I love eggs.  Deviled, boiled, scrambled, with bacon, dipped in Paas egg coloring, you name it; I’ve never met an egg I didn’t like.  I’ve had issues with my cholesterol levels and worried that me and eggs would have to call it quits.  Thankfully, our resident nutrition brainboxes (Courtney and Nick) pointed me in the right direction and I found a wealth of knowledge saying “Hey, it’s OK to be an egg lover, we accept you no matter what!” 

For starters, take a look at this lil’ gem from Dr. Emily Kane’s blog.

Are EGGS good or bad?

September 15th, 2007

Q: I am trying to eat right and stay healthy, but should I include eggs in my diet or are they bad for me?

A: I am personally a great fan of eggs (including fish eggs), free-range of course.  They are a perfect protein, containing all eight essential amino acids.  They are replete with healthy, mono-unsaturated and essential fatty acids.  The fats in eggs are “emulsified” (broken down) in the liver by the lecithin provided by the very same egg.  This is why eggs do NOT raise “bad” cholesterol, contrary to popular opinion.

Lecithin helps prevent kidney and liver damage and slows aging. Lecithin is a precursor to the “feed and breed” (parasympathetic) moiety of our central nervous system function — in contrast to the adrenaline-driven “fight or flight” (sympathetic) response.  So, eggs can help bust stress.  Plus, eggs are one of the best natural sources of Vitamin D — your liquid sunshine and bone builder.  The health benefits of Vitamin D (way beyond just helping calcium absorption) are just beginning to be widely appreciated.  Vitamin D is currently being studied in oncology circles for its protective properties. Many common cancers (breast, prostate, colon, pancreas) occur disproportionately in folks with low Vitamin D levels (which should be 50 mL/mg on a blood test).

Eggs are high in sulfur, a major component of the detoxification systems in the liver.  Sulfur is not only an excellent detox agent (which is why high sulfur foods like eggs, garlic and onions help reduce pain from inflammatory conditions like arthritis) but sulfur is a good antioxidant as well.  One of the latest remedies for arthritis is egg membrane — the thin filmy stuff between the shell and the gooey part.  Egg whites contain natural anti-microbial properties to protect against possible infection of the chick embryo.  Old fashioned doctors used to slap egg whites on a wound to expedite healing.

Finally, please know that the best way to cook an egg is IN THE SHELL.  Ideally, you don’t want to oxidize the good fats in the egg by heating them while exposed to air.  A good old soft boiled egg (put it in cold water, bring to a boil and it’s perfectly cooked in three minutes at sea level) is an ideal breakfast, lunch, dieter’s dinner or snack.  Enjoy!

-James

Bryan on his way to becoming a newly minted Crossfit trainer. He got to “test” out the hill that was used in the Crossfit games. Ask him about it when you see him in the facility next week.

Check out B.H. recovering after the storm. I’ll update some more photos of the Cert tomorrow. I have a ton of stuff but haven’t found the time to update it all yet. If you can post to the comments here any questions (anything goes) you would like for me to ask any of the CF all-stars at the cert (Nicole, TonyB, etc). Be creative and be sure to post tonight and I will ask them tomorrow.

-Bryant

This was on the Crossfit Affliate page today. Even though I have only been to a 24hr fitness like gym 2-3 times in my life I thought it was pretty interesting and I was wondering what you thought. Post your thoughts on the text and what your land was like before Crossfit here.

-Bryant
Imagine we had to go back. Back to the Land Before CrossFit. Before wall-ball and thrusters and burning lung metcons like Fran and Helen. Back to a place without our friend Pukie or Uncle Rhabdo or the legendary Nasty Girls. To a time when the only language spoken was “Is it Legs or Chest day?” Back before we realized there was a madman in the tower, dreaming up workouts that combined both, and, in the ultimate piece of twisted depravity, adding a stopwatch to the whole mix. Back before we knew the madman’s name was Greg Glassman.

Can you still remember those times? Can you recall accepting inane garbage fed to us by supposed “experts” who said that if we squatted deeper than parallel, our knees would explode, our reproductive organs would fail, and the breweries would stop making beer? (Oh, all right, they never said all of that but you get the point.)

It was all so sterile, so boring, and so futile. On those upper-body and lower-body and separate cardio days, we built some pretty muscles but we never really used them. Or, when we did, like when we toted a heavy bag of sand at Home Depot, or lifted an overloaded suitcase off the airport luggage carousel, we often injured ourselves, because pampered pretty muscles are like the Ice Queen at the Prom: she looks great but you can’t really take her home and **** her. Better you should have some real muscles to do real work. Power units that will, quite simply, help you to lift heavy stuff off the ground. Functional muscles for a functional life. Like what you earn in CrossFit.

But also realize, unless you’re very lucky, that your friends and loved ones still live in the Land Before CrossFit. They still toil away on ellipticals and “butt-blasters” and horrible weight machines because they have been told, “This is the way.” And they still believe it, even though it takes them nowhere. They are like newborn baby birds, sitting in the nest, their beaks open but their eyes still covered, waiting and crying for someone to feed them. But they still don’t see. They hear the rumblings of CrossFit in the distance, but they don’t understand yet. The noise, to them, is perhaps the shifting of some seismic plates. They do not understand that those are the footsteps of thousands of CrossFitters, pounding across the arid desert of bullsh** “fitness”, sprinting past the lies and the half-truths, coming to throw open the gates and set them free.

So, what to do? Tell the baby birds. Better yet, show them. Live the CrossFit life. Be a walking testament to the power of the properly executed below-parallel squat, Olympic lifting, and metcon. Shock them by doing heavy deadlifts with good form, without breaking your back or having your uterus drop out on the floor. Become a living, breathing example of the results the naysayers only promise to deliver. And then wait . . .

There is a line in the Tao Te Ching that reads, “Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.”

So, do your work: CrossFit. Then step back. Eyes will open and the baby birds will see. Let’s just hope they don’t fall out of the nest and break their necks before they even get to wall-ball.
(Text by Lisbeth Darsh. Special thanks to Allison Bojarskion of CF NYC for the inspiration behind The Land Before CrossFit.)

Well I am here at CF One World. Freddy C. is a great host (and pull up bar painter) even though he ends up talking a lot of shit. There is a bunch of great people here from Adrian, Pat, Dutch, and the winner of the 2008 Crossfit games Jason. I am probably missing a few people too. I spent the better part of last night training with Ben of Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne. Just let it be known that if you are ever in Melbourne you will have a place to work out.

Also post to the comments the funniest thing that has happened since I have been gone.
-Bryant

(Be sure to click on the blue names above!!)

Aloha Gang,

Due to my continuous harassment at work from Marcus for being a poor swimmer, Courtney and I decided I might as well use the pool in my hotel workout. I would do an exercise on one side and swim (if you could call it that) to the other side, do an exercise and swim back. After 11 minutes and some snatches, double unders, squats, pushups, handstand push ups, and a few laps in the pool I gained some valuable insight. High heart rate+heavy breathing+tired arms+zero swim technique=some of the most enjoyable laps I have had in any pool, ever, in my life. I can only hope we can fit swimming into our workouts one day (Gretchen cringes at insurance issues).

After my workout, Courtney introduced her long-time friend Maria to Dr. Tabata in her first ever CrossFit workout. As of me writing this, Maria is still sore but she is a trooper and loved every minute of it!

Stay tuned as I will update the blog over the next four days with all the happenings and other CFers I will meet at the certs I am going to be at. I can’t wait to come back to Hawaii, but until then, keep the parking tight, the wallball quiet and train like crazy animals!!

-Bryant

While the Filthy Fifty has been seen by many on the CrossFit website, today we brought it to CFO for the first time.  The 9:00 am class did not dissapoint — they did an awesome job.  Edwin’s daughter Yvette (the quiet, shy one) smoked everybody finishing first in just over 27 minutes.  She now has bragging rights since she finished before her Dad.  Her are some pics of the aftermath . . . they say it all.

What was the worst part of the Filthy Fifty for you?  Post your comments here.

- Cheryl

One of our very own is competing in the 2008 Miss Hawaii Scholarship Pageant.  Nicole Fox started CrossFit a few months back to better prepare herself for the contest.  She’s been coming several times a week to the 9:00 am classes and doing a great job.  She has done her part, now it’s time for us to do ours.  The Pageant is sponsoring a Most Photogenic Contest and you can vote for Nicole by going here.  The winner of the Most Photogenic Contest and the newly crowned 2008 Miss Hawaii will be announced live on Friday, July 11th at 7:00 pm.  The entire Pageant is being broadcast on OC16.   Best of luck to you Nicole, we are all pulling for you!

- Cheryl

Matt and the “Ice Tiger” were doing a workout this morning and I just couldn’t resist snapping a few pics so we could all have some fun coming up with a caption for them.  So get those creative juices flowing and lets hear them . . .

- Cheryl

We had a great turnout for our holiday workout today.  Thanks to all who came out, everyone did a great job.  A special thanks to Bryant and Alex for coming up with this very special 4th of July WOD.  Hope you and yours had a good 4th!  See you all tomorrow!

- Cheryl

Well, I am off for a week (4th-14th) filled with Crossfit actives in the mainland. I’ll be sure to keep you up to date on all the happenings at the other CF gyms I stop by. The Ice Tiger and Cheryl will be in charge of the facility so be nice to them. When Craig gets back around the 13th or so he will be rounding up help for the new facility so get your work gloves ready!!

Also in case you didn’t know the Crossfit Games are this weekend so be sure to check out all the action here.

Post here any ideas you have for a hotel room workout for me to do and blog about. I am voting for old stand by of 500 squats for time but I’ll take anything you can throw at me. Be creative and train hard while I am out.
-Bryant