Day 2: THE DIET - Red Pill or Blue Pill

Day 2
"The Diet"


WOD (Workout Of the Day) 130401
10 min AMRAP of
3 Pull Ups
6 Push Ups
9 Squats

Notes: AMRAP stands for As Many Rounds As Possible. When you complete the 3 pull ups, 6 push ups, 9 squats, that's considered one round completed. You're going to do as many rounds of that 3/6/9 reps within the 10 minute time frame. Girls (and guys) should be doing weight pull ups to get the full extension in their pull ups, girls (and guys) should be doing modified push ups on their knees, but EVERYONE does a full air squat, no excuses! Good luck! Post results in the comments or keep a log of your workout results! Scores are counted by how many rounds you've completed.


Uhh.... so what's the DIET?

I'm only calling this a 'diet' for now because this is definitely going to be a big change from what you're probably eating now. Diet sounds like something forced and unwanted. It should, and will, be a lifestyle after awhile. I'm going to give you two options on how to eat. If you want to lose weight fast, I strongly suggest you follow the Red Pill option strictly. If you're like me and need to stay at the weight or gain, can't really give up starches (rice, bread, waffles haha), you'll follow the Blue Pill. Either way... you're going to get sexy as fuck, just depends how fast you want yourself to be sexy. The goal is to get in the habit of going to grocery shopping 90% of the time at the produce and deli areas of the store and more importantly, making good food choices. Both ways are healthy and doable, but how bad to you want to get healthy?

MUST DO's

Here are the lists of what to do if you want this to be successful. There are no excuses for this. This is the MINIMUM.  Follow these if you can follow either of the diets.

1. Eat breakfast before 10:00am
• You need to get your body in motion. The earlier the better.
2. Wake up around the same time EVERY DAY
• Your circadian rhythm will be consistent, you'll always be more productive, and you will never miss your diet. 
3. NO alcohol. But if you are...
• Michelob Ultra, Beck's Light, and Amstel Light's are your best/only choice. Don't you dare get mixed drinks. Period.
4. If you're going to cheat...
• Pick one day out of the week to eat all the shit you "want". I want you to feel just how shitty your body reacts when you've been eating clean for 6 days then all of a sudden 5 ROLLED TACOS & CARNE ASADA FRIES. Explain that to your GI tract.

PRIMAL | Red Pill

The following information is from my best friend who is currently following this diet strictly and is reaping all the benefits. After a back and knee injury, he was not able to do CrossFit or even exercise at all. He was limited to planks and push ups combined with a list of pain meds. Although restricted in mobility, diet was the reason he lost fat and maintained his weight. He vouches for this diet, although a very disciplined diet, reaping the benefits outweigh the urges for sweets and fats.

These are the rules and restrictions for the Paleo diet. It's also known as the "Caveman" diet that includes meats, vegetables, some nuts and fruits, berries, no starches and sweets. This is a high protein, high fat, no starch diet. This is VERY difficult to follow. Many CrossFit athletes follow this diet strictly, kinda strict, or use this as a guideline for their food choices. Benefits include more energy, rapid fat loss, and bragging rights. My brother is going to be following this option as strictly as he can. Here is the red pill option...

The AVOID List:

Beverages: Simple.  Water, water, water.  Stick to water, herbal tea or coffee for beverage choices.  Sports performance drinks may be used only when having intense workouts over 30 min.

Baking Ingredients: Corn meal, starch, syrup, flours, powders, sweeteners, yeast

Condiments: Honey mustard, jams and jellies, ketchup, mayo… Basically avoid all dressings.  Use only olive oil on salads with pepper or some other seasoning. 

Dairy: Processed cheese and cheese spreads, ice cream, non-fat and low-fat milk, frozen yogurt.  If you want to eat dairy, go with whole milk, cream cheese, and cottage cheese. 

Fats and oils: Too many oils to list, but concentrate on cooking with coconut oil, butter and olive oil.

Fast food: "If it has plastic or cardboard wrapper and a Nutrition Facts panel, it's probably not appropriate for the next 21 days, nor in the future."

Fish: Most farmed fish, fish caught by environmentally-objectionable methods, large fish at the top of the food chain.

Grains (The biggest avoidance): Cereal, corn, pasta, rice, and wheat; bread and flour products (baguettes, crackers, croissants, Danishes, donnas, graham crackers, muffins, pizza, pretzels, rolls, saltine crackers, swirls, tortillas, Triscuits, Wheat Thins); breakfast foods (Cream of wheat, dried cereal, French toast, granola, grits, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles); chips (corn, potato, tortilla); cooking grains (amaranth, barley, bulgur, couscous, millet, rye); and puffed snacks (Cheetos, Goldfish, Pirates Booty, popcorn, rice cakes). 

Legumes: Alfalfa, beans, peanuts, peanut butter, peas, lentils, soybeans, and tofu.  

Meat: pre-packaged meat products processed with chemicals and sweeteners (breakfast sausage patties, dinner roasts, frozen meals, sliced lunch meats)l smoked, cured, nitrate or nitrate-treated meals (bologna, ham, hot dogs, jerky, pepperoni, salami). 

Processed foods: energy bars; fruit bars and rolls; granola bars; protein bars; frozen breakfast; dinner, and dessert products; and packaged, grain/sugar-laden snack products.  If it's in a box, package, or wrapper, think twice!

Sweets: Avoid every damn kind of dessert you can think of.  The only thing you can eat is Dark Chocolate.  

FINDING THE BEST FAST FOOD:

Chicken: Easy - get the Grilled chicken.  Rotisserie chicken, roasted turkey, beef brisket, and meatloaf entrees at certain places.

Coffee House: Stick to STRAIGHT coffee.

Ethnic: Panda Express offers fresh vegetables and meat entrees, custom design meals.  No rice, noodles, heavy sauces and deep fried dishes.  Other fast food options include chinese/wok-style buffets, Mongolian barbecues, Korean barbecues, and express Thai or Japanese.

Fresh Mex: Tortilla free burrito.  No rice, no beans.  Focus on the meat and vegetables.

Hamburger Chains: Protein style, no bun.  

Pizza: nope

Sandwich shops: nope, make it into a salad.

Sit-down restaurants: Meat and Vegetables.  Haven't done this yet, but he says if you're at a sit-down restaurant, ask them to have it cook in butter.

FOODS to EAT:

1. Basically make your own salad.  Put your own vegetables in it, mushrooms, onions, avocado, and always add a protein: chicken, bacon, turkey, beef, tuna, salmon.

2. I grill steak and chicken a lot.  Have it with broccoli and mushrooms.  The MOST IMPORTANT thing, make sure all the chicken and beef you eat is GRASS FED, ORGANIC, VEGETARIAN FED.  Get your shit at Trader Joes and Whole Foods and you good. 

3.  Get organic eggs.  Eat the yolk.  

4. Quick list of the best vegetables with the highest antioxidant values: beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, garlic, kale, onion, peas, red ball peppers, spinach and yellow squash.  Asparagus.  

FRUIT POWER RANKINGS:

1. Outstanding: all berries, cherries, prunes, peaches, apricots

2. Great: apples, bananas, figs, grapefruit, kiwi, pears, pomegranates

3. Exercise some moderation (or AVOID if you are trying to lose body fat): grapes, mangoes, melons, dates, dried fruits, nectarines, oranges, papayas, pineapples, plums, tangerines. 

Best Nuts: Macadamia Nuts, enough said.  Pistachios, avoid all the other nuts.

If you need carb carbs: go for the sweet potatoes, quinoa, and wild rice. (If you're doing this for losing weight, avoid it).

  

SNACKS:

1. Berries

2. Dark Chocolate 

3. Fish: Canned herring, mackerel, sardines, tuna

4. Hard boiled eggs

5. Jerky: homemade or otherwise minimally processed

6. Macadamia nuts (best between meal snack)

7. Olives

8. Vegetables with nut butter spread

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ZONE | Blue Pill

This diet is the diet I will be following. My biggest concern has always been find a good balance between modern food and healthy eating. The best diet, for me, is to keep everything balanced and in moderation. With this diet, I have found a great balance with the foods I love and used it to fuel my weight gain while maintaining a healthy body. This diet is based on a 40% carb, 30% protein, 30% fat macronutrient diet. My meals are measured in blocks, where foods have a certain "rating" or "index" where I can eat almost all foods I enjoy in moderation, but still receive the best nutrition for my CrossFit lifestyle.

Glycemic Index

The following graphic below shows a list of foods that have high glycemic or low glycemic index. High foods include starchy foods like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes or grains. Low foods, or good foods, include meats, veggies, nuts and seeds.

You can see that most of the foods on the "bad foods" can be found in boxes, are super sweet and have sugars, have preservatives, or have shelf lives. Personally, I'm sad that mangos are on the bad list, but I'll just have to eat those in moderation. Most of the foods on the left can be found in the produce aisles and deli aisles, with the exception of beans, oil, and peanut butter. It's an oversimplification of nutritional value, but this is a great guideline of what you should be looking for when you're finding the best foods for your diet.

What is a "Block?"

A block is a unit of measure used to simpliy the process of making balanced meals
7g protein = 1 block of protein
9g of carbs = 1 block of carbs
1.5 g of fats = 1 block of fat

An example of a 4-block meal:
4oz chicken breast
1 artichoke
1 cup of steamed veggies
25 crushed peanuts
1 sliced apple
** This meal contains 28 grams of protein, 36 grams of carbs, and 12 grams of fat, aka 4 blocks of protein, fat, and carbs**

Here is the diet guidelines for all types of body figures

The following graphics are the serving sizes that equal 1 block of protein/carb/fat

BAD FOODS

GOOD FOODS

Obviously this is overwhelming because it looks like it's going to take a lot of measuring and shit... but I'm showing you the list so you can at least know what foods are good and bad. Please do your best to TRY and measure food just once, so you can eyeball the size of each portion. You can also use simple logic and tell yourself, "3 cups of reese pieces looks unhealthy" and "a slice of chicken breast isn't enough" to figure out the portion sizes. Come on now.

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CONCLUSION

Okay, so I'm going to guess this is a HUGE slap in the face for your regular diet. If you're like me, and you're filipino, rice is like the same as the blood in your body, you can't live without it. You have a choice to completely take it out of your diet or portion it in moderation to keep it in your diet. I will be posting SIMPLE and CHEAP recipes, with the help of my brother for your diet and it's up to you to follow the recipes or not. There's no excuse to following the diet. If you have time to search on your facebook, then you can definitely cook yourself up a meal. You shouldn't even be on facebook because my first post explained changing your bookmarks and most frequently visited sites to productive, inspiring, and motivating ones haha.

In all seriousness, good luck to all of you willing and ready to take on the next 30 days to change your life. You're not alone. Let me know if you're doing this. We'll all keep in touch and motivate each other. Recipes, tips, and advice coming within this week.

Turn IMpossible to I'Mpossible. Today.