What are you putting in your body?

Today is the beginning of week 5 of our 6 week nutrition challenge.  As I think about what our clients are eating and how focused they are and how amazing they're looking, I can't help but reminisce about the Winter Olympics.  "How do you mean?",  you may ask.  Well, allow me to explain.  Let's think about the average training schedule for the life of an Olympian.  Not only are they insanely focused and disciplined about their training, they are the best in the entire world.  To get this far in their sport they must eat, sleep and breathe it.  From the time they open their eyes in the morning they are focused on how everything they do in the course of any given day will directly impact their practice and competition.  They've got it down to a science;  amount of sleep needed to perform optimally, nutrient timing, recovery, you name it.  You don't become an Olympic athlete by winging it.

So, when I heard from a very reliable source that 50% of the food the athletes consume in the Olympic village during the course of the two week games comes from McDonald's, I was flabbergasted.  How is this possible?  I wonder about the direct correlation between medaling and McDonald's consumption.  Did Lindsay Vonn eat too many Big Mac's?  I really hope that wasn't it, and honestly, I doubt it was.  The U.S.A. put on a great showing and we're very proud of our athletes.

What's my point?  Food is fuel.  Your body is the machine that is fueled by your nutritional choices.  If you eat crap, you will feel and perform crappily.  Is that a word?  You will definitely notice a difference when you are fueling your body with complex carbs, lean protein, healthy fat, and lots of water.  In regular intervals.  That's right;  it's not enough to eat a balanced, healthy meal, but you must do it 4-6 times/day.  I like to think of metabolism as a campfire.  When you're initially building a fire you must work very hard to get it going;  erecting a little tee-pee of wood, kindling, and newspaper, fanning it with oxygen and working your butt of to get it going.  Every once in a while you have to add in some more wood and poke
at it to keep it burning.  This will create a roaring fire.  If neglected, the fire will slowly start to die down and you will have to work just as hard as you did in the beginning to create this roaring campfire again.  BUT, if you are consistent with the oxygen and fanning and poking, this fire will roar all day.  Think about eating as adding wood to the fire.  Your metabolism can be a roaring campfire all day long if you are fueling your body properly.

Another analogy I sometimes use is a houseplant.  If you go on vacation for 2 weeks without planning for someone to water your plant the soil will dry out.  When you return home it may take a gallon of water just to saturate the soil of your wilted plant.  You'll keep pouring the water in wondering when it will start to seep out the bottom.  Whereas, if you'd had someone water the plant regularly the soil would stay moist.  It would only take small amounts of water at regular intervals to keep your plant flourishing.  Just like the houseplant, when feeding your body at regular intervals, you are sending the message that there is a constant source of food coming in and that it is okay to use this as fuel rather than store it.

I've heard from some of our guests that as remarkable as they're doing with weight loss during the challenge, they're concerned about keeping it off once the challenge is over.  My answer:  ideally, you're learning what to eat, how to eat, how often to eat, and in what portion sizes.  You're learning about what makes you feel great and what makes you feel not so great.  Ideally, this is something you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life.  At least 80% of the time.  I make no secret about my "diet" program:  80/20.  80% of the time I am spot on, and 20% (maybe 10-15% for the most part) I allow a little wiggle room.  This is to maintain my sanity and to not feel deprived.  I am all about hard work and healthy eating, but I also enjoy life.  A scone here, a margarita there.  Not enough to derail me, that's for sure.  I work my butt off and eat my fair share of leafy greens, flax and salmon.

2 weeks to go.  Hang in there CrossFitter!  We'll plan to revisit "Daniel" in all classes on Monday, March 15th and Tues. the 16th (for those who will miss Monday).  Final weigh in's will be conducted on Saturday the 13th and Monday the 15th.

-Shelly