Proper nutrition is a lifestyle. Don’t try to fool yourself into thinking that you can get proper nutrition without altering your lifestyle. There is no easy answer or magic bullet. Only education and consistently sound choices every day will sustain a lifestyle of proper nutrition. Nutrition also shouldn’t become an obsession that inhibits your daily life. Everyone lets loose from time to time! Remember, fitness and good health is a lifestyle.
Start by educating yourself using the information below. If you follow these simple guidelines you will benefit from nearly all that can be achieved through good nutrition.
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[av_toggle title=’The Caveman or Paleolithic Model for Nutrition’ tags=”]
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.
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[av_toggle title=’What should I eat?’ tags=”]
When transitioning from a typical American diet to a healthy diet, which should never be mistaken for the same thing, we recommend a two-step process.
First, transition to eating only quality foods that our bodies are made to eat. This is the tough part for most people because it involves eliminating (or at least drastically reducing) grains, bread, and other refined and processed carbohydrates. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store for lean meats, fruits and vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
You’ll often hear us refer to eating as “clean” eating or “Paleo.” Eating Paleo technically means you follow the Paleo diet, which eschews legumes, dairy, grains, and salt completely. We don’t recommend you worry about completely eliminating all of those foods at first, but you’ll need to know the terminology.
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[av_toggle title=’What Foods Should I Avoid?’ tags=”]
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.
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[av_toggle title=’My husband/wife will never go for this. What should I do?’ tags=”]
This isn’t a nutrition question, but rather a question of leadership. First, sticking to any nutrition plan will be very difficult if your spouse isn’t on board.
The simple task of preparing two different meals for two people is by itself contentious. Furthermore, when your spouse sees you making good choices he/she may question or ridicule your decisions due to feelings of guilty or inadequacy. Your spouse may also think that you are shoving a diet onto them because you are unhappy with them. These are difficult barriers, even if you do everything correctly.
We suggest presenting the information that has fueled your decision in a logical way that isn’t emotionally charged. It’s important for loved ones to know that your desire is simply to improve your health and fitness. If after addressing these issues you still don’t have the support, then you may simply have different goals than your spouse or have a much greater desire to achieve them.
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[av_toggle title=’What about my kids nutritional needs?’ tags=”]
Feed them the same quality foods, but don’t worry about regimenting total volume of food for a growing child. Just make sure they eat ‘real food’ and get some protein, fat, and quality carbs (fruits and vegetables) at every meal.
If you think they’ll protest when you serve them grilled chicken and vegetables rather than chicken Nuggets or pizza or cookies, etc., then we suggest you be a leader and stand your ground on what’s best for your child–not what satiates their desire or temper tantrum at that moment.
Sometimes being a leader is tough and unpopular. Just remind yourself you are doing one of the best things you can to ensure they are healthy and happy. Gerber wasn’t around 100 years ago, but humans were, and somehow we survived! They’ll eventually get hungry enough to eat what you serve. Stand your ground for their sakes.
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[av_toggle title=’What is the Problem with High-Glycemic Carbohydrates?’ tags=”]
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.
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[av_toggle title=’Do you recommend any supplements?’ tags=”]
The nature of most athletic supplements is not applicable to our ethos of lifelong, sustainable fitness. We CrossFit to have a longer and better life, not necessarily to add 40 pounds to our back squat at any cost. However, we do engage in athletic competition as a celebration of our fitness and as a way to better ourselves. If you have a specific goal to train for and win a specific competition, then you may want to use athletic supplements to achieve that goal. Many supplements are very reputable, safe, and proven. However, if you’re simply trying to improve yourself or become a better athlete, then supplementation isn’t necessary. You’ll be astounded how quickly your body will change through regular CrossFit training, sound nutrition, and adequate rest–no supplements required.
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[av_toggle title=’Why Fish Oil?’ tags=”]
Fish oil is not really a supplement. Your body needs Omega 3 fatty acids for all of life’s important functions: thinking, tissue repair, everything. The human diet 40,000 years ago provided us with plenty of Omega 3s. Our modern diet provides us with very little, even when eating healthy as CrossFitters do.Fish oil is the single best way to get the Omega 3s that your body needs.
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[av_toggle title=’What should I eat Before and After a workout?’ tags=”] BEFORE: For optimum performance, in the 24 hours prior to a workout you should eat meals from clean food sources, just as we recommend you eat every day. The only real question is what volume of food should you eat prior to a workout, and the answer is unique to every athlete. Almost nobody prefers eating immediately prior to a workout. Most athletes eat an hour or more prior to the workout. Some find they must fast longer prior to the WOD in order to avoid nausea. However, your performance will suffer if you don’t consume some fuel before the WOD, so make sure you’ve eaten a quality meal sometime in the 1-4 hours prior. Only experimentation and finding what works for you will yield the answer.
AFTER: The objective of post-workout nutrition is to optimize recovery by replenishing glycogen stores and providing protein to begin tissue repair. In theory, this improves the results of your next WOD, decreases hunger throughout your day, and improves body composition. However, despite all the possible benefits, implementation is quite varied among different athletes. The common trend seems to be:
High glycemic load carbohydrates (fruits, berries, sweet potatoes, etc.)
Easily digestible protein (eggs, milk, etc.)
The science behind post-workout nutrition is that in the time window directly after high intensity exercise your body gets a “get out of jail free” card with respect to high glycemic carbs. This window spans from when you finish your last rep to 2 hours later, but is most potent in the first 30-45 minutes after the WOD. Not only are you less affected by an insulin spike during this time, but your body can actually productively use that insulin in replacing glycogen. Some athletes also like to include protein to start the tissue repair process. Therefore, most post-workout meals are light 1-2 block snacks that might be a bit more carb heavy.
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[av_textblock] Reference: CrossFit.com
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