Fitness and Nutrition Tips & Hacks
Today's question is “What are some fitness and nutrition hacks that I can recommend for you to help you see results a little bit faster?”
We talked about this a lot in CrossFit - about different things that we need to do and in what sequence. The adage that we really like you to think about is: You cannot out-train a bad diet. You must have good, clean nutrition in order to really see results with any fitness regimen, and with CrossFit specifically. Right across the street from us, we have a Burger King. So I regularly point out the window and I say, "You cannot eat there and expect to see results in here."
So what is good nutrition? What kind of things should we eat? Well, I could talk for hours about what is healthy nutrition, what is unhealthy nutrition. There are a lot of different correct answers, sometimes opposing correct answers. Some people do really well on a meat-free, vegetarian, or vegan diet. Some people do just fine with meat. We do like to see that everyone is getting proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in the right proportions and in the right overall volume. So we need the correct calorie amount and the correct ratio of our macronutrients, those proteins, carbohydrates and fats. But that takes a long time to explain what's going to be just right for you, and frankly, it might vary from person to person quite a bit. To get the bets results, you can come on in and you can get a nutrition counseling session with our nutrition coach here at Sequoia CrossFit if you wanted to get really, really into the weeds on what will be best for you.
But quick hit, general advice for what you want to do is this: Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Every grocery store is laid out pretty much the same way with all of the fresh fruits and vegetables and meats around the outside in coolers. Real food goes bad. It does not come in a box. It does not have a barcode on it, and it is not up and down the aisles. Basically, shop the perimeter of the grocery store. You're going to do just fine. Eat enough so that you sustain your energy levels, so you're not feeling super fatigued and hangry all the time, but also don't overeat. It’s hard to figure out what that calorie intake versus expenditure is supposed to be, so again, we can work with you to find exactly what it is for you and really see the results you want.
The other tip and hack that I like to give to people is all about consistency. You will not be able to sustain long-term progress if you just do a crash diet or workout really hard for a small period of time and then completely forget about all of those good habits that you've created for the rest of the year. We want good, consistent effort for the nutrition and for the workouts. That means showing up to the gym at least three times a week, regularly, eating healthily, all the time. It's okay every once in a while to step off and veer off the path and have some of those sugary treats or alcohol. It's not the worst thing in the world if you do fall off your program a little bit, but if you most of the time are staying consistent with your nutrition and your fitness, you're going to see some great results.
To find out for sure, come into Sequoia CrossFit and check out a class. Your first step is to click this link for a No-Sweat Intro session. Schedule a time between classes when it's nice and quiet in the gym and you can talk one on one with one of our coaches about your individual fitness and nutrition needs. We can help you create a workout plan, a nutrition plan that's going to help you build muscle, lose fat, sleep better, have more energy throughout the day, look better naked, all of those things we want out of our fitness plan. So check us out anytime and we hope to see you in the gym real soon.