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5 Factors of Health

Sleep

GOAL: Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night

Arguably the most important influencer on our health is the amount of sleep we get. Less than 7 hours a night increases risk of cancer, early death, dementia and cognitive decline, and other chronic diseases. Busy is not an excuse. It might make it harder to prioritize time in our day for sleep, but it doesn’t make it impossible.

Get a least 7 hours of sleep every night.

Think about this:

  1. How many hours of sleep do you typically get every night?
  2. Here’s a list of things within your control you can use to help reach your optimal sleep goal. Make a note of the ones you are currently do:
    • Go to bed at a consistent time.
    • Sleep in a dark and quiet room.
    • Make sure your bed & bedding is as comfortable as possible.
    • Hide the clock (if you are a clock watcher).
    • Silence your cell phone notifications until morning. (we know, this one is hard to do)
    • Establish a soothing pre-sleep routine. (stretching is a great idea)
    • Do not watch TV or look at other screens while in bed.
    • Listen to relaxing music or guided meditation to help fall asleep.
    • Avoid caffeine after lunchtime and alcohol at night. (Again, we know this is a hard ask. But they both can destroy the quality of your sleep.)
  3. Let’s figure out your optimal bed time:
    • What time do you have to get out of bed in the morning to make your day work?
    • Including a 15 minute window to wind down/read/get settled, what time do you need to be in bed so you can get up at that time and still get 7 to 8 hours of sleep?

Which of the habits listed above will you commit to doing to improve your sleep?

If you aren’t getting the rest you need your training will suffer inside the gym and your life won’t be what it should be outside the gym.

LEARN MORE: Read “The Sleep Revolution” by Ariana Huffington

Check out all of the 5 Factors of Health

Mindset

A healthy mindset is one that is growth oriented! Creating Mental Toughness A healthy mindset is one that is growth oriented (read Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset”). It is one that is able to focus on the…

Relationships

GOAL: Let’s create healthy connections! We are social creatures. No matter how independent or introverted you are, you still need actual human connection. This doesn’t just mean having people you spend time with, it means…

Exercise

The best advice we give to people when they ask if CrossFit is right for them is this:Figure out what works for you! The best form of exercise is the kind we can be consistent…

Sleep

GOAL: Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night Arguably the most important influencer on our health is the amount of sleep we get. Less than 7 hours a night increases risk of cancer,…

Nutrition

GOAL: Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants. Eliminate refined carbohydrates processed foods and sugar. Our modern American diets are carb and sugar filled. Combined with our sedentary lifestyles, as a nation – we…

2020: Your Fittest Year Yet

5 areas worth looking at to make a plan for the healthiest version of yourself. The New Year gives us a fresh start, a chance to evaluate the year behind us, take the lessons, and…

5 Factors of Health

Nutrition

GOAL: Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants. Eliminate refined carbohydrates processed foods and sugar.

Our modern American diets are carb and sugar filled. Combined with our sedentary lifestyles, as a nation – we are heavier and unhealthier than ever. Trendy diets may give us the satisfaction of losing weight quickly, but they don’t fix our bad habits and food addictions or help us maintain those results for the long haul.

Eat real food

Answer these questions

  • How would you like your weight and/or body composition to be different in the new year?
  • Why is this important to you?

Make a list of habits

Make note of the following list of habits of healthy eaters you already do and ones that you need to work on…

  • Plan food menu for the week
  • Cook and prepare for for the week on the weekends
  • Eat until 80% full
  • Eat without distractions ( screens, etc.)
  • Awareness of real hunger vs. an emotionally driven desire to eat Majority of diet consists of real, whole, nutrient dense foods
  • Low to no sugar and limited or no refined carbohydrates 
  • Moderate alcohol consumption (2-4 drinks a week)
  • Vegetables at every meal
  • Protein source at every meal
  • Healthy fats at every meal
  • Limited starch and carbohydrates and real food sources of those 
  • Regular daily water intake
  • No sugar or sugar substitutes

Eliminating Excuses

Every reason you can come up with about why you make poor choices around food can be transformed into a way to stop letting that excuse sabotage you. Let’s dig a little deeper into your excuses and see what habits you could work on to dial in your nutrition.

  • Do you prepare food to bring with you during the day to eat?If no, why not? What habits do you need to create or change so that you can start doing this?
  • Do you rely on takeout, frozen or pre-made foods, ready to eat snacks, and other food that is convenient, but often full of ingredients that are hard to pronounce? What one small step could you take to improve the quality of the food you eat on a daily basis? 
  • Are you willing to plan your meals for the week and prepare food ahead of time? What day of the week can you commit to making time for this?

One Small Step at a Time

If you try to make too many changes at once with what you eat, or overhwhelm yourself with a bunch of new habits you have to create to eat better, you will likely fail. Behavior change requires us to make small steps, be consistent with them, and these turn into habits which are no longer difficult to sustain.

Here are some examples of small changes you can make to your nutrition. Write down the ones you are willing to try:

  • Add some veggies to at least 2 meals a day
  • Start your day by drinking a glass of water
  • Reduce the amount of seeetener in your daily coffee
  • Aim to have 20-25 grams of protein per meal 
  • Limit take out to 1 or 2 nights/days a week
  • Cook yourself dinner one night a week

You. Can. Do. This. One step at a time.

Check out all of the 5 Factors of Health

Mindset

A healthy mindset is one that is growth oriented! Creating Mental Toughness A healthy mindset is one that is growth oriented (read Carol Dweck’s book “Mindset”). It is one that is able to focus on the…

Relationships

GOAL: Let’s create healthy connections! We are social creatures. No matter how independent or introverted you are, you still need actual human connection. This doesn’t just mean having people you spend time with, it means…

Exercise

The best advice we give to people when they ask if CrossFit is right for them is this:Figure out what works for you! The best form of exercise is the kind we can be consistent…

Sleep

GOAL: Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night Arguably the most important influencer on our health is the amount of sleep we get. Less than 7 hours a night increases risk of cancer,…

Nutrition

GOAL: Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants. Eliminate refined carbohydrates processed foods and sugar. Our modern American diets are carb and sugar filled. Combined with our sedentary lifestyles, as a nation – we…

2020: Your Fittest Year Yet

5 areas worth looking at to make a plan for the healthiest version of yourself. The New Year gives us a fresh start, a chance to evaluate the year behind us, take the lessons, and…

5 Factors of Health

2020: Your Fittest Year Yet

5 areas worth looking at to make a plan for the healthiest version of yourself.

5 areas worth looking at to make a plan for the healthiest version of yourself.

The New Year gives us a fresh start, a chance to evaluate the year behind us, take the lessons, and craft a vision for the year ahead.

In terms of our health and fitness, it is also an opportunity to begin the work of letting go of habits that no longer serve us and creating new ones that will move us towards the vision we have of our fittest selves, living our healthiest lives.

We want to share some knowledge with you called the 5 Factors for Health. There are 5 areas worth looking at to make a plan for our healthiest year yet.

Let’s take stock of where things are at in each category, define what we have control over in terms of changing it, and make a plan of attack. Breaking bad habits and creating healthy new ones starts one small step at a time, and with brutal honesty about how we sabotage ourselves.

The 5 Factors of Health:

  • Sleep
  • Nutrition
  • Exercise
  • Relationships
  • Mindset

Here’s to an amazing 2020 and the start of an incredible fitness journey!

Kipping It Real

Thank you, FCCF Family for the incredible 2019 canned food drive.

Welcome back to Kipping it Real with Coach Meg! I am so glad you are here today and every day, but today I want to tell you about the Franciscan Kitchen and the close of our Canned Food Drive.

Most of you know our canned goods went to the Franciscan Kitchen here in Louisville, but do you know why?

In 2018 the Louisville Homeless Census data suggested that there were over 7,000 homeless people here in our own backyard. That number is only expected to climb.

The Franciscan Kitchen is cooking y’all! Located in the heart of downtown on South Preston Street, from 10:30 to 12:30pm, Monday through Friday, there are about 500 people walking through their doors to get a meal at least 5 days a week. They are serving well over 2,500 meals per week. Let me repeat that, 2,500 meals are served PER WEEK! They say 180 POUNDS OF GREEN BEANS CAN BE SERVED IN A SINGLE DAY! The Franciscan Kitchen has a van driven by caring souls to salvage food each day from local businesses in our community like Whole Foods, Longhorn, some Papa John’s, some KFCs, a few Krogers, etc. Kentucky Harvest helps the Franciscan Kitchen find places with unused food around the city each day. Their van then sets out early the morning to collect the available food. The need for our community to not be wasteful is of vast importance. I urge you to read this article https://www.louisville.com/content/food-waste-donation-franciscan-kitchen-dare-care

On a personal note, those giant boxes were set up, I never dreamed they would overflow like they did. It is truly exceptional how this community steps up for those in need. Being friends with kind and giving people like you all is an honor.

Thank you for the generosity this year. Your efforts allowed Fern Creek CrossFit to give over 88 pounds of rice, over 65 pounds of beans, over 60 pounds of green beans, over 45 pounds of oats, 35 plus jars of spaghetti sauce, oils, spices, and more.

I’d like to thank Coach John for his time. On Wednesday of last week, during the power outage, we met at the gym and he helped load can after can, box after box. We then drove downtown to drop off the donations. When we arrived at the Franciscan Kitchen they asked if we needed a service cart for the donations? We said yes and instantly filled that cart. A kind gentlemen said he better get another. Within minutes it became apparent we needed another. He laughed and said he better get the industrial cart this time! The next thing I knew, we had several volunteers slinging 15 lbs. bags of rice over their shoulders, the industrial cart was already loaded, and a fourth cart was ready as well. They were all seemily surprised what one little CrossFit gym out of Fern Creek had done. I shared with the man who brought the first cart out that many people made this possible. It was a moving moment. 

That moment was because every single one of you. 

“As you grown older, you will discover that you have two hands – one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”

Lastly, thank you to those who brought cans in that we never recognized. Thank you to those who contributed to their kid’s canned food drives and couldn’t contribute to this one. Thank you to those who are saving for Toys for Tots. Thank you to those who are saving to make Christmas magical for their loved ones. Thank you to those who have to save to support their CrossFit habit. We see you all. You never owe anyone any explanation for how you spend your money or how you choose to donate it.

We are simply thankful you are here. End of discussion.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. – The Fern Creek CrossFit Coaching Staff.

*After the holidays pass, we are planning a volunteer day with the Franciscan Kitchen where some folks would be kitchen volunteers and some would be food servers. This will take place the last Saturday of January or February.  Those two possible dates will be, Saturday, January 25th or Saturday, February 29th. As soon as we have confimation, we will keep you informed.

Kipping It Real

Kipping it Real: Open Edition

Hi guys! Thanks for visiting Kipping it Real with Coach Meg! Guess what? It’s the most wonderful time of year because…

THE OPEN IS HERE! THE OPEN IS HERE! THE OPEN IS HEREEEEEEEEEE!

The bad news? You’re probably not going to the CrossFit Games. Sorry to be Debbie Downer, however, the Open gives you a chance to assess your fitness after five challenging workouts. It gives you a solid blueprint of what areas need work! The Open is designed to test your limits, leave you exhausted, bring us all closer together, and should definitely leave you feeling accomplished. If it doesn’t you are being too hard on yourself!

The coaching staff and myself wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Open! There is always a bit of magic when it comes to the Open and with a community like this, it usually comes when you step back and watch the people surrounding you. That is what it is all about! You will see personal records being set, limits being stretched further than ever thought possible, a strong show of support for one another, and unbreakable bonds being formed.

Magic, I tell ya! Enjoy every second.

Reminders!

Canned Food Drive

The canned food drive is currently taking place and will go through Friday, October 25th! That is only 2 weeks from today.

We need all the help we can get! Please bring in any nonperishable items you can spare.

Any and all donations are greatly appreciated as all donations will go to the Franciscan Kitchen here in Louisville.

Burgener Strength Weightlifting Seminar

The Burgener Strength Weightlifting Seminar will take place at Fern Creek CrossFit on Saturday, November 9th and Sunday, November 10th.

Christmas Party

The Christmas Party is set for December 7th, 2019. Save that date!

Lastly, thank you all for making this community what it is… something so very special. Feel free to send me any great moments you capture of the Open!

Go do a random act of kindness and check back soon for another edition of Kipping it Real with Coach Meg!