Nutrition

In a few weeks, we will be starting the CrossFit Katy Train Right, Eat Right, Live Right Challenge. I will be posting my before pics on the blog and my after pics. Now I've been following a fairly strict Paleo diet for over a year now. That's not to say I've been perfect. I've fallen off the band-wagon completely at times and I've also tightened it up completely (i.e. the Whole 30). I believe I've found a pretty good balance, but I'm looking to take it to the next level during these next two months. I don't plan on going back on the Whole 30 because as much as I believe it has some major health benefits, I don't think there's anything wrong with animal fats like butter and ghee and I do enjoy eating out which is almost impossible to do on the Whole 30.....not impossible but very nearly. I am not at my ideal level of leanness and I honestly don't know if it's possible for me to achieve that without going super strict on my portions....something I haven't quite decided I want to do yet. But I am going to experiment and here's a few things that I'm tossing around in my head...

Post Workout Nutrition:

I have never done any particular post-workout nutrition. I usually work out at 5:30AM and get to eat breakfast at either 7:00AM or 8:30AM depending on if I'm teaching bootcamp or not that morning. Now most people who are fans of post-workout nutrition would say that that is too much time between finishing a workout and eating. They describe the "window of opportunity" as far as rebuilding muscle and glycogen stores to be about 15-30 minutes post-workout. So I've decided that I'm going to start trying this post-workout nutrition idea. Dallas and Melissa from the Whole 30 say some of the best post-workout nutrition is egg whites and fruit but I'm not sure that I am going to want to try and shove food down my mouth post-WOD so I believe I'm going to be diving into the world of protein powder. Right now I will be using IsoPure Zero Carb protein powder (one scoop) mixed with either water (on a heavy lifting/short day) or coconut water (on a longer/lighter metcon day). The coconut water has some natural sugars (13 grams) and tons of potassium and electrolytes to replenish after a long sweat session. I am also tossing around the idea of buying the Progenix Recovery. I used it at Sectionals and found my recovery to be pretty incredible, I was not very sore (even after those awful handstand push up attempts) and I felt pretty ready to go for every workout. The product is very expensive though so we'll see how that goes.

Portion Control:

I am not a very big fan of the zone. I think it's tedious and difficult to stick to strictly. I also believe that, though many CrossFitters claim to be zoning...they really aren't. They are using the Zone as a backbone, but tweaking it so much that I don't know if you can even call it the Zone anymore. There is a lot of merit though in using the zone to help you figure out portion sizes as far as protein is concerned (and carbs to some extent). I believe one of my biggest issues with getting to that point of leanness that I want is that my protein portions are just too big. So my idea for the challenge is to figure out my RX'd block number for proteins and try to stick with it....that way I won't find myself plowing through a 12 oz. steak when all I really need is 5 oz. If you're eating green veggies, the Zone allows you to pretty much fill up on those until you can't fit anymore in your mouth so I don't think I will be paying much attention to my carb blocks...but if things don't change, I may have a look at them too.

Supplements:

I have been very bad lately about taking my fish oil so that is definitely going to change! I am going to try and get at least 4 grams of fish oil daily. That seems to be the magic number as far as heart health is concerned according to some recently published studies. I may be adjusting that higher depending on how I feel. I am also going to be using CoQ10, Vitamin D, and Glutamine.

I'd be very open to any other suggestions and I'll let everybody know how it goes! Before pics coming in a few weeks!