A “portion” of food is the amount of an authorized food approximately the size of the palm of your hand or your clenched fist.
Protein:
Eat a portion at every meal.Sizes below are approximate.
Chicken – 3-4oz
Beef – 3-4 oz
Fish – 3-4 oz
Eggs – 2-3 whole eggs
When you begin this diet, make sure you are fulfilling, at minimum, 80g of protein a day for females, and 100g of protein a day for males.Food choices are the most important part at this stage, however, we do want to make sure we are fulfilling basic nutritional requirements as well.Again, note that those are minimum requirements.
Carbohydrates (fruits and vegetables):
Eat a portion (at least) every meal, with your protein(s) and fat(s).
Authorized vegetables are approved in unlimited amounts (this is not true once sauces/dressings come into play, be careful!).
Note that people who have been eating grains/dairy/sugars by themselves or in combination for a significant amount of time are used to running on higher blood sugar levels and are also less sensitive to their own insulin.If you are someone who gets very sleepy/angry/irritable/dizzy if you don’t eat for more than 2-3 hours, know that you are likely in a hypoglycemic state, the first signals of heading down the road towards many diseases (diabetes and metabolic syndrome are just the tip of the iceberg here).During your transition to this style of eating, you may feel less-than-great (honesty is the best policy here, is it not?).Trust in the diet, you will feel much better soon.First, realize that the metabolic change-over in your system will not be enjoyable—you may be very hungry, irritable, and have low energy.Realize that if you are eating your protein at every meal, along with your authorized carbohydrates and fats, you are not undernourished.Take a multi-vitamin-mineral if it makes you feel more comfortable that your nutrient bases are covered.During the metabolic change-over, which may last a week (never more than two weeks), you can relieve some of the symptoms by eating more whole fruit.After the change-over, if you want to accelerate bodyfat loss, choose vegetables first, fruits second.
Fruits will seem more appealing than vegetables to many people.This is OK.Try to get in at least two servings minimum of vegetables a day, along with the fruit.
Fruit juice and “Jamba Juice”-type smoothies are NOT authorized.
Be judicious with dried fruits (raisins, dates, prunes, etc.) as their sugars are concentrated!
Fats:
Eat some (note that the portions of fat are different than all others) at every meal.Oils should be limited to less than a tablespoon per meal, nuts (raw is preferable, lightly roasted is acceptable) should be limited to small handfuls.A portion of avocado is ½ of a medium sized one.Use common sense and take into account fatty meals before adding more fat!
NO peanuts.
Hydration:
Drink at least 64 ounces of filtered water daily (note the daily intake should be higher in Tucson summers!).Green, white, and herbal teas (ie. ginger, peppermint, chamomile, honeybush, rooibos, etc.) are highly recommended and can replace water in a 1:1 ratio.Make some tea in the morning in your coffee maker and take it to work in a jar/bottle, or put green/white tea bags in room temperature water and let them sit, they will “brew” on their own.
Plan your meals in advance.Note that this means planning your grocery list in advance.After you get in a groove with your diet, this will become much easier than at the start.Remember, if we fail to plan, we plan to fail.
There are two “cheating” options on this diet.One is to have one free-for-all day once a week where you can eat whatever you want.The second, more effective option is to have one “cheat” meal a week.It may be best at the start to have one cheat day.As you see results and your taste for junk foods decreases, you will likely want to reduce your “cheating”.You may even begin doing it without noticing!
Eat whole foods.Meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.Simple as that.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
All flour products (bread/pasta/cake/cookies/scones/tortillas/pastries etc.).
All refined sugars (sugar in whole fruits is the only authorized sugar).
Mochas, lattes, frappuccinos.Want coffee/espresso?Drink it black or add some stevia (see below).
No artificial sweeteners (Splenda/sucralose/Equal/aspartame/Sweet’n’Low/saccharin/acesulfame-K/acesulfame potassium).Stevia, an all-natural non-caloric sweetener, is available for sale at Warehouse Vitamins, Wild Oats, and other health food stores. It is OK in small amounts (1-2x/day max). Don’t buy the Trader Joe’s stevia (it’s all lactose with a bit of stevia).
No sugar alcohols (sorbitol, maltitol, glycerol).Note that xylitol is OK.
Feast your eyes and stomach...yep that is the tasting of a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich...paleo style!
So easy to make and oh so good. Here's how its done:
Go here to learn how to make Gluten-Free Bread 2.0. (which you will find many more paleo-friendly recipes....great site!).
Then, simply spread some raw almond butter and sugar-free jelly on top.....and you have yourself a very delicious little treat to wash down with a big cup of raw milk.
I wish I had pictures of all of the food I cooked this week, but I took them of the last dish I made...Ginger Beef with Broccoli. This may be the best thing that I've made since I started cooking last fall.
Here's the recipe that I used for the brownies on Friday night. I found it on the CrossFit Boards.
6 Tbsp oil 2 eggs 1/2 c honey (I used 1/2 c agave nectar instead) 1/2 c almond or pecan meal (I used almond meal) 1/2 c cocoa or carob powder (I used unsweetened cocoa powder) 1/4 c arrowroot flour
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
If you use a smaller pan and the batter is poured in thick, it comes out more like cake than like brownies. I used a 9x9 pan for mine.
Somedays all I want to do is bake something - and eat ice cream. Today, friends, is one of those days. Here's just what the doctor ordered: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Here's what you need:
2 cups of water 1 cup of raw cashews 1/4 cup raw hemp seed 1/2 cup pitted dates 1 tbs. vanilla 1 tbs. spirulina 1 tbs. peppermint extract 1 tbs. arrowroot extract 1 tsp. sea salt bar of chocolate (1/2 broken up into big blocks goes to the blender, and 1/2 broken into smallish chunks to go in the finished product before you put it in the freezer)
1. Measure it all out and chuck it in the blender.
Primordial blenderness.
2. Blend for a few minutes and then pour into a low dish of some sort for freezing.
3. Use the pounded or chopped half chocolate bar to top the icecream.
Not hard to make at all but I didn't add any stevia and I think it would have helped a bit with the cake-y texture of the muffin. I also didn't use cranberries and used mixed berries instead. If anybody cooks with coconut flour again let me know! The stuff is great - high in fiber for one thing - just need to find some more uses for it.
This is a blog which will feature the goings and comings of Crossfit Tribe members who wish to experiment with what they've got. That is, people that want to go from "I don't care what I eat" to "maybe I'll eat paleo for 40 days and see what happens to my 400m" OR "I'm going to try to keep under 100g of carbs per day for a week and see what happens to my waist size" OR "I'm going to eat liver, onions, and guinness in zone proportions for 15 days and then try to PR on Fran". Whatever you're experimenting with - we want it here in whatever format you can manage to give us!
It'll also feature recipes. LOTS of recipes! So that future experimenters can have a one stop resource to search. If you've got a recipe to post, or any other ideas for how we can make this blog more helpful to you - please send your thoughts to crossfit tribe at gmail dot com.
We'll also link to anything else we're (or you're) reading about nutrition that's worth a quick read. We want this blog to be a place where beginners can ask questions and get some idea of how trying to alter your eating habits in just about any direction might go. We're learning with you and from our mistakes...we hope it helps all of us to both enjoy the good things our food can do for us AND appreciate the things we can learn from listening to our bodies.
WELCOME
Crossfit Tribe is committed to an organic approach to fitness and performance. We proudly offer group and mobile personal training in South Jersey and Center City Philadelphia. Whether you're active or inactive, a parent or child, an athlete or a retiree, your best is waiting for you at Crossfit Tribe. Your first personal fitness assessment and group session are always free!
To get started email us at crossfittribe@gmail.com or simply call Erin at (609) 760 2173 or Steve at (609) 828 0070 to set up your assessment.
