I have removed this post. It served its purpose and the parties involved are no longer remotely relevant.

Stop saying sweet potatoes are more nutritious than white potatoes!

I get tired of seeing the Paleo community go

“Oh sweet potatoes brah like they are way better than white potatoes, like grok man he only ate sweet potatoes and white potatoes are just the devil! Like uh I saw that they have more of them nutrient things and are healthier for you and just better, sweet potato with butter, sweet potato with cinnamon, sweet potato sweet potato sweet potato!”

I do not care for the taste of sweet potatoes at all, nor do I care for people making claims that have zero basis in reality. Yes, white potatoes are nightshades and a small portion of the population has negative reactions to nightshades... I suspect somewhere, somewhen an individual that had a legitimate nightshade issue found that when they switched to sweet potatoes from white potatoes they had some of their health issues vanish and then someone else saw it and was like "oh man sweet potatoes!" and then another and another and another... and this white potatoes developed a stigma.

The Paleo community is starting to come around to white potatoes with more and more people being adventurous and returning to them, finding they don't have issue with them as they suspected. Still, at least once a week I see someone on a forum or Reddit or a blog demonize white potatoes with comments like "sweet potatoes are more nutritious!" well... why don't we actually take a look at the numbers, because... you know... SCIENCE.

	Sweet Potatoes 200g	White Potatoes 200g
kcals	160	281
fat	0g	0g
cholesterol	0mg	0mg
carbohydrates	41g	64g
dietary fiber	7g	6g
sugars	13g	4g
protein	4g	6g
Vitamin A	38433IU	29.9IU
Vitamin C	39.2mg	37.7mg
Vitamin D	-	-
Vitamin E	1.4mg	0.1mg
Vitamin K	4.6mcg	8.1mcg
Thiamin	0.2mg	.01mg
Riboflavin	0.2mg	0.1mg
Niacin	3mg	4.6mg
Vitamin B6	0.6mg	0.6mg
Folate	12mcg	114mcg
Vitamin B12	-	-
Pantothenic Acid	1.8mg	1.1mg
Choline	26.2mg	43.1mg
Betaine	69.2mg	0.6mg
Calcium	76mg	29.9mg
Iron	1.4mg	1.9mg
Magnesium	54mg	80.7mg
Phosphorous	108mg	224mg
Potassium	950mg	1626mg
Sodium	72mg	20.39mg
Zinc	0.6mg	1mg
Copper	0.3mg	0.4mg
Manganese	1mg	0.6mg
Selenium	0.4mcg	1.5mcg
Fluoride	-

Wait, what? I thought sweet potatoes were so much more nutritious than white potatoes?!?! You're telling me the only thing sweet potatoes has over white potatoes is considerably more vitamin A but white potatoes have more of several other minerals/nutrients/vitamins. Fancy that. Now stop saying sweet potatoes are more nutritious.

Guide: how to identify a one who squats

CrossFit: in which I attempt Annie

Today's WOD was Annie...

Annie
50-40-30-20-10
Double Under’s

Sit-ups

(Advanced: GHD sit-ups)

Well, I can't do double unders so I subbed 3x the number in single's... my previous consecutive record of rope jumps was FOUR, tonight I hammered out the first 37 without a fumble, go me! Sadly it was down hill from there but hey that's ok, I'd only jumped rope for the first time EVER 2 Mondays ago!!!

It took be about 8 minutes to knock out that first 150 single unders, the most I've ever done by a factor of almost FOUR. I then paused momentarily to catch some of my breath and hit the mat for the sit-ups. I could do 2-3 sit-ups at a time before I'd have to stop to catch my wind, I mean I'm still over 300lbs and sitting up takes a LOT of effort for me still. By the time most of the folks were DONE with Annie I was still in my 40's on the FIRST round of sit-ups, coach walks over on my 49th time up and asks me how many left "huw huw huwon left fo fo for firrssssssttt round" and I go right back down on the mat and rocket back up, he squats low to give me a high five and tells me he's proud of me. Hell, I'm proud of me too... when I read the WOD on the site this morning I was like "feck, I can't do that, their bleeding mad!" and was 100% convinced I wouldn't even get 10 single unders done. Wow, I did 150 single unders and 50 sit ups. It's something, and in my opinion a damn good attempt. I look forward to the next time Annie comes around, I can't wait to see how much better I do!

I did buy a Valeo Deluxe Speed Rope 2 weeks ago but haven't even adjusted it yet, that 150 I did tonight is all the motivation I need to get that thing sized and start using it on days I don't go to the box for a WOD. Now, time to ice and roll my shins! Catch you guys next time.

CrossFit: The Filthy Fifty (Trying Twenty-Five)

Well today's WOD at CrossFit 317 was The Filthy Fifty

Filthy Fifty

For time:
50 Box jump (24/20)
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings (35/24)
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press (45/35)
50 Back extensions
50 Wall balls (20/14)
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Coach Ashley was on top of it and scaled me down to 25, so I'm calling it Trying Twenty-Five! The only substitution I had to make (aside from halving it) was the knees to elbows in which I did v-ups (on already sore abs from the 45 v-ups during Wednesday's WOD where I'd substituted them for toes to bar). With those substitutions in mind I think I did pretty well, we were limited to 40 minutes and I managed to do 203 of the 250, given another 7-10 minutes I could have finished, I was running out of steam but I only had 22 burpees and 25 double unders (although I would have done singles, I can barely do singles, doubles are still beneath me but I did buy a rope and plan to start dedicating 5-10 minutes to singles Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays/Sundays, the days I don't do a WOD currently, till I've got them down well, right now I think my record in a row is 3 or 4).

• Box Jumps: powered through, 3/4 of the class finished their 50 before I did my 25, a lot of that was demounting the box... my brain was like "you want me to do whaaaaat?" when I'd go to step backwards off to get ready to reset. By the end I was no longer hesitating though, I had a similar issue with ring rows at first.
• Jumping pull-ups: actually not that bad and I had the added benefit of being sandwiched between two of the fairer sex doing theirs on either side of me, felt a bit liked a maddened tinpot dictator with his loyal (and deadly) female honor guard, Gaddafi's Amazonian Guard has (had I suppose) NOTHING on the girls of CrossFit 317!
• Kettlebell swings: I'm no stranger to these, those of you that know me know I've a 1 and 2 pood here at the house, I powered through them as fast as my lungs and heart allowed. I was doing 50 a day with a 2-pood earlier this year while I'd watch tv every evening over the course of a few hours.
• Walking lunge: lunges and world's greatest absolutely kill my heart and lungs, these took a few minutes to get done and at my weight I don't get anywhere near as low as anyone else, I'd get 7-8 in and have to stop for several seconds. My balance was also getting pretty sloppy at the end and aborted several attempts.
• Knees to elbows: here I did v-ups, I was already quite sore from 45 of these on Wednesday as I learned after sneezing at work today. The first two weren't very fun but after that I honestly didn't notice any pain or tenderness, I did have to stop every 3-4 though for an equal length breather.
• Push press: not too bad other than the fact I was pretty breathing quite hard by this point (and was winded the rest of the WOD and for a good 15 minutes after the 40 minutes was up). I made it through the first 20 in about a minute and a half and needed a drink bad at this point, had my drink and another 45 seconds or so of a breather then one of the previously mentioned fierce women locked eyes and gave me a good "come on just 10 more!" I sloppily shook my head and mouth 5 more while holding up fingers "come on then just 5 more" that was enough motivation, picked that bar back up, got into position and hammered those out.
• Back extensions: I zombie shuffled to the other room and 3 people were doing back extensions already so I moved on to wall balls and came back after I'd finished them, I was the last person to do my back extensions. Managed to squeeze my long and thick legs in, get my hips set, go down for the first and one of the many voices in my brain sounds the klaxon "warning, warning, warning, attention arms and legs body is staring to list to bow, capsize imminent warning warning warning" but the coach was still in the room so I tried to shut the voice up and did a few, she left and I shot up like a rocket to get the internal klaxon to shut off. The next 7 or 8 were similar, once I had those done though my brain was finally listening to me "oh, ok, we aren't going to fall forward and die, ok, very well then". Got to 22, had to stop for a good 30-45 seconds and then struggled through the last 3.
• Wall balls: wall balls aren't my friend, while I have one of the deepest squats in the gym (all 3 coaches have complimented it, see working on electronics on the floor and not wanting to sit down WAS exercise people, holding those very deep squats has paid off) it's the coming out of it part that really taxes the heart and lungs... I can get the ball up fine (usually have to dial it down or I send it too far up and can stop and make tea while I wait for it to return from an attempt to become the next artificial satellite around our planet) but I can do 3-5 before I have to stop and start embracing the void to slow my heart rate and lungs, hey an archery skill comes in handy here... see sometimes holding that string back for minutes before loosing an arrow wasn't me being weird it was a mental exercise that pays off a lot, this is just one avenue it's helpful. It took me probably five minutes to get through the 25.
• Burpees: I got to these after back extensions, the last 3 back extensions had the heart and lungs going hard enough I was a wet noodle trying to stand up, it was 2 minutes easy before I even got up and another 45 seconds before I got to the first burpee, at this point I had 1 minute left on the clock, I did the first one and shot up, got down for the second one and started to melt into the floor, 15 seconds left and I shoot up and right back down, 1 second left and with a groan not unlike the Titanic striking that iceberg (or torpedo, the verdict is still out) I pushed myself up to one knee then stood up, time over, jumped and finished that 3rd burpee.
• Double unders: unfortunately I never got around to these, which is probably a good thing... I felt pukey getting ready to make an apperance after that 3rd burpee and if he didn't before I finished them he certainly would have before I finished 25 singles with the rope.

Well, there you have it. A 300+ pound man's attempt at the Filthy Fifty, or as I would put it the Trying Twenty-Five. This ends my first month of CrossFit, it's certainly been an exhausting (and frustraing sometimes) experience but I paid for my 2nd month yesterday. I like it, it's tough but the coaches over at CrossFit 317 are great and so are the members. I doubt I'll ever remember a fraction of the names but the regular faces I see are already feeling like comrades in arms, family forged in the firey bowels of the psychological & physical battle that is CrossFit.

CrossFit: I defeated another (modified) WOD

Well today was brutal, but I finished the WOD in 15:55 (although modified)

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

Toes 2 Bar

Box Jump Overs (24/20)
Kettlebell Swings (70/53)

I did v-ups instead of toes to bar and instead of jumping to a 24" box I stepped up and down from it... I'm 307lbs jumping that high just isn't happening. It felt great to finish and I know my shins are going to hate me in the morning (the right one already does) but that's ok. Once I shower and eat, going to numb them a bit with a cold pack and then foam roll before bed, I'll roll again after work tomorrow so they are good to go Friday evening for my next WOD.

CrossFit: first hero, "DT"

Well, it's my 4th week (10th time) and we did "DT" today. Mind you, the just stretching gets my heart pounding pretty good...

So DT is supposed to be

Five rounds for time of:
155 pound Deadlift, 12 reps
155 pound Hang power clean, 9 reps
155 pound Push jerk, 6 reps

In honor of USAF SSgt Timothy P. Davis, 28, who was killed on Feburary, 20 2009 supporting operations in OEF when his vehicle was struck by an IED. Timothy is survived by his wife Megan and one-year old son T.J.

I managed to do 35# at 25 minutes and change. A hell of a lot better than I thought I'd do and I finished, in fact that's the first WOD I've finished so far, and a hero at that! Not bad Ryan, not bad.

Hands down my best day so far but I'm already feeling it 30 minutes after finishing. Tomorrow should be wonderful, ha! Time for a quick shower and dinner, some tv then hit the rack.

CrossFit and ExOfficio Men's GiveNGo Boxer Brief

So Friday I gave the ExOfficio Men's GiveNGo Boxer Briefs a go... I liked the way they fit a bit better than the Adidas Men's Sport Performance Flex 360 Boxer's but I liked the Adidas fabric a little bit better. Either way they are both quite comfortable for CrossFit and weren't constricting like my normal hanes boxers (and didn't rip).

Aside from that Friday the WOD was:

5 Rounds
Every 2 Minutes Complete
200m Run
Then
AMRAP SA DB Snatch (55/35)
Rest 1 Minute

Score = total reps of DB Snatch

Well, the coach (and I silently) decided I just wasn't up to that yet (hell, the warmup of 5 rounds of: 5 Ring Rows and 1 min hollow rock was enough to leave me miserable) so I just burnt my quads and arms up furiously pedalling, pushing and pulling while everyone else did the WOD... did a few miles and was out of commission for a good 20 minutes after that. It was brutal but I gave it all I could. One day at a time, gotta keep building my heart and lungs up while I drop weight so I can start scaling the WOD every time. I love the folks over at CrossFit 317 I really couldn't do it without the coaches and members motvation.

CrossFit tonight... Ryan sad.

Well, tonight was a disaster for me. The WOD was hand-stand push-ups, pistols, pull-ups. Even scaling I never even made it to pull-ups via rings. I had to do hand-stand push-ups from my knees, at 307lbs even those were very difficult... 5 done in 45 seconds or so. At 307lbs I was doing pistols via a band, went down onto it... not enough resistance "hello floor, butt calling"... so I admit defeat and walk to the coach, he gets a box... box is too low, I can't do it... we stand the box on one end ok I only have to get down 3 inches. In the allotted time for the WOD I managed to do ONE to the box without falling on my other leg or falling onto the box. ONE... even then my shins were screaming at me (and are absurdly tender to the touch now in a 2 inch diameter area... seriously, I've been kicked in the shins without shin-guards in soccer and they weren't this tender). My hands never even touched a ring for a pull up tonight.

Frustrating and humiliating (I don't care what others thought, if I was the only one in the room I still would have been humiliated) don't begin to describe how I felt. I know, I know it'll get easier... I'll lose weight and strengthen/add muscle... that doesn't change the fact I let myself get this heavy and this out of shape. Yeah, the stuff is hard but even SCALED I can barely do it. It's just pathetic. I'll keep going back, not only will I do them scaled but I will do them unassisted but that doesn't change the fact I'm frustrated, sad and just downright disappointed in myself. Tonight was very humbling, but I can't dwell on my failure only look forward to my success in the future.

Now, on to underwear... I wore the Adidas Men's Sport Performance Flex 360 Boxer's tonight and while at first they felt odd and were uncomfortable (I've NEVER won boxer briefs) by the time I drove to the box they actually were feeling great. I wish there was a bit more extra fabric in the crotch but aside from that I'm very very satisfied with them, they survived tonight. Friday I'll give the ExOfficio Men's GiveNGo Boxer Brief a shot as I bought them too. Try out a pair if you are unsatisfied with your current underwear for CrossFit or any other athletic activity.