THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION
At Oakland County CrossFit we practice an all encompassing approach to health and fitness. There are 168 hours in a week and you may only spend three of those hours in the gym a week. Even if you average that many per day, it's still a small fraction of the whole. The point is, unlike other gyms, we believe that the other 160+ hours you spend outside the gym are just as important, if not more so, than the time you spend with us and we aren't afraid to tell you so. Of course training is important, but proper nutrition and recovery will significantly help you reach your full potential and attain your goals faster.
Sound nutrition is of high importance, as dietary changes have a direct and measurable effect on both recovery and training. How well you can train depends on how well you can recover and how well you recover depends largely on how well (and how much) you eat. This is why we are big proponents on weighing and measuring what you consume.
ARE WE ZONE OR PALEO FANS?
The answer is both. We are big fans of Paleo eating, because quality is important and the Paleo diet is made up of the highest quality foods around. We see Paleo as the nutritional equivalent of the deadlift, squat, clean & jerk, running, pull-up, etc...high quality movements that you need to be performing. But you want to know how much weight is on the bar, how long it took you to run 400m or how many pull-ups you did, right?
Nutrition is no different. In order to achieve optimal output, we need to measure the input, and then adjust accordingly. There is not a magic ratio of Protein, Fat and Carbohydrate for everyone. However, to find what works best for you we need to know exactly what and how much is going into your body on a daily basis.
One thing to remember is that weighing and measuring and The Zone are not one and the same. Barry Sears did not invent weighting and measuring. He invented the block method, which is our favorite thing about the Zone! It makes it a whole lot easier than grams, particularly for those of us who are not so mathematically inclined.
Should you weigh and measure every meal every day forever? In a perfect world, yes. But it most likely won't happen, and that's fine. People are too busy and except for the occasional super Type-A individual, this might be an unrealistic goal. The suggestion we usually offer to our athletes is this: When starting, weight and measure for one month. After that, weight and measure one or two meals each day to keep your "calibration". This allows you to weight and measure the meals you eat when you're at home and have time to be precise without stressing out.
Once you are used to weighting and measuring, it;s time to tweak. Play with lower carbs/higher fat, post WOD nutrition strategies, etc.
GREAT, SO JUST TELL ME WHAT TO EAT ALREADY!
The pillars of your diet should be built around animal protein sources (sorry vegans). Grass fed or lean meats, seafood, and dairy if tolerated. Shoot for about .75 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. THen add in plenty of healthy fat from sources such as grass fed ruminants, coconut and avocado. Finally throw some veggies into the mix to round things out and enjoy a piece of fruit a day or so. Snack on nuts (we prefer macadamias, but almonds are ok in moderation too), seeds and berries.
Stay away from sugar, lab created transfats, grains and "food like products" as much as possible. That's about it. If it's sugar, bread, a 500 calorie "latte", or comes in a box with more than a few ingredients on the side you're best bet is leaving it on the shelf and keeping it out of your body.
