CrossFit Virt Nutrition
Here are CrossFit Virt we believe in and attempt to follow the Paleolithic Diet (aka Primal, Caveman diet, etc). We did not invent this diet nor are we experts but let's get a few things straight and then maybe you will agree that this is the path for you.
The Paleo diet takes many forms and there are different interpretations and we frankly have no interest in any of the arguments therein, so let's follow some simple rules:
An easy way to understand this is that we (humans) were designed to live/eat in a certain way, and things like grains and refined sugars are invented foods and our bodies are not made to handle them. That's it! We are not nut jobs on some crazy crash diet, it's about eating to make yourself healthier, the proof is everywhere and hopefully the recent trend towards this realization will continue. There is so much more but as always I defer to KISS.
- When attempting to improve your body/life, workout and diet are incredibly powerful when added together. Working out (CrossFitting) will do wonderful things for you body. Eating right will do wonderful things for you body. Doing both together increases the benefits exponentially. In other words 2(exercise) + 2(diet) does not = 4 in this case; doing both together will yield incredible results (like 2+2 = 8, we love analogies and good math)
- "Diet" is a misnomer. We are not interested in dieting because that implies something temporary. Temporary "diets" are usually bad for your body, are gimmicky, and are based on deprivation which never leads to success. We are interested in lifestyle change. If you want to improve your life, what is the point of crash dieting? You will go back to your old ways? Aren't you setting yourself up for failure?
- Give yourself some leeway. One of my favorite ideas from Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint and Marks Daily Apple, and our go-to guru for all things Paleo, is the 80/20 principle. I won't get into detail on Pareto's 80/20 rule (Google it) but this is an offshoot of that and it simply says "get it right 80% of the time". It is a real-world, down-to-earth, non-preachy, path to success. In other words, unless you are trying to win a "world's best caveman" contest or as I read on Health-Bent, be "more Paleo than you", just do your best to follow the diet, don't agonize over it and you will be happier and healthier (and most importantly more likely to stick to it)
- Throw out conventional wisdom. Want to know where conventional wisdom got us? It gave us the American Dietetic Association and the Food Pyramid and also gave us obesity trends that would absolutely floor you (and believe me, these things are related). You know Americans are fat, and here is more proof. You want to be healthy? Let's start listening to some logic and not the revenue-fueled conventional wisdom that has gotten us to this sad state.
The Paleo diet takes many forms and there are different interpretations and we frankly have no interest in any of the arguments therein, so let's follow some simple rules:
- Stay away from grains and sugars - They simply do horrible things to your body.
- Eat lots of Meat (YAY!) and Veggies (okay.. fine)
- Fat is not bad for you. Hold on, I want to make sure you understood that, fat is NOT bad for you (I made 'not' capital for emphasis, hooray). If you want proof that "Fat-free is the secret to healthiness" is complete BS, please go to your local grocery store and find the foods that say "Fat free" on it and you tell me (Twizzlers, ranch dressing, candy...yeah, that makes sense, sounds healthy to me)
An easy way to understand this is that we (humans) were designed to live/eat in a certain way, and things like grains and refined sugars are invented foods and our bodies are not made to handle them. That's it! We are not nut jobs on some crazy crash diet, it's about eating to make yourself healthier, the proof is everywhere and hopefully the recent trend towards this realization will continue. There is so much more but as always I defer to KISS.