Paleo-ish (my current nutrition plan)
As some of you may or may not know- I recently joined a cult.
Well- kind of. I joined a Crossfit gym about 6 months ago, and as of today have moved my entire business to said Crossfit gym to train all of my clients. Why? For a variety reasons, one of which being my ever growing personal obsession with the sport, training methodology, community, and just about everything else Crossfit stands for. I’ve drank the Koolaid so to speak- and to my surprise I like it a lot.
As an outsider I always saw Crossfit gyms as being this weird cult. Well, I can now confirm from my own experience that it pretty much is. Everyone who comes here is oddly (refreshingly) friendly, dedicated to progress, and share the same level of excitement for things like DB thrusters, new speed ropes, and that protein powder so and so is trying out. It’s awesome. No, really, it is! We all dress similarly, talk the same language and do a lot of the same things. Its kinda weird, and kinda cool all at the same time.
Since joining, I decided that this was something I wanted to not just be good at, but something I wanted to excel at. I went all in on my research about the sport and what it takes. I followed all of the major CrossFit athletes, continued to religiously listen to new episodes of the Chasing Excellence podcast with longtime Crossfit coach; Ben Bergeron, and of course go to class at the box (Crossfit lingo for gym) as much as I could. Through this process I learned a lot and came up with a list of things I could do to hopefully improve my performance. I bought a new pair of Nobulls (of course), worked with a nutrition coach, started going to physical therapy for thoracic mobility, and eventually as noted above made the switch to be in the space full-time.
Wait- this is a lot of Crossfit talk- I thought this blog post would be about nutrition?! Well, I’m getting there. As I noted above, during this process I started working with a nutrition coach. While working with my coach my primary objective was to weigh all of my food and count my macros that were assigned to me. Over the course of the 3 month period working with my coach- I lost 6 lbs. But- it didn’t feel sustainable for my lifestyle; especially on the weekends. I fell into bad habits of eating weird combinations to get enough protein in at the end of the day (even when I wasn’t hungry), as well as feeling like I was always starving myself on the weekend when sometimes I was exercising upwards of 5 hours (taking CrossFit class, bike rides, hikes, etc.) and missing out on enjoying meals with my boyfriend.
Towards the end of working with my coach I decided to do more in depth research on strategies other CrossFit athletes follow with nutrition. What I found was that a lot of traditional athletes still ate a Paleo diet.
For those who don’t know, a paleo diet consists of:
Fruits
Vegetables
Lean Protein
Fish
Nuts & Seeds (Fun fact- peanuts are not nuts!)
Oils derived from fruits and nuts
What it doesn’t consist of:
Grains
Dairy
Sugar
Processed Foods
Alcohol
Legumes (hello peanuts)
The idea behind the Paleo diet from my understanding is to go back to how people ate in the Paleolithic era as its easier to digest and doesn’t include a lot of harmful chemicals and toxins found in our foods today. It also by nature is easier to not over consume on these foods typically- but don’t quote me on that as too much of anything can be detrimental- even the good stuff.
I started experimenting with paleo recipes I found online and eating paleo in general. What I found? I felt better; I had more energy for work and CrossFit, my digestive system felt more normal, and the foods I was eating sat well. What I also found? I was going over on my allotted grams of fat most if not every day. After comparing how I was feeling with my new nutritional approach and how I was feeling working with the nutrition coach; I decided it was time to stop working together and instead rely on my own knowledge of my body and nutrition (yes- I am a certified nutrition coach!) to get the job done.
Since stopping I have continued some habits that I picked up while working with my coach that I have found help ME:
Weigh myself first thing each day. I know this isn’t for everyone. You need to be in the right mindset and not hold a negative correlation with the number on the scale and your feelings towards yourself as a person. Instead I look at the scale as a tool and the number as a measurement that helps me understand what is going in my body and how I can make better decisions moving forward.
Plan out my meals the day before. I do this for no reason other than it helps me stay organized for both my mental health and my wallet.
Weigh out foods that might trigger my eyes to be bigger than my stomach.
Other than those 3 habits, I do occasionally track my food just to get an idea of where my macros are roughly at.
Now, for the “ish” part of Paleo-ish.
There are a few foods that I have on a daily and weekly business that are not Paleo.
Skyr Yogurt- of course this is dairy. I eat it for two reasons:
I never want to fully give up dairy as I want my body to be used to digesting it in case I do decide to have pizza, nachos, or the occasional ice cream.
The probiotics are fricken amazing for your digestive system, and help keep things regular.
Beans, legumes- more of an occasional food that I mix in on the weekends as a middle of the road food for things like pasta (insert Banza) or taco night.
Sourdough, baked goods, really good sandwiches (because if it isn’t really good, I'm probably not that interested)- all include gluten, but when they are made fresh taste so good and don’t typically upset my stomach.
Alcohol- its seldom, but once in a while its just fun to go out for a drink! My go to’s are local sours and IPA’s, or a fun sized drink.
When eating things outside of my norm I typically like to follow one rule: Only eat it if you can track down who made it. Hence why when I eat baked goods, or breads, I always go local. If I wanted to, I could totally track down who made it and specifically ask what went in it, how they made it, etc.
So, there you have it. My current nutrition plan and how I got here. I’m loving the way I’m eating right now! My body feels great, my performance is on point, and it allows me the flexibility to enjoy eating! Ive also been enjoying trying out new recipes that follow this framework for both at home meals, meal prep, and snacks that I’m excited to share in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned!
-Em