Oh yeah, and in CrossFit, they don't care what you eat, but they recommend at least one of the two strategies if you want to eat healthy and improve your performance, ideally both strategies:
Paleo & Zone
Paleo is more important than Zone, though. But Zone is a good idea to at least stick to generally, to make sure you're well balanced.
I keep a food journal, and track approx how many units of protein, fat, and carbs I've had. I don't really restrict myself, I just keep track, and watch how it affects my weight and my performance. For every set of 1 block protein + 1 block carbs + 1 block fat = approx 100 calories.
Oh yeah:
1 block protein = 7 g
1 block carbs = 9 g
1 block fat = 4 g
However, counting in blocks tends toward underestimating, so keep that in mind. I aim for about 10 or 11 blocks of each per day (theoretically 1100 calories, realistically more like 1400 or 1500), but allow a lot of variation. If I want to lose weight, I cut back on carbs and make sure most of my carbs come from veggies. But I allow myself to indulge in dark chocolate, usually 70 - 85% cocoa.
For every 10lb of
lean body weight, you should eat that many units of protein and carbs each day. If you burn a lot of calories, the additional calories should come from healthy sources of fat. So since my lean body weight is about 105 lbs (my bones, muscles and water without the fat), this means I should eat 10.5 units of fat & protein each day. If you know your approx % body fat, you can calc your lean body weight. For example if you have 28% body fat, that means that 72% of your total body weight is your lean body weight. Get a calculator and figure it out that way.
Today's food journal entry:
Thurs 9/1 – (weight) 6am! 1K row, wo: 5 rounds 400m run, 15 OH squats (15lb); 16:04
Br – coffee, bit cheese & apple (1p, 1c, 2f), gr prot shake (2 ½ p, 1 ½ c, 1f), coconut milk (1c, 1f), l – std egg (3 ½ p, ½ c, 2f), choc (½ c, 1f), d – green soup w spinach, avo, cucumber, cilantro (1p, 1c, 2f), surimi (1p, 1 ½ c, ½ f), choc (½ c, 1f)
Day’s total – 9p, 7 ½ c, 10 ½ f
When you first start, you'll have to do a lot of measuring and reading labels, but once you've done it for a couple of weeks, you'll be able to estimate reasonably well and it will be a lot quicker and easier to track.
I noticed that there are days when I feel like I hardly ate anything, then I look at my journal and realize I ate a lot of empty carb calories. Other days I feel like I ate a lot cuz I'm full, then I look back at my journal and realize I ate a lot of healthy food, and a good amount of protein, but not a lot of food or calories.
Today I ate a bit less than average. When I go on vacation, there are days when the day's total looks more like 5p, 14c, 21f
. (It's really hard to get a healthy balance when you eat out if you don't pay attention.)
