How Important is Nutrition?
What do you eat? You might have heard me say “your diet is 80% of results”, or “abs are made in the kitchen”, these statements are dead on which is why the CrossFit pyramid of development starts with nutrition.
Without a solid base of nutrition everything else will suffer, including, body composition, WOD times, energy throughout the day, even decreased mobility caused by increased inflammation. Therefore the CrossFit RX and a great place to start is to get 40% of calories from carbohydrates and 30% of calories from protein and fats. REAL food is always better than anything packaged. In simple terms you should be eating meat and vegetable, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar.
Foods to Avoid
High glycemic carbohydrates are foods that should be avoided, because these can cause the blood sugar to rapidly rise causing an
insulin spike which then reports to the body to store food as fat, which is less than ideal unless you plan on pulling trekking Antarctica with no food. When blood sugar is abnormally high on a regular basis, the insulin secretions you body produces are no longer effective and you are a diabetic. Please avoid foods like rice, bread, candy, potato, sweets, sodas, and most processed carbohydrates.
Foods to Eat
When we fuel our body with lean protein like fish, chicken, turkey, and cuts of lean beef, along with nuts, seeds, greens and vegetables like spinach, romaine, asparagus, broccoli, etc….our body will begin function like the marvel it truly is. If you are not happy with your results you need to take a look at your nutritional tendencies, please feel free to talk with a trainer about what you can do to improve your diet.
Two Videos to Watch
Gary Taubes on “Why We Need To Get Fat” (5 minutes)
“Paleo in a Nutshell” (5 minutes)