Throw out the damn scale!

It bears repeating that I feel stuck around my commitment to CrossFit, the Paleo Diet and simply getting up in the morning. I have a strong support network from sea to shining sea with CrossFit Oahu now bearing witness to my trials as I blog for Life as Rx’d along with the darlings of CrossFit New England.

I want to share a great note from Marcus, coach at CrossFit Oahu and proprietor of Life As Rx.

Amanda:

First off, throw away your scale! Its going to drive you crazy if you keep weighing yourself. Secondly focus a great deal on your nutrition. My recommendation is Paleo (as I am sure you would have guessed). I am guessing you coaches have already told you this but I just wanted to make sure.

For me its easy because I love bacon, steak, eggs, etc… so cutting out the bread and rice wasn’t that hard. Plus after hearing that stuff causes “leaky gut” it kind of grosses me out now. The key is to give yourself a couple weeks of strict gluten free paleo. When you do this your body sort of resets and the craving for starches start to go away. Think of it as a detox.

PALEO TIPS

1. Don’t worry about quantity: Eat as much meat, fat, veggies, nuts and seeds as you want. If you get hungry… eat! Cavemen didn’t measure their food for over 250 million years… so why should we? I myself have a high fat/protein diet due to the fact I dont like veggies nearly as much. I personally think the ZONE sucks as a diet, but many would disagree. The major results I have seen have all been Paleo though.

2. Throw away anything and everything that is unhealthy: If it is in your house you will most likely eat it. Stock up on some healthy snacks (nuts, seeds, lunch meat, ect).

3. Avoid Gluten: This shit is TERRIBLE for you and has been linked to be the cause of more and more diseases as further research is being done. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Downs Syndrome, Celiac Disease, and schizophrenia are just a few that have been linked to it.

4. When you NEED to cheat then cheat: If you are dying for some carbs (after the first 2 weeks of detox) then eat some. Have a cheat meal every once an awhile. As your body get used to the good foods you have been eating it will start to really reject the bad ones and your cheat days will grow further and further apart.

5. Try to only drink water, tea and coffee. Artificial sweeteners cause the same insulin spike as regular sugar does in your body so if you drink something like a Diet Coke it will cause the exact same fat storing insulin response.

6. Try to stay under 10grams of sugar a day if possible.

Food ideas:

- Burger without the bun w/ side salad

- eggs and bacon with some fruit on the side

- bacon wrapped in lunch meat with some mustard and lettuce

- beef stew

- chili without the beans

- Stuffed cabbage without the rice

- corned beef and cabbage

- chicken veggie soup without the noodles

- Paleo pancakes (google it)

CHEAT IDEAS

Alcohol: If you are going to drink then drink straight liquor. Tequila is the best because it comes from the Agave root so there is no gluten. Whiskey, Vodka, Gin, ect. are pretty good too. Try to eat some fat (take a shot of olive oil if you have to) before you go out. It will help your hang over. My favorite drink in one Robb Wolf showed us, its tequila, a ton of lime and a little bit of soda water, I think they call it the California Margaritta

Desserts: Really dark chocolate isnt to bad and chocolate covered almonds arent bad either.

Great video featuring Gary Taub, discussing his controversial book, Good Calories, Bad Calories.

Great references:

www.robbwolf.com

www.marksdailyapple.com

5 Comments For This Post

Jason Whitmen Says:
November 11th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Nice writing style. I look forward to reading more in the future.

[Reply]

Alex Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 6:55 pm

Hey, great tips on drinking and dieting! Will be sure to try the Tequila methods!

I’m new to eating for fitness and have only been in the Zone for 18 months with awesome results. What do you not like about Zone eating? Just wondering…

[Reply]

americapeals Says:
November 13th, 2009 at 5:34 pm

Hi Alex
I have not really dissed the zone. In fact, I think I may like to go to Zone rather than Paleo. I came to CrossFit and Fitness in general after several years of counter intuitive debauchery and NO activity. So, late August, I began a Paleo diet which has been a cross to carry.

Tell me about your results!!!!

Yeah, Marcus included the Tequila and I am going to give it a try.

[Reply]

Alex Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 1:05 pm

Ha ha ha, years of debauchery – been there! Not good for the old bod. I started CrossFitting first, then found the CF Zone meal plan PDF (link is still good! http://bit.ly/5ViRY )

I printed that thing out and followed it every day for 6 months. I did not throw out the scale, and was super psyched to lose over 30 pounds. The better measurement was my waist size – went from 36 inch fat man pants to 30 inch skinny jeans.

The fat & weight loss was awesome, but the energized feeling I get from Zone eating is the real benefit in my opinion. I’m interested to try Paleo and compare…

[Reply]