Awesome article about Crossfit and the Zone. Dutch is one of the elite's in the Crossfit world.



Gabe “Dutch” Lowy

Age:26

Height 5’4”

Weight 150lbs

Owner: CrossFit ATM

I met Dutch for the first time at the Level 1 CrossFit cert held at GSX Athletics in Fort Worth, TX. Dutch is a tough, dedicated athlete as evidenced by the following benchmarks:

Fran: 2:30

Elizabeth: 6:38

Grace: 5:00

FGB: 452

Total: 875

Snatch: 182

Clean: 245

C&J: 235

Cindy: 34 rounds

Mary: 14 rounds

Helen: 9:02 (450m run)

500m row: 1:37 2000m row: 7:21

I had the good fortune of hanging out with Dutch at this event and we were able to work some OL’s and talk a bit about nutrition. Dutch sounded pretty dialed in on his eating but like all top competitors he was looking for any edge that might be gained from his nutrition. He was also trying to fix a mid afternoon energy slump that felt like low blood sugar. I had Dutch keep track of his food and email that to me…good, bad and ugly. Here is that first email

“I am pretty uniform in my eating. I am strict zone with anywhere between 4 and 9x’s the fat per meal. I am currently eating lots of fruits (oranges, apples, pears, peaches) as my carbs but have no connection to them.

A typical day looks like this: (Not too much variety between days)

6AM 2 blocks:

1 apple (medium gala)

Half cup of cottage cheese (lactaid brand, I am lactose intolerant)

Handful of almonds. About 27 (9 blocks)

9AM 2 Blocks:

2 oz deli turkey

1 orange (large navel)

Handful of cashews. About 21 (7 blocks)

10:30AM 2 Blocks

2 oz deli turkey

1 apple (gala Medium sized)

Handful of almonds. Between 15 and 25. (sorry I haven’t counted nuts

since I started the zone over a year ago)

1:45 PM 2 blocks

2 oz deli turkey

1 orange (large navel)

Handful almonds

2:45 PM 2 blocks

Half cup Cottage cheese

1 pear with peanut butter. (There is no telling how much PB I

use… I just sit down with a spoon and a knife. Probably a quarter of the

container.)

5 PM 2 blocks

2 oz deli turkey or ham

1 apple

Handful of cashews or almonds

8PM 4-5 Blocks (usually closer to 4)

4 Oz Chicken breast

Assorted steamed veggies ( 3-4 cups)

Sprinkled with italian dressing or EVOO and maybe some crushed

almonds.

About a cup and a half of soy milk.

9:30 - 10 PM 1 Block

Half an apple

1 oz of turkey

Half handful of almonds

My Crossfit workouts have been great. I make it through even the 20 minute plus sessions with little trouble. I am a handball player as well and play three days a week at 3PM. I have been having some trouble with what feels
like blood sugar. I get half way through the first game and become lethargic, light headed, slow. My concentration then goes out the window. I usually eat 2 blocks about 15 -20 minutes before playing. It is hard to get Crossfit workouts into days where I play just from a time standpoint. I am working from 6-9 and then go straight to school till 3 then to the courts to play handball. I have to be back here for work at 5:15 till about 8. I am going to try to fit training in between classes MWF. T TH I only have one class so I am going to train hard those days.”

A few things bear mentioning: This is a blistering schedule which includes school, work, CrossFit and a competitive sport. Dutch manages to navigate all of this and prioritize his food. Not an easy thing to do but it’s critical if one is to not only survive this schedule to say nothing of thrive! His performance is great but he mentions some blood sugar related foggy-headedness later in the day, particularly during handball. The Zone is by no means a high carb diet but I have noticed some people (myself included) run into blood sugar issues with the Zone if it is approached as prescribed. It can be too many carbs, too often. Sleep can and does play a major factor in blood sugar management so here is my response to Dutch:

Yaaaay - Handball and crossfit...Nice to meet another fan...I am new to both and started with crossfit enduro until I can find a good McGym to start X-fit.

I took up the zone cos I think I dont eat enough and that gives me my low blood sugar problems - I wanted amore structured eating plan and a lot of X-fit folk use the zone...so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Lets see if it makes it worse...nothing so far. I did post of crossfit and some guy adviced more oils and that helped him.,

For the elite guys they are doing some major modifications to the Zone. I really wouldn't call what some people do a Zone way of eating. Paleo/Zone mixture with some carb loading at times and some fasting also. We are talking some super intense workout schedules. The endurance athletes seem to do more of the carb loading from what I have read so far.

For the everyday Joe doing crossfit or the weekend warrior athletes doing some marathon or bike riding or what ever tickles your fancy on the side, the Zone is the way to go for nutrition. It can be modified for every individual but that is the wonder of the zone, do what works for you to find your Zone. I've only been doing crossfit for 3-1/2 weeks and find it amazing what kind of gains I have had in such a short period of time. My energy levels and recovery have been great. I've done 3 intense work outs since yesterday morning. I'll be back in the CF gym tonight and tomorrow night. It feels so good. I think I am sick or I have been drinking the koolaid.

Matt

wow. More power to you Matt! It's fun to read about your CF adventure.

hill,

Dutch's symptoms aren't not surprising cosidering his "almost all fruit for carb" version of the Zone. He's not getting gdod insulin control. the later part of the day is frequently the worst time of day for a perosn who is spiking blood sugar on a daily basis.

Sue, There was a bunch more follow up that I am not going to copy over. Robb Wolf is the CF Nutrition guru. He had Dutch do some tweaking. He had him hold back half his carbs at each meal except for postwork and post-competition meals. Dutch followed that advice and was very happy with the results.

Paleo / Zone they eat a lot more fruits and some items that we find unfavorable. Strict Paleo eat no grains, no gluten, no dairy, no beans/legumes, no refined sugar, or other Neolithic foods.

Matt

Thanks!

Holding back on the carbs,especialy since most all were from fruit, would be the same as the switch to veggies in regard to better blood sugar control, so it also makes sense from a Zone standpoint. I'm not at all surprised to hear it resolved the problems he was experiencing.

Sue are you out there? I have question that i'm sure you would have the answer for. I was reading a thread about a crossfitter that received most of his carbs from fruit and he had an issue with blood sugar. So, is there a correct ratio of fruit to vegetables. I'm sure more veggies vs. fruit would be better, but let's face it, it is difficult to gag down 2 cups of broccoli & 1 cup of tomatos and an oz of turkey breast to make a block. Fruits seem much easier to eat on the run and they taste better. Secondly, would it be better to eat a less favorable veggie (high density)over a favorable fruit?

matt, there's no ideal fruit veggie ratio. A lot will depend on your personal response to specific veggies and fruits , and to carb in general, but the more veggies the better. And please choose veggies you like, not those you have to gag down! You could try turkey rollups filled with hummus (if you like hummus).