Mt. Baker CrossFit

They are the three letters you love to hate. By love, we mean, you love the heart, sweat and tears it takes to push oneself during the Workout of the Day (WOD), and by hate, we really mean love again because even though we know it will be a workout that challenges our bodies and minds, when it is all over the feeling of completion, exhaustion, determination and will power we put into it, will leave us with nothing less then one little smile and a whole lot of PRIDE.

The WOD can be as simple as two exercises,

Pullups and wall ball...maybe even as short as 10 minutes,

But no matter the pain we may feel, the effort it may take,

one thing is always the same...

the accomplishment we get at the end of a W.O.D

I am often invited to various No line waiting for veggies and cheese!

health/wellness fairs. A few weeks ago I was invited to attend a wellness fair for a local large corporation. Many vendors attended. Insurance companies, a chiropractor, a nutritionist, an employee's benefit company and many others. Skagit Vally Hospital had a very nice display and they were providing health screenings to include body fat, hydration and BMI testing.

To my surprise one of the vendors at a health and wellness fair was a 'fruit smoothie' company, Jamba Juice. Yes, I was surprised. However, for those who have never read the nutritional facts, it was no surprise. Pictured above on the left is the table of Jamba Juice samples. This table was the most popular attraction. Most of the day there was a waiting line of attendees waiting for their sample of "the world's freshest, most fruit-filling experience'. (as written in the JJ brochure) The image presented by JJ is that of a healthy product. After all, it's just fruit! Fruit is healthy, right?

Let's look inside the brochure. More 'marketing'. "At Jamba Juice we're 100% committed to you, your health and happiness." There is a lot more 'marketing' but I want to get to the truth. (or more non-truth) On the second page of the multi-folded brochure they begin to list their 'All Fruit' drinks. The brochure also reads, 'No sugar added.' (the latest 'hype phrase' on many products) The first drink listed is a "Strawberry Whirl" with 3.5 fruit servings. Hmmmmm....they do not define a SERVING. What is a serving?

Now, I look to the nutritional facts. The Strawberry Whirl (and most of their drinks) come in two to three sizes. Twelve (12oz.), Sixteen (16oz.), Original (24oz) and Power (32oz). The Strawberry Whirl Twelve has 59g of carbs (SUGAR), the Original size has 85g and the Power size has 103g! What does that mean?

Are you ready...the Twelve has the equivalent of 14.75 teaspoons of sugar; the Original has the equivalent of 21.25 teaspoons of sugar and the Power size has the equivalent of 25.75 teaspoon of sugar! It gets far worse...their 'Strawberry Surf Rider' Power size has 149g or 37 teaspoons of sugar!!!!

One cup of strawberries (approximately 6-7 large strawberries) equals 9g of carbohydrates. How many strawberries do they squish to make a serving???? This is NUTS!!!!

Jamba Juice is more than aware that they average american is addicted to sugar. They also realize that the average american is NOT aware that sugar and carbs are what is making us FAT!!!!

Starbucks and Jack in the Box are also learning from the success of Jamba Juice. Last year Starbucks introduced their new smothie called 'Vivanno' and were handing out samples for the month to give us that free dose of sugar so we would want more (in an effort to increase the profits they lost on coffee due to the economy and competition from McDonald's coffee). The Vivanno has 44-47g of carbs or the equivalent of 11-11.75 teaspoons of sugar.
Jack in the Box is in the middle of their multi-million dollar advertising campaign to introduce their new 'smoothie'. (TV ads with a 'menopausal woman' who gets 'relief' from her hot-flashes with the new smoothie. In case you can figure it out the target market is women. And when you pull up to the drive-up window with a van filled with kids, they will be screaming for their dose of junk as well) Their smoothies have between 108-114g of carbs!!! 27-28.5 TEASPOONS OF SUGAR!!!!

I love smoothies....I am addicted to sugar...but since I began reading nutritional information, and after learning from CrossFit and Dr. Sears (www.zonediet.com) and the truth about what is making us fat and unhealthy, I stopped drinking them. I sat next to those samples for 4 hours. Yes, I was tempted, but I kept repeating to myself POISON,POISON,POISON! I did not give in to my temptations. I love VICTORY and being at my high school body weight!!

You can do the same thing. Stop buying them. Change the paradigm... give your children a healthy chance and stop buying them for your kids.
PLEASE!!!

Oh yeah, the above picture on the right....that was a table with veggies and cheese....no body there....no line! What the heck is goning on...when will we change? When will we learn? YOU start today!

Cool trailer of a new documentary called FOOD, Inc.