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When I want to be my best, I have to be precise
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First of all I am no nutrition expert. I do have my Crossfit Level 1 Certification, so proper nutrition is covered. But I certainly do not have a degree on the subject. But I do know what works for me.
Right now as I sit at my desk, it is 10:30 am, and I am having 7 baby carrots raw, 3 almonds, and 1 oz of grilled chicken. When I am serious my diet becomes very regimented. When I am focused, my whole life becomes on point. Food is on point. Food creates the most change.
It doesn't matter how hard you train, how many times you train, what intensity you train. If your commitment does not stretch to what you put into your body, then you aren't making near the gains you should. And chances are you are still storing fat, still losing your breath and unable to sustain metabolic workouts, you aren't sleeping well, and you aren't recovering at the speed you should.
What I eat is the true sign of if I am truly committed or not. Everything else is half ass.
On Top of which, I am less confident when I am carrying extra weight. I don't like the way I look. I don't like the way I move. I don't like that gymnastics movements are a freaking struggle. That I'm high fiving myself when I get a freaking muscle up carrying extra weight. When in reality I should be streaming 10 together with ease. I don't like it! I don't like chubby cheeks.
I DON'T LIKE NOT HAVING SELF CONTROL OVER MYSELF. I don't want anything to be master over me, except Jesus. I serve God, and I serve my family. I do not serve food. And when I am sitting on the couch late at night, and that craving hits, and I make the walk of shame to the fridge, I am so mad at myself, and I am allowing food cravings to have control over me. I HATE THAT.
Travis Williams, an elite Crossfit Games athlete, describes in his documentary, "No Excuses, No Missed Days." that he no longer drinks and no longer does cheat meals. He knows with one cheat meal he will gain around 5lbs by the next day. So he doesn't fuck with those. He eats the same things every day. His nutrition is routine. He has found what works for him, and it works. Nutrition is part of the process.
Now one could argue that there is no enjoyment in eating like that. And there certainly isn't any enjoyment in eating like the pic I have in this article. They are right and wrong. They're right in the sense that there isn't enjoyment of sitting down to a plate of food that is 1200 calories, and the 'fun' that goes into eating those kinds of comfort foods. But there is enjoyment in knowing that after the meal I just had sitting at my desk ,the calculated snack, I'm skinnier now. I just allowed my body to be in fat burning mode for the next 3 hours until I eat again. I'm fitter now.
Food is a tool. And the thing is, when food is used to aid in my goals, I take much larger longer steps toward my goal. Every day becomes a day of progress. I become fitter DAILY when food is on point.
I know I am obsessed, committed, driven, determined....when I am willing to consume the amount of veggies I do every single meal. It is hard work to be stuffed and no longer want to eat, to be gagging a little at the thought of eating what's left of the broccoli on my plate, and to count out how many bites I have as reps. But my mindset is that this plate of food sitting in front of me is a tool, it is a workout, it is just as much a part of the process as killing it in a metcon. If you remove the intensity of the metcon, or if you remove the intensity of nutrition, the results change.
If I want to be in the top 1% of all Open athletes in 2017, then everything I do matters. If I am obsessed to the point that I view every meal matters, and every lift matters, and every nights rest matters, and doing yoga matters.........then I will surpass my goal. And I bet I even scare the hell out of qualifying for Regionals this next year. I bet you I scare the hell out of it. THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES.
It's an obsession. It takes focus. It takes drive. It takes even stubbornness. If I want to be the BEST. And if you think that the best in the world aren't these things, you're wrong.
So the question becomes, how do I eat?
To understand what I eat, you first must understand why. What are my goals? My goals are to lean out, to have my body fat percentage around 8%, then to maintain around 8%-10% for the rest of the year's training. My goal is to maintain the muscle I do have while I am cutting weight. Then once the level of body fat % has been obtained, to put on lean muscle for the rest of the year, giving my body enough energy and nutrients to recover training with intensity for 2-3 sessions a day.
So how?
I follow the Zone protocol of "blocks". Each meal consists of a perfect balance of the macronutrients of protein, carbs, and fat.
Right now as I cut, I am eating three 3block meals, and three 1block snacks. I am also eating precisely three hours apart.
For my protein I am choosing the leanest meats I can find. Mainly chicken or turkey or white fish. For my fat's I am getting from nuts and seeds and olives. And my carbs are almost 100% vegetables, and I am picking the veggies that have the MOST VOLUME I can stomach. EX...... 1 block of broccoli is 2 cups. 1 block of potato is 1/4 cup. Which has the most volume per block? Obviously the 2 cups of broccoli. Trust me, it is easy to eat one sweet potato compared to 6 cups of broccoli! You have to be committed and obsessed to want to even try! However, when the carb selection has the most volume like that, and no sugar, you are ramping up your metabolism faster than when you were a hormonal teenager!
Then when the fat is off, I will increase the snacks slowly, taking one week at a time and seeing how I feel, seeing how my body adjusts.
Thankfully, I have a real nutrition expert in my corner. I hired her last year for a period of time. She took me to 7.8% body fat. Lean and mean.