This past weekend, I had the chance to take in a Crossfit Nutrition Certification.  Thank you Jeff for the great b-day present!!  I have always been super interested in diet, nutrition and training, so for me, this was so fun. Crossfit has founded its nutrition approach on the Paleo Diet (which guides food choices) and the Zone Diet (which guides portions for optimal hormonal & metabolic response).

My friends and family have to put up with my blatherings on about how amazing crossfit is, as I’ve seen myself get stronger, faster and end up in the best shape of my life since finding and beginning to follow their training techniques in Dec 2008.   These results forced me to look at their nutritional approach, which was not easy after 3.5 years as a strict ovo-lacto vegetarian.  As I’ve done the research, and finally attended the official cert, I feel as though I have been given new keys to freedom in regards to nutrition as I have begun to understand and implement the things I have been learning.  (Jeff and my journey through this never ending process won’t fit well in a single blog post.) Let the nutrition blatherings begin . . .

The nutrition certification was presented by Robb Wolf of Crossfit Norcal.   He is a former research biochemist and now spends his time trying to help everyone look, feel and perform better via nutrition education and his crossfit gym.   Unbeknownst to him, he is also the guy to whom we lost our “veg is best” argument, this argument slowly unraveling after coming across a disturbing video clip of his entitled “Protein with a Soul and a Face.” (Yes, Jeff and Amanda now eat meat . . . alot of it . . . this is another post in itself).

The main topics covered were:

  • Endocrinology: You are your hormones, the Insulin/Glucagon teeter-totter
  • Digestion
  • Neolithic Foods (the issues!)
  • Paleolithic Foods (the solution!)
  • The Zone – what it is, how to implement it & tweak it for your goals

In the back of my mind I have always felt that if you want to look and feel good, nutrition must be more important than training/working out.  After all, we spend a lot more time eating in a day than we do working out. We can also wolf down calories faster than we can burn them off at the gym!  What we eat has a bigger effect on us than we think . . . not all calories are equal! This has been confirmed to me even more so, and Robb stated it eloquently:

If you don’t PERFORM better, FEEL better, and LOOK better … your food is BROKEN!

I am super excited about what I have been learning and look forward to sharing more of what I’m learning, the experiments I’m trying (not to mention how to drag 4 kids along for the ride they’re getting at each meal!) and the results that I’m getting. Now, what to do about a 7 yr old vegetarian who cries about the little fishy mum & dad just ate …