6/19 Myth Busting Monday

You Can Not Out Run Your Diet! 

If I had a dollar every time someone said to me they need to do more "cardio" to loose weight, I could sell the gym and retire. The myth of being able to out-exercise, out-run or out-lift your diet is so frustrating. It's not true, and there is plenty of scientific research debunking this ridiculous myth. Read this, this, or this, to learn why you can't outrun your diet. 

Nutrition is the foundation of a healthy lifestyle. It doesn't matter of you do yoga, Pure Barre, or CrossFit, what you eat (quality) and how much you eat (quantity) matters.

The CrossFit nutrition protocol is to "Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat." While this protocol is simple, it's surprisingly difficult for most folks to follow. What about alcohol? What about french fries, pizza, burgers, cakes, brownies, cookies, and potato chips? While I love those foods, too, and in absolutely no nutrition program do these tasty treats classify as high quality nutritious food. They are treats, foods that we love and don't eat on a regular basis.

What you'll notice in the CrossFit nutrition program is an emphasis on whole foods. Meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, and little starch do not come in a bags, boxes, envelopes, or any other containers. It comes from the farmers hand to yours via the farmers' market, CSA, or local grocery store. It's whole unprocessed foods that you can eat raw or cook. It's not a powder or pill; it's real, whole food. 

The hard, tough love truth is this: you have to change what you're eating and how much you're eating if you want to change how you look. If you change what you're eating and do constantly varied high intensity functional movement exercise (AKA CrossFit) you're going to change how you look even faster. Read this, this and watch this to see how others have done it. 

While the CrossFit nutrition protocol is great for guiding us in food quality, it's not very specific about quantity. My favorite and best resource for how much to eat is this infographic from Precision Nutrition. My Sports and Exercise Nutrition certification is from Precision Nutrition. Their nutrition protocols are based in sound science and common sense. You can use your hand as your guide at home, in a restaurant, at a friend's house, or wherever. No fancy scales, measuring cups, or anything else needed. 

Nutrition advice is challenging to provide because eating and food are all wrapped up in emotion and culture. Your relationship with food and eating started when you were a toddler and continues to this day. It's a product of what your parents told you, what you hear from your friends, what you read on Facebook and most of it is silly bullshit. Sorry, here's the tough love again. If you want to change how you look, you have to change what you're putting in your face, not increase the miles that you race. Good luck! 

Click here for the WOD