Archive for July, 2011

Remember everything you did as a kid? All those soccer games. Baseball, swimming, and more. Well, when does that end? At what age? At some point, we lose that desire to just get out and play. Check that, the desire is still there. Then what is it? Is it that there aren’t as many opportunities for adults? Maybe we’re too busy exposing our own kids to sports. Or maybe we’re just too busy being adults.

I’ve read a lot of articles debating on whether or not CrossFit is a sport. Well, in all honesty, who cares? It’s fun. It lets us, the adults, be kids again. It allows us the opportunity to get out and play.

With the emerging popularity of CrossFit, the opportunities are endless. Especially here in the California Bay Area. There are numerous CrossFits and a plethora of Throwdowns throughout the year. The biggest Throwdown is currently happening this weekend: The CrossFit Games. Sunday is the last day of competitions. Watch some of the action live at the website. If you miss it, check out some of these amazing videos from the games so far:

CrossFit Diablo’s (Pleasant Hill, CA) team in a tight battle with CrossFit New England. EXCITING!!

Men’s 3rd Event, Heat 5. Check out what Rich Froning does after he finishes. This is why I love CrossFit.

Women’s 6th Event, Heat 5. You guys all remember Annie Sakamoto from the “Nasty Girls” video. She’s still going strong at 35!! CrossFit isn’t just for boys!! In fact, the women will be featured at the Femme Fit competition on August 13 hosted by CrossFit Sweat Shop and supported by CrossFit Oakland and CrossFit Adventure.

Whether CrossFit is your sport or whether it helps you to get better at your sport, just get out and play.

From Heidi Stevenson with Gaia Health:

“In its latest salvo against our health and freedom, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to Diamond Foods stating that their claims for the health promoting qualities of walnuts have moved them from a food to a drug. At the same time, it allows Frito-Lay to advertise its health-destroying chips . . . as “heart healthy”.

. . . The FDA is not interested in the science. It’s not interested in your health. It’s not interested in the truth. It’s interested only in supporting its corporate masters. To this end, it uses its massive power to shut down the truth and ignore blatant lies when it’s beneficial to big corporate players.”

From Michael Tennant with The New American:

“Seen any walnuts in your medicine cabinet lately? According to the Food and Drug Administration, that is precisely where you should find them. Because Diamond Foods made truthful claims about the health benefits of consuming walnuts that the FDA didn’t approve, it sent the company a letter declaring, “Your walnut products are drugs” — and “new drugs” at that — and, therefore, “they may not legally be marketed … in the United States without an approved new drug application.” The agency even threatened Diamond with “seizure” if it failed to comply.” Read the full article here.

Oh, and by the way, the FDA has not yet banned feeding chicken feces to cows. Just thought you might like to know.

An excerpt from The United States of Obesity:

“Don’t worry; it’s only partially your fault. There is only so much you could do when the food pyramid was developed by a bunch of bureaucrats telling us that grains needed to account for the significant majority of our diet. That makes sense, you need to eat carbohydrates for energy, energy you need to get in your car and drive to work and then sit behind a desk. Let me just make this clear. If you never touched another piece of bread, pastry, pasta, bagel, cereal, or grain ever again you would not die for lack of energy. I am not going to get all conspiracy theorist on you, but some people have made a lot of money when the scam of the food pyramid was pissed into existence.”

And to continue, watch this video to see how the wool has been pulled over our eyes. For everyone that throws studies and articles in my face, I throw this video in yours. You need to do your homework before believing anything an article tells you. If you don’t have the hour to watch the video, at least read the article.

One of the doctors I work with told me that 95% of her patients are low in Vitamin D. 95%!! How is this possible?! There is never one simple answer, but certainly a big part of it is that we are afraid of our life-giving sun. The sun has become a carcinogen!! Ridiculous – the sun doesn’t cause cancer. You’re crappy lifestyle does. Here is an excerpt from Radiant Life Company:

With summer in full swing, this is the perfect time to revel in the fact that vitamin D,  known as “The Sunshine Vitamin”, is plentiful for us to enjoy and derive natural health benefits from.    

While sunlight is the best natural source of vitamin D, many of us have been avoiding the sun out of fear of skin cancer and premature aging of our skin. We have been frightened out of the daylight! Avoiding all sun exposure or using sunscreen whenever going outside is now linked to the reality that 70-90% of North Americans do not get enough vitamin D.

Our 21st century lifestyle of spending too much time indoors in front of the television, computers and other electronic devices, makes us vitamin D deficient as well. This deficiency is at the root of many chronic diseases including cancer, multiple sclerosis, depression, chronic pain, osteoporosis, obesity, gum disease, cavities and more.

Our body manufactures vitamin D3 out of cholesterol in the presence of sunlight. We need exposure to UVB rays to manufacture our own vitamin D! All cells, tissues and organs in our bodies have vitamin D receptors. These receptors await the arrival of vitamin D to perform various vital functions. Vitamin D is needed for calcium and phosphorus absorption, making it essential for strong bones, healthy teeth and normal growth.

Although safe exposure of our skin to sunshine is the ideal way to obtain vitamin D, external conditions such as time of day, cloud cover, smog and others, can affect how much vitamin D our body can synthesize as a result being exposed to the sun. Additionally, in many parts of the country, because of the angle of the sun’s rays, people at northern latitudes cannot get sufficient vitamin D exposure during the winter months. Eating the following healthy foods can assist with providing the body naturally occurring Vitamin D3, which is the type of vitamin D your body produces as a result of sun exposure.

Food Sources of Vitamin D

• Salmon
• Mackerel 
• Tuna
• Sardines 
• Eggs
• Butterfat 
• Liver 
• Marine oils  

For parent and coaches of Vista Diablo Dolphins: