Week 4
Goal of the week- Nutrition
Eat protein, veggies and/or fruit, and fat at every meal. No processed foods, added sugar, or grains! Limit fruit to 2 per day and get in as many veggies as you can.
Now that you guys have your breathing, hydration and sleep in order, it’s time to start fueling up properly! Together, these four pieces complete the physical aspects of your durability (or recovery) habits. If you still haven’t been consistent with the breathing practice, water intake or sleep, stop right here! Don’t even attempt these nutrition guidelines until the other habits are solidly in place. Go back to the goals you haven’t been consistent with and work on those. Record your progress daily in your journal, and then come back to this week’s goal.
So, what does SEAL fuel look like? Basically, it’s a modified version of the Paleo diet. And why the heck does this dang Paleo diet keep popping up?! Because it decreases inflammation. Whether or not you have allergies or sensitivities to wheat, the fact is, wheat (along with many other foods in our modern diet) is highly inflammatory. If your body doesn’t have to work hard to recover from the “foods” you’re eating, then it can focus more energy on muscle recovery! In short, fresh food makes healthy bodies. You won’t find a healthy body in a box of cereal.
Here are the 5 steps you need to follow; please, don’t count calories! Just focus on the types of foods you’re eating, and use these 5 rules to guide your food choices:
- Cut out sugar and processed foods. Remember the real food challenge? Here it is again. Read your labels, and don’t buy or eat anything that has ingredients you don’t recognize. If an ingredient wasn’t found in nature, it shouldn’t be put into your body. But what about honey and maple syrup, you ask? Fine, but you need to limit them to treats; as in, maybe once a week. Sugar shouldn’t show up in your diet on a daily basis!
- Remove grains 80% of the time. This means ALL grains… wheat, rice, pasta, crackers, tortilla chips (yes, corn is a grain), etc. This 80% rule means that you can include grains on occasion (maybe 1-2 times per week), but for the most part, your carbohydrate sources will come from produce.
- Eliminate cow’s milk and highly processed cheese and yogurt. If you don’t have any dairy sensitivities, you may include REAL cheese (not Velveeta) and full fat, unsweetened dairy products (like plain, whole yogurt and full fat sour cream). If you are including dairy products, it’s very important that you choose grass-fed, organic products! Kerrygold butter and cheese, Organic Valley cream cheese, etc. If you’re going to eat it, get the best quality you can find!
- Eliminate most starches and legumes (white potatoes*, corn, beans, etc). They can be included 20% of the time, just like grains. Sweet potatoes are fine, so you may include them as a veggie. The goal is to fuel up with as many fresh veggies and fruits as possible, so those will be your main carb source. Remember that hummus is made from legumes, so this should be limited to once or twice per week!
- Remove processed vegetable oils, and replace them with olive oil and coconut oil. Avocados, walnuts, almonds and fatty fish are all excellent fat sources that should be eaten in place of vegetable oils.
*Many paleo nutritionists have gone back on the “no white potatoes” rule and now state that it’s ok to keep them in your diet. The SEALFIT book still recommends that you remove them, but it was published in 2014. So this one is up to you!
Is you're head spinning yet? To make this simpler, every meal should consist of vegetables and/or fruit, protein (eggs, poultry, meat, fish, of as high a quality as possible), and quality fat. Don't count calories- just eat real food!
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Monday
Baseline
Box breathing/ rolling trouble spots/ ROM drills
3 Rounds
200m Run
10 OH Squats with PVC
10 Pushups
Strength
5 Rounds
5 Overhead Squats (double kettlebells, or modify to single KB, or Front Rack Squats)
Work Capacity
Crossfit’s Nancy
5RFT
400m Run
15 OH Squats
Durability
Yoga Short Form B or active stretch.
Record workout results in training journal.
Also record box breathing practice, water intake, hours of sleep, and food daily.