Start up guide
What is your goal? It's time to get clear.
Fat loss vs. sports performance - It is imperative that you understand that these are two separate goals which cannot be obtained at the same time. That doesn't mean that over time you can't have both! It is very common for people to start down the weight loss road and then once they are comfortable with where they are at,switch their focus to sports performance. For some people that can happen as quickly as a month or two and for others it may be a year. It is also appropriate to start with sports performance even if you have some excess fat to lose. In the sports performance program you will be working to build lean muscle mass, which for most equates to an increase in body weight. The muscle that gets built, however, increases your resting metabolic rate so that your body will begin to burn more fat. So in essence, focusing on sports performance can lead to fat loss, but it is gradual and can be frustrating for athletes who are not prepared for the fact they may gain some weight in the short term.
All of the information in this course will be available to you, regardless of your goal. Feel free to save any information for the future so that you can change your focus down the road if you wish.
If your focus is fat loss: There will be no restricting, no starving, no dieting! We are going to focus on eating REAL food and balancing out your body. We highly recommend the 2 Week Elimination period (more info below) to test for food intolerances. Often times food intolerances can lead to weight loss resistance and can cause us to become out of touch with our bodies. We want to work on tuning into intuition and giving our body what it needs. MORE
If your focus is sports performance: Get ready to blow your workouts out of the water! We are focusing on eating enough to support your workouts as well as focusing on food quality. You may gain muscle which equates to weight gain [this is why we clarify the two specific, different goals - you cannot expect to increase your performance and lose weight simultaneously].
Building a Balanced Snack or Meal
Are you ever hungry an hour after you eat? Ever experience bottomless snacking? Pay attention to this golden tip!! Consume fat, fiber, and protein at each meal (some exceptions will apply to pre/post-WOD meals).
Fat: nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, avocado, tuna, salmon
Depending on whether you are using your oil hot or cold, you'll want to choose different oils. Coconut oil and ghee are great when heating oils (baking, frying, etc) while olive oil is great cold (salad dressing, drizzled on top of prepared meal, etc)
Fiber: fruit, vegetable, whole grain, nuts, seeds
Protein: grass-fed, cage-free meats, cage-free eggs, lentils, beans, quinoa, nuts, seeds, tempeh, nutritional yeast
If you are a vegetarian, you can absolutely fuel your body for your activity level. Focus on getting a wide variety of whole food protein sources. We're going to dig deeper into the supplement world later in the program but it may be beneficial for you to add in a protein powder as well - just to make sure you're getting enough!
Sample snack combinations:
Fruit with nut/seed butter
Sweet potato with nut/seed butter
Grass-fed beef jerky with fresh veggies
Whole food granola bars (ex: LARABAR, WholeMe, Kit's CLIF Organic Bar, etc)
Leftovers!
Food Quality
Food quality is huge for us at Grand Health! High quality foods are foods that are very nutrient dense and preservative-free. Think of things that exist in nature, not that are man-made. [Fruits, veggies, nuts/seeds and animals]
Often times, higher quality food=more expensive so here's a little tip when it comes to produce: the dirty dozen and clean 15. The dirty dozen is a list of the top 12(+) contaminated produce items;you should definitely consume organic varieties of these!! The clean 15 are the top 15 cleanest produce items so you can pretty much always buy these conventional! Check out this great infographic below, courtesy of Good Food for Bad Cooks.
Food quality applies to proteins as well! When looking for animal products, look for organic and grass-fed/cage free whenever possible. Animals that have been exposed to antibiotics, chemicals, hormones, etc this can get transferred to us. Look for grass-fed, organic, and pasture raised meats when available to reduce your exposure to these 'toxins'. If you choose to buy conventional, buy the leanest cuts possible because, like humans, animals store toxins in their fat.