David McG at the Starting Strength Cert
Photo courtesy of Thomas Campitelli
No Active Recovery at CFSBK tomorrow but..
We will not be holding our 11am Active Recovery tomorrow, however.. Coach Fox will be at lululemon athletica Brooklyn from 2-4pm doing a free Active Recovery class. You’re more than welcome to drop in at any time and stay for as long or as short as you’d like.
Changing Weight 1.0
(The Simplified Version)
by Christian Fox
Many people start fitness routines like CrossFit because they just plain want to look better naked, this does not escape me. With my being a fitness coach you may be surprised, however, that I see nothing wrong with it. Vanity, if it gets you moving and eating well, is a fine motivator in my book. It does however, frequently shock me when clients kick ass on the training floor only to have their progress toward said goals negated by crappy nutrition. I know, I know, it’s hard work…but it sure isn’t rocket surgery or brain science (haha). Some of the rules depend on where you are with your diet but here are two simple guidelines to help.
1. Focus first on food quality. What does this mean? A healthy diet should be based around a few components: quality animal protein, healthy fats, vegetables, and fruits.
A. Quality animal protein – This means “the good stuff” – grass-fed meat, pastured chicken and eggs, wild game, and fresh fish from uncontaminated waters. If you can’t afford or don’t have access to these types of things then you should buy the lower-fat cuts of animal protein to reduce your exposure to “the bad stuff” (and add in extra fats from the following list). Toxins are stored primarilly in the fat and organs of animals, so avoid organ meat from conventional animals as well.
B. Healthy fats – If you’re getting “the good stuff” then you can get a lot of good fat from the animals you’re eating. If not then add or cook with things like coconut oil, virgin olive oil, fish oil supplements, tinned sardines, and avocado. This is not a comprehensive list, but do make a point to stay away from vegetable oils (except the few listed above) and the fat of poorly raised animals. For some people, nuts and seeds and their butters can be problematic (aside from being a potent calorie source) so it may be best to limit intake or at least keep an eye on any possible negative reactions.
C. Vegetables and fruits – This is a no-brainer, right? Aside from a few outliers, anything in this category is a safe bet. Prepare them simply, get organic if you can, but don’t stress out about it. Nobody ever got fat by eating too much apple and broccoli.
2. Focus then on food quantity, or more specifically on caloric intake. If you’ve been eating a diet based on pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, soda, desserts, and take-out, then just focusing on quality at first will help regulate weight. If not, and eventually anyway, you’ll need to change overall intake. Again, not rocket surgery or brain science here.
A. Small changes in caloric intake while taking longer to change weight are better for long-term weight change.
B. A lower-carbohydrate diet will help with losing weight, and adding more carbohydrates will promote growth. When going lower-carb be sure to eat enough of them to keep you feeling and performing well. If you always feel sluggish and your performance in the gym is diving add some carbs back in a little at a time till you feel better.
C. Remember also that changing weight is a process. You’ll need to make constant adjustments along the way. What helped you lose the first 5 lbs will not help you lose the last 5. You’ll need to reduce calories as you weigh less, you need fewer calories to support the new, smaller you. The other side of the coin is gaining weight. As you grow you’ll need to up intake to keep up with the beefier version of yourself.
D. For gaining mass, liquid meals can be a real help. Try adding milk to the equation and see if you don’t grow.
E. Alcohol, while it can be extremely enjoyable, is not a desired calorie source. Try and limit intake whether you’re trying to gain weight or lose weight. It has estrogen-promoting effects that will hamper muscle synthesis needed to gain lean mass, and alcohol alone can destroy an otherwise valiant effort at dropping body fat. Beer belly, wine belly, tequila belly, whatever, let less be more. A few drinks can add up fast calorie-wise, so be wise, wise guy.
Make sense? I know it’s hard to stick to a plan, but if you don’t have a plan you’re lost. So develop your plan and get cooking!
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What kind of advice would you give someone looking to eat better? In your experience, what has worked for you and what has not?
Great post once again from Sir Fox! I love the order of priority. I found a gradual approach to be successful, I tried to make 5 out of 7 dinners paleo, then added in 2-3 lunches a week, and just kept expanding. I know that everybody is different, but cold turkey was not for me.
I am at about 5-10% of alcohol consumption from this summer. Finally! good to get over the hump.
Have a great weekend folks! See some of you in there early on Sunday. Enjoy the great fall weather!
I think what has worked best for me is to ease my way into better eating habits. I still don't eat (or even try to eat) 100% Paleo, but I eat a lot closer to it than I used to, and feel much better (plus I have a leaner shape).
But the first time I heard of Paleo my immediate reaction was "NO WAY!" I just couldn't stomach (pun intended) the thought of giving up so much of my diet all at once! However, reading "Good Calories, Bad Calories" was what convinced me I needed to make a change. That's when I started reducing the amount of grains and sugar in my diet. Slowly I discovered that this felt good, and I just naturally started to gravitate toward even MORE meat and vegetables.
Eventually I gave grass-fed beef a try after hearing so many people talk about it, and pastured eggs too. That's when I started to discover how good a well-raised animal (or its eggs) tastes! So that was another gradual change, and one that happened because I enjoyed it, not because I made a conscious decision that I was going to eat well-raised, and only well-raised, animals.
I guess you could call this "stepwise Paleo." It's totally unlike the Whole30 approach, which is cold turkey (cold bacon?). I know that has worked well for a lot of people, but I find the insistence on perfection to be totally off-putting, which is why I've never tried it. I do get their concept of how you can't figure out exactly how much a food is affecting you until you eliminate it completely from your diet for a while and then add it gradually back in, so I might try it in the future. But for now I'm pretty happy with my (estimated) 80% version of things.
Heh! I never even thought about solving the alcohol consumption issue because it hasn't been a problem for me since college (when I weighed about 40 pounds more than I do now — thanks, pizza and beer). Ever since I met my husband, who doesn't drink at all (no moral objections, just doesn't like the taste, though he will have a glass of wine with a steak every now and then), my drinking has gone down to maybe once every other week, and almost never more than a glass of wine at a time. I just can't bring myself to crack open a bottle of wine at home because I'd be the only one drinking it! Maybe it would be different if beer were my drink instead of wine, but there you go, the Easy Alcohol Diet. Just find a significant other who's a teetotaler. 🙂
my advice for anyone going into a diet like this is to ease into your fat consumption. i went 'paleo' cold turkey back in April and the first few weeks were hell (mainly sluggishness and let's say 'extreme digestive distress'). if you're eating a standard american diet one day, you can't do a high-fat diet the next. be particularly careful with coconut oil — ramp up your consumption over a period of weeks.
i've not been eating very paleo lately since i'm trying to gain weight in my strength cycle. i really miss the diet though. i've been having a lot of sugar and wheat products and it's agitating some latent inflammation issues that the paleo diet had solved for me. i think in my next cycle i'll go back to a cleaner diet and just deal with less reliable strength gains.
@Nick –
I have been doing the strength cycle as well and trying to keep largely paleo. In the past this has been a poor mix, but this time I feel like I am doing it better. I am allowing myself potatoes, milk, some rice and corn but no refined sugar or wheat. This has kept the inflammation basically in check (my psoriasis is a nearly instant barometer on inflammation) while allowing me to gain weight and strength.
Since I am not doing GOMAD or even close I have been having to eat an epic quantity of food. E.g. Last night a Bare Burger I had a double burger in a lettuce wrap plus a single burger in a lettuce wrap and a large side of fries. By my calculation that was well over 18 ounces of meat, bringing my daily total to probably a little over two and a half pounds of wet weight meat.
Holy cannoli! Do chicks get that hungry doing strength cycle too? (I hope so…one of my favorite things about marathon training season is all the food I get to eat!)
Stella – yes!
When I was doing my first strength cycle there were definitely days when I put away 2 lbs of meat.
stella – ditto.
nick, i also did strength cycle largely paleo (except for the dairy part) for several cycles in a row and had no trouble putting on muscle.
I saw Malcolm in his post burger domination glory last night. Pretty epic.
thanks, everyone. i think i'm getting enough meat in (and a lot of milk). i've gained about 30 pounds this cycle and i don't look too fat, so i'm pleased enough. i'm going to start phasing out wheat and sugar because it is making me feel like shit and see what happens.
i need to try out bareburger! though it is in the wrong direction for me (i live in cobble hill)
great CFJ video on topic, on mainsite today
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitJournal_BerardiNutrition_Ep1_PRE.mov
What has worked well for me is setting 30 day goals/challenges. I set an end date, 30 days from the date I decide to start and I go! Usually I start cheating a couple days before the goal date (usually with a beer). Then, I slip a little more with dairy, then I TOTALLY CHEAT with a bowl of pasta… Then I start again! (rinse and repeat)
Yes, it's a little weird and somewhat confusing but it has been working for me since August! I actually JUST started a 2 month goal today! End date is set in my calendar for Dec 21st.
Also, everything Stella said was pretty spot on, it took me about a year of gradual diet chances before I could get anywhere close to 30 days strict. Now, I am strict paleo 90% of the time.
Seconding 'Good Calories Bad Calories'. GREAT BOOK!
strength cycle continues:
squat: (95×5, 135×5, 185×5) 215x5x3
this was felt easier than they have the last few times, but i still can't find my hamstrings for the life of me.
bench: (45×5, 95×5, 115×3) 135x5x3
right shoulder isn't happy, but the reps are all doable.
YEAHHHH a bitch got her chinup back 🙂
considering i'm back up to my previous weight, this is a huge surprise.
woo!
NICE MICHELE!
strength cycle week 6.3
squat: 225x5x3
i've been really anxious about this number for the past few days. it was my october goal and just a general goal for a while. and i think i hit it pretty well. i had a shallow rep in my first set but cleaned everything up in my last two sets. these felt better than 220 did on wednesday.
bench: 115x5x3
i failed last week on 120, but 115 was totally fine. starting to really enjoy this lift.
clean: 125x3x3
these felt decent. definitely starting to get heavier. i really need to work on fixing my grip at the end of the lift. i'm holding onto the bar the whole time and the weight kind of lands on my extended wrists.
Congrats Nick! Seems like you've been eyeing 225 with some trepidation for some time, awesome to hear it went up well.
My strategy for helping someone else to eat better is to fight my instinct to preach the Paleo gospel. I think for so many of us cleaning up how we eat has such a powerful and profound effect that it is hard sometimes not to run around smacking bagels out of people's hands. I've found that quiet example is the best way- when people start asking you why you eat "that way" you know that they are interested and somewhat open. A wise friend also once suggested that even with all of the false information, Lipid Hypotheses, etc. that vegetables are inarguable, universal health food, so its always easiest to start your pitch there and work your way to bacon wrapped bacon bacons.
As far as a personal strategy, I guess I also gradually found my way to 90% or so strict, mainly because I slowly learned more and more and realized that things I thought were optimal were anything but. Once I can contextualize the reason something isn't great for me it just isn't that hard too avoid it. Of course this does not apply to alcohol and chocolate, with which I have revolving, dramatic, and passionate love affairs.
It was nice to make up yesterday's WOD with a large group of lovely people today. Tough one for sure. Scaled to 135# – 20 min flat. Maybe a little too conservative on the runs and I probably should've tried 145#.
Big thanks again to everyone who donated to FIERCE over the past few days. CFSBK helped me reach and surpass my goal! You all rock.
After Margie gave me the worried mom look, I changed my weight for the WoD to 65# from 75# and was quite happy to survive. Thanks Margie!
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