By Sean Wells
Diet isn’t what comes to mind for most people when they want to get healthy. Most people start at a gym looking to get healthy and fit.
They come in and do all of the “right” things. Warm up every session for 10 minutes. Listen to their coaches when it comes to strength and accessory work. Hit the “WOD” (workout of the day) with good intensity and then spend 10 minutes cooling down and taking care of themselves. Typically 3-6 days a week depending on the individuals goals.
When they leave the gym is where the problem starts, and this was a huge problem for me as well.
Here is my story:
When I started CrossFit (more than 11 years ago, first in a garage and then OC), I was making the same mistakes that I see people making now. I would do all of the “right” things in the gym but when I left I would almost always go get the quickest, easiest, cheapest food I could get my hands on. Training 6x a week, I was super diligent about never missing a training session. Even slept 8-10 hours a night which at the time was a challenge (still is). Regularly I would get massage and chiropractic work done (1x a month). However, I was making a huge mistake & missing the most important aspect of training. I thought I could out-train my bad diet.
In my defense, 10+ years ago we didn’t have all the resources that we have now in regards to nutrition education. But I digress.
I was going the simple, easy and what I thought was the cheap route. What I was really doing was making it harder to have success in the gym by not taking care of the most important aspects of training – which is nutrition, specifically my Diet!
My vice was get done training and go hit up Burger King or McDonalds (yes, I know, bad!). I justified my behavior by telling myself that I was killing it in the gym (6x a week), that I was sleeping 8-10 hours a night, that I was being optimal. I wasn’t being optimal.
How you can do better?
First, prioritize nutrition the same way you would training, sleep, body work and all of the other things you do to stay healthy and fit. Second, build on some healthy habits – prepping your food, eating breakfast, avoiding processed food, soda etc.
We know nutrition is a vital component for your health and fitness and we want to help you!
To learn more about OC’s Nutrition Programs & how we can help you schedule a FREE Call.
