Who practices CrossFit® (our trusted crossfitters), you know, it is difficult that sooner or later you will not be interested in the diet too: some to gain muscle mass, some to lose weight, some to improve performance….
However…It's not that easy!
In my nutritional study I follow several Crossfitters and I notice that they tend to retrace the same almost always "Dietary errors". Let's see them together to avoid them!
Index
1. What goal do you want to achieve?
First you need to decide what you want to achieve with the diet and you don't always have clear ideas (I already told you about ideal weight e BMI).
Do you want a drier body? A diet is recommended for definition.
Do you want muscle gain? A diet is recommended for mass.
You want to focus everything on performance? It is advisable to work a lot on technical integrations.
What must be clear is that it is not always possible to do everything together but set yourself one goal at a time and organize your food plan accordingly.
The most common mistake that crossfitters make in this sense is to eat too many kcal or to exceed with junk food (with the excuse of doing a very intense sport) and with the risk of gaining weight. Or there is a tendency to avoid meals / nutrients to define themselves, however putting performance at risk.
The objectives (and consequently the food plan) change over time.
2. Rice and chicken and ...?
Once the plan has been set, it is easy to fall into the repetitiveness of meals and opt for the famous "rice and chicken" of the sportsmen ... (I could advise you some ideas to change the recipe).
The little variety of the diet can however lead to a lower intake of micronutrients, or vitamins and minerals. In addition to this aspect, there is also a risk lower diet compliance, with the risk of letting go and “dropping"The diet plan making all efforts vain ...
It is advisable to put some in place little tricks in the kitchen to make the diet as monotonous as possible:
- expand the knowledge of food ( as for rice, there are several varieties: thai, jasmine, basmati, venus, red, etc. and among the cereals besides rice there are: quinoa, millet, amaranth, sorghum, spelled, barley, teff, oats, buckwheat, ...).
- create unique dishes e different combinations also using vegetables (e.g. those left over from the side of the previous day) and, why not, fruit too ...(have you ever cooked pork loin with apples? and turkey with milk coconut?)
- use mixtures of spices and herbs different to flavor dishes, e.g. cumin, coriander, paprika, juniper, etc., even if they seem "risky" (have you ever tried venus rice with cinnamon?).
- change often producers/ suppliers / brands (in this way you will also change the pollutants assumed ...).
The more pleasant the diet, the more sustainable it becomes.
3. Quantity but not quality.
Sometimes the diet is followed to perfection but it tends (for convenience, for inability to cook or for savings) to a abuse of poor or very industrial products such as canned foods, ready meals, bars, etc.
These products can be good when the weather is really tight or when you forget to buy the right one (difficult to have the pantry always full in mass diets at high kcal ...) but they must be considered an "use in extremis" and not a too deeply rooted habit. They contain high amounts of sodium or other excipients (, here I told you about Glutamate).
In my pantry there are always: natural tuna, natural wild salmon, ready-made ragù and cubes of parmesan as "quick-use protein sources", however I always try to organize myself in time to use them with a lower frequency and prefer fresh food and not reworked (, here e , here two of my old articles on improving food choices).
Diet is not only a matter of calories but a nourishment for the body.
4. What time do I eat it?
Respect the time it is important in Wod how much in the diet if you do not want to find yourself without strength or in serious gastro-intestinal difficulties.
Many crossfitters ask themselves this question ...
When to eat?
Normally we recommend Give Way about 2h from the last meal to training. In some cases, however, it is possible to structure closer snacks, as long as you use the useful nutrients and choose very food sources digestible.
Digestibility and functionality are the basis of the organization of meals.
5. Supplements: yes or no?
Supplements here is the great concern of sportsmen (in the section supply you will find several articles on the blog).
Here there are two factions of crossfitters:
- Those who integrate too much, haphazardly and in excess, because: “better to integrate that I push more".
- Who does not integrate anything, because: “I don't believe it and it's useless".
Supplements can be extremely useful as extremely useless depending on how you use them. What is fundamental is customize the dosage and type: for example, some must be taken on the basis of the starting body composition (more muscle or more fat?) or on goals to reach (mass, performance, definition?).
Also it is advisable to buy those with one specific quality certification (depending on the supplement). Take for example the Omega-3: must be certified as regards the absence of heavy metals (eg IFOS certification) otherwise you will integrate anti-inflammatory fats and ... Mercury!
Lastly it is not correct to think that it is enough a multivitamin (, here an in-depth analysis on vitamins) to have all the essential nutrients for health or that a protein support is enough to significantly improve muscle ... guess what must be at the base? The diet plan (and training).
The supplements precisely supplement the diet but do not replace it.
Summarizing crossfitters friends ...
- Customize diet on your goals.
- To vary food sources as much as possible.
- Don't save on quality.
- Optimize the timing of meals.
- Take on integrations correct.