Spring Leaning Challenge

The Spring Leaning Challenge is a 2 month challenge to get you eating healthy and in shape for spring and summer.  It starts Jan 4th and ends March 5th. This contest is not just about weight loss.  So even if you don’t have a whole lot of weight to lose, you can still lean out and have a great chance to win.

Q: What are the requirements?

  • Photos – front, side and back view*
  • Measurements – Body weight, Waist circumference
  • Performance – 1 mile run/row, max pull-ups, 1RM Clean, and max burpees in 2 minutes
  • Maintain a food (use this if possible) and workout journal
  • Try to reduce your stress and increase the amount of time you sleep
  • CrossFit at least 2 times a week
  • $25 entry fee / $50 for non CrossFit Deep members

Q:  How do I enter?

Pay the entrance fee before January 3rd and show up on January 3rd from 2pm to 5pm for your performance test, measurements, and photos*.

Q:  What do I eat?

A Paleo Diet.  In case you need a refresher, the Paleo diet consists of meat, veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar.  Stay tuned to the blog for more info and a yes and no list.

Q: How do I win?

At the end of the challenge, the top 3 performers will be chosen by the coaches based on who has the greatest improvement in their physique, measurements, performance, and scoring from their daily nutrition journal.  This will NOT be chosen on best physique.

Q:  What do I win?

Top 3 will be rewarded entry money, free training, and other great gifts.  The more people that join, the larger the payout.

Q: Can you explain the scoring for the nutrition journal?

You will be required to keep track of your eating in a nutrition journal.  From this journal, YOU will give yourself a score each day of 0-4 based on your compliance with the Spring Leaning Challenge.  The coaches WILL be checking these journals.

Four Points: (100% Compliance) you’re pretty much a cave-man/woman.  People invite you places but worry they won’t have anything to fit “your diet”.  You only eat meat, veggies, some fruit, nuts and seeds. You look at processed food like its poison.

Three  Points:  (95%-99% Compliance) One time during the day, you had a little something that wasn’t optimal, but wasn’t horrible.  For example, some peanuts, green beans, or hummus, a little cream in your coffee. *I’ll say ONE glass of wine would fit under this point system*

Two Points: (85%-94% Compliance) you slipped…but didn’t get hurt.  You had a small amount of “not real food”.  Maybe you couldn’t resist having a beer at the family BBQ, or you finished your kid’s mac ‘n cheese, or picked up a bag of m&m’s while out shopping, but the rest of your day was solid.

One Point: (75%-84% Compliance) Most of your day was great, but there was one full meal that you fell off the wagon.  Maybe it was a sandwich, pasta, a soda, juice or bag of popcorn, two slices of pizza, or a drink or two.

Zero Points:  You had a bad day and made more than one solid mistake.  Three drinks, desserts, a couple slices of pizza and more than one processed meal.  Or you failed to write down a meal.

Bonus Point:

Q:  When is the winner chosen?

On March 7th, we will have the final performance test and pictures, and the coaches will pick the top 3 winners based on all the above criteria.  The tentative time is set from 2pm to 5pm.

*-  These will not be seen by anyone other than the coaches.  Once the competition is finished, we would like to post the pictures of the top 3 winners online, with their permission.

To prove that a Paleo Diet combined with CrossFit works, please see the picture below. These pictures were taken LESS than 5 months apart.

crossfit_effect_eric

Post questions/concerns to comments.

58 Comments

  1. Klein12/16/2009

    Wow, 70s big is definately not spring leaning but im in. Sounds like a blast! Ill probably need more in depth help on everything paleo though

  2. Koy12/16/2009

    Klein – we will be posting more info on Paleo soon. It’s rather easy.

  3. Klein, most 70s big guys were deceivingly lean. Would venture to say almost all were sub 10% body fat with most being around 8%. You will benefit a ton from going paleo.

  4. Koy12/16/2009

    Don’t be afraid to post if you are in. We welcome board participation. :)

  5. Lisa S.12/16/2009

    I want to try it but I am SCARED!!!

  6. Is it possible to be in halvsies for this and just be unable to win but still do the starting, ending and journal? Or is that just kind of what xfit is anyway?
    I ask because I will be traveling a lot and do not know if I will be in town two days of every week. And while you may call 3 drinks a zero point day, I would rate it much higher (kidding, kind of) :)

  7. Koy12/16/2009

    Annie, since I know you travel so much, I can create some workouts for you so you can still CrossFit at least 2x a week. I also think your roommate should join in. :)

  8. Klein12/16/2009

    So no more large pizzas? FML!!

  9. Justin12/17/2009

    I’m in fellas!

    Oh, and Eric, it really helps to be a skinny little nerd when you started…..just kidding. I think this is a great idea.

  10. patrick12/17/2009

    no more large pizza and a six pack a beer

  11. stephen w12/17/2009

    in

  12. patrick12/17/2009

    those of you participating, have fun and good luck.

  13. Lindsey12/17/2009

    I guess I’ll do it, but the thought of having to write EVERYTHING down in the food journal is a little scary. Koy, where did you get the “picking up a bag of m&m’s while out shopping” example? :)

  14. Amy12/17/2009

    Word of advice if you are going to take fish oil tablets….put them in the freezer. It will reduce the nasty smell if you burp after taking them.

  15. Chris12/17/2009

    Sign me up. Like that kidd in scholl we all hated, I want the bonus fish oil points. Whats a good one? Will it give me breath like Stephen’s???

  16. Lea12/17/2009

    Highly contemplating it.

  17. I’m scared of taking pictures and having to show them to someone!!! Including myself!!

  18. Pingback: CrossFit Deep Ellum » What Would I Want? Sky

  19. Annie12/18/2009

    if I were to have one cheat meal in a day, let’s say going out to a dinner, but listed it just as cheat instead of writing everything out does that consitute a zero because it is kind of an unrecorded meal or a 1 because it was a great rest of the day and one bad meal?

  20. Koy12/18/2009

    Annie, glad you asked. So instead of writing say pizza you write cheat? I would recommend writing down at least what the main ingredients were in the cheat. Say if you shared some appetizers and desserts then I would list the items that you mainly ate. Follow? So the scoring would be 1 point.

  21. Koy12/18/2009

    To those concerned about taking pictures – These will not be posted without your consent. Photographs provide motivation and a constant reminder of the goals you have set. I know it can be scary, but imagine how thankful you will be when you are able to look back and see photographic evidence of the changes and goals you have achieved.
    If you are uncomfortable with a coach taking the pictures then we can arrange something. Please e-mail me so we can discuss individually.

  22. Annie12/18/2009

    One glass should be plenty. . .3 points a day here I come :)

  23. Lea12/18/2009

    Anna, where did you get those glasses? I want some for myself. :)

  24. Tim12/18/2009

    Myself, Justin and Shauna are in. Shauna is cooking for all of us and Klein. You owe me Klein.

  25. Klein12/19/2009

    Noted!

  26. Pingback: CrossFit Deep Ellum » So On and So On

  27. Erin12/28/2009

    Eric an Koy…exactly what I’m looking for…wish i could hop on over for this! ;-) Have fun with it! i’ll be awesome to see the results at the end!

  28. carol w12/28/2009

    what do you mean no green beans – no legumes???

  29. Koy12/28/2009

    Remember, 2pm on Sunday. There will be a brief intro into the foods you can eat and the foods you should avoid. We will also have a hand out of a shopping list of great foods you can take with you. Come prepared to workout as we are doing the performance test after the brief lecture.

  30. Carol, good question. Most legumes are actually poisonous if eaten raw. Also a main concern and reason they are not part of the paleo diet is that they are high in a toxins known as lectins which are inflammatory to the system. They also have protease inhibitors which affect how your body breaks down amino acids, and phytates which reduce how well your body can absorb important minerals such as magnesium and zinc (both extremely important for sleep and recovery)

  31. Pingback: CrossFit Deep Ellum » Learn to Lose

  32. Pingback: CrossFit Deep Ellum » Take Me To The Hospital

  33. Pingback: CrossFit Deep Ellum » In Medias Res

  34. I would like to do the challenge, but realistically, I like to drink wine and it is not something I want to cut out of my life. Is alcohol majorly detrimental to results being achieved? It is interesting that legumes are inflammatory. How bad to lectins affect the body? Could it be cause for some pain I feel now?

  35. Do you have any books or websites that you recommend with more info?
    I’m in.

  36. Koy12/30/2009

    Laura – How much wine we talking about? :) This challenge is for 2 months, I think you could cut it down just a tad for the challenge. About Legumes – It could very well be possible. Do you know if you have any food allergies?

  37. Koy12/30/2009

    Danielle – Nice. Glad to see you signed up. Click on the resources tab on the top of the website. We’ve listed some great nutrition sources there.

  38. Pingback: CrossFit Deep Ellum » Trials and Tribulations

  39. Koy, I usually have 2-3 glasses of red wine per night. I know it is a lot! :-) I think I can cut down to one (or two on a cheat night).

    No food allergies. I have had a chronic pain issue since 2006 in my right upper body and I wonder how much of the foods I am eating might affect the pain….

    Either way, all the talk this morning about Paleo diets, I have decided to do it!

  40. casey01/01/2010

    I’m IN…70s big + Leaning Challenge = Win.

  41. Pingback: CrossFit Deep Ellum » Happy New Year!

  42. What is the recommended daily water intake?

  43. Koy01/04/2010

    Aden, drink when you are thirsty. Don’t be too concerned with how much just listen to your body.
    However, if you are waking up in the middle of the night to use the RR, take it easy on the amount at night.

  44. Annie01/05/2010

    Is there a limit to how much fruit we can eat?

  45. Annie, I would limit your fruit intake to two servings daily.

  46. Annie – I agree with Koy about limiting fruit intake to two servings per day. When I first started Paleo and Zone, I wondered why my “pooch” wasn’t shrinking much and asked about how to help minimize it. I used to eat fruit at least twice or three times a day, but after receiving feedback from Mel (CFDC), I cut my intake to once a day (at most), and the extra weight came off significantly. I also cut out tropical fruits, which are rather high in sugar. I tend to stick with grapes, pears, and apples, as well as berries.

  47. Edit – I agree with Eric! Sorry, Eric!

  48. Annie01/08/2010

    Thanks, Carrie.

  49. Alright, I went in and updated my food & exercise log. It is absolutely shameful!

    I’m going to have to step this up a notch….. from 0 to 1. But hey, it’s a notch!

  50. Has anyone else been traveling during this competition? It has been so hard to stay paleo! I thought my dinner of steak, peppers, onion and tomato was pretty good until I realized I was singing “A**hole from El Paso” and the margarita had seeped into my system. Oh well, veggie omlette in the morning :)

Leave a Reply