This right here has been my biggest challenge when it comes to getting in shape. Yes, I call myself the “FitFastFoodie” on this site, but that’s who I aspire to be and who I will become in the coming months. As I’ve mentioned in other pages, I struggled with my weight since I was young and didn’t get to a healthy weight until my senior year of high school.
Sure, I was decently active when I was in elementary school/middle school since I played baseball and basketball every season, but when I wasn’t at a game or at practice, I would be sitting on my butt at the computer or in the living room playing some Nintendo 64. On top of that, I ate LOTS of complex carbs. Pasta, bread, rice, you name it.
My life and time with family revolve around food. Don’t get me wrong. I’m very grateful to have such awesome family members who make some really awesome meals. There are many people out there who are starving every day and don’t have such a privilege. I guess you could hashtag this as a #firstworldproblem
So what’s my suggestion for nutrition? It depends upon what your goals are. Do you want to simply lose weight? Or maybe you want to get as toned as possible? Or maybe you just want to improve your performance in your sport or other physical activities?
If you just want to lose weight and you’d be happy just to drop the pounds, then simply eating below your maintenance level for caloric intake each day should be enough. Don’t go overboard as you’ll be weak from the lack of food you’re putting into your system. Remember, food is fuel for your body. What’s the point in losing all that weight if you can barely function? People will see how you’re always in a “blah” kind of mood, and losing weight won’t really help you in changing their perception of your in their eyes.
In order to step things up a notch and still look great while feeling great, you also need to think about the quality of the food you eat. That’s what led me to the Paleo style of nutrition. Basically you eat natural food that can only be hunted or gathered. For an idea of what kind of food you can eat, check out this pretty solid list on this site.
I dabbled in it a little bit, but wasn’t full committed to this way of eating back when I started CrossFitting. Now it’s something I stick to at least 80% of the time. My meals consist of something like a big portion of meat, some green veggies, a form of healthy fat like almonds or guacamole, and if this meal is after a workout then a more filling carb like a sweet potato. Man do I love sweet potatoes!
Living like this 100% of the time for two months was no easy feat, but I managed to stay clean that entire time while getting a perfect score for my portion of my Paleo challenge team at my gym. Seriously, not meaning to sound really corny or anything, but that was one of the biggest life-changing moments in my life. Around that time my performance in my workouts improved a lot, I was looking a lot leaner, my clothes fit better than ever, and I felt better than I had in a long time.
And get this…I’ve had breathing issues with asthma since I was in first grade. Now it’s been almost a year since I’ve taken one of my inhalers during or after a workout. Crazy, right?
The beauty of the Paleo nutrition is it takes us back to when our ancestors hunted and gathered for food. It’s not like they were eating anything processed. Aside from having the physical benefit of living a very active lifestyle every day, their bodies were in great shape because they were only eating food that our biological systems were original intended to digest. As a result, food went through our digestive systems properly and was efficient in helping us store energy.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, with everyone living such busy lives due to various responsibilities, it’s not like we can find the time to cook every meal for ourselves and our families. That’s why we resort to fast food and buying food, many of which are processed and high in things that we shouldn’t be putting into our body. Of course, in moderation, eating fast food and the like is fine. Why do you think I made this site lol?
When you eliminate this junk from your everyday nutrition, you’ll notice a difference in a short amount of time. I’m telling you…when I was doing this nutritional challenge, I didn’t need coffee. My body was in such great conditioning that I was naturally awake during the day and gradually eased into weariness just before bed. It was such a beautiful thing.
In terms of supplements, I keep things simple. All I take are BCAA’s (branch chained amino acids) before a workout, a protein shake after a workout, and a multivitamin and some fish oil pills after my first meal. That’s pretty much it. I never got into all that intense supplementation a lot of my friends from school relied upon. Once again, it’s like with processed food, you’re introducing all these foreign substances your body wasn’t designed to digest. Sure, you may see short term results, but what about long term results?
And one last thing I want to get across – everyone’s body is different. Just because your friend got ripped by doing X and Y doesn’t mean you’ll see the same results by doing X and Y. That’s why part of the journey is learning what kind of nutrition works perfect for your body. Maybe simply cutting out some fat or some carbs from your diet will help you reach your goals. Or possibly you’re like me and nothing but a Paleo lifestyle will help you drop that fat. It’s all about experimenting and making adjustments according to your results.
Let’s reach our goals and stick with our nutritional plans.
If you’re still in doubt about this Paleo stuff, watch this video from Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution:
