want to lose weight. So before you begin a weight loss plan, ask yourself:

• Am I ready to do this?
• Is my motivation coming from within?
• Can I deal with occasional setbacks or lack of progress?
• Can I focus on weight loss fully? (If you're in the midst of a job change or other distractions, for example, it might be better to resolve those issues, and then focus on weight loss efforts.)

Day 1 of Canyon's Nutrition Challenge

Okay guys....I woke up this morning ready to go!!! After almost 2 months of eating pretty much whatever I want and drinking my favorite beers (people who know me, know I don't like to drink light beers either) I'm looking a little soft!! In any case, feel extremely privileged I'm posting these photos. Measurements: True waist 27 inches, waist at belly button 29.5 inches and hips 33 inches. Body fat 16.55% and weight 134lbs. Yikes!! 2 months ago my waist was 25.5 inches and I weighed 128lbs!! LET THE TRANSFORMATION BEGIN!

So I should preface I primarily follow the Primal way of life so I do have some dairy.

Meal #1 Breakfast: YUM!

2 cups of coffee with 3tbsp of heavy cream and stevia

1 vegetarian fed cage free omega 3 enriched egg

2 liquid organic pure egg whites

1 no nitrates no preservatives added chicken sausage link

green onions, mushrooms

sauteed with 1/2 tbsp of organic butter

Meal #2 Snack:

8 oz almond milk

1 scoop of protein powder

Meal #3 Lunch

4oz chicken grilled

A big bowl of steamed broccoli with

1 tbsp of almond butter and red pepper flakes melted to make a spicy thai peanut sauce poured over the broccoli

Meal #4 Dinner:

Grilled chicken Salad

huge bowl of mixed greens

grilled onions, red peppers, green peppers

1/4 mango chopped

1/2 avocado

2 tbsp mixed dressing of olive oil, cilantro, lemon juice, salt, pepper to taste

60 Day Nutrition Challenge 5/11-7/11

Canyon CrossFit's Nutrition Challenge

Our 60 day challenge is the true test of the Paleo/Primal diet. Regardless of your fitness or health goals, you WILL look, feel and perform your best on the Paleo/Primal diet. Give it a shot – you will not be disappointed!

Rule #1: Keep it simple – Paleo/Primal in a Nutshell

For the next 60 days you are free to consume all of the following foods:

- animal protein (“Eat meat that once had a face and a soul” -–
Robb Wolf… eat grassfed meat, cage-free poultry, and
wild-caught seefood when possible)
- eggs
- veggies (try to get the bulk from non-starchy vegetables seasonal veggies are best)
- fruit (seasonal and/or berries are best keep to a minimal)
- nuts (cashews and peanuts are NOT nuts)
- seeds
- spices & salt
- olive oil, coconut oil and organic butter for cooking

- Omega 3 Fish Oil – (we recommend Barlean's which can be purchased from us)

Rule #2: No naked carbs

To prevent your blood sugar from spiking, keep your meals balanced and do NOT eat fruit away from protein.

Rule #3: Post WOD meal

Try to eat protein and the bulk of your carbs within 30 minutes post workout.

Rule #4: You will team up with an accountability partner.

Everyday for 60 days (beginning Wednesday 5/11) you will keep a record of all your meals and snacks (don’t worry about writing down portions). At the end of every week you will check in with Melisa to view and analyze your nutrition so she can make some suggestions but you will also choose a partner or have one assigned so you can have some additional accountability (i.e., share, laugh and vent). Communication can be via email/phone/text with your partner and when you check in with Melisa it can be via email or in person on Friday's at anytime of the day.

Rule #5: No more than 3 alcoholic drinks per week.

All participants will be limited to 3 of the following alcoholic beverages per week:

1) Red wine (4oz serving)
2) “Nor Cal Margarita"

3) Light 12oz beer

Rule #6: There are NO true cheat days but they happen we have to live life right, but try not to. Duh.

The purpose of this challenge is to give your body and your gut some time to heal by removing potential irritants such as gluten and minimal dairy from your diet. Just one “cheat meal” can cause a flare-up that can set you back a week or more. If you DO cheat or “accidentally” eat a pizza, please write it on your nutrition log, and fess up to your accountability partner or one of the trainers.

Rule #7: You must take before/after pictures and have your body fat % taken with the caliper test.

These pictures are for your personal records and will only be shared with the judge if you are interested in winning the prize money.

We will need a total of 2 shots: a front view and side view. Take the picture in front of a white wall, wearing only shorts if you are a male, or shorts and a sports bra if you’re female. The photographer should stand close enough to fill the frame with you.

The first set of photos must be taken by the first day of the challenge, preferably a few days before. A second set of photos must be taken at the completion of the challenge.

Rule #8: If you have you have a serious medical condition, please contact us before you sign up so we can see if the Paleo/Primal Challenge is right for you.

Rule #9: So, how do I win?
1. 1 point awarded per day for logging meals and 1 point if you don't cheat (120pts)

2. 1 point awarded per day for logging WODs and working out (60pts) now I don't expect people to workout every day but just showing max points

3. Points for improvement on FGB (each rep increase will be awarded)
4. Points for improvement on before and after pictures

5. Caliper body fat test (1 point for every .50% dropped)

Cost & Signing Up:

The cost for the Nutrition Challenge is $30. Money will go towards prizes for 1st man and woman and to Melisa for putting it all together, the time for weekly meetings of nutrition journal, my blog updates, recipes etc.... Money will be collected/must be collected on the start of the challenge.

Get familiar with the Paleo/Primal way of life before we embark on this new nutrition challenge by reviewing the links below:

http://robbwolf.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/thePaleoSolution_QuickStart.pdf

http://whole9life.com/2010/12/whole30-2011/

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-the-primal-eating-plan/

As for me, your coach, I will post my before and after pictures. I will post what I eat daily, recipes and other helpful links every day! If you have any questions please email me.