Fall 2011 Nutrition Challenge Info

We’re happy to announce our second nutrition challenge. Our first nutrition challenge was a really awesome success. This time, we’re opening up the competition to anyone who wants to participate. All you have to do is show up on October 11th at 8PM with $20 in cash for the prize pool.

Please click here to register.

The reason for this challenge is simple: I’ve realized that even with our posts about nutrition (Nutrition Basics, “Nutrition Basics for Health and Performance” and “Eating a Zone-Ish Diet”) we still need to get it in your heads that FOOD IS FUEL (i.e. if you eat like crap, you will perform like crap) and proper nutrition is MORE important than the hours you spend with us.

Nutrition Challenge Rules

Consult your doctor before you make any nutrition changes.
You must bring $20 to the meeting on Monday or beforehand in order to compete. The money will be used as a prize pool for the winner.
If you want to enter the nutrition challenge, you follow exactly what we say.
It starts Monday and ends after 8 weeks, coinciding with our 5K training cycle.
On Monday, we will take a picture of you showing your mid section. The winner will be the one who shows the best body change (more lean muscle mass/less fat). Ladies please wear a sports bra and men need to go shirtless for the picture.
We will go over the details of the contest at the event, but the first four weeks will be absolutely strict, i.e. none of the following: alcohol of any kind, gluten, grains, diet soda, processed food, milk products and sugar.
You need to enter all your nutritional information into FitDay for the first three weeks. You must enter everything you eat.
You will need to print out your FitDay information and bring the sheets to the gym to review with a trainer every Monday for the first three weeks.
Calculating how much we eat: Take your body weight and subtract fat mass. I weigh 149# and have about 10% body fat, so I have 136# of lean body mass. Everyone will start out by eating .7 to .9 grams of protein per lean pound of body mass (I would eat .9 (up to 1 gram)*136# or 122 grams of protein per day). Based on general zone guidelines, I will divide that number by 7 to estimate my fat and carb macronutrient blocks. I know I am more active than most people, so let’s say I get 18 blocks from this estimate. Multiply by 9 for carbs and by 3 for fat; so 162 grams of carbs and 54 grams of fat. I know I do best between 2x and 3x Fat, so I eat about 108 to 162 grams of fat per day. This isn’t a science. It’s just a starting benchmark. If you are looking to shed pounds dramatically, you probably need to be eating under 100 grams of carbs per day. Under 50 carbs per day and you are going to be lethargic and your performance will decrease. You need to experiment, track and dial things in based on your specific needs.
Try to eat as much naturally raised food as possible. The more processed and the more industrialized, the worse it is.
Things that are OK: naturally raised or pastured meats, wild caught fish, sweet potatoes, yams, squash, tubers, meats, eggs, BACON, vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts, carrots, spinach, artichoke, coconut oil, olive oil, fruits in limited quantities.
Things that are in the grey area: milk products, protein powders, butter
Supplements: 5 to 8 grams of fish oil, multi vitamin, vit d.