Satisfying That Sweet Tooth and Muscle-ups!

Notice!!!! For those of you that are going for a Muscle-up PR, tomorrow is the scheduled day to go for it. But, as was posted, tomorrow was only a "on or about" day for it; So I would say that between today and next Monday you grab one of the trainers at the gym and get that PR! If you were wondering if there was a time that everybody would get together for it, there isn't. So good luck to getting a PR and if you are in the gym when someone else is going for it, make sure to cheer them on! Also, stay posted for another personal/gym record challenge in another month or two. What? Hmmmm......? People sure have been developing well in their Double-Unders lately:) Check the white board next week to see what it will be! And just to keep us humble and motivated, click on the link below to see the most strict muscle-up ever; it's quite impressive!

Strictest Muscle-up ever!

YUCK!

Well it's been a great beginning of the week back in the gym at CrossFit Spokane. After asking many of our clients about how they feel after the competition on Saturday, we are pleased to find out that the majority of you were not more than "just a little sore". This is a true testament to your training; you all performed amazingly well at multiple, random WODs and recovered in the same manner. Regardless of how you personally felt you did, trust us, you should be very proud of what you went through...that was some intense stress on your body in only a few short hours. I hope that you spent the rest of the weekend pampering yourself and relaxing.

Speaking of pampering yourself, those of you that have made that wonderful decision to better improve your health and start eating "in the Zone", have undoubtedly been in that position when your sweet tooth attacks. Crud, the worst thing to happen to a "Zoner" who is trying to get rid of those bad sugars and carbohydrates. It always seems as though any sweet treats tend to have lots of sugar, lots of flour, and call out to you like a luring siren. So what on earth are we to do?! I would refrain from a lifetime of not allowing yourself simple pleasures. This usually is the downfall to most diet plans because it seems to make it harder and harder to resist until you break down completely and go, what I like to call, "Kitchen Krazy". What we need to do is find healthier, appropriate substitutes when these situations arise.

I am lucky. I naturally just don't have that big of a sweet tooth. It isn't enticing for me as I stand in the checkout lane at the supermarket while being flanked on both sides by candy bars, sour candies and all of that other fat building, health destroying, teeth decaying junk. YUCK! But every now and then that sweet tooth comes a knocking. So I would like to share with you a recipe that I make from time to time that fits better with our CrossFit lifestyle.

These Peanut Butter Bars are extremely quick and easy to make, not to mention very delicious! I got the main recipe online somewhere and took some things out to make it suited more for people like us. As for the Zone blocks, I'm sure you can tell from looking at the ingredients that there are a lot of fat blocks. But, if you get a total from everything that you put into it, carefully divide that by how many squares you cut it into and make sure to not go wild and eat half of the tray (they are tasty ) these can make for a nice little sweet tooth satisfier. Roughly, what I have found (using my glass baking tray, reduced fat peanut butter, and cutting it into 2 inch x 2 inch squares) is that each square comes out to be about 3 Fat Blocks. Keeping with cutting these small amounts, the Protien and Carbohydrate balance isn't too significantly off, but it roughly comes out to an equal balance where both are a little less than 1 block. Depending on how exact you are, the size you cut it into and your baking dish, yours might vary a little. Play around with the amounts to fit your taste buds and enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 Cup Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Honey (which is actually low-glycemic)
1 Cup crushed Pecans (the finer the better/more balanced. Costco has great bags of them)
About 1 Cup of Old Fashion Oats (these and Irish Oats are Zone favorable in moderation. DON'T USE INSTANT OATMEAL!)

Preheat oven to 325. Mix all ingredients very well in a smaller dish (around 8" x 8" or so). I like to line my baking dish with wax paper so it doesn't stick. Evenly spread it out and bake for about 11 minutes.

Make sure to be checking on it every few minutes. It is very easy to OVERCOOK this!!!! You want it to still be soft. If you overcook it even a little bit, it will taste slightly burnt and be really crumbly. When done, slice it into desired squares and then put it in the fridge to cool and harden for a few hours. When you do re-cut and take the squares out, be careful to not break them all up seeing as how they will still be somewhat soft.

Well, that's all for now from Brandon's Kitchen; try them out and let me know what you think. Like I said, they are high in fat, but in moderation they are a way healthier alternative to the crap they try to sell you at the store...especially with Valentine's Day coming up!