As you know, I’ve been talking about diet an awful lot lately. I’m posting my thoughts here, responding to emails and doing some nutritional coaching for a few folks. I’m in danger of becoming the “Eat More Girl”, I’m afraid, as it seems like that’s what I start 90% of my conversations with. But I honestly wouldn’t be giving out that advice if the Adidas Sambas didn’t fit.
People are responding positively, especially when they take my advice and it works. But I’m also getting a little bit of the, “Easy for you to say…” too. As in, “Easy for you to say, you’re already lean.” Or, “Easy for you to say, you’re not trying to lose weight.” So I’d like to set one thing straight here, and hopefully provide a little tough love inspiration.
This diet stuff was NOT easy for me to say. I did not start off with the perfect diet, I did not start off lean, and I did NOT start off strong. I started off, as Dallas puts it, “Really weak and skinny fat”. My muscles were non-existent, I thought 10# dumbbells were heavy and believed bagels with light cream cheese to be a good breakfast food. Getting started on a diet that would support CrossFit was NOT easy for me, nor is it going to be easy for YOU. In general, your diet is HARD WORK. It requires constant attention, evaluation, refinement. It requires research, education, dedication. And it requires the patience of a hungry, cranky, information-overloaded saint.
I started improving my diet in small steps. At Dallas’ urging, I began eating vegetables, tried to get in more regular meals and upped my overall calories. I hung out there for a while, until that felt comfortable and I started to feel and see some positive effects. That motivated me to do some more research, and ask Dallas for more help. I started eating more “real” food, started cutting back on the grains and sugars and began to eat some good fat. Making those quality improvements led to fast results… but I had so much success (dropping fat and building muscle) that I became a little overzealous. I got mixed up in all that Zone Gone Bad nonsense and backslid for a few months. I was eating too little and training too hard, and I got scary skinny and lost a bunch of strength. NOT the progress we were looking for.
I regrouped, and started over. Grains, sugars and dairy – gone. More vegetables. LOTS more fat. My quality was dialed in, but I was a little off in my proportions. I was eating too much fat, and after a month, I started getting soft. But my lifts were better, and I felt better, so I stayed there until I rid my brain of its “six pack” obsession. Then, I started experimenting again. I cut my fat back a little, upped my protein and started slowly cutting back on carbs. I hung out there for a while, tweaking my proportions gradually. I leaned out a little, and continued to gain strength.
Then, I started bonking on some workouts, and noticed some energy flags throughout the day. So I started adding more fat (again), and implementing IF a few days a week. I played with my meal times and fast times, made sure I got all my calories in every day and hung out there for a while. (Noticing a trend here?) IF seemed to pull it all together. My lifts kept getting better, I was happier with my new, more filled-out frame and my energy was super consistent all day. I stayed there for a LONG time.
But, of course, there is no stasis. My body continued to change – more muscle, more weight – and eventually, my gym performance showed me that my food intake and macronutrient proportion were no longer “ideal”. Time to rework it… again. My latest plan includes more fat, higher quality protein, a reduction of IF days, and the introduction of a higher carb post-workout meal. I’m a week into it, and will stay here for another week or two and see how things go.
See where I’m going with this? None of this has been “easy”. It’s hard work, and an awful lot of effort. I black box on myself CONSTANTLY, to figure out what’s going to work and what isn’t. There are so many factors – dairy or no dairy? More fat or more carbs? More calories, or less calories? It can, and frequently does, get overwhelming, and it would be so much easier to throw up my hands and just EAT. But my diet allows me to perform, and be healthy, and be fit, so I put in the constant effort.
If you CrossFit, you are no stranger to hard work and effort. A few months ago, I wrote about putting that same hard work and effort into your recovery… and today, I’m writing about putting it into your DIET. I’m not saying you have to weigh and measure, track and analyze. But I am saying you need to educate yourself, be patient and be prepared for an awful lot of trial and error before you find the exact combination that works for you. And even then, be prepared to repeat the cycle ad nauseam, because things are always changing.
I’m happy to answer your questions, and REALLY happy to be able to help you skip some of the mistakes I made with my own diet by pointing you in a better direction. But as for any of this being “easy for me to say”, I assure you, there’s a lot of grief, frustration and more than a few mistakes behind every last piece of advice I’m dropping on you. But I’ll also say this… When you get it right, and things just click, it’s like you won the lottery. So stick with it. Be patient. Keep experimenting, slowly, tweaking one thing at a time. You’ll get there. And when you do, for a while at least, it WILL feel easy.
We can help you live the Whole9 life.
Fill out the form below to join the Whole9 Newsletter.
great post and exactly what i needed to hear today. i’m working on my diet a lot, and my CF trainer is really changing my whole brain process of what a healthy diet is. after being brainwashed by the weight watcher programs of the world that i was eating right, but also noticing minimal results, it’s rocking my world that maybe i was approaching things wrong. i haven’t been perfect, but in the last week, compared to the week before, i’m made major leaps and bounds. i’m trying to keep a positive attitude that it’s okay to fumble right now, that i’ll only get better at it, but of course, like most of us, i want it to be perfect NOW so i can get the performance and results i desire, especially weight loss. anyway love the site and thanks for the encouraging post!
Good post. I get the “you’re already lean, what do you need to worry about diet for?” comment all the time. Er uh, I’ve been CrossFitting 3 years and eating zone for over 5. That’s why I perform and look the way I do. Funny how that connection doesn’t immediately get understood.
Kimmitri,
One of the things I alluded to, but didn’t spell out as clearly as I should have, is this… until I got my QUALITY down, I didn’t start mucking around with anything else. Food quality comes before quantity, proportion or more “advanced” dietary tweaks like IF. The good news is, you also get the most bang for your buck with quality. If the only thing you do is improve your food quality, I guarantee you’ll see favorable results. Once you’ve dialed in on that, then THAT becomes your constant, and you can start playing around with the rest of the factors.
Right now, as you’re just getting started, think “kaizen” (continuous improvement), not “perfection”. Keep making small dietary improvements, one at a time, and you’ll do really well.
Melissa, so much to say… but I’ll settle for just telling you that you rock and be done with it. :)
PS- I tried the chicken sausage… hated it. I’m not a fan on Facebook. :(
I found that my body really doesn’t work well with carbs but instead with a high fat/protein diet as well. I am trying to introduce a lot more veggies into the mix but my body still craves that protein and fat above all. I started to eat more baby spinach and I do like broccoli, I just have to eat more of it.
Diet is one of those areas that most of us know what we have to do, but many of us need to be pushed, or nudged, in the right direction and its often not easy to break bad habits.
One thing I am doing in my layoff from metcons is cutting back on my calories a bit so I don’t gain weight and still maintaining the low carb lifestyle. Its too easy to relax your diet when your training is relaxed, especially from an injury. I refuse to get sucked into that.
Great blog and I am sure a lot of people needed to read this.
can we have a ‘hot guys changing diapers’ thread or something like that?
I mean, where’s the mAn power?
Melissa-
This is a great post and very helpful. I know this sounds wacky, but anyway you could post sample food days for you? I bet there are alot of people who would get help from seeing what the quality and quantity actually looks like.
Keep up the GREAT work!
Jill
Jill,
That’s not wacky at all. I actually did just that about a month ago – you can find the post here.
Thanks for dropping in!
Melissa
Thanks!
Please drop by our box if you find yourself down in NC. We moved here from NYC 5 years ago, and love it.
http://www.crossfitwilmington.com
p.s. that’s me on the video doing pull ups (on the band which is the bane of my existence). I am trying every day to get off it. Now my hands are open and raw so I geuss its time to take a day off. Anyway..I tell people about you all the time..thanks again!
Melissa,
I love your blog. I want to add to what you’re saying and hopefully help some people out that may be going through a similar situation to mine. I had some amazing success with the Zone (totally non-Paleo) about 2.5 years ago. I dropped from about 135 at 18%bf to around 120-125 with 14%bf. I was Crossfitting 5 days a week and started to really smoke the WODs though I wasn’t quite strong enough to do them all at RX weight. I maintained that for about 8 months, but eventually I fell off the wagon HARD! My lifestyle changed and I slowly eeked away from Zone proportions and had to switch from an affiliate to CF WODs at a Globo on my own. Within 8 months I was up to 140 with an increase in bf to match. I was lethargic and weak and my metcon sucked. I then joined a new affiliate and re-amped the intensity on my WODs but still only averaged 2-3x a week. I started learning a lot about the Paleo diet and IF and did a ton of research on diet. I also knew how successful the Zone had been for me in the past. So for a little over a year I struggled over and over trying to Paleo-Zone with IF. I was so focused on nutrition and expended so much mental energy trying to perfect everything all at once. And I failed over and over again. It was such a HUGE change to the lifestyle I was accustomed to. Even though I was consciously committed to the change, I didn’t respect all of the subconscious elements that go into really changing your lifestyle. So, I’ve taken a HUGE step back. I’m now focusing on the frequency and intensity of my WODs. I’ve completely stopped weighing and measuring my food. I know food quality is paramount, but I’m starting small. The only thing I’ve completely eliminated is gluten – everything else in moderation. And it’s working! I’m working out more often with more intensity (back to 5x a week). My mental state is VASTLY improved. My body comp is slowly improving. I no longer go 2-3 days with “perfect” eating only to binge and feel dejected. With so much less energy being used to think about every little morsel that goes in my mouth my WODs are getting better. I am so much happier even though I’m not at my “ideal” weight/strength/fitness level. Baby steps! I know it sounds cliché, but it’s SO important. Diet is so much more than a conscious decision. Respect that and you can really make lasting improvements.
Dang! Sorry I got so long-winded there. Thanks for getting this whole discussion started and for everything else you delve into on the blog.
Vanessa
Just looked up “Kaizen” on Wikipedia after reading your comment above. I had no clue there was a principle of japanese philosophy to explain why I feel so good after something as little as a very small PR. “Kaizen” might be tattoo worthy.
Sorry for the off topic comment. Love the blog.
-Ryan Brown
Good Post Melissa. I like how you are stressing the nutrition on here. I think some people miss the importance of nutrition. It is the base of our pyramid.
For others I have found that they find it hard to believe that cutting out grains and dairy, eating Paleo and getting lots of sleep will give such great results. But it does, and it especially helps with weight loss. I have totally geeked out on this stuff after Robb Wolf’s nutrition cert. More in the area of why it all works and I hope to indulge more into Paleo vs common diseases.
But you can’t forget fish oil. I wish someone explained the importance of fish oil to me earlier instead of just telling me to take it. I did a blog post on it to help my family and friends understand WHY they should supplement DHA and EPA into their diets. http://seanb-h.blogspot.com/2009/04/why-you-should-be-taking-fish-oil-part.html
Keep up the great posts promoting Paleo and stressing nutrition! I know your blog is super popular and it is great to see all the nutritional content.
Do eggs fit in? It seems some classify eggs as dairy and other give eggs a pass
Noah,
I’ve not seen a Paleo reference that classifies eggs as “dairy”. They all lump eggs in with meat. Of course, free-range, organic eggs are preferred.
To yolk or not to yolk is always a hot topic, however. I used to, and now I don’t, because (a) I’m playing around with trying to maintain a better acid/base balance in my overall diet, and (b) egg whites are an excellent, easily digestible protein source. In fact, my high carb PWO meal is five or six egg whites plus some butternut squash or sweet potato, all mixed together. It sounds weird, but it’s really delicious.
That stuff looks badass!! I got 5 teaspoons/125ml for the math…I’m really not good at math but I think that’s right based on Robb Wolf who recommends .5g/10lbs of BW.
He has never said anything bad, nor have I read anything bad about taking that much right out of the gate. It is interesting when he talks about dosing people up at 1g per 10lbs of bodyweight that have issues like disease, or other circumstances. But the maintenance dose is .5g.
My friend Pat M, who is a scientist, questions this and we are now out to “geek” out more on to why .5grams. I’m not saying Robb isn’t right because he has boat loads of experience and knowledge. I am just curious.
At the end of the day, as you mention a lot, it’s personal feelings, appearance and performance which will dictate if your doing things right. The WOD numbers and the mirror don’t lie.
Forgot to mention…I used just the EPA and DHA content for my calculations. I am almost sure this is what Robb said to do.
Maybe one of the smart people that read your blog can help me out here.
Interesting that you stopped eating yolks melissa! I still eat them but I often eat just whites too. They are a great source of protein.
People say that too me too – ‘easy for you’ because I am thin and fit, but really I do have to work hard.
However it is Kind Of easy for us, because at the end of the day we are not overweight. Your advice to eat more is great for many people (especially crossfitters who have been chronically undereating for a long time) but not for everybody. unfortunately for people who are actually overweight, eating more is often not the answer but sadly… eating less.
Although I am not a Cross-fitter, I really love your blog…it MUST be the charm, wit, intelligence, humor and sarcasm you imbue each post with. I have a great friend who is a knockout- great body, smart, funny etc…I will never forget this moment when I had been seeing her every day for about a two month period and said to her, “you know, I just want to let you know that I recognize all the hard work you put into being healthy- your commitment to exercise and genuine healthy eating of whole foods, and not eating sugar. Now I see the effort that is behind the way you look.” She nearly cried. She said that she gets snide, off handed remarks all the time about how she looks- how people think she just gets up every day and effortlessly looks the way most of us dream about, and that she really would LOVE to eat that broccoli and chicken over a pizza all the time. I no longer assume that just because someone IS “thin” or “fit”, that it comes any easier than my effort to not be overweight. We too often put our own desires onto other people, thereby effectively sabotaging or undermining our own efforts or achievements, and that is so terrible.
Thanks again for your blog my dear!
–Karen
Laura,
I hear you. And in a past life, my only goal WAS to be “not overweight”, and I was doing just fine there. But I eventually figured out that being “not overweight” in appearance doesn’t mean your body composition is anywhere near healthy. I was “not overweight”, but still had, proportionally, a LOT of body fat. I looked thin and trim when fully clothed, but I had no muscle underneath it all. So I’m not going to agree that it’s been “kind of” easy for me, because I have to fight for every pound of muscle on my frame AND on the bar, and if I neglect my diet for even a week, I lose strength AND weight ridiculously fast. I will say that my challenges as a thin-but-not-genetically-blessed-with-strength person have been different, though.
And no, not everyone needs to eat more. Of course not. But there has not been one person, out of the 50 or 60 emails I’ve received in the last two weeks, who has, in fact, been overeating. So not everyone needs to eat more… but everyone I’ve been talking to so far does. :)
Karen,
That’s a nice comment, there. I had a moment not too long ago that I’m not proud of… I popped in to visit a friend, and her Mom commented on how good I looked. And THEN she said, “You’re so lucky to be thin like that.” Having just come from a frustrating CrossFit workout and about to go home to eat my egg whites and spinach, I wasn’t feeling too “lucky”. I snapped at her, “Actually, I work my ASS off to look like this.” And then I felt really bad, because she didn’t mean anything by it. So I understand why it meant so much to your friend, that you acknowledged her hard work and efforts. That’s a very cool story.
This fitness stuff – ALL of it, from training to diet to sleep to recovery – is hard work. Some of us are genetically more gifted than others, maybe… but that doesn’t mean it’s easy for anyone.
Thanks for dropping by.
I must speak on behalf of my friend, the yolk.
You cannot justify eating eggs under Paleo but reject the yolks because of acid balance, whether you're talking about folic or arachidonic acid. Paleo loves its folic acid (pretty much everything), and its organ meats, which are the kings of AAs. Are you referring to Dr. Sears and his eicosanoids (oh noooos!)?
Everyone send your egg yolks to me instead of just wasting them. What is the yolk of an egg but a food source for a growing embryo? You're discarding half the protein, and nearly all the fat (including sat. fat, which you need), B&D vitamins, the calcium, and ALL the folic acid (which promotes cell division and keeps some women from being anemic).
If you're concerned about cholesterol, fine. But read up on this, too, including the effects of lecithin and Omega-3s (in the yolk) and their mitigating effect on fat and cholesterol. That's another conversation.
Finally, if anybody is spending extra money on Omega-3 eggs and throwing away yolks, shame on you (guess where the O3s are).
Egg yolk is good, egg yolk is bad…
I’ve read (and heard) both sides. And I’m just going to make up my own mind. I tried eating all my yolks – between four and six eggs a day. Now I’m going to try eating less yolk. (I’m not tossing them ALL, I didn’t mean to imply that.) I get plenty of saturated fat from my other protein sources, more than enough protein too, and plenty of folic acid from the TON of raw, green, leafy vegetables, sunflower seeds and fruits I eat daily. So there’s nothing in the yolk that I’m not getting somewhere else.
If I notice no difference in my recovery from “trying” to work this whole acid/base thing better, then I’ll probably go back to eating them, because they are delicious.
Thanks Melissa – for your reply to my earlier message and for this post (one of my CF Virtuosity cohorts directed me to it).
I’ll throw in my two cents as follows.
The discourse, the support, the sharing of ideas is great; but I think the most important point – for me, anyway – among Melissa’s many observations and the comments that follow is this:
every body is individual
There are certain basic tenets of ‘clean eating’ that may be more or less universal; but there is a great peril in becoming too reliant on outside information or ‘evidence’ of other people’s trials and errors as the basis for your own.
Nutritional studies are done in a vacuum. And nowhere have I come across a control group of 29 year old women who Crossfit, practice yoga, cycle, tumble, run, sing, perform in dance and physical theater and teach yoga, and participate in a range of miscellaneous sporty activities when time and weather permit. In other words, I’m a pioneer! No, seriously, everyone’s a pioneer on the nutrition front. Only you can know what works for you. And nutrition cannot be viewed in isolation – sleep, general activity level, and overall well-being (workout and structured athletic activities aside) also affect how ‘successful’ a person’s nutritional scheme is for them, right?
I have found that the more I try to conform what/when/how I’m eating to some externally prescribed formula or pattern and, to some extent, the more *precise* and pseudo-scientific (I, who am not a nutritionist or a scientist) I try to be about the whole thing, the LESS connected I feel to the crux of the process:
discovering the optimal fuel for my body, my instrument, my home that is also, hopefully, consistent with whatever aesthetic goals I may have.
I’ll see how things change over time for me – I’m still in the early days of exploring the Zone paradigm and tracking what and when I eat in this particular way. But I declared myself a vegetarian at age 13 (don’t y’all get your undies in a twist, I’m no longer veg) so as far as I’m concerned, my process of examining the implications, personal and global, of what I eat, began in earnest at around that time. My intention nowadays, which is different from what it was when I was 13, is to have my decisions about food come from a ‘bodymind’ place, if you will, not only an intellectual one (as was the case with my vegetarianism – I didn’t know or even stop to consider what was best for my body, given my activity level and interests then or for most of the ensuing 13 years of starch-fruit-and-soy-atarianism). There’s a lot to learn.
Good rebuttal re: egg yolks. I thought you were throwing away all yolks.
Test, retest, and keep what works for you.
This: “TON of raw, green, leafy vegetables, sunflower seeds and fruits I eat daily.” does not apply to me. I eat plenty of fruit. My veggies consist of the salsa and pico that I put on my eggs, brisket, and bacon.
PS Unless you have eaten a species into extinction, there is no such thing as “more than enough protein” in CF land.
I think you must be reading my mind or in my head or something. I’ve been trying the Paleo thing for the past couple of weeks (as you know from the many desperate e-mails I’ve sent you), and it hasn’t gone exactly as planned. I’ve been beating myself up for not being perfect, knowing full well that with a wedding in 2 1/2 weeks, trying to totally focus on the way I’m eating, plus handle last minute wedding mishaps probably wasn’t a good idea.
I’m still going forward, but focusing mostly on the quality of my food (see I do listen) until the wedding. Of course, my fiancee REALLY hates going to the grocery store with me now, but my choices are getting better. So for the next 2 week its more clean eating (and yes, even more veggies), and after the wedding, we’ll go from there.
Thanks for posting real talk on your blog.
My CF trainer sent our diet-challenge group this particular blog post. Thank you for saying Diet Isn’t Easy! It’s totally not. I’ve lost 30 lb extremely slowly over the last 3 years, been doing CF for about one year. I finally figured out that all processed foods, grains, and alcohol contributed to my horrendous acne problem and gave me stomachaches with what you can imagine are associated issues there. I finally managed to clear up my acne and not freak out my gut every time I ate.
Dieting IS hard. It is a constant pain in my ass, requiring constant vigilance. For my birthday, I had some fried chicken, greens, a mojito, and some chocolate cake, and I felt totally sluggish besides having two big zits the following day to show for my sins. This is not to say that I am going to starve myself. I LOVE FOOD and you can see me gnawing away at turkey slices and various fruits, veggies, and nuts pretty much all day at my cubicle at work.
I am getting there. I have about 10 lb to lose to get to an “ideal” for me, personally (135-140 lb, 5’5″ woman), and hopefully show all the muscle I’ve been building up that is obscured by a layer of fat right now.
PS I am aspiring to have your muscle definition one day! :) Brava!
Hello Melissa! I was introduced to your blog not long ago by my paleo trapeze instructor, who loves it. And I, too, have fallen in love! I currently am trying to read all the back articles…
Anyway, I was wondering: I know that long workouts aren’t encouraged with CrossFit, etc., but as an aerialist (I train and perform on the trapeze and aerial rope, as well as do handbalancing and partner acrobatics) I train well over 2 hours a day, plus I bike to commute. My aerial training isn’t always that long–usually an hour, with 30 minutes of warm up and stretching–but some days I have back to back classes and train 3 hours straight. what do you recommend, if anything, for during-workout? I don’t like to eat a lot while I’m training, but often times by the end of the three hours I can barely make the 30 minute ride home without being worried that I am a hazardous biker. I try to eat something before leaving the studio, such as salmon and some yam, but sometimes that seems to make it worse. I’ve tried drinking kombucha during my training, but that hasn’t had much of an impact, either.
Thanks for your advice!
Zest,
This sounds less like you don’t have your PWO nutrition in line, and more that your daily diet doesn’t yet optimally support utilization of fat as fuel. If you’re a sugar-burner (read It Starts With Food for more details: http://bit.ly/whole9iswf) then you’ll have a really hard time going for three hours doing even low-intensity training on no food… and you’ll be left in a place of low blood sugar immediately following, which is why eating right after doesn’t seem to help. I’d recommend a Whole30 to get your daily nutrition in line, and teach your body how to better use fat as fuel.
In the meantime, it sounds like your body is saying you need some nourishment either during training or immediately after, before you bike home. You’ll have to experiment with foods that might work for you – perhaps sipping on a can of coconut milk during your training would add some healthy fat and keep energy levels up (once you’re fat adapted), and maybe doing a more easily digestible form of protein and carbs (like sweet potato baby food instead of actual yams – less fiber, easier on the digestive tract) might help. Play around with it until you find something that works for you.
Best,
Melissa
Also, I meant to ask in that other part: what to do if ‘lunch’ is Both a Pre-workout AND a Post-Workout meal????
And thank you! So much! I;m working towards becoming more fat-adapted; I’m working to getting my fridge free of dairy (the last no Whole30 appropriate food left in my kitchen) and then I will embark on a whole30. I just don’t want to waste the dairy… :)
Again, thank you!!!
ZEST