After attending the CF nutrition cert, the ideal of insulin control is cemented in my mind as the most important component of nutrition for the CrossFit athlete. As CFers, we do not want to big just to be big, we want to be just big enough to life huge weight, but we also want to be small enough to do 40+ kipping pull-ups, run a mile in 6min, get 30 rounds of Cindy, etc. The body shape of elite CF can be summed up as lean. Some are big and lean, others are smaller and lean, but all are lean. The best way to get lean is to control insulin. I can best control my insulin levels by controlling the amount of carbs I eat.
This can be done 2 ways. First, eat little to no carbs. I think this is the effect of eating pure "paleo". The downside to this is first, I can not eat carbs and I love them, I love rice, noodles, and especially tortillas. Also, I train, I deplete muscle glycogen, I need carbs to get those glycogen stores back up. I will instead chose to "zone". By zoning, I can still eat some carbs and I know that if I stay at 17blocks a day of carbs, I will control my insulin, have enough energy to train and still get to eat some of the foods I love on a daily basis. How do I know 17 blocks is good. Well, I did the math, went to the webpage, etc. But, also after playing with the zone for over a year, I do well on 15-17blocks of Carbs a day.
Next thing about eating for performance is to minimze gut irritating or inflamming foods. These foods will cause the gut to inflame and my body will be busy trying to get my gut to heal and not be able to heal my muscles (sore back) from my last snatch session. The biggest culprit in inflamming the gut is the wheat protein Gluten, though other grain based protein can do it to. Luckily for me, I do not have a problem with grains causing inflammation, at least not if I stay to that 15-17 block. I talked to Robb Wolf after the lecture about the ideal that alot of the bad things grains do, are in fact, based on the dose of the grains. Some people can not tolerate any without getting some GI symptoms, while others (like me) maybe able to tolerate a modest amount. He agreed. We both agreed that at high enough doses, most people will have problems. So, I will contine to eat some grain daily. I do not like to eat over 8blocks of grain based carbs a day.
Moving on to protein, protein is really the base of the zone diet. As a CFer, my protein needs are about 0.75x my lean body weight, which is about 16.5blocks (115gms) a day. While this is my prescription, protein does not effect insulin, so a little more probably only helps with muscle repair and eating more meat makes me happy. So, I have no problem kicking that up to 17-20, especially since I kicked my Carbs down a few. I get all my protein from animals (milk or meat) that counts for my block total.
Lastly, fats. I have experimented up to 3x fat. Fat sources is olive oil, milk, almonds, other nuts, etc. My actually fat is probably more then 51blocks, but since a block is 1.5gms of fat, not 3gms of fat this is take care of.
The changes I have made are taking more fish oil. I think about 3.5gms of EPA and DHA are my current targets. I am also really backing down on the artificial sweeteners.
Lastly, I think zone is best for me. When I can not zone (no weighing or measuring), I will just fall back on a paleo meal or just eat whatever I want. Finally, 3x a week, I will continue to kick my heels up and eat whatever I want. That is what I think works best for me.
2 comments:
Everything in moderation, eh Pat? I got my bloodwork done and will be eating paleo for the next month. However, I am already craving cheese. Cutting out grains is easier for me than cutting out dairy (old white cheddar cheese specifically). I think this is mainly because I'm used to the idea of eating mor veggies & fruit and less grains already as I have been zoning on and off for the past year. I want to keep doing paleo for 1 month just to see what the bloodwork says, how I look, and to prepare for Peru. I don't want to deprive myself of cheese forever ... everything in moderation.
I've enjoyed your RW certification posts. Confirms much of what we've talked about previously and gives me a bit of motivation to be that much more dedicated to my nutrition.
Glad to hear nothing too serious with your injury!
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