Paleo sweetness for your sweetheart!

FUDGE ESPRESSO BROWNIES {GRAIN FREE, NUT FREE}

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

30 mins

TOTAL TIME

45 mins

Fudge Dark Chocolate Espresso Brownies (Grain free, Gluten Free, Legume Free, and Refined Sugar Free)

Author: Sharon

Serves: 9

INGREDIENTS

For the Brownie

·         6 Tablespoons of Pastured Butter

·         6 ounces of Solid Semisweet Chocolate

·         2 Tablespoons of Packed Coconut Flour (20g)

·         ¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons of Tapioca Flour (45g)

·         1 cup of Sucanat or Palm Sugar (165g)

·         ¼ cup of Strong Hot Coffee

·         ¼ cup of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (30g)

·         2 Eggs

·         ½ teaspoon of Baking Soda

·         ¼ teaspoon of Kosher Salt

·         Extra butter for pan greasing

For the Mocha Frosting

·         ¼ cup of Pastured Butter, melted

·         ¼ cup of Pastured Butter, softened

·         ¼ cup of Strong Hot Coffee

·         ¾ cup of Sucanat or Palm Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

For the Brownie

1.    Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8 baking pan and line with parchment paper.

2.    Ensure eggs are at room temperature. You may run them under warm water for about 10 seconds while shelled.

3.    Gently melt the semisweet chocolate and butter in a double boiler. You may use the microwave at 50% heat at 30 second intervals with intermittent stirring.

4.    Stir in the coffee and unsweetened cocoa powder.

5.    Measure the sugar and coconut flour and add to a food processor. Give a few pulses to make a superfine texture.

6.    Sift together the superfine coconut flour, sugar, tapioca flour, baking soda, and salt.

7.    Beat the eggs and add the dry ingredients. Beat until combined

8.    Add the rest of the wet ingredients and beat until incorporated.

9.    Pour the batter into the lined 8x8 pan.

10.  Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F until a toothpick inserted into the center of the batter comes out clean.

11.  When done, remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes.

For the Mocha Frosting

1.    Measure the sugar and add to the food processor. Give a few pulses to make a superfine texture.

2.    Gently heat the sugar with the ¼ cup of melted butter and coffee until dissolved or mostly dissolved.

3.    Refrigerate the mixture for a few hours. It will look terrible at this stage, but don't despair. It is beneficial, but not necessary, to mix every now and then while cooling.

4.    When the mixture is cold enough, beat in the softened butter 1T at a time on high speed. I find the hand mixer best for this task.

 http://www.paleofondue.com/2013/07/15/fudgy-espresso-brownies-grain-free-nut-free/

Pre and Post Workout!

If you are anything like me, you may find yourself getting overwhelmed by the amount of supplements you "should" and "should not" be taking, as well as feeling broke-broke-broke! I am going to try and make this as easy as possible for you by sharing what I personally use and trust.

Think about this, you spend time, and money on training 2+ days every week, and if you're one of the smart kiddos, you put a lot of effort into your nutrition, which also takes time and money.  But are you fueling your body with what it needs before and after your workout? Are you getting everything you possibly can out of the extreme work you just put your body through? These are important questions for you to ask yourself. If you have paged through you WOD journal to find that you have not made the kind of progress you had hoped for, you may need to add a couple supplements to the mix. If you have less energy before your workout, or feel it is taking days to really recover from your workout, then I HIGHLY recommend you invest in pre-post workout supplements.

Here are my favorite Pre-Workout and  Recovery-Workout. They are distributed by the same trusted company I use for my fish oil, and whey protein. Stronger. Faster. Healthier. creates amazing products for us athletes, I cannot speak highly enough about them!!

• Stimulates drive and focus for demanding training
• Provides Energy
• Endurance Enhancers
• Hydration
• Antioxidant Protection
• BCAA for protein Synthesis

For my Recovery (post workout) nothing beats....

·  Multi-component mixture of co-enzyme Q10, ribose and carnitine increases mitochondria productivity and maximizes cell energy.

·  Amino acids build muscles naturally.

·  Creatine boosts energy.

·  Glutamine helps with muscle recovery and maintenance.

·  Glucosamine sulfate* and chondroitin sulfate helps maintain joint health and flexibility.

·  Carnitine facilitates the transport of fats into mitochrondria for oxidation and ATP generation.

·  Leucine and isoleucine may promote muscle strength, volume and synthesis.

·  Ribose increases ATP synthesis/cellular energy.

·  Taurine may prevent muscle fatigue and atrophy

Both of these products come in different flavors, are sold at CrossFit Round Rock, and are my BEST recommendation for anyone who is training regularly!!

That ahhh-haa moment....

Update! I few weeks ago I posted a blog about my determination in returning to #ATEAM #CFRR coaches workout sessions.  Just as I predicted, great things have happened!

First, I am completely convinced of the importance in mobility. Hands down, best thing you can do for your body pre and post workout! I can absolutely feel a difference when I take the time to mobilize!

Second to that, listening to your body!  If you catch the flu, and push yourself to workout, you are seriously asking your body to do too much. You need to rest! Trust me, I understand the frustration. Being told I cant workout and need to chill is like taking my birthday away from me, but, if you want to recover faster, and get back into the gym, sit your sick little tushy down and get better!

Here is my biggest ahhh-haa moment thus far, just yesterday it finally sunk in! I have said it a hundred times, not just to myself, but to so many other people! You can imagine what it must have felt like when I actually truly understood it!

Ready?!.....

Reaching your goals takes hard work and most of all.....TIME!  I can honestly say it took me nearly a year to get to where I feel I am strong.  Keep in mind this is MY standard of strong, not any one else's. Comparing yourself to others (as natural as it is for some of us) is unproductive, and harmful to our self-worth. So I urge you not to do this, no matter where you are as an athlete. 

This is where it gets really exciting! I can't wait for my next workout-I am thrilled to log my food to see what is working, and what isn't.   What will my next PR be?  I need new, bigger goals!  I haven't felt this motivated in awhile, and it feels soooooo damn good!!

I dont know where you are as an athlete, but if by chance you are feeling like you're just not getting there, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP! I promise if you keep working at it, you will reach your goals!

Now.....go register for the CrossFit Open!! Let's come together even more as a community and kick some CF ass!!

 

CrossFit Open (repost)

This morning I was spending some free time reading blogs, and doing my normal search for any useful info. on all things health and fitness. I stumbled onto this great little blog written about the upcoming CrossFit Open. It's short, sweet, and I love  Allison Truscheit's points of view. 

I hope you can get out of it, as much as I did. :)

Open registration is almost here, and CrossFitters across the nation have greeted the Games season opener with anxiety, trepidation, groans, moans and an overall negativity.

Stop it.

The Open, even more so this year, is a qualifier for a very small percentage of the participants. For the other 100,000 or more of you, there is very little pressure. Just like every other day of the year, it’s an opportunity to create goals and attack them, to test yourself and compare your performance to last year, and an opportunity to expect your best performance possible. What makes this different from any other day? There is no need to inflict unnecessary pressure on yourself and destructively compare yourself to Games athletes who have made this their livelihood and job. If you expect the best from yourself every day and enjoy exercising with your friends, the Open is just another day of doing what you love.

More than individual accomplishments, however, the Open is a celebration of the global CrossFit community. Teenagers in Thailand are doing the same workouts as Masters in Spain, and they’re doing the same workouts as Jason Khalipa in California. At no point does any other sport do this. Whether you do CrossFit as a way to satisfy your competitive energy, simply to stay in shape or as a way to break down mental barriers, the Open is a celebration of the individual and collective transformations, journeys, improvements and obsessions that we’ve developed for this community and methodology.

Use this time to create a wealth of positivity in the gym rather than resentment, competitiveness between members and cheating. Look at the Open for what it is — it’s allowing CrossFit Headquarters to unite us all for five weeks. The Open is coming whether you like it or not; choose to embrace it — and for goodness sake, get excited!

---

Allison Truscheit is the owner of CrossFit Synapse in North Hollywood, California. She is also a two-time Southern California Regional competitor, who placed seventh in 2013, a nationally ranked competitor for USA Weightlifting, a CrossFit Level-1 trainer, a USAW Sports Performance coach and a YogaWorks 200-hour yoga teacher.

Categories: Crossfit Blogs.

Tags: CrossFit open, CrossFit Open 2015

By Allison Truscheit CFL-1

8 weeks. 1 goal. #reborn

2015 is here, a new start to a New Year!! Most of the people around you have declared their goals to live a happier-healthier-better life. You, yourself most likely have a few things you would like to improve on. And honestly, is there a better time to make those changes and improvements than at the beginning of a new year?!

I am most excited for the 35 athletes at CrossFit Round Rock who made the commitment to our yearly #REBORN challenge!! For those of you who do not know what the #REBORN challenge is, I will give you a few highlights....it is 8 weeks, each athlete is in a small group with one coach. Our #REBORNers commit to a clean, Paleo diet (I prefer lifestyle) and of course weekly workouts. Everyone is required to log their food daily and will receive feedback from their coach. Measurements, body comps, pictures, and a bench mark workout are done at the beginning and end of our 8 week challenge. 

The results for those who give 100% are remarkable!! This is my second year witnessing these athletes taking on a the challenge, and I cannot express how incredibly motivating, and inspiring it is to watch unfold! 

I'd like to offer a bit of advice for our #REBORN athletes...

First and foremost, and I cannot stress this enough....please be honest, and communicate with your coach. I mean, no-holds-barred, lay it out there, and tell us how you are REALLY feeling. If we don't know what is truly going on with your body, and emotions we cannot successfully help you. Think of it as like communicating with your doctor, would you not be completely honest and forthcoming about how your body is feeling with your doctor? Would you lie to her/him about what you are eating, or drinking if your life depended on it? I sure as hell hope not! We are here to help, and if we struggle with the right answer or solution for you, we will find it through someone else. We want you to succeed, we want you to feel better than you have ever felt before, we want this to change your life, for you, and for all those around you, and we want nothing more than to see HEALTHY, HAPPY, SHINING athletes all around us!! We love what we do, we love whom we do it for!

Remember just like any challenge we face, we need to take it one day at a time. So when you are feeling defeated, or stressed, and you are having a tough day (this will happen) keep in mind what a difference a day can make. Tell yourself you can do this, you are strong, you are determined. Keep your focus on your goal, and don’t let anything come in your way!

2015 is YOUR year!! YOU. CAN. DO. THIS!!

re·born

rēˈbôrn/

adjective

1.    brought back to life or activity.

6:34

I have a small request to ask of those who are reading this....

Please, take 6:34 out of your day for YOU. Do this for YOURSELF, and for those around you. Close your eyes. Listen to the words, from start to finish. 

https://db.tt/4Q7H1kSR

When you're done, take a deep breath, acknowledge your self-worth, and commit to reaching your goals! NOTHING. CAN. STOP. YOU!

#besomebody! XO

For the past few years, I have trained either by myself or in a group with athletes of all different scales. As someone who places a lot of value on learning, I tend to gravitate towards group training. When I can spend my time getting an awesome workout, at the same time that I am learning something new for myself as an athlete, and as a coach, I am all in!

I'm sure many assume that as a coach, I must train for hours a day, every day, but the truth is, just like you, I don’t have that kind of time. I am a mother, and a wife who has to delegate her schedule to fit it all in. It isn't easy, and due to my schedule, I have had to back away from training with the other coaches. There are a few things I have discovered since training alone that I am not happy with, and I may have found the reason some of you could be struggling with consistency. This is just my opinion, but for me personally I think training alone pretty much sucks!

Here's why….

When our team of coaches get ready for a workout we spend a decent amount of time mobilizing, warming up, and talking about the WOD on a board. We joke around, we laugh, and we coach each other. I feel like I am a part of something. I learn something new every.single.time! I am motivated and inspired by the coaches around me. I feed off them, and appreciate every bit of insight they offer. Simply said, I absolutely love our sessions together; it is not ever just a workout for me.

I noticed when I was training every day specifically in our group, not only did I get stronger, but I got so much more out of each workout. My form was better, my focus, and determination was at 100% and I walked away feeling like I really kicked some ass!

Now, after a few months training primarily alone, I have little to no real gains. I barley spend time mobilizing before or after a workout. I lack motivation, and I skip the parts I don’t feel like doing (who really cares, no one is here to see me) I skip days more often than ever before. I rarely finish a workout feeling as if I learned anything new. Absolutely NO ONE pats me on the back, or says well done. There is zero accountability. And worst of all, I miss that time with my team.

Well, enough is enough, I know better than to sit and complain about something and not do a damn thing to change it. Therefore, I am going to make life just a tiny bit difficult and start training with our team 5 days a week again. I have said many times that we ALL make time for the things that are really important to us. I know from experience it will be well worth my time. Not only will I improve as an athlete, but also as a coach.

Today was my first day back training with the coaches, and it was everything it used to be!! I got advice, encouragement, and a was told "good job".  For the first time, in along time, I LOVED my workout from start to finish! 

If you're someone who struggles with consistency, but wants to improve your health, please, I beg of you, try a group class. Not only will you feel like you are not alone, but also you will have support, and fun while you work out! I have a few spots available in my 5:30am class; you are more than welcome to drop in!