Here I will outline the basics for a clean and healthy diet and what we stand for here at California Strength for nutrition. The majority of Americans need to make proper food choices first before doing anything else.
First we will start with what NOT to eat.

1. Cut out all regular sodas and processed fruit juice.

2. Get rid of processed carbohydrates. This means cutting out most breakfast cereals, white bread, potato chips, candy, and store bought pastries and cookies.
3. Cut out foods high in saturated fat and fried foods. Your body does not need the extra saturated fat.

Next we will outline what to eat.

1. Eat whole foods as often as possible

2. Eat moderate to small meals every 2-3 hours.

3. Eat some lean protein, fat, and unprocessed fibrous carbohydrate at every meal

4. Eat fruits or vegetables with each meal (as fresh as possible).

5. The bulk (size wise) of your food intake should come from fruits and vegetables.

6. Ensure that 20-30% of your energy intake comes from “liquid fat,” with your fat intake primarily coming from unsaturated (ie. flax oil, fish oil, olive oil, raw nuts).

7. Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choice being water and teas.

8. Drink alcohol in moderation.

What about calories, amounts of fat, protein, carbohydrates, nutrient timing? For most people following these guidelines at least 90% of the time will be all they will ever need. If you are not near 90% then work your way there. Find friends that will do it with you.

IF YOU WANT IT, HAVE IT. “Never say never” to foods you love but that are not in your best interest to eat. There is nothing worse for a person’s health or diet than a built up urge to splurge. There are two main roads one can travel to curb binge eating. The first is to have a little bit everyday. For example my big sweet tooth is chocolate, so I always have a small amount of high quality chocolate around and allow myself one small piece a day. It works very well for me that way. Another is to allow yourself one meal a week where you can enjoy whatever you want. In fact even invite your other friends over that are attempting to eat better and do it together! This “ritual” will become something you look foward to and your friends will too, plus for the rest of the week everyone can hold each other on track. The trick is to find which one of these two works for you.

DON’T LET THE TOUGH TIMES GET YOU DOWN. Everyone’s healthy eating efforts get sidetracked from time to time. The trick is to keep a positive attitude and curb the unhealthy eating as quickly as possible. My trick is to keep a couple of motivational documents around to read in times of need.

That is it! Keep it simple, eat well, exercise hard, and live life to its fullest. Why not?

I am finding more and more that strength alone is not enough to succeed in Olympic Weightlifting.  It requires both a strong body and a strong mind.  As Earl of Chesterfield said, “Prepare yourself for the world, as athletes do for their exercise; oil your mind and your manners, to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility, strength alone will not do”.  Technique and athleticism are essential for Olympic Weightlifting more than any other sport.  Mentally preparing oneself and understanding the sport of weightlifting is just as key as developing strength.

I may never fully understand the snatch nor the clean and jerk in the way needed for me to perform perfectly, but if I learn and train hard, it is possible for me to achieve perfection to the best of my ability.

The more that I am coached, and the more that I coach other young lifters, I discover more and more pieces to the lifting puzzle.  One of the biggest pieces to the puzzle I have found, is removing all self doubt.  Mentally committing and having confidence to lift any weight is a huge factor in determining my success as a weightlifter.

In my opinion, the strongest of men could try to snatch or clean and jerk and they would fail by relying on strength alone.   However, an Olympic Weightlifter can transition into any sport because they not only have strength, but they have prepared their minds and body for the world of athletics.  They know how to train hard, even past what is required; they know how to be tough and flexible; they know how to be lightening fast, agile, and tight.  Olympic Weightlifting is not just fun and games, it transforms players into individual athletes, pushing them to their highest potential.

As an Olympic Weightlifter, I am strong both physically and mentally.  This sport has made me a true athlete, and a better person.

My name is Jon North and I am a robot.  I cannot lie to the public anymore about being human because I am not, I am a weightlifting robot.  I wake up in the morning and I eat kilo’s for breakfast, and the red ones are my favorite.  I love mixing my red kilo’s with tasty white cloudy chalk and a nice cold bar to top off my meal.  Now my meal is over its time to train, no words just a cold hard look from the one and only Donnie Shankle that says “its war time”.  I thank my maker for giving me a good robot heart because without it I would fall hard as Donnie would continue on his journey through the land of weightlifting without me.  That will never happen because I am a strong robot with a good robot heart.  I grab my shield and sword and begin to fight side by side with Donnie until there are no more kilo’s left to kill.  I wipe the red blood off my sword and tell Donnie good training.  My bold bright and proud california strength tattoo is moving up and down from my heart beat.  That tattoo gives me pride, for califronia strength is my maker.

-Snatch 90% 1 x 5

• -10k 2 x 2

-Clean and jerk 90% 1 x 3

-Snatch High Pulls 2 x 5

-Front Squat Max , -10k 2×2

-100 sit ups

Competition is a fire that burns deep in my gut.  It fuels me to always be the best that I can be.  I thrive on competition.  It motivates me, and instills a hunger within me to perform, and to win.   Olympic weightlifting is the most competitive task I can do in life.  This is because when I lift weights, my biggest, scariest competition is myself.  Once I step onto the platform, I alone am responsible for my actions and my performance.   I have to clear my mind and make my thoughts my friend, not my opponent.  One negative thought can cause my mind to become my own worst enemy on the platform.  I have to be positive and confident when I lift weights.  I have to be aggressive and know no fear.  If I let myself sense my own fear, I am not going under the bar.  I have to believe that I am fearless.  I have to believe that I can lift the weight and set a new personal record.  When I compete, I compete not only to win first place, but I compete with myself to perform better than I ever have.  I compete with myself to give every lift everything I got inside.  I never want to finish knowing that I could have done better.

All of you California Strength lifters about to compete tomorrow, I wish upon you a relentless, competitive drive, fearlessness to get under every lift, a clear mind, personal records, and the best performance you can achieve.

This is Jessica West, and I look forward to working and training with all of you from here on so that we may compete not only with each other, but with ourselves to produce the best lifters that we may be.

Olympic weightlifting is war.  My lifting shoes are my sword, my singlet is my sheild, the bar is my horse, and the platform is my battle field.  I lift to win and nothing else.  Weightlifting is not a hobby.   It is my life.  All I want to be is the best.  Weightlifting is my food, my water, my sleep, my air, and my heart beat.  Sometimes, we are best friends, and sometimes we are not; but we both stay together, hold hands and look towards  the future where a gold medal shines bright and high in front of five coloreful rings.  My name is Jon North and I am a new employee at California Strength.

By Nuwanee Kirihennedige

I don’t know why, but many of us have irresistible relationships with that sweet and rich satisfaction of cacao.

Once you taste it, you can never forget.

There is a reason why it is sometimes called “food of the gods.” After all, many of us are in love with it. Some of us have cravings even. Chocolate is somehow related to happiness most of times.

Chocolate, especially the darker kinds, has gained a good reputation regarding their antioxidants and flavonoids contents. The positive effects of antioxidants are world known: trapping the free radicals that may damage the cells and tissues, and antioxidants prevent platelet aggregation in arteries. Flavonoids are also found in grapes (red), green tea, many fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids are believed to have disease preventive properties. The darker the chocolate is, the more antioxidants and flavonoids content would be.

Us girls, find ourselves having intense cravings just before that once-in-a-month thing. The study conducted by Bruinsma and Taren on the correlation between Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and magnesium deficiency. It suggested that the magnesium content in chocolate does increase the level of chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is known to responsible for feeling of euphoria and satisfaction. Eating chocolate may satisfy the low level of dopamine at pre-menstrual stage, and the brain remembers it at some degree. Of course, the degree of magnesium deficiency varies from people to people. Some women have no cravings at all.

But as a side note, ladies: I just gave you a perfect scientific alibi. Use it!

One thing that we have to remember, however, is that chocolate has calories (lots of it). So we can’t overdo it.

Chocolates have added fats and sugar. If we simply want the antioxidants and flavonoids, we would be better off getting them from fruits and vegetables with lower calories and with many other nutrients. A lot f us still like chocolate, which is not a bad thing. But we can always enjoy such delicacy in moderation.

Resource:

“For Chocolate Lovers”. ADA’s Public Relations Team, February 14, 2005

http://eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/home_4528_ENU_HTML.htm

“Chocolate Bunnies = a Healthy Heart?” ADA’s Public Relations Team http://eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/home_3978_ENU_HTML.htm

Christiane Abouzeid, “The Lure of Chocolate” Berkeley Scientific. Vol 9 Issue 2, Fall 2005