Eat to Perform

So if you read my last post you know I've been exploring carb backloading (CBL). After pouring through the e-book I came upon a very important caveat... "Not recommended fro CrossFitters." Blast! I was a little crushed when I saw this so I decided to continue my search for more info, as I was convinced that someone had to have adapted CBL to CrossFit athletes. It didn't take me long before I happened upon eat to perform. MIND BLOWN! The calorie calculation that I posted last week actually came from this site and the rationale behind it is that most endurance athletes (CrossFitters) are underfed. The idea is that in order to stimulate one's metabolism to burn fat, it is essential to be taking in adequate calories.When you under eat, your body holds onto fat. Couple that with excessive workouts and you are really just screwing up your metabolism. So the idea is to eat more, which will in turn allow you to work harder in the gym, leading to better body composition.  Like CBL, you load up your carbs around your workouts.

Here are the basics:

• Use to TDEE (BMR) calculator to determine your caloric and macro nutrient needs
• Hit your protein number first and then fill in with fat and carbs
• If you work out in the evening, stick to protein and fat for most of the day and then load up on carbs pre and post workout
• If you plan on resting tomorrow, stick to lower cabs today. If you rested today and are WODing tomorrow, load up on carbs tonight.
• Use the basic parameters of ETP as a jumping off point, and then listen to your body to determine what works best for you
• Focus on performance first, then fat loss

The funny thing is, there was a time in my life when I absolutely blasted low carb diets. I was convinced they messed with thyroid function, and much of the weight loss was actually water loss. This is actually true and yet over the last 6 months what have I been doing? That's right, low carbing! I've gotten so caught up in the desire to be lean, that I compromised some of my own basic principals. The week of my wedding (in October) I was down to 141lbs. I was so nervous that I wasn't able to eat much. Yes, my weight was low and I was looking lean, but I wonder how much muscle I lost that week? My weight rebounded QUICKLY after the wedding because my metabolism wasn't working at an optimal level to keep it off. Then, I started paleo in an attempt to get the weight back down. I've loved Paleo and it has kept me eating clean, but staying so low on carbs hasn't done me a whole lot of good. I think its time for a shift in perspective. Its not about weight, its not about weight, IT IS NOT ABOUT WEIGHT. The truth is, my weight has continued to rise but my measurements have stayed the same. Whats really important? Body composition right? I think its time to take a vacation from the scale again. It is just too damaging to my psyche, so today was my last weigh in for a while. I'm scheduled to have my body comp checked via BodPod June 21st and I'm really looking forward to the results. I plan on moving forward with ETP and it'll be interesting to play around with the numbers. Today, I'm 155lbs and my numbers look like this:

2,558 calories

CBL Days:
Carb- 200g
Protein- 155g
Fat- 126g

Control Days:
Carb- 147g
Protein- 155g
Fat- 150g

I usually WOD 5 days/wk so my normal week should look like this:

Monday: WOD/CBL
Tuesday: WOD/CBL
Wednesday:WOD/CBL
Thursday: WOD/Control
Friday: Rest/CBL
Saturday: WOD/control
Sunday: Rest/CBL

Of course this changes depending on whether I decide to rest on different days, but this is generally what I'll be working with. Today is a control day, since I'm going to take tomorrow off. I'm looking forward to this latest experiment and as always I'll be documenting the journey.

Here goes nothing!