Coffee... the good, the bad, and the unknown!

There is a lot of research on whether coffee is good or bad, and personally I think it gets a bad wrap.  But I do know that it is very addictive, and I try to live my life by not being addicted, obsessed, or overly relying on anything.  That is where I believe the unhealthiness arises.  Here is an article on everything you ever wanted to know on how coffee affects your body- How Coffee Affects your Hormones
No known studies demonstrate statistically significant correlations between coffee over-consumption and the unwinding of the neuroendocrineimmune system. However, certain theoretical pathways can be created, and have been observed clinically.
 A diet high in refined sugars and starches leads to more circulating glucose. More glucose means more insulin needed to dispose of it. More insulin means cells tune out, which means even more insulin dumped into the bloodstream (especially if people continue to eat this high-carbohydrate diet). More insulin means insulin resistance — possibly aggravated by high caffeine consumption. More insulin means more IL-6 and more inflammation and hypersensitivity. More IL-6 means more cortisol, which means more glucose… and here we are, back at the beginning of a very nasty cycle.
Consider this as you cradle your extra-large coffee and glazed donut this morning during your white-knuckle commute to work.
The elevated blood sugar and insulin don’t just stop at inflammation. They can create imbalances in the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and GABA, which can lead to sub-clinical mood problems such as mild depression (aka “the blues”), low motivation, irritability, and impaired cognition. People with chronically high glucose, insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, and stress typically have “fuzzy brain”, memory loss, lethargy, and/or a short fuse.
Coupled with the potential iron and B-vitamin deficiencies created by coffee, which, again, cause impaired synthesis of key neurotransmitters, this may result in mood states where people feel the need for coffee to keep themselves functioning properly. Have you ever felt that you desperately needed coffee for a pick-me-up? Do you tell people, “I’m a grouch until I get my coffee?” If so, you may be experiencing this situation.
I don't want to scare all of you because caffeine in moderation is likely not an issue for most people. Indeed, it may actually have health benefits. (See the article on traditional Chinese medicine and coffee, in the Spezzatino Coffee issue) Problems occur when we drink coffee all day long and combine it with sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, and chronically elevated stress.  
Here is the final advice the article gives:
Follow the evidence that your body offers you. Pay attention to how you feel when you drink coffee. Do you feel good for a short period, then shaky and irritable? Do you notice more pain or other kinds of physical distress? If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms I’ve mentioned above, ranging from anxiety to inflammation, consider bringing a little decaf into your life.
So in conclusion, if you stick with a Paleo diet, you most likely are OK with a cup of coffee every morning.

Be Patient!

So I am still awaiting the results of the competition from last weekend.  In the meantime I started my last semester of my Master's program lastnight.  I have a research methods class where I have to write the beginning of a thesis.  While I am taking that class I will be completing my senior project which is an entire thesis.  Lastly I will be finishing up the paper from my internship I completed at the gym (by the way, I consider my internship a huge success since my main achievement was getting our gym a cover story on two local newspapers and we have been overflowing with new clients).

Anyway when I finish all my assignments on my plate for school, this would make me graduate mid May.  This is the same week that I will be traveling down to Orange County for the Crossfit competition I have been training for all year.  So needless to say, that will be a busy week, and an even busier next 4 months.  Luckily my horoscope recently said that the next 4 months will be big in terms of my career.  So wish me luck!

OPT Championship Series #3

I did my 3rd competition this weekend from OPT's blog.  It was a good one and I felt really good on everything except a couple areas I would have liked to push harder.  Here are the workouts and my results, and I am still waiting to see the final results of how I compared to the rest of the field.

WOD 1
3 sets of 15 OHS

WOD 2
2K row and AMRAP Double Unders in 10 minutes

WOD 3
50 CTB chin ups
50 push up burpees

Here are the videos:

OPT Championship Series #3 Wod #1 from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

OPT championship series #3 WOD#2 from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

OPT championship series #3 WOD #3 from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

The OHS squat I felt really good and was surprised how easy my body weight (180lb) felt on this until the last rep.  I shortened it up just a tad.  It was close and I didn't know if it would count as my score but I was hoping until James emailed me and said it killed him, but he couldn't count that last rep.  I knew this might be the case so after I did the 180lb I did 155lb fairly easy and do not do my thrid attempt to conserve energy.  This might come back to haunt me becasue I think I could have done 165 or 175lb and would have been ahead of a lot of people in the competition.  I think my same mistake happened to a lot of other people, this was poor strategy, lesson learned...

The row and double unders- I felt awesome during the row but the thrid 500m I fell off a little and wish I pushed harder there to get closer to a 6:45.  I was just so nervous I would not be able to do any double unders afterward becasue I know how hard they get and they are not my best thing.  I still pushed hard and double unders went about how I expected.  My goal was 200 and looking at the rest of the field, it looks like that is a really good number, so I guess I paced  myself pretty well.

Pull up/burpees- I wanted to move a little quicker on pullups but still felt strong and fast.  Burpees were surprisingly slower and harder than I thought.  I knew they would be hard but I thought it wouldnt get hard until about 25 or 30 and I thought from there I would just be able to push through it.  It felt hard and slow the entire time.  I think 30-40 reps is my comfort range on each so need to up that number.  Still Im fairly happy with the result though.

"Isabel"

As perfection is never attainable, it is the journey toward perfection that makes one great!

-Progress not perfection: Even those who survive the impossible are still only human. 'That final stage in the process of being lost can prove to be either a beginning or an end. Some give up and die. Others stop denying and begin surviving. You don't have to be an elite performer. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to get on with it and do the next right thing.' - Laurence Gonzales "Deep Survival"

Here is a crossfit benchmark, "Isabel", a workout that I have never done before.  The workout is:

135lb snatch x 30 reps for time

My strategy was to start out fast and do as many consecutive reps as possible and then just truck along as needed.  My goal was to get sub 3 min and I far surpassed that.  Now I have a better understanding of where I want to be on this workout.  

As I previously saw failure, from my previous post, and had to learn my limits and reset my goals with a new path in mind of how to achieve that to prevent me from failing miserably, here I reset my goals from a success. If I dont, I will not grow and progress, and I'll remain stagnant.  So I'm learning that goals must always be redirected when you better understand where you want to go.  But you must have a goal in mind or you will have no direction, and ultimately no motivation.

Another new goal; sub 2 min "Isabel".  Is it achievable?  Hell YEAH, and I will do it!

135# snatch x 30 for time from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.