Most things in life begin with a strong foundation. In CrossFit, we have the nine foundational movements that most other movements are built off of. When designing a building, most architects look for the proper soil or land that will provide for a solid foundation of that building. We all have heard the saying, “You must learn to walk before you can run.” A strong foundation also applies to your nutrition. As a coach, many people come to me with the goals of losing weight or leaning out. The process is slower than fad diets, but when building a plan for most clients, my desire for each one is that they start to build a strong nutritional base. That is what we focus on in the beginning. Once the client has a solid base built, then we add upon that foundation and move to macro counting and other things to that help the overall wellness and progress towards their goal. The problem with this is, most people don’t want to hear that they need a strong base in nutrition. They want to jump right in to the fad diets: keto diet, intermittent fasting, carb cycling, or whatever the current diet trend is. I believe that most ‘diets’ fail because the person doing it does not have a healthy foundation built before they begin. When that ‘diet’ ends, they go right back to that unstable or non-existent foundation.
So what is this nutritional foundation; what things should everyone work to build or have in place? I believe consuming enough protein, eating enough fruits and vegetables, and managing stress are three major building blocks to build a solid nutritional foundation.
There are three primary macronutrients that make up our daily caloric intake. Carbohydrates, Fat, and Protein. Protein is termed the “building block” of the body. It is called this because protein is vital in the maintenance of body tissue, including development and repair. If you are working out 4-5 times a week, a general rule of thumb is to eat your bodyweight or target bodyweight in grams of protein per day. This amount will fuel your body properly, keep hunger at bay, help repair your muscles, and control your blood sugar. In my experience, most people are not eating enough protein for their activity level. This is a primary foundation block I work on with many clients. We start by only focusing on hitting our daily protein goals for an extended period of time before moving on to the other macronutrients. So what does this look like? Adding more protein in to your day may look like eating more egg whites for your breakfast, lean meats for lunch and dinner (chicken, ground turkey, white fish, shrimp or ground bison) and having higher protein snacks like Greek yogurt, beef jerky or whey protein after your workout. Proper protein consumption is the base for a good, balanced diet.
We’ve been told we need to eat our fruits and vegetables since elementary school (maybe the teachers were on to something). This leads me to the second part of having a solid foundation, vegetables and fruit. These provide a host of benefits from micronutrients, proper fiber intake, hormone regulation, and anti-inflammatory properties. Our goal each day should be to get around 5 cups of veggies and 1-2 cups of fruit. Don’t like vegetables? Find some that you do…there are hundreds of them. Not everyone needs to be eating cups of broccoli or kale, but you can find things that you do enjoy eating. Adding vegetables to your meals adds volume which will help with keeping you satiated longer. If you are consuming the prescribed amount of vegetables and fruit each day, generally your food quality will be higher as well. More of these tend to equal less processed foods and that’s what we are looking for in the long run for a strong foundation.
The final thing to building a strong, healthy foundation is managing stress. I realize that this has nothing to do with the food you are putting in your body and can be argued that this isn’t nutrition related. BUT, if you are doing everything right nutritionally but your sleep is garbage, work is stressful, and you can’t recover…you will not see results you want. Most people forget this component of wellness. Prolonged stress on the body increases the hormone cortisol. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes. Overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can disrupt almost all your body’s processes. Having ways to manage stress properly is huge for overall wellness. Getting a proper night’s sleep is crucial for everyone and will help with stress reduction. 8 hours is the gold standard we are shooting for. As far as other methods of stress management everyone has different techniques; go for a walk, spend time with loved ones, try yoga or getting a massage monthly. Find something that works for you! Keeping stress levels controlled will help our build our base.
You wouldn’t attempt a muscle up before you had a pull up, so why does nutrition and wellness need to be any different. We need to master the basics before we begin adjusting food timing, worrying about carb cycling or eliminating whole food groups. Keep it simple, eat enough protein, get your fruits and veggies in, and work to manage stress. Once you’ve got these down, you have a strong foundation to start building on.
If you are looking for more guidance, Jesse or I would love to help you! Send us an email at jesse@theathletelab.com or andee@theathletelab.com and we can meet with you to discuss your goals!