The Classic CrossFit Nutrition Prescription has always been:
Eat Meats and Vegetables, Nuts and Seeds, some Fruit, little starch and NO SUGAR’.
Additionally, I always like to add in the following ‘Avoid Grains, Legumes, and Dairy.’
Seems simple enough but let’s dive just a touch deeper.
Protein – Start your meals with protein. Ideally, it should be animal based, and the volume should match the palm of your hand.
Vegetables – Dark, green and leafy, you can’t go wrong. We also like a lot of color in our meals – eating 8-10 shades a day can do wonders.
Nuts and seeds – a handful here and there is good. A pound at a time will slow your progress to a crawl.
Fruit – one or two pieces a day should be okay for most of you depending on your goals. Dark fruits with thin skin have less sugar and more antioxidants. Your best bet is to stick with dark berries, like blueberries and raspberries, etc. Stay away from brightly colored, thick-skinned fruits like bananas and oranges; they’re loaded with sugars.
Little Starch – after you’ve cleaned up your diet a bit and things are going well, some sweet potato or white rice a night can work for you. Again, this depends on your goals and current body composition.
No Sugar – Beware ‘The Oses’ Remember how said ‘no sugar’ above? Well if it ends in an ‘ose’ guess what, it’s sugar.
Some of the more common ones include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose, and galactose. Table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose. Dodge High fructose corn syrup like the plague.
Grains – Everyone knows about the evils of Gluten by now (found in wheat, rye, and barley) which most folks now associate with the autoimmune disease Celiac.
However, all grains contain similar proteins;
Corn: Zein
Oats: Avenin
Rice: Orzenin
Also, all grains contain Proline. Proline makes it difficult for you to digest these proteins, and it also has adverse effects on the gut lining — in case you needed another reason to drop grains.
Legumes – things like beans and peanuts, these contain Lectins. Lectins disrupt the health of your digestive tract contributing to what’s known as ‘leaky gut.’. A leaky gut lets stuff in that shouldn’t get in and negatively impacts nutrient absorption.
Dairy – more proteins and such that causes Autoimmune issues in many people.
Best to leave these alone for a bit. How do you feel after eating cheeses, milks, eggs, etc?
Hints and clues – Real food is perishable. Hunt for your food around the edges of the supermarket. If it has a shelf life of months into the future, it’s not food.
Labels – ALWAYS read the labels. If it has a ‘Food label’ it’s probably not food. If the government has to lean on a company to break down the ‘ingredients’, it’s not for you. When was the last time you saw a food label on an apple or a head of lettuce?
