Iron & Grit Blog

“To Be American Is to drink. To be American is to worry about drinking.” Elva Ramirez When our Dietician Caitlin and I started talking in 2020 about how to best help people during the pandemic shutdown we decided gut health had to be at the center of the conversation. The goal at the time was to keep people engaged during an incredibly difficult and uncertain time.  We decided on an old challenge I had already created in 2012 that had 8 basic daily tasks. However, unlike the old days of CrossFit Paleo challenges, this one only asked for the elimination of 2 foods: alcohol and added sugar. At the time, appropriately so, we wanted to help people with their immune system, thus we had to start with the microbiome health of the gut. In other words, while the rest of America was drinking their way through the pandemic, we were...
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Beth found CrossFit in 2011 at the encouragement of her brother to keep fit and challenge herself. She was rather bored with her old gym routine and her brother had discovered this somewhat obscure workout regimen he was doing with friends in his garage. Luckily for Beth, CrossFit Craic had opened in her hometown of Dedham, and she decided to give it a try. Since 2011 Beth has been doing the CrossFit OPEN to test her CrossFit skills and challenge herself. However, over the past 2 years Beth has done something many of us only dream of doing; Beth has snagged a spot in the CrossFit Quarter Finals. She is among the top 10% of women across the world in the 55-59 age category to be invited to participate. Quite an accomplishment for anyone but indeed a spectacular feat considering Beth has never considered herself athletic! Perhaps this is Beth’s...
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“Lack of sleep is like a broken water pipe in your home. It will leak down into every nook and cranny of your physiology.” —Matthew Walker Our health is determined by our physiology which is tied to our evolution as a human species. We cannot detach this part of our being even in today’s modern society with all the cures and elixirs that promise to “fix” our alignments. SLEEP is so fundamental to our existence and yet, it is the most overlooked aspect of our health. Forty years ago, the average American slept an extra 2 hours each night. The average American today sleeps 6 hours a night. This missing 2 hours is wrecking more havoc in our lives than most people understand. The research shows that this missing 2 hours is affecting us at the macro level, you may experience this as depression, poor decision making and binge eating. But...
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SELF CARE is an everyday challenge for most of us. We are busy with work, children, careers and finding time to take care of ourselves is the last thing on our to-do list. Working out and eating healthy doesn’t have to be a rollercoaster ride. WE created a program to help our members have a balanced day with 8 daily habits. It can be as simple as sipping water or herbal tea upon waking, walking 10 minutes after lunch to help your digestive system or going to bed 30 minutes earlier. The big picture is to help you build healthy habits that become a part of your daily behavior. We recommend starting with a meal plan that is hassle free and helps you get your daily nutrition needs met. This can be hard for most people without some kind of planning or guide. Below is a Daily Nutrition plan put...
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Visceral fat is the fat surrounding our organs. It is not easily visible, however your visceral fat number is a high indicator of your current health. More importantly, it gives us a great snap shot of a persons health as they age. A high number over time will cause major damage to our metabolic systems and health. Because visceral fat is hidden internally it can be difficult to know how much you have and if you need to concern yourself with this type of fat. We think this number is so important we provide our members with a free InBody Analysis once a year. You cannot make informed goals and decisions about your health without information about your basic health markers. While we are not doctors, we can help you understand the importance of daily exercise, eating healthy, the value of sleep hygiene, hydration and whether it’s time to pay...
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