My Diet Day 1

In an effort to both be more accountable and to also show current clients how the coaches are eating on a daily basis, I am going to start blogging my diet.  I find that many members get very eager to jump strictly into the "CrossFit diet" of: eat lean meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.  In terms of lifelong health effects, I have no doubts about this being the optimal prescription to consume my food.  However, in the real world of both daily life and training at The Compound, the strict paleo diet never worked for me.

Most of you at the gym know that I have an incredibly fast metabolism.  And when I tried to go strict paleo, I found that my body weakened.  I was losing weight, my lifts were going down, and I didn't feel nearly as strong.  In theory I was probably a healthier person, but reality painted a much different picture.  So after much consulting, tweaking, consulting again, and re-tweaking, I settled on a diet that works for me in theory, in reality, and doesn't drive me insane to follow either (because I love to eat as much as the next person).  I follow the paleo model, but I make some pretty major changes:

-Dairy is ok (whole milk, whey protein, cheese, plain greek yogurt, sour cream, etc)
-Potatoes are ok (sweet, brown, red, or even INO fries -just potatoes and oil)
-I eat corn/corn products (mainly corn tortillas) and rice, because they are gluten-free
-I try to cheat one meal a week, but if its 2 or 3, I don't sweat it because I know I'm busting my ass in the gym five days a week.
-I drink 64oz of water a day, and add 12oz for every diet soda I consume during that day

For me, paleo made me miserable, and I couldn't fathom the idea that CF was supposed to improve my quality of life, yet I couldn't enjoy food anymore.  Those two ideas just didn't work for me.  So I found a way to still eat pretty damn healthy, keep my weight/lifts up, and not go crazy in the process.  I encourage all our members to tweak and play around with nutrition.  No one way is right for everyone, and you need to find a model that works for you.  However, I do encourage you to start with CrossFit nutrition as a good building block for whichever diet you choose.  I just wanted to put out some information on why I eat what I eat so members can see what coaches are doing, why they are doing it, and how it may apply to them.  With that being said, here goes day one (following days will be posted on with my workout information)...

-Protein shake (whole milk, whey protein, peanut butter, ice)
-Chicken fajitas (bell peppers, marinated chicken, rice)
-Handful of goldfish
-2 handfuls of mixed nuts
-In N Out double-double (protein style) with fries
-2 diet cokes
-88 oz of water

Believe it or not, this is a relatively light day of eating for me.  I was extremely busy and didn't have the time to eat another meal or two like I should have.  You may see a much higher volume in days to come.
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