Summer Nutrition Challenge
Summer Nutrition - Phase 1 - Protein
It is that time of year again. The food stands are up, farmer markets are all over, groceries stories are lined with all the freshest fruits and vegetables. The sources and variety of quality fibrous and deliciousness are abundant. That being said, we are going to focus on the harder parts first. As a collective we are going to focus on habit formation, specifically the habit of meeting our macronutrient protein goal. If your goals include losing weight and increasing lean body mass then this is where it needs to start.
Everyone’s math is going to be a little different.
Based on daily physical exertion we are going to calculate 0.7-1.0gm per goal body weight. For example Coach Brian’s goal is 185lb (+5 pounds of lean body mass). He is aiming for a moderate physical exertion rate so…. 0.9 x 185 = 166.5 daily grams of protein.
If you are unable to eat your goal protein number with whole foods alone you are absolutely allowed to supplement with protein powder but keep in mind the overarching goal of nutrition and the CrossFit prescription which is “eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, little starch, some fruit, and no sugar”. Meaning we eat a whole food diet. “We want to keep enough intake to support exercise but not body fat”. Meaning we are training and eating for performance in life.
Additionally, we want everyone drinking H2O. The MidState athlete goal (found in your fitness folders), is 2 liters of water, daily, at a minimum. If you are outside and sweating in the heat throughout the summer it may be appropriate to add water as thirst reveals itself.
How are we going to do this? First, we are going to add protein to our breakfasts. Attached to this WOD Blog is a breakdown from John Hopkins Medicine of a list of foods, their portion sizes, and associated total volume of protein in grams.
Gamifying food. Everyday on SugarWOD you will see 1 additional WOD. This is where you will mark if you did or did not meet your protein goal for that particular day. At the end of the first 4 weeks of this challenge the winner will receive a Podium Gift Basket from MidState CrossFit (over $100 in value).
Phase 2 begins in July. More to come in that later!
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/-/media/bariatrics/nutrition_protein_content_common_foods.pdf
