Emma Lisa at Fight Gone Bad
- There is NO AR and NO COMP CLASS today
Food Quality and Quantity: They both matter
By Chris Fox
We’re going to take a closer, non-dogmatic look at both the Paleo and Zone diets that the majority of CrossFitters have been exposed to. Last time we looked at the downfalls of both, and rightfully so. A low calorie, carefully weighed (I asked for 10 almonds, not 12!) Zone has it pitfalls as does a potentially restrictive, or overindulgent (paleo desserts and bacon always abound at parties) Paleo approach. Any neurotic approach to eating can not lead to a healthy relationship with food and in the end that’s what we’re after. So, what’s good about:
The Zone Diet
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It’s quantifiable and repeatable. It removes the question “how much should I eat?”. You have a “prescription” for your daily calories and macronutrients and can measure food to adhere to it. It makes it simple. If you lose too much weight you can tweak your “prescription” as needed.
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It balances macronutrient intake since in a Zone meal you eat measured amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats together. This creates healthier, more balanced (i.e. not solely carb based. Hello, bagel and coffee for breakfast guy) meals without having to think too much about it. Most unaware people tend toward a heavy carb bias, and furthermore toward processed carbs and sugars.
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It encourages you to eat vegetables. We can clearly see that 3 cups of broccoli or greens is going to make you feel fuller and more satisfied than 5 french fries. These both represent 1 carb block. (check out this blocks chart). The Zone Diet encourages you to take in the bulk of carbs from vegetables and fruits.
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For many people, it’s a boost in protein intake. This is good.
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It aims to balance hormone levels. Balanced hormonal levels in response to food is the crux of Dr. Sears’ work.
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It gives you an idea of what a portion looks like. This is the greatest value in a Zone approach in my opinion. It doesn’t seem like a whole lot of food, and that’s the point. If you’re overweight you eat too many calories, if you eat too many calories you’ll be overweight, plain and simple. We can’t ignore the most basic law of thermodynamics in the human body. If you take in more calories than you use for energy your body will store them, likely as fat since it’s the most efficient way to store excess calories in adult mammals.
The Paleo Diet
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It focuses on food quality. You start to become aware of the crap thats involved in commercially farmed animals and produce. You read labels and realize how much shit is in a package of (insert your favorite treat here).
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You look for locally produced, grass-fed/pastured/wild caught/organic foods. This is good for you, the purveyor, and the environment. You eat real food.
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Your omega-3 to omega-6 ratios improve since you’re eating naturally raised animals who ate their natural diet, too.
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It removes gluten from the diet. Most people will do better to remove this anti-nutrient from their diets, even if they aren’t intolerant to it.
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Inflammation levels in the body reduce in large part to removing gluten and balancing fatty acids. This starts to resolve some auto-immune issues for many people.
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It encourages vegetable consumption. You’ve ditched the grains and have to get carbs from somewhere.
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It encourages healthy fat intake. No need to fear saturated fat! (provided that the bulk of it comes from healthy animals) You’ve ditched the grains and have to get calories from somewhere.
So, how can we begin to take the good from both of these approaches and individualize our diet is the question. Here’s a quick start guide:
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Especially if you never have done this, weigh and measure and eat according to your Zone prescription for two to four weeks. It’s an experiment. Pay attention to what a serving of protein, fat, and carbohydrate looks like on your plate.
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When you’re out to eat do your best to stick to a Zone prescription. Don’t use every meal out as a cheat.
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Scale up, do a Paleo Zone. See if you can get 90% of your food to be grain-free and natural and adhering to Paleo guidelines, again it’s just for two to four weeks.
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Keep a journal during this experiment and take brief notes on how you feel a few times throughout the day, particularly when waking and around meal times.
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*Bonus experiment – Do a 24 hour fast (if you’re diabetic then skip this). Get in touch with true hunger. Most people don’t really know what hunger feels like. We know when we should eat, we know that we crave foods, but we may not really know the feeling of true hunger like your body (not your brain) telling you to eat. Try eating dinner, and then not eating any calories until dinner at around the same time the next day. You can still work out (you may feel a bit lower in intensity but you may not) and you won’t die. In fact, you may feel just fine after the first few hours. Drink plenty of water and herbal tea, and have a black coffee or two if you want. If you’re terrified of catabolizing muscle then down some BCAAs before and after a workout. Journal this experiment also and plan sensible meal to break the fast, not a victory dinner.
The goal here isn’t to turn you into someone who always has to weigh and measure meals and brings along a scale to restaurants (I’ve seen this), neither do I want you to feel that you must forever live a life absent of pizza and full of burgers sans bun with extra salad on the side. The goal is to become more aware of both quantity and quality and develop an honest dialogue with yourself about how food makes you feel, and how much you really need to feel full.
A few references:
CrossFit Journal Issue 21 – Meal Plans
Zone Block Calculator
Paleo and Auto-Immune Disease
Next time we’ll take a look at how nutrient timing matters, and how exercise, carbohydrate and fat are related.
Hint: Breakfast may not be the most important meal of the day for fat loss, and all grains may not be the devil…
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Plate Organization with Dr. Kauflin Practice CrossFit
CrossFit – A Competitor’s Zone Prescription: Part 1
