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Let's talk about nutrition. Not diet. Nutrition.
I think we can all agree that what we eat is pretty important? Very important? Super Duper Important? Let's go with Very Important. I never liked Mark Duper or the Dolphins or how he and Marino used to just kill my Jets in gunslinging battles in the Meadowlands.
But I digress.
So nutrition is a Very Important Topic. It's also a a huge topic and it's not our intention to cover everything under the sun here. This wonderful Internet thing is just brimming with information from people that have already covered this ground and with more expertise.
That said, what we're looking to do here is:
- Stress the importance of what you eat as well as how much (go for quality AND proper quantity)
- Give you some direction to get you started.
- Provide resources.
If you've come to CrossFit because you want to change your body composition, chances are you've tried more than your fair share of diets. Chances are you've had some measure of success one, some or all of them, but the pounds always came back. So what's the secret here in CrossFit Land? How are all these people managing to shed the pounds, add muscle, get stronger, increase their performance and just enjoy life more all around? And stay that way? Well it's not any one thing, but a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
With CrossFit you get a great amalgam of factors:
- A fantastic fitness protocol.
- Coaching
- Support. Training at a CrossFit affiliate like CFD gives you support in a number of ways. First, this is not some anonymous place where you just come in, do your thing and boogie out. You're going to meet people, and make friends and acquaintances. This community wants you to succeed. You want to succeed, I want you to succeed. This is tremendously helpful. Then there's the CrossFit cyber community. It offers a gigantic network / resource / support pool -- especially for nutrition. You're never alone if you don't want to be.
Tackling the Zone or Paleo then is not so hard. You've got brothers and sisters around. People to talk to that have been through it and got the t-shirt. Here at CFD we'll periodically, just simply ask about how your nutrition is going. It's surprising how much that can help.
Anyways, on to the nuts and bolts of this nutrition thing:
Courtesy of www.crossfit.com
The CrossFit dietary prescription is as follows: Protein should be lean and varied and account for about 30% of your total caloric load. Carbohydrates should be predominantly low-glycemic and account for about 40% of your total caloric load. Fat should be predominantly monounsaturated and account for about 30% of your total caloric load. Calories should be set at between .7 and 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass depending on your activity level. The .7 figure is for moderate daily workout loads and the 1.0 figure is for the hardcore athlete.
What Should I Eat?
In plain language, base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar. That's about as simple as we can get. Many have observed that keeping your grocery cart to the perimeter of the grocery store while avoiding the aisles is a great way to protect your health. Food is perishable. The stuff with long shelf life is all suspect. If you follow these simple guidelines you will benefit from nearly all that can be achieved through nutrition.
The Caveman or Paleolithic Model for Nutrition
Modern diets are ill suited for our genetic composition. Evolution has not kept pace with advances in agriculture and food processing resulting in a plague of health problems for modern man. Coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity and psychological dysfunction have all been scientifically linked to a diet too high in refined or processed carbohydrate. Search "Google" for Paleolithic nutrition, or diet. The return is extensive, compelling, and fascinating. The Caveman model is perfectly consistent with the CrossFit prescription.
What you're going to have to eat: FOOD.
What you're going to give up (you need to decide to what degree): gluten (cereals,grains) and dairy.
What Foods Should I Avoid?
Excessive consumption of high-glycemic carbohydrates is the primary culprit in nutritionally caused health problems. High glycemic carbohydrates are those that raise blood sugar too rapidly. They include rice, bread, candy, potato, sweets, sodas, and most processed carbohydrates. Processing can include bleaching, baking, grinding, and refining. Processing of carbohydrates greatly increases their glycemic index, a measure of their propensity to elevate blood sugar. What is the Problem with High-Glycemic Carbohydrates? The problem with high-glycemic carbohydrates is that they give an inordinate insulin response. Insulin is an essential hormone for life, yet acute, chronic elevation of insulin leads to hyperinsulinism, which has been positively linked to obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, blood pressure, mood dysfunction and a Pandora's box of disease and disability. Research "hyperinsulinism" on the Internet. There's a gold mine of information pertinent to your health available there. The CrossFit prescription is a low-glycemic diet and consequently severely blunts the insulin response.
Caloric Restriction and Longevity
Current research strongly supports the link between caloric restriction and an increased life expectancy. The incidence of cancers and heart disease sharply decline with a diet that is carefully limited in controlling caloric intake. “Caloric Restriction” is another fruitful area for Internet search. The CrossFit prescription is consistent with this research. The CrossFit prescription allows a reduced caloric intake and yet still provides ample nutrition for rigorous activity.
That's the 30,000 foot view. What known diets (ugh, that word. Should I say "nutrition styles?") does this tie into? Well it's pretty much these two approaches and a slew of hybrids: The Zone (Barry Sears - quantity and proportions) The Paleo Diet (Loren Cordain - quality, not so much proportions). Research both. Plenty of people combine the two. Plenty of people play with them to suit their specific needs.
"But This is Hard"
We hear this a lot - mostly from people that have not been doing Zone or Paleo for at least two weeks. People skim the Paleo Diet book and just freak out at the idea of eating salmon for breakfast. They skim the Zone and have a freak out about Zone block calculations like they're pottery majors in a quantum physics class. "I've got to eat WHAT?" "I've got to give up WHAT?" "How the hell am I supposed to plan this out?"
RELAX.
You Can Do This
Our advice is for you to do the research, figure out what you need to do and then incorporate it gradually over time. Say you want to try Paleo or Zone. Start out with just planning one meal - let's go with breakfast. Take your time doing it, even if it's a few days. Once planned and prepped for, execute! But what about the other meals? Well, we've found that just the attempt at that one meal makes you more mindful an you get some spill-over, so to speak. Next, try that Zone breakfast 3x a week. Then 5x, then 7x. Then do it for another week and you'll have been Zoning breakfast for 21 days. This is a magic number. You now have developed a habit. Incorporating the methodology of choice into your other meal slots should be eezee peezee. If you fall off - don't sweat it. Don't deprive yourself and don't double up or triple up on your WODs as some bizarre punishment. Just make the next meal happen the right way and soldier on. No regrets.
If you are the type of person that is just going to jump in and go cold turkey, get off the crack, weigh and measure your food, eat stuff without a food label -- more power to you! We're here to support you the whole way. The first two weeks can be tough, (read Nicole Carroll's CFJ Article, "Getting Off The Crack" for some additional insight) and after that it gets a lot easier. Promise. Two weeks is not a lot to ask to try something that could be of so much benefit to your fitness and your health.
Resources
I could compile a list of resources, but Robb Wolf already has. Check out his FAQ here:
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