Paleo Diet and Crossfit

Hello,

I crossfit a couple of times weekly and am working towards paleo, although perhaps you wouldn't know that from my diet at the moment lol.

Other athletes that I workout with suggest following the paleo diet gradually by replacing one 'normal' meal per day, then two, then all three, and eventually snacks too as changing everything immediately is very difficult to adapt to suddenly. However, if you feel that you can mange it then go for it!

This is the link explaining crossfit on their website http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/what-is-crossfit.html

And you will find a lot of information on the paleo diet here - http://thepaleodiet.com/getting-started-with-the-paleo-diet/

Good luck and have fun!

Google is pretty handy.

CrossFit is an ever changing circuit type programming based on powerlifting, olympic lifting, kettlebell movements, gymnastics, and more sprint-like cardio. Their gyms are called boxes, their workouts are called WODs (workout of the day) and the circuits are called MetCons (metabolic conditioning). Some think its extreme but all the workouts are scaled to your fitness level whether you're a couch potato who has no fitness background or a former college level athlete.

Paleo is eating according to how we think paleolithic man ate due to availability of certain foods as well as different intolerances people supposedly have or had. It's highly debated around here, so is CrossFit, so don't be surprised when this blows up into a debate.... or when a certain user comes in here warning you about how CrossFit will ruin your life.

Their popularity is probably mostly because they're "new". But CrossFit got me into weightlifting, which has giving me the best body composition results along with a calorie deficit that I've ever had. I ate paleo for a while but mostly to stop binging on bread, pasta, and cheese and along the way I found out that gluten can give me unpleasant gastrointestinal issues but dairy gives me no problems, so bring on the cheese and milk! That's the only thing I will give paleo applause for, helping people realize what foods cause reactions in the body. A person shouldn't feel sick after eating a meal when they haven't overeaten, something I didn't realize until after cutting out gluten to see how I felt.

If you just go by Pinterest, it seems like the point of a paleo diet is to try your best to pretend you're not on it. I see almost nothing but paleo muffins, paleo cake, paleo cheesecake, etc.

And this is probably the biggest problem I have with most people on paleo... paleofying food to justify eating cakes, cookies, etc and calling them all healthy. I don't have a problem with cakes, cookies, ice cream even of the normal variety, and I don't call them unhealthy either, but this idea that because it's paleo, it's better for you, is a crock of *kitten*.

There's some paleo writer who flat out says, if you're going to "cheat" the diet, do it right and don't make some paleofied crap version of whatever you're "craving", get the real deal.

If you just go by Pinterest, it seems like the point of a paleo diet is to try your best to pretend you're not on it. I see almost nothing but paleo muffins, paleo cake, paleo cheesecake, etc.

You are missing the point. Paleo removes processed sugar, dairy and grains from the diet. Dairy and grains are the leading sources of food allergies and systemic illnesses. The reason people make the Paleo desserts is to have something to replace to processed stuff most of society eats. It's not to pretend you aren't on it. If you are going to make that kind of sweeping statement then you could say the same for vegetarians with their, Soy-Bacon and Soy-Hot Dogs and Soy-Burgers. If you are so anti-meat then why process your beans into a meat-shaped dish? LOL

If you just go by Pinterest, it seems like the point of a paleo diet is to try your best to pretend you're not on it. I see almost nothing but paleo muffins, paleo cake, paleo cheesecake, etc.

You are missing the point. Paleo removes processed sugar, dairy and grains from the diet. Dairy and grains are the leading sources of food allergies and systemic illnesses. The reason people make the Paleo desserts is to have something to replace to processed stuff most of society eats. It's not to pretend you aren't on it. If you are going to make that kind of sweeping statement then you could say the same for vegetarians with their, Soy-Bacon and Soy-Hot Dogs and Soy-Burgers. If you are so anti-meat then why process your beans into a meat-shaped dish? LOL

Rarely do those paleofied desserts fit into the suggested macro nutrient break downs that are associated with paleo and primal eating.

And most paleo ingredients are still processed. If you want to eat true paleo, start stocking up on organ meats and forget you ever knew what cake was.

Yep. If you don't hunt and forage then you're phoning it in. I'm off to hunt some rats and eat wasp larvae. It's all about authenticity, right?

CrossFit takes one thing... commitment. You have to go and you have to give it your all every WOD. Can you do the exercises in your garage instead of joining a Box? Sure. That's the beauty of it, although you will be missing out on the coaching aspect. Having someone watching your form is a big plus. Also all the gear is at the box where a garage gym, you'd have to buy a lot of stuff (and store it).

As an extrovert, I LOVE the group WODs. I draw energy from it and everyone encourages the new or slower people to finish strong. They have a prescribed (Rx) weight for both men & women on the lifts for the WODs, but I have yet to have a coach force me to lift more than I am able. In fact, I've had coaches strip weight of my bar because my form was failing. They always stress scaling or modify the movements to what we can do and build from there.

Does CrossFit work? Yep. A lot of celebs do it (Jessica Biel, Jason Statham, Channing Tatum, and Cameron Diaz). Personally, I've gone from a sad 60lb Clean to 95lbs in just 8 weeks... I'm aiming for a 135lb clean. I'm stronger, more mobile and more energized than I have been in years. I've been going for 10 weeks, 5 days/week @ 5am and I'm never looking back. While I haven't seen the scale move (they told me I wouldn't LOL), the changes I see in the mirror and just my strength and health in general is worth all the work. The scale will move eventually, but until then, I'm building the foundation for a kick-*kitten* body that I can actually do things with.

As for Paleo/Zone and CrossFit, there's a reason they push it. Most people who start CrossFit training have really bad nutritional habits. Paleo removes all the 'trouble' foods and helps to cleanse the system. From there you can build upon a clean engine. Removing gluten, lactose, and processed sugar usually clears up a lot of congestion and inflammation. Once you have a good start you can add back in certain foods if you don't have a bad reaction to them. Most of my coaches are Oly Lifters and during training they bulk so Paleo isn't helpful, but they use it to lean out after a bulk. As it has been said before, "You can't out exercise a bad diet." Some Boxes are Paleo-zealots... most aren't.

CrossFit isn't for everyone though. If you are curious, most Boxes offer a free first week. Look around your area and drop into a Box for a visit, even just to watch a WOD. You will see all ages, skill levels, and weights doing it. You can also look at my MFP Blog to see some of the WODs I've done and how I scaled them.

Good Luck.

Paleo is one of many diets that make calorie reduction easier by cutting out types of food that people tend to overeat. It's pretty solid for folks who don't track their food. Not particularly critical to this app/website.

Crossfit is one of many strength training programs out there. If the format works for an individual, great.

Crossfit emphasizes constantly varied, functional movement performed at a high intensity. We lift weights (squat, deadlift, press, clean & jerk, snatch), cardio (run & rowing), gymnastics skills (handstands, ring work, pullups, muscle ups) and do other bootcamp type stuff like kettlebells, box jumps, flipping tires etc. The class I go to follows a progression of a warm up, strength component (ie yesterday we did front squats for a heavy triple), a metcon (yesterday was Cindy which was a 20 min as many rounds as possible 5 pullups, 10 push ups and 15 bodyweight squats), then we typically do some type of mobility work to finish class.

Crossfit for me was a new challenge. I had run 5 marathons and was starting to burn out on just running. Crossfit got me into weightlifting and I was very adamant that I was going to go to a box that had coaches who emphasized form over weight. I have made drastic improvements over that last year and a half but love the fact there is always a new PR to chase or new skill to learn. I without a doubt have the best body composition I have ever had in my life, much better than when I was running 50 miles per week. I also love the group atmosphere and community which has allowed me to make a ton of friends through crossfit I would have never otherwise met.

As for Paleo, it emphasizes eating foods as close to their natural state as possible but I think there is no one size fits all approach. Through a 30 day challenge I learned I do have some sensitivity to gluten and dairy and I have had to learn what works for my body. For example I can eat some cheeses and Greek yogurt in small amounts but if I have milk or ice cream I feel just awful for 2 days. I’m not 100% perfect paleo but I try and eat that way at least 80% because I feel better and my workouts scores are also better. I feel like 99% of the people who claim to be Paleo, at least that I know, follow a similar philosophy of you can eat this way but still allow some wiggle room to have a life and not have to cook everything yourself.