NUTRITION

 

CrossFit Nutrition: Planning for you!

In reality a diet is simply a lifestyle choice in eating good quality real food in hopes of controlling gene expression and hormonal balance to give you the longer and healthier life.

With that being said there is no one plan that will work for everyone. Our bodies are all unique and need to be addressed differently, so we can’t provide you with a step by step plan. But what we can do is provide you with some simple tools to change the way you eat.

That’s why CrossFit Code Red has partnered up with Take Shape For Life. The only nutrition program that will guide and teach you to lose weight quickly and safely, while helping you learn the healthy habits to keep the weight off. Take Shape For Life is more than a weight-loss plan. It’s a program for healthy living that will change the way you eat and live for good.

With Take Shape For Life, you’ll master the ability to:

• Create health in your life through good nutrition, proper sleep, exercise, and successful stress-reduction techniques.
• Transform your world into a supportive environment where healthy habits can grow and thrive.
• Identify unhealthy patterns and triggers, and choose to stay true to your health goals.
• Cultivate the Habits of Health—step-by-step, one day at a time—to replace those habits of disease that make us ill, overweight, and unhappy.

The Take Shape For Life Program:

• Cost less than a month of groceries and eating out.
• Teaches you how to eat and prepare meals
• Can easily be converted into a gluten free, whole foods or Paleo diet
• Is a nutrition program you can use any time you need it

Get Started on the Take Shape For Life Program NOW!

 

If you are looking for something else, here are a few simple steps that can get you started on a REAL FOOD diet:

Your first step:

• Invest in some Tupperware
• Put together at least 5 simple recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Tape those on the inside of your cupboards or somewhere easily visible for reference like a three ring binder
• Make a shopping list from those recipes (see shopping tips)
• Pick a day during the week to do your shopping. Eating real food will require more shopping as it will expire faster than boxes and cans
• Cook one or two days during the week and prepare your meals in advance for the rest of the week

 

Now let’s shop:

• BUY REAL FOOD – Meats, Veggies, Nuts/Seeds, Some Fruit, Little Starch, NO SUGAR
• If it has a food label then it probably isn’t real food! (You don’t see a food label on a tomato do you?)
• Perimeter shop around the grocery store. Foods that expire quickly are usually real
• Stay away from processed foods, anything in boxes or cans, as well as bread, cereal, pasta, grains, sugar etc…
• If you do decide to add condiments, check the labels first. Buy brands with low amounts of sugar
• Buy equal amounts of Protein, Carbs, and Fat when shopping
• Stick to low Glycemic foods

 

Time to eat:

• Eat meat, veggies, nuts/seeds, little fruit (about 2-3 pieces), little starch (about ½ sweet potato or similar good starches), and NO refined SUGARS
• Focus on quality (Real Food), not quantity
• Don’t go more than 4-5 hours without eating
• Eat 3 meals a day with a snack between each meal
• Don’t drink your calories, i.e.… juices, coffee, alcohol etc… drink water!
• Don’t waste an entire day cheating…i.e. cheat days! Instead use the 90/10 rule. 90% of the time eat real food, spend only about 10% cheating and don’t cheat big! Satisfy those sweet tooth cravings throughout the week so you don’t overload on an entire day and set yourself back to day one. Find sweets that are not that bad…i.e. dried fruit, maple syrup, honey…etc. Stay away from processed sugars
• Remember 23/1: There are 24 hours in a day, one hour of working out leaves you with 23 hours left to undo everything you just did in that one hour!

 

Click HERE for more CrossFit Nutrition

 

What our members are saying when they use these methods to change the way they eat:

 

I’m so glad I did this. Along with dropping a few pounds, I noticed that I had more energy throughout the day, my skin looked better, and I just felt all around healthier and stronger. These last few days I fell back into a lot of my old habits and it has made me realize how much better I felt eating cleaner food. I fully plan on continuing the lifestyle changes I started with this challenge.

Kelsey

 

This was a great experience. I already ate fairly well before, but I feel a lot better and I think even leaned up a little bit. I also went without pre-workout or creatine supplements, and my workouts didn’t really suffer (probably thanks to eating well). More than anything else, I learned to look into the ingredients of what I am eating more. It seems like everything has more sugar than it leads on, along with who knows what else added into it. Cutting back on caffeine helped tremendously too. I also proved that I don’t NEED beer… I just want it a whole lot

Phil

 

Coming back from my sabbatical I needed a motivation booster to set me back on the right track. Using these methods I was able to lose 6 pounds, notice that I have gotten leaner and more energy throughout the day. I plan on sticking with this and trying to be a little stricter with my eating habits. It’s like what you have always heard, “You are what you eat”.

Rudy

 

So hears the scoop:

Or bodies haven’t change in millions of years, but food has! Just look at the alarming numbers of heart disease, diabetes and obesity to name a few, and it and it only continues to grow. We have been fooled long enough. Don’t believe what you hear on T.V. with these wacky diets, shakes and pills. Food is a drug. Using it the right way will give you the results you need. All these wacky diets, shakes and pills do is place your body in a state that starvation, causing more damage than good, and the only way to keep your body from undoing everything is to continue down the same path, much like prescription drugs. Like the saying goes “take a pill and you have to recover twice, once from the sickness and once from the medication”. There is nothing on earth that can do what REAL quality food will do!

If you still don’t believe me, or do but still can’t break the cycle, then it’s probably because you have never felt these amazing results. Once you do you will see so many changes you won’t understand why you didn’t start earlier. It’s like a miracle drug has been in front of us this whole time! If you have experienced some of these amazing results, please share them with your friends and family and get them on the path to having a happier and healthier life!

 

Here are some diets that have proven themselves in the CrossFit community with life changing results.

 

Paleo
The Paleo diet, also known as Paleolithic diet or caveman diet, is a meal plan based on the dietary habits of our Paleolithic, cave-dwelling ancestors. This diet is all about natural foods to help achieve great health and a perfect physique. The human body evolved for more than 2 million years with the food found in nature: game meat, fish, vegetables, wild fruits, eggs and nuts. The human race was thriving on this diet high in animal fat and proteins and low in carbohydrates, but things changed when we introduced unnatural foods to our bodies. What you won’t find as part of the Paleo Diet are foods that developed during the agricultural and industrial eras like grains, dairy, legumes, refined sugars, and any other processed food.

 

Zone
The Zone Diet isn’t about eating “low-carb” or “high-protein” or anything like that. The primary function of the Zone diet is to control the amount of Protein, Carbs, and Fat consumed in each meal to control your hormones in a way that’s somewhat similar to taking prescription medication. Ingesting drugs cause physiological changes in your body.  Ingesting food has the same effect.  It can bring about positive or negative changes in your body. Hormonal balances that can affect important components of your wellness: body composition, energy utilization, blood chemistry, and much more. With the right balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats, you can control three major hormones generated by the human diet – insulin, glucagon and eicosanoids.

Insulin – A storage hormone. Excess insulin makes you fat and keeps you fat.

Glucagon – A mobilization hormone that tells the body to release stored carbohydrates at a steady rate, leading to stabilized blood sugar levels. This is key for optimal mental and physical performance.

Eicosanoids – These are the hormones that ultimately control silent inflammation. They are also master hormones that indirectly orchestrate a vast array of other hormonal systems in your body.

Understanding how the Zone works begins with understanding “blocks.” A block is a simplified unit for measuring the 3 macronutrients in your food (protein, carbohydrate and fat). One block is comprised of: 7 grams for protein, 9 grams for carbohydrates, and 1.5 grams for fats. Equal representation of all the macronutrients constitutes a meal. The Zone Diet amplifies and accelerates the benefits of the CrossFit regimen. CrossFit’s best performers are Zoning. When our second tier athletes commit to “strict” adherence to Zone parameters they quickly surpass their peers. Read more in the CFJ Issue 21: Zone Meal Plans

 

 

 Other recommendations:

 

Water
Your body is estimated to be about 60 to 70 percent water. Blood is mostly water, and your muscles, lungs, and brain all contain a lot of water. Your body needs water to regulate body temperature and to provide the means for nutrients to travel to all your organs. Water also transports oxygen to your cells, removes waste, and protects your joints and organs. A rule of thumb, 2/3 of body consists of water, and it is the main component of the human body. Every cell in your body needs water from head to toe. That is why it is so important to drink enough fluid. Drinking water also helps you lose weight because it flushes down the by-products of fat breakdown. Drinking water reduces hunger and is an effective appetite suppressant so you’ll eat less. Plus, water has zero calories.

 

 

Fish Oil

PurePharma Omega-3 is designed to simply be the purest and most effective product on the market. By utilizing technology, such as molecular distillation, we have obtained extremely low contaminant levels as well as a high concentration of EPA and DHA.

Heart Health
Joint Mobility & Bone Density
Healthy Cholesterol Levels
Healthy Blood Glucose
Eye Health – Visual Acuity
Energy & Endurance
Mental Health, Wellness and Acuity
Skin, Hair & Nail Health
Sexual & Hormonal Health

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multi Vitamins
Let’s face it, it’s almost impossible to get all of the vitamins and minerals you need in the amounts you need them through your diet alone. We recommend Seal Multi, like the men it was created for, is a no nonsense, no fluff, no BS multivitamin and multimineral. It is exactly what you need, in the amounts you need.

 

 

 

Supplements
There are thousands of supplements on the market today. HMB and Creatine are two of the most researched sports supplements available on the market having been tested in over 100 research labs. Their ability to increase muscle mass and strength with weight training are similar, yet research has shown that they work differently; meaning that using them together combines their effects. The result is a small range of high quality supplements that are proven to enhance training performance while remaining safe to take and as good for your body as possible; however most of these supplements on the market are filled with tons of useless additives. If you are looking for something that is basic and at its rawest form with no useless additives then Blonyx HMB and HMB+ Creatine supplements are what you are looking for. Blonyx supplements are science based, paleo friendly and additive free!

 

Protein
Usually taken directly after a workout to give your body the nutrients it needs to quickly recover. Protein shakes can help you gain muscle, increase your strength and get you into shape. We recommend About Time Protein. About Time only uses natural ingredients and 100% cold pressed whey protein isolate. No added sugar, artificial sweeteners, and no growth hormones. Just pure clean protein!

Before Exercise: Consumed about an hour before working out, protein helps prevent muscle breakdown and stimulate the use of fat for fueling during exercise.

Post Workout: This is the most critical time to consume protein. It helps stimulate protein synthesis and reduce proein degradation in your body.

Meal Replacement: An easy way to get the protein you need to keep your metabolism in high gear, support muscle repair, and encourage a healthy immune system.

Recommended grams of protein per pound of lean body mass based on your activity level:

Sedentary	0.5
Light (ie., walking)	0.6
Moderate (30 min per day, 3 times per week)	0.7
Active (1 hour a day, 5 times per week)	0.8
Very active (2 hours per day, 5 times per week)	0.9
Heavy weight training or twice a day exercise (5 days per week)	1.0