[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hey guys!
Here are the notes for the 2015 Summer Nutritional Challenge.
To be precise Meat, Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, and Seeds are what’s on the diet. We are not calling it paleo because we ARE encouraging people to eat some grains post workout. At least a starchy carb post workout. The main goal of these 8 weeks is to get everyone to start eating REAL food and eliminate processed convenient foods. This will take us 90% in our nutrition.
In addition to the overall meal plan we have a special focus for each two week blocks.
Week 1&2: Post wod recovery meal/nutrition. What we are looking for here is a focus on what we are eating after hitting a wod. What we want to shoot for is a serving of starchy carbs (rice, oats, sweet potatoes) and a serving of protein. For a serving size on the protein think size of your palm and serving size of carb think size of your open hand. Make sure the carb is in its unprocessed form, think potato not fries! Most people will want to consume this within 1-2hrs after working out. If getting a full meal in right after your workout is not an option then a recovery shake is a good idea. a scoop of protein powder with a juice is a great option. The point here is to be diligent on eating after working out. This will allow us to workout again sooner and be ready to go the next day. FOOD and SLEEP are the two biggest things that help us recover and feel good the next day
Week 3&4: Fish oil. Fish oil is a great supplement to add to your daily diet. The problem is that there is A LOT of options when it comes to taking a fish oil supplement. What you want to look for here is that you are getting one with a high concentration of EPA/DHA. Cheaper fish oils will have 300mg or less per capsule. That means you would have to take more to get the same dosage. Look for ones with between 500-800mg per serving. There are other things to consider when picking one out. Things like sourcing, processing and potency, but for starting out just get the quantity right. If want to geek out on fish oil here is a great article on it http://chriskresser.com/the-definitive-fish-oil-buyers-guide/
Week 5&6: Incorporating Fermented Foods. This might be the most challenging two weeks of the entire 8 week challenge. Mainly because this will require people to learn and try something new (unless you are a brewmaster!) The main things we are looking for here is eating or drinking things that are fermented at least 3x/ week. This could be eating something like kimchi or drinking a bottle of kombucha. These foods are easy to make yourself but are also readily available in most grocery stores. The pro and pre biotic that are NATURALLY found in fermented foods are tremendous at improving our overall health and performance. Most people remember when pro-biotic exploded onto the market, but what most people don’t realize is that when you buy something like Activa you are not buying naturally occurring bacteria BUT instead something more like being fortified (add during manufacturing). Plus the pro-biotic found in the processed foods are few in the diversity of strains. When you consume a natural pro-biotic rich food like kombucha of kefir water you are taking in much more diverse strains of bacteria. For more info on this topic check out this article.
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-probiotics
Week 7&8: Intermittent Fasting. If eating fermented foods is the most challenging two weeks because of learning something new then THESE two weeks will be second most challenging because of the self-discipline that it will take. Intermittent Fasting (IF) is an AMAZING way to impove your health. The benefits of giving your digestion system a chance to recovery and rest are significant. Why don’t more people go without eating every once in a while then? Because you HUNGRY! But you can and should try to push through that. All that being said, we want everyone to ease their way into IF. For the purposes of this challenge what we are encouraging people to do is to pick 1 day a week where they don’t eat. This day should be on a day where you don’t work out. The best option for most people will probably be fast from dinner to dinner the next day. There is a lot of great research on why and how to use IF effectively and any potential things to watch out for in this article. Also discussed in this article is a great comparison of Calorie Restriction v Intermittent Fasting
Well guys that pretty much wraps up the details and explanations of the next 8 weeks. Make sure you treat each two week block as cumulative. Example: don’t quit focusing on post wod nutrition after week 2, keep it up all 8 weeks. There are only a few other basics goals to shoot for.
- Drink at least 1 gal of water per day
- No caffeine after week 3
- 1 treat meal per week!!!!!
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