Helping you learn how to eat healthy is a top priority for us at CrossFit Grand Rapids. Not eating healthy is the number one reason people quit training at a CrossFit gym. The training is intense and requires an ever increasing strength-to-bodyweight ratio to keep improving. If you lack energy, feel mentally fatigued, aren’t losing bodyfat, or for whatever reason just aren’t motivated to workout, this is usually a result of a poor diet. If these negetive influences continue then chances are you will stop making progress. You will then get frustrated and quit. We can’t have that! If you combine healthy eating with CrossFit training, we are confident you can change your life for the better, sometime quite drastically. For the above reasons…we make teaching healthy eating to our members a top priority.
We believe in eating food that God or mother nature intended us to eat. Man may make food that has added vitamins and minerals, but for us to think that we are smarter than God or mother nature is a mistake. This is why we suggest eating a paleolithic (caveman) diet or hunter-gatherer diet. If a caveman didn’t eat it, then we probably shouldn’t either. Generally speaking, this is what you should eat…veggies & meat, nuts & seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar.
We also think you should learn to eat each meal and snack with a good balance of complete protein (usually meat) and carbohydrates (usually veggies). If you eat too many carbohydrates with a meal or eat carbs without a protein, you may get a high sugar level in the blood which will result in an insulin spike. Insulin spikes are to be avoided! Eat enough carbohydrates to support a healthy energy level throughout the day and your workout, but not much more. Your carbs should come mostly from vegetables and fruit. Bread, pasta, chips, rice, bagels, pop, etc. are not recommended. Some good books to read to learn how to control your insulin are Syndrome X, Mastering the Zone, and Protein Power.
Don’t be afraid to eat fat! Fat is good for you. Just make sure that it’s healthy fat such as fish oil, olive oil, avocados, and nuts & seeds.
The most common eating prescription we give our athletes is the following, for every meal, small or large: quality meat, plenty of veggies, and healthy fat. The one exeption would be to have some yam or sweet potatoe after your workout (they aren’t technically a vegetable).
The importance of eating can’t be underestimated. If you ask us what will make you healthier, just eating right or just working out, we will say that’s an easy choice to make. Just eating right will make you healthier. It is as true now as ever before when Hippocrates said, “Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food.”
A little rough around the edges…um, yea. Healthy and strong looking…you bet! Eat like a caveman or hunter-gatherer!
