I haven’t written anything about nutrition in a while and since we have a lot of new people who have joined our awesome community I decided it might be time to do so. This will be the first in a series of posts over the next month that will cover everything you need to know about nutrition, health, and wellness. I encourage ALL Landos to be reading these and all blog posts that are put up as even the most experienced and knowledgeable veteran can pick up nuggets of information from a topic they might already know about, and it’s proven that osmosis happens from staring at a computer screen. Also, the health and wellness industry is always changing, so something you might have “known” a year or two ago could be completely different now with new research and information.

Food might be the most polarizing thing we encounter in our daily lives. It can bring great comfort, happiness, and fulfillment, while bringing us together for holidays, events, or just good Friday nights. However it can also be a source of great pain, internal strife, and a lot of regret. It is a daily necessity to our lives that we absolutely cannot go without, but when handled the wrong way can cause some serious issues, both physical and mental. I mean think about it, how many other things do we rely on so greatly, that can both power us into incredible examples of health and wellness, but also create serious health issues that can contribute to our early death, than food?

The Basics : Food as Fuel

Now that we have taken a real serious turn I want to take it back a few steps and just introduce a few pillars of nutrition that can be easily applied to a fitness enthusiast’s daily life. The first of these being that we need to start thinking of food as fuel rather than food as, well anything but. Back in the day, and I mean like wayyy back to the day of beating our food to death with clubs, food was literally the main focus of our existence. Where we lived, who we lived with, everything we did centered around how and where we could get our next meal. It was fuel to keep us alive. Granted we now have some awesome technology and knowledge about what we can do to food to make it more enjoyable than just ripping flesh off a bone and mowing down on it, but a lot of our issues with food come from the mentality that it must be more to us than just something to keep us going. Why not change that mentality to just 10-20% of the time, the rest of the time it’s just fuel?

If you are struggling with your nutrition a good place to start is with the mentality of food as fuel. To do what we want to do here at CrossFit Lando, which is be amazing fitness machines preparing to conquer the world and defeat the NFL in any witch hunt they throw at us FREE BRADY..…sorry I was just staring at a picture of Tom Brady aka the most amazing man in the world who I wish would be my husband, or wife, or whatever he wants or wants me to be or wants to be to me just give me a chance Tom please… 

To do what we want to do here we need to be fueled properly. While the hard work happens during the hour or so we spend in the gym each day, where most of our goals are achieved is in the time before and after with what we put into our bodies. For now let’s focus on the basics. If we want to think of food as fuel then we need to make sure that 90% of what we put into our body is clean.  No one will ever accuse me of being the best eater in the world, but all I am promoting is putting things into your body that are efficient for your body to use. This means no gluten (protein found in grains and other things) little to no dairy, no preservatives and artificial anything, little to no added sugar, and absolutely no added sugar. Yeah sugar sucks so bad it gets 2 mentions. Sugar sucks. Deal with it.

Why is this important? All of these things mentioned above cause inflammation in your body, especially gluten. Think about the soreness and swelling you might feel the day after a kick ass workout here at Lando. Now imagine how much of that is being aided by the inflammatory agents you are ingesting! So your recovery is being greatly hindered by your nutrition if you are constantly bombarding your insides with food that it isn’t made to take. If you are tired of waking up and feeling like you can barely get yourself out of bed due to soreness from 3 days before maybe it’s time to take a look at your nutrition, as it is not uncommon for people who eat a 100% clean diet to not feel soreness at all even if after 7 days in a row of training. On top of inflammation, excess/processed sugar is proven to contribute to the development of cancerous cells, type II diabetes, hypertension, and a myriad of other illnesses both short and long term. Also, excess sugar in our bloodstream is what is stored as body fat! 

So now that we are all scared of eating, what next? Well we can start with…how to start. Absolutely the hardest thing with starting and maintaining a new way of eating is preparation. It is too easy when we don’t have food ready and available to grab something that is quick, and quick is often times not clean or healthy at all. This means a lot of cooking at home to make sure you are prepared. The definition of clean eating could look something like this : eat meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, no added sugar, no processed food. Think about what this would look like in a trip to the grocery store? Pretty much sticking to the outside ring and away from the aisles in the middle. If it is in a box or sealed bag and able to be on a shelf for weeks or months, NOT CLEAN! For those non-cooks out there who eat out for almost every  meal, just stick to the same plan when ordering food. You would be surprised with how clean you can be at almost any restaurant. Just beware of sauces, toppings, dressings, etc. as they are usually made to taste really good with things that are very bad.

Lastly, the most important part of this is to take it all in stride. The 90% rule I mentioned above is a good one to live by, but also has to be done in a weekly format, not daily. Few people are able to be completely, 100% clean, especially if they are transitioning from a not so clean method before. Everyone needs a cheat meal here and there. My cheat meals are epic. But where we can get in trouble is cheat meals turning into cheat days, or weekends, and then it’s more like 90% bad 10% clean. Try to keep the mentality that if 90% of what you put in your body is good, quality fuel, then you are in a good place! 

Of course if any of this doesn’t make sense or you have more questions on it feel free to ask any of your coaches. We also have a great nutritionist on staff, Sarah Landes, who can analyze a food journal for very little cost that can give you literally life altering guidance on your nutrition.  If you want more than just a food journal analysis you can have a sit down meeting with her and develop a meal plan based on your goals. Sarah is certified many ways in nutrition and has competed at the highest levels of both Figure/Bodybuilding and now CrossFit, the latter of which she considers a much healthier, happier point in her life.

Now that you are armed with some fresh new perspective, take the weekend to develop your knowledge on nutrition and how you can apply it to what you are trying to get out of your time at CrossFit Lando. Next week we will talk more in depth on how macro nutrients work and how we can supplement out nutrition to really reach our health and wellness goals.

FRIDAY

Core Conditioning (WOBURN): landos funhouse

CrossFit

Strength : Split Jerk

2-2-2-1-1-1-1

– Your goal is to find a new PR 1 rep max

WOD :  3 Rounds, each movement station done for 1:30 continuously moving clock. Score is Total Reps
Muscle Ups (Bar MU CP)
Overhead Squat 115/80
Handstand Walk (Distance)
Rest

S : Jumping Pull-Ups, 65/45, Forearm Plank Shoulder Touches
L1 : Pull-Ups, 95/65, HS Hold Shoulder Touches

– Shoulder touches are scored 1 rep for every 5 touches.

Rx+ : 135/95

The Program

1. Strength and WOD as written

2. Snatch Work
EMOM 8m : 2 TnG Power Snatch, medium-heavy
then EMOM 4m : 1 Heavy Power Snatch

3a: 6×1 Snatch Sotts Press + Stand, rest :60
3b: 6×3 Burpee + Legless Rope Climb, rest :60