Nutrition Challenge – Winter 2020

Next Monday we’ll begin our Nutrition Challenge! The simple goal is to stick with the main tenants of whatever Nutrition Path you choose and comment each day on the blog.

Overview

Problem:

“With the ever-increasing obesity and chronic disease epidemics, we clearly aren’t eating the right quantity or quality. And it’s so easy to see why. Processed food, which is calorically dense from carbohydrates and fat, is quite literally everywhere. At every checkout line, at every social event, holiday, or celebration, at concerts, hospitals, airports, gas stations, and even most office breakrooms are stocked with these calorically dense goodies. These foods comprise almost 60% of our caloric intake (2)! Let me make this very clear: no one is overeating chicken breast, tofu, baby carrots or apples. No one. It’s the ice cream, french fries, chips, cookies, bread products, and alcoholic beverages where you don’t have to eat much to get too much quantity (calories) without quality (vitamins and minerals).”

• E.C. Synkowski, CrossFit OG and Optimize Nutrition creator.

Answer:

There is a ton of good and bad info out there. The goals will be difficult to see long-term unless you build some good nutritional habits. Let’s do that together through

• An informal goal-setting and Q&A this Saturday 2/3/2020 at 12pm at FCF.
• Journaling daily on the blog for accountability, encouragement, and discipline.

If you want better metrics please take it further with blood work (chemistry profile) and/or a body-fat test (DEXA or hydrostatic weighing).

How to Participate

Leave a comment on the daily blog post every day for four weeks.

We will have TWO overall standout athletes prize packages which will include a personal training session, a nutritional consult, a Guided Training template for March 2020, and their name on our NUTRITION CHALLENGE ATHLETE PLAQUE. Plus some other goodies!

Nutrition Guidelines

These are very brief descriptions of popular dietary guidelines in the fitness world. Please research further on your own and form your own opinion. We believe the following work well for most active individuals and can help you achieve your goals.

• CrossFit: “Eat meat and veggies, seeds and nuts, some fruit, little starch, no sugar.” The preferred dietary menu for CrossFit athletes to improve overall health.
• Low/No Sugar: Cutting out foods high in sugar and foods with added sugars. To lower blood sugar levels and cut carbohydrate numbers.
• Paleo: Eat meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, monounsaturated fats and oils. Remove processed foods, sugar, soft drinks, grains, most dairy products, legumes, artificial sweeteners, vegetable oils, margarine and trans fats. Focus on these foods to lower inflammatory gut and skin issues.
• 800g Challenge: Prioritize eating over 800g of fresh vegetables and fruits daily along with quality proteins and fats, especially for those with busy lifestyles.
• “Macros”/Macronutrient Prescription (The Zone, RP, WAG, IIFYM*): Working on adhering to an individualized macronutrient breakdown prescribed using specific carbohydrates, protein, and fat amounts. Generally for those who eat to perform.
• “Keto”/Ketogenic Diet: A low-carb diet to drop into ketosis for better fat-burning capabilities, eating less than 50g of carbs/day and prioritizing quality proteins and fats.
• Intermittent Fasting: Only allowing oneself to eat within a 6-hour-or-less window every 24 hours to reduce insulin resistance and chances of metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperglycemia.
• Vegetarian: Eliminates meat, fish, and poultry
  • Ovolactovegetarian: allows eggs and dairy products
  • Lactovegetarian: allows dairy products
  • Ovovegetarian: allows eggs
  • Pescatarian: allows fish and sometimes eggs and dairy products.
  • Flexitarian: a mostly-vegetarian diet that incorporates occasional meat, fish, or poultry.
• Dietary Veganism: Abstaining from consuming animal products: meat, eggs, dairy, and any other animal-derived substances.
• Whole30: full nutritional reset using whole foods. Read: It Starts With Food

Requirements

To be successful you will need to

• Look at how you actually eat your meals: are you always on the go scarfing your food down? Preoccupied watching TV or looking at your phone? Do you eat alone or with people?
• Make better choices when going  out to lunch and dinner
• Be able to cook and maybe meal prep at home
  • Through your own recipes and recipes shared on the blog.
  • Through a ready-to-cook mealservice like Hello Fresh, BlueApron, Green Chef, Freshly, etc
• Subscribe to a meal prep service such as NW Fit Meals, who deliver straight to FCF if you don’t want or like to cook.
• Share your journey through commenting on the blog so you can see everyone else’s struggles and triumphs.

Goal-Oriented Eating

There are some extra habits you’ll need to develop if you want to

CHANGE BODY COMPOSITION: Generally these athletes want to lose body fat and increase lean tissue/muscle. Adherence to weighing and measuring food is paramount.

GAIN MUSCLE: These athletes want more muscle mass. They need to eat more, and more frequently. Hydration needs to be prioritized as well.

INCREASE PERFORMANCE: Athletes competing in a sport or activity need to eat in a way that energizes them and maximizes whatever their performance goals may be.

Next Steps

1. Say hi in the comments and state your goals with nutrition. Which set of guidelines do you plan to follow or already follow?
2. Keep looking on the blog: we’ll have a tone of relevant information flow: deeper dives into some of the guidelines; improving eating habits; recipes; what health markers are and their importance; an understanding of body composition (lean body tissue vs adipose tissue); how to alter plans and make adjustments; and Nutrition basics like Macronutrients (cho/pro/fat) vs Micronutrients (vitamins & minerals), Hydration, Food sourcing, Weekly Events, and so much more!

Important Resources

Here are some of the FCF Staff’s favorites!

• In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
• It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways
• Nom Nom Paleo: Food For Humans (Volume 1)
• Nom Nom Paleo: Ready or Not (Volume 2)
• The Keto Diet: The Complete Guide to a High-Fat Diet
• Veganomicon
• The Food Lab
• The Renaissance Diet 2.0

CrossFit WOD for Tuesday 1/28/2020

AMRAP in 6:00
muscle-ups
– OR –
AMRAP in 8:00
8 pullups
8 dips

Post score to whiteboard! Roll out them lats, triceps, and biceps. Open up those hip flexors.

READ: The ‘Dark Side’ of Compostable Take-Out Containers – EATER
WATCH: