The problem with being 50 is that you really have seen it all before, with the possible exception of this computer stuff, and space travel, and girls with tattoos (there was none of that when I was 20, I can tell you). Much of what I saw as a youngster I had hoped never to see again.

One thing in particular, from my public school days, was cold showers. God, they were awful. There is something relentlessly piteous and headache-inducing about being forced to stand under an ice-cold stream of water, or for that matter, getting into a bath full of it. Or for that matter running, jumping and scrambling in and out of muddy rivers, ponds and lakes.

It is quite simply, deeply unpleasant, and bloody cold. It knocks the breath out of you like being hit by an express train that stops and reverses back over you.

But the reality was that it did me good. It built my character, and helped me loose weight: it also drove me a tiny bit, er, mad.

Yep you guessed it,  part of this year’s new fitness craze sparked off by Tim Ferriss’ new book the Four Hour Body, good old fashioned abuse is back, but without the prefects to chuck you in and laugh at your shrivelled willy, and with a cool new name: “thermal loading”.

Whoot whoot

There are lots of methods: sitting in cold baths, showers, ice-packs on your neck. Lots of methods are discussed on the  hypothermics.com website.

I hope to have a trainers’ meeting later this week and discuss the possibility of everyone bringing a swimming costume to the session, then getting you all  outside while the trainers throw buckets of water over you. Obviously we would have to charge a bit more due to the costs…..extra buckets, ice insurance.

What do you think?

That said there is a serious side to all this. If your body has to keep itself warm, it uses up all that extra fat you have been storing for a rainy day. Do you need your central heating on all day? Do you get out enough in God’s holy fresh air? (gosh I’m loosing it now)

Anyway, I’d never ask anyone to do something I havn’t done myself. So in the interests of scientific experiment, check out the film: The reality is that its as awful as I remember, but, you get used to it, and you feel great afterwards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oam1rtS-9dU

Chances are, if you passed by a newspaper stand over the last couple of days or perused the news on TV or online, you may have seen headlines like this:

‘Cut down on meat to lose weight’

‘Meat causes weight gain’

‘Sorry Dr Atkins, eating less meat is the way to lose weight…’ (classic Daily Fail…)

And there is CrossFit London promoting a Paleo/Zone diet rich in meat and saying that it will improve your body composition…

Are we wrong?

Probably not.

Dr John Briffa has posted a fairly detailed rebuttal of this research on his blog this morning which I highly suggest you go and read. In short, the study has a number of holes, some more glaring than others. From Dr Briffa:

You are at liberty, of course, to make of this study what you will. I’ll tell you what I make of it though: it’s not worth the paper it’s written on. Actually, worse than that, it appears to be wholly misleading.

His post is worth reading on two counts:

1. It provides a credible view on the science used (misused?) for this research
2. It encourages a useful form of critical thinking and analysis which can (should?) be used to evaluate all research with

Nonsense study being used to claim that meat causes weight gain Dr John Briffa

At Crossfit London UK, we will be looking at lots of diets, and ways of eating over the next few years. We have members who have lost kilos of weight in ways not approved of by official sources, equally we have members who struggle when they stick to official guidelines. Some claim to love dairy, some hate it, some blame all their ills on wheat.. some love it.

But, for example, if you are convinced that diary is the evilest thing ever, read “Dairy Consumption, Obesity, and the Insulin Resistance Syndrome in Young Adults”….opps

The important thing about Crossfit London is this you are the experiment: we need to get you to understand how you react to food. We also need you to understand how government backed associations use the science they claim to rely on. What follows is a press release from the British Dietetic Association

“Sometimes a novel approach to weight loss can be fun and motivating but if it is ineffective in helping you shed the pounds and keeping them off then, it’s a missed opportunity.

So how can you tell the dieting fact from the fiction?

Here are the BDA’s top tips to help you to spot a weight loss con!

You can tell it’s a con when:

It promises a magic bullet to solve your weight problem without having to change your lifestyle in any way.
It promises rapid weight loss of more than 2lbs of body fat a week.
It recommends magical fat-burning effects of foods (such as the grapefruit diet) or hidden ingredients in foods (the coffee diet).
It promotes the avoidance or severe limitation of an entire food group, such as dairy products or a staple food such as wheat (and suggests substituting them for expensive doses of vitamin and mineral supplements).
It promotes eating mainly one type of food (e.g. cabbage soup, Mars bars or eggs) or avoiding all cooked foods ( the raw food diet).
It recommends eating foods only in particular combinations based on your genetic type or blood group.
It suggests being overweight is related to a food allergy or a yeast infection.
It recommends “detoxing” or avoiding foods in certain combinations such as fruit with meals
It offers no supporting evidence apart from a celebrity with a personal success story to tell.
It sounds too good to be true –if so it probably is!
Registered dietitian and spokperson for the British Dietetic Association, Sue Baic says: “No one single approach to weight loss suits everybody. A range of things can be helpful from groups to meal replacements to online resources but you do need to be careful about what you select. It can be useful to be aware of misleading weight loss claims that can lead you into to wasting your time and your money.

“And, don’t be fooled by the fact that many beautiful celebrities are following some of these weird and bizarre regimens. They are blessed with beauty genes, and usually have personal trainers, chefs and stylists rather than nutrition qualifications.”

Registered dietitians are experts in assessing the evidence for successful weight loss strategies and translating this into practical strategies and advice that gives lasting benefit. For advice on weight loss you can trust go to www.bdaweightwise.com”

This is not a bad starting point, although it is becoming interesting to listen to the growing amount of people who claim that getting ride of dairy or wheat makes them feel much better.

That said, the plural of anecdotes is not data

“Registered dietitians hold the only legally-recognisable graduate qualification in nutrition and dietetics. They are experts in interpreting and translating the science of nutrition into practical ways of promoting nutritional well-being, disease treatment and the prevention of nutrition-related problems. Their advice is sound and based on current scientific evidence”.

Phew, thats OK…. but

In fact dietitians readily ( Actually, I think hiding it in a massive text book isnt really “readily”, but,  lets be generous) admit the lack of science that support present recommendations: the 2007 edition of the BDA Manual of Dietetic Practice, page 134, states:
(Section 1.16.8 Evidence based practice) …..In order to be able to access and assess clinical evidence, dietitians must be able to search the literature and have skills in critical appraisal…. They also need to be aware of a major constraint in using an evidence-based approach in dietetics, i.e. the shortage of coherent, consistent scientific evidence for much of dietetic practice.”

What dietitians do regard as ‘evidence-based’ are the national dietary guidelines based on 1991 Department of Health recommendations. However in November 2009 the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition published new proposed calorie guidelines after admitting that the 1991 calculations were flawed and inaccurate.( that means they were “Bollocks” by the way)

As early as 2002 Artemis Simopoulos of the Centre for Genetics, Nutrition and Health said, “there may be no such thing as a ‘normal’ population with respect to nutrient requirements, as was assumed when dietary reference values were established”, and “…populations should not copy each other’s dietary recommendations for the prevention of coronary artery disease, and cancer, or any other disease for that matter”.

In 2006 the US Institute of Medicine President Finebergsaid : “It is not just possible but likely that there are nutrients that affect some population groups differently than others, and public health guidelines will have to take such differences into account…A public health paradigm of universal education is going to have to be adapted to the scientific reality and scientific knowledge as it develops and unfolds”.

in 2007 experts from the European Food Safety Authority advised that food-based dietary guidelines could not be set at the European level, at most at the national level but even then special groups would have to be considered.

This means crossfit London UK is in for a big head scratch! What means what to whom. So……. if you have interesting diet ideas, do get in touch and lets see what you have to share. If you don’t hold “proper” qualifications, it does not take away from the truth. You merely need to state those are your personal views!

By the way, the above is sort of my personal view. Ive got My Reps level 3 weight management qualification, I went to the USA to study the LEARN programme, I spent the worst 4 months of my life delivering the “your shape” experimental diet programme for GLL, I think sometime in the next few years Ill do a nutrition module among my sport science studies…. But, you know what, its just made me confused.

References
Ames, B.N. 2003. The metabolic tune-up: metabolic harmony and disease prevention. Journal of Nutrition 133: 1544S-1548S. (very interesting!!!)
British Dietetic Association, 2007. Manual of Dietetic Practice
Dept. Health. Dietary reference Values for Food Energy and Nutrients for the United Kingdom (DH, 1991)
European Food Safety Authority. 2007. Food based dietary guidelines. Report of the 5th Scientific Colloquium. Available at: www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/ScientificOpinionPublicationReport /EFSAScientificColloquiumReports/efsa_locale-1178620753812_FBDG.htm

SACN, 2009. Draft Energy Requirements Report

http://www.sacn.gov.uk/reports_position_statements/reports/draft_energy_requirements _report_scientific_consultation_-_november_2009.html
Simopoulos, A.P. 2002. Genetic variation and dietary response: nutrigenetics/nutrigenomics. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 11: 117-128.

So it’s now been two months. Wow, time has flown by!

Gary has spent his time with me learning new skills and drills and just lapping them all up; Olympic lifts and gymnastic movements such as handstands and muscle up progressions. For someone of his size he is amazingly deft at kicking up to a hand stand. His warm ups are becoming progressively longer as he includes all the practice drills. I have him doing rubber band assisted pull ups, which again he has already mastered kipping with. He put this to good use recently when completing Barbara for the first time. It was in the third round that the penny dropped and he kipped through the whole twenty reps unbroken. It was a great moment!

We have had Christmas since our last update, a challenging time for diet in particular. Personally I try not worry about the diet and regime, and just enjoy the whole month. My policy is train hard for eleven months so you can relax and enjoy everything on offer. I ended up putting on nine pounds! I was over the moon and insisted everyone should now call me “Big Col”. I lost it all within 24 hours. Still it was nice while it lasted. Gary says Christmas was not too big an issue for him and the weight has been steadily falling off him.

He has talked about how his wife has noticed his “buns”! Nice! His body has started to change shape and he is enjoying this. I would encourage him to note the changes, but it is not the mirror that will truly reflect your personal gains. It’s all about the numbers. How many reps, total weight lifted, fastest time recorded, etc.

Whatever the measurement, record these and always look to improve on them. Some will be easy as he makes quick gains, while others will seem to be negative as he makes the transition from scaled to as required. And speaking of numbers as I write this Gary is about to hit day 50 of the 100 days of the “100 Burpees Challenge”. When he hits day 100 he will have completed 5,050 burpees!

And what of the numbers?

I write this having just returned from helping coach at another great iCourse day, which Gary attended.  I had been singing his praises all morning and he did not let me down. The quality of his handstand was commented on and he achieved his first full handstand press up.  Improving every day.

I will leave you with a quote from a text to me from Gary in response to me stating he has been bitten by the Crossfit bug.

But I could not resist a cheesy before and after shot to bring the numbers to life so take a look below.

Gary in month 3

Bullfrog Burp

how far can you get in 20 minutes 1 deadlift 85 kilos/1 push up, 2 deadlifts/2 push ups, 3 deadlifts/3 pushups  etc

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Nancy

5 rounds for time

over head squat 15 reps (42.5kg) , run 509 meters

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it was sad to wave goodbye to William Wood, but we wish him well on your travels and Becca is off  home for the holidays. Boo Hoo.

Tonights joy was 5 x 5 presses, preceeded by strict pull up practise

more photos on facebook

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10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Sumo deadlift high pull/knees to elbows

visiting Crossfitter Jacob Tsypkin from  Crossfit Monterey, led the 6.30pm session

check out the photos on facebook

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Jan 2006. Me as a BBW. My friend Helen is a Ghost size 8

Crossfit increases your physical prowess across agility, strength, accuracy, balance, clothes shopping… er, what was that last one again?

My name is Kate Pankhurst, and I’m 48. I’ve been an obese child, teenager, young woman and adult. On long cycles, I’ve also been relatively small. The small phases coincided (occasionally) with falling in love, but (more usually) with being in a broken-hearted heap of tears at the exit of some loser boyfriend. I guess that identifies me an emotional eater: Stuffing in the pies while happy, eating nothing at all when miserable. But then it works the other way round for me too, which makes me a confused eater. Either way, for a sedentary magazine designer, I ate too much.

In my time, I’ve grazed through most of the fad diets. I remember wearing cheesecloth tent tops in the 70’s while nibbling through Cambridge Diet choc bars, wearing batwing tents in the 80’s to attend WeightWatchers. The Cabbage Soup diet of the 90’s was so awful, my memory is wiped of fashion.

Needless to say, none of the above worked for long. If I was lucky, I’d go down a dress size and be totally euphoric. Then I’d squeeze every button and seam off the thing, and have to slink back to the shops six months later for my old size. Is there anything more dispiriting for a girl?

One boyfriend declared that he liked stick women with breasts “like two fried eggs on an ironing board” I wonder now, that I didn’t wonder then, what the hell he was doing with a spherical girl built more for comfort than speed! But for better or worse, I took the remarks to heart. Like many big women who’d lost hope of ever changing, I tried to become invisible and gradually disappeared under loose tops and skirts (black of course). I tried to make my huge boobs disappear with M&S “bust minimising” bras. I looked like a Stealth Bomber in lipstick. The boyfriend wasn’t fooled, and he left anyway.

Some time later, I saw a programme on Big Beautiful Women (known as BBW’s) – huge ladies who revel in their voluptuousness, eat with abandon and are worshipped by thin, pale men. It was a revelation! What the hell – I’ve failed miserably as a dieter  – I might as well celebrate my body as it is. Out went the tents and out came the cleavage and high heels. I was 5’3” tall and 15 stone 8lbs. Woo hoo! For me it was a happy time, to have some body confidence, even if my body wasn’t regulation model proportions. Little did I know things were about to change radically.

My 90k deadlift. May 2008

It was summer 2007. Around this time, Andrew started teaching me to swim (as a fat kid, I never learned to swim, rollerskate or ride a bike – too embarrassing). On the way to the pool one day, he asked me what size I was. Straight out, just like that! Hiding my indignation at such a personal question, I confidently replied “ I’m an 18”. Actually I wasn’t so confident – it was a lie. That day I’d bought a size 20 top and loose pants from Evans, the shop of shame once known as Evans Outsizes, which have flowers all over their carrier bags, but no other identifying logo.

Casually, he started talking about Crossfit and the Zone diet. We’d discussed it before, and I found it quite interesting. “If I start doing this Crossfit thing” I said, defending my tenuous allegiance to the BBW movement “I won’t loose my womanliness, will I?”

I got some info on the Zone – and decided it was way too complicated with all the blocks and grams etc. But I did get the message to eat more veg and treat rice and pasta with caution, so I had a vague stab at it. There were less ready meals and jars of sauce in my fridge, and I found myself cooking more.

Victory! Nov 2008

After a month or two, I emailed Andrew. “I seem to have gone down a dress size and gone up a bra cup size. What are you doing to me!” It was true. That day I bought my first ever ever pair of jeans and a belt. Size 18, so no longer a liar. The belt was huge, and I was on the last hole (waist size 44”) , but it didn’t matter. I was wearing jeans! I wore them to work, and there were compliments. I felt fantastic.

Over time, some equipment started arriving at my flat. An 8k kettlebell and some hand weights. My apartment block has 9 floors, so my first workout was being made to do 5 tricep dips in reception, walk up 9 floors, and then do 5 push-ups. I nearly died of exhaustion. Each day I did a bit more: puffing and blowing like a horse, I swung my kettlebell, did thrusters with hand weights, climbed stairs.

2008 went by in a blur of shopping and recycling! It seemed as soon as I got into one size, I was out of it and down to the next. I was either buying stuff in New Look (jeans only £10!) or taking them to charity shops. My jeans belt seem to have more hanging out the front than was going around me, so I got a new one. I lost 3 stone and 3 sizes. The compliments were coming thick and fast from my work colleagues.

I photographed the i-courses and other Crossfit London events, learning as I watched. My tiny flat now had an Olympic bar and plates, along with a pull-up bar and bands. I went up through the kettlebells to a 16k. I went running. I stomped up and down thousands of stairs.

2009 was harder. I suppose the regular weight loss had become addictive, and I was disappointed to be stuck at size 14. Then it was pointed out to me that stabilising your weight is as important as losing it. Think about it – if you never stabilise, you’re in danger of piling the weight back on, and when you reach the so-called “goal weight”, you need to be able to stay there.

Perseverance paid off, and this year I lost another 2 dress sizes. Hang on, what does that mean exactly? Every woman knows that dress sizes vary from shop to shop. Another stick for women to beat themselves – we all want to be a Ghost size 8, not an M&S size 8 (which is bigger). Well I say to hell with it, go to the shop that encourages you to feel good about yourself. I am currently a New Look size 10 (stretchy) jeans, and an M&S size 8 top. But I’m still about 20lbs overweight, hmm, how does that work? If any of the major retailers would like to address this, please enlighten us.

Me nearly doing a box jump. Nov 2009

My mantra for the last couple of years has become

“EAT FROM THE FRIDGE”

This assumes that the fridge is already loaded up with healthy, fresh ingredients: meat, fish, beans, veg, berries, yoghurt, salad, nuts. I avoided the sandwich shop (sandwiches bad, according to the Zone), and has too many other distractions like cakes and chocolate. I bought simple basic foods and cooked them. I made lunchboxes to take to work – I have a little fridge under my desk to keep it all fresh. I discarded ready meals, stopped using jars of cook-in sauce, and ate out or had takeaways only as a rare treat. On the latter, I was suddenly shocked at how salty curries and Chinese food taste. There’s a ton of it in “normal” pre-prepared food, so you’re better off doing it yourself. My life has been taken over by food: thinking, planning, shopping, cooking. Some days, it can be a total pain. But I got used to it, and quite good at it too. Spending a bit more time in the kitchen each evening is worth the half hour of lost sofa time.

I hope this doesn’t sound like one of those stupid (lying) adverts about miracle easy weight loss stories. For me it began easily, and got more difficult, and I’ve still got a long way to go. I’ve discovered through Crossfit that I’m quite strong (I once deadlifted 90k, and am still dining out on the story) but that I’m pretty crap at anything gymnastic. But then Crossfit makes you challenge your weaknesses. My next goal is to be able to do a handstand, a pull-up, an L-sit or two. For a former carb-loading couch potato, how does getting my Crossfit Level 1 sound for a crazy idea!

Oct 2009. Dress by Gap

In two-and-a-half years (I think a sustainable timescale for radical change) I’ve shrunk my waist by 12” and lost a whopping 5 stones in weight. My blood pressure has plummeted from the 150’s to 120/70. I’m faster, fitter, happier – and my buddies are beginning to describe me as “sculpted”.

A quick note to all you BBW’s out there: If you’re happy being big, that’s fine (you are gorgeous, empowered women!) On the other hand, if you suspect you may simply have given up in despair at ever getting slimmer and healthier, then there is something you can do. Give Crossfit and the Zone a try. The Blackboard gym is a welcoming, friendly place, and the workouts are scaled to challenge everyone: big, small and inbetween.

I’ve changed my mind and attitude to my body a few times in my life: from despair to denial to acceptance and finally to reform. This is where I intend to stay.

And despite his protestation, here’s a huge, gushing, love-laden THANK YOU to Andrew. His encouragement and patience is like gold. This man does no less than transform lives.

So go to the “Getting Started” section and sign up now.

I’d love to meet you soon at a Crossfit London UK class.

And just think of all those lovely new clothes that will soon be yours!

Kate xxx

a fantastic handstand class led into the 1st round of helen, that was  interrupted by a 1st aid incident.

helen, 400m, 21 kettlebell  swings 12 pull ups x 3

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