If anyone else is a crossfitter, please help me out with this. When I do morning WOD's, should I have a snack before and breakfast after, or should I have breakfast before and a snack after? What do you typically eat before and after a WOD?

Snack 1/2 - 1 hr before. Protein and fat sometimes carb is what I do often. I may eat a fruit immediately after the WOD then wait an hour or more to have BF or for the harder the WOD the sooner I eat and skip the fruit.

Going to Sears CrossFit seminar tomorrow.

Hi Matt,

Please let us know how you liked the seminar!

Ooooh, Sears is gonna do a seminar on CrossFit? I REALLY want to hear that. After a few more weeks of Starting Strength I'm moving on to CrossFit and would love to hear what Dr. Sears has to say about balancing the Zone Diet for it.

Gonna check if he's already said anything.

The event was awesome. It was everything I expected and more. It was about the Zone to mostly CrossFitters. I will give more detail later have to go to another event. Dr Sears did say the ultimate anti-inflammatory diet is a Paleo/Zone diet. Paleo whole foods in Zone portions.

I will share more later. I could type for hours.

Later

Matt

Here is someone else's write up on the seminar.

http://www.fit4younutrition.com/fea...ticle.html

Ace Matt, that's great.
Will we be seeing your notes also?

Thx again,


Diego

Hi Lisa. Not saying this is the correct way, but I picked it up from a video of Dr. Sears addressing athletes. I usually do crossfit in the afternoon, and would normally have a 2 block snack between lunch and dinner. I now split that snack into two one block snacks: the first is one hour before the WOD (for energy) and the second is within 30 minutes of finishing the WOD (for recovery). Dr. Sears uses the example of splitting a 2 block Zone bar in half, and having each half separately.

I then wait about 90 minutes to 2 hours before having dinner.

Hope that helps. Again, it's just one method.

Hi James,

That's a good way to support your workout. A tip, it wouldn't be necessary to wait a couple hours to eat the meal.

Hey Matt that link doesn't seem to be working (at least for me)

http://www.fit4younutrition.com/fea...ticle.html

not for me either

Darn, it definitely was working earlier, I read the whole thing. If only I had copied it before closing the window...

The site appears to be experiencing some hiccups, so maybe the article will be available again tomorrow.

<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Sue K on 08/10/2009 3:07 PM

A tip, it wouldn't be necessary to wait a couple hours to eat the meal.</div>


Sue, thanks for the advice, but now I think I'm somewhat confused. Can you help me understand the relationship between the timing of my post-workout snack and my next meal? I thought I was doing the right thing by waiting a couple of hours between feedings? No good? Is it because the post-workout snack serves a different purpose than a regular mid-afternoon snack (even though I'm counting toward my daily block total)?

Thanks for your help.

You're welcome! You might be overthinking my remark. I meant that in the event that you might be pushing you dinner to a later time to make it at least 1.5 to 2 hrs after the post workout snack (you may or may not be doing this), it's not necessary to.

Got the link to work




Crossfit Barry Sears Zone Seminar Review

I took a detour to Orange County to attend the Crossfit Barry Sears Zone Health and Performance Seminar. Greg Glassman, Tony Budding, Nicole Carroll, and Greg Amudson were among the hundreds of Crossfit personalities in attendance.

I don’t know if my previous impression of Barry Sears and the Zone was misunderstood given that my first introduction to it was from Patty (who to his credit was the one who got me interested in nutrition to begin with) or that Sears has shifted his focus from the initial zone books that I read years back (I must admit that I have not yet read his latest book “Toxic Fat”) but I was somewhat surprised and pleased by the focus of his attention and priorities. Again and again he emphasized that it is not about magic numbers, there is not one ratio for everyone; you need to learn to listen to your own body to find a balance that works for you.

THE IDENTIFIED PROBLEM

The underlying cause of every chronic disease known to man is silent inflammation. Sears emphatically believes that the leading cause of inflammation is “Toxic Fat” (arachidonic acid) which is caused by diet (in particular the combination of high insulin and omega 6). It is the disconnect between the food we eat and our genes that is causing the silent inflammation.

He looked at the hormonal responses that happen each time you eat based on the macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat) that you are eating.

1. Carbs increase insulin-a storage hormone
2. Protein increase glucagon-a mobilization hormone that releases energy
3. Fat-controls inflammation and in effect control every hormone in your body

He took this one step further by showing that:

1. Epa and glucagon (protein) are Inhibitors of toxic fat, while
2. Insulin (carbs) are Activators of toxic fat-Insulin

According to Sears, there are three evolutionary factors that have caused silent inflammation to reach the levels that it has:

1. Refined carbohydrates (these include bread, pizza and potatoes
2. Vegetable oil consumption-including corn, soy, safflower, sunflower
3. Decreased omega 3 consumption

FISH OILS ROLE

It’s important not the role that Fish Oil plays in reducing inflammation and eliminating toxic fat. According to Sears, all else fails, take fish oil in large dosages. If nothing else 2.5-15grams/day will help increase your omega 3 levels and decrease inflammation. This is what he calls the 15 seconds a day solution. An even more effective solution is combining taking fish oil while eating based on the zone (but fish oil needs to be there). If you are eating a zone diet that has been properly designed for your body, you should begin to need less fish oil, but the need will never be completely eliminated. One of the many reasons why fish oil is so important is that although drugs cannot pass the blood/brain barrier-DHA can.

THE ZONE

The goal of the zone is to keep these hormones balanced and in effect control inflammation. He showed the base recommended rations but then emphasized its not about eating a set amount of zone blocks, but rather finding the right balance where you won’t be hungry not because of will power but hormonal control. ***NOT ONE RATIO for everyone, you need to learn to listen to your body.

I found it interesting that he himself is very particular as to the type of foods he eats within the zone model (sticking mainly to paeleoithic foods and avoiding most processed foods. Elaborating on what you should be eating within these macronutrient blocks he suggested:

* Fats should be Monosaturated (avocado, olive oil),
* Carbs should take up 2/3rds of your plate and be low glycemic and with color-poor choices would be grains, starches, bananas, corn & peas,
* Protein should be lean (turkey, fish, egg whites), and take up about a third of your plate or be the size of your palm.

And all foods should be unprocessed whenever possible (no bread, white rice, pasta, pizza).

Once you can see your abs, you can then look at adding additional fat.

And as for the idea of weighing and measuring food. He says don’t-it causes more stress than it’s worth. All you need is the palm of your hand and an eyeball. Eat small meals throughout the day with small amounts of protein (never larger than the size of your palm) and fruits and veggies with very meal. Avoid bread, rice, pasta and potatoes and other colorless food.

Sears described the zone as an evolution of the Mediterranean diet where you are cutting back on the grains and starches and adding fruit and vegetables.

It should also be noted that he doesn’t approve of the zone bar or any other highly processed “zone” products that do not have his name attached to them.

TAKE ON PALEO

He agreed that the paleo approach is ideal, but explained that it depends on how much effort you want to expend. He went on to say that the best rule to follow is: “Anything that did not exist 10,000 years ago, do not put in your mouth” (sound familiar ?) and most of the time he himself eats paleo within the “Zone” format.

HOW THE ZONE AND FISH OIL WORK TOGETHER

Zone diet reduces toxic fat, PA in fishoil leaks out remaining toxic fact.

IN REGARDS TO PERFORMANCE:

Calories don’t count as much as their ability to make ATP. In athletic performances, controlling hormonal performance is everything.

30 minute post workout window-ideally you want to get a combination of protein and carbs in, but want to avoid high insulin spikes as it will block the pituitary glands and inhibit muscle repair.

It's interesting to note that in all studies mentioned, athletes were not just following the zone, but also on high doses of fish oil which could have led to the majority of the performance gains.

If diet is not dialled first, exercise can cause fat gain, as the more you exercise, the more ATP needs to generated and the more you eat. 80% of loosing weight is diet, 20% exercise.

OTHER COMMENTS MADE

* Accumulation of body fat is just as genetically determined as height
* # 1 job in dealing with overweight individual is to release the fat block.
* “Think of food as a drug. Need to take the right dosage at the right time”.
* Greek definition of diet is way of life
* The idea being that you can use food as a drug to cure inflammation and therefore gene expression.

Very good summary of the Zone hill! If you were under the impression that the Zone is about adhering to a "magic number" (as you described), then it sounds like you were operating under a misconception. It's always been about adjusting, with the Zone principles as guidelines, to find the balance that allows you to stay in the Zone and be at you best mentailly and physically (balance with the diet, types and amount of activity, amount of fish oil dosage, etc.).

Sue that is from the link that I had posted earlier not Hill's write up.

It really touches on almost everything discussed. There are a lot of people out there that believe the "ZONE" is only acheived at 40-30-30. As you know this is not the case and the % will vary by the individual and their goals. I think that is why we have so many people in the perfomance section come check it out and not get the results they wanted and move on. They really weren't giving it a chance and doing the adjustments required to find "THEIR ZONE".

I'm not sure I heard Dr. Sears say he was paleo. He clearly said that the ultimate anti-inflammatory diet is a Paleo/Zone. That would mean no Zone products and no grains or dairy. He also indicated that most are not that disciplined. I think I am pretty strict and I'm only 80-90% paleo. I do have to have some dairy and SC oats 1-2 times per week at most. If you go to the best choices list on most of the food lists I have seen these are all Paleo with the exception of the dairy, tofus, and barley, SC Oats.

On artificial sweetners. He doesn't like them as we already know. I asked a specific question about them and the answer was exactly as I suspected. If you are going to use them make sure there is some food being consumed at the same time. Coffee alone with sweetner natural or unnatural is not good. The taste bud response to the sweet taste that has been discussed before will cause the insulin release. Eat something with the tea or diet coke or coffee.

On the genetic make up and weight issue. He said 25% are predisposed to have obesity issues, 25% are highly unlikely to have weight issues and 50% are in the middle of the road with a chance to have weight issues if not careful. My conclusion from that is if Americans and the rest of the world continue on this trend we are on. 70% or more of the world will be over weight.

The Perfect Storm is also very interesting as he said we are now seeing results from countries we are exporting our cheap crap food to. They are now getting fatter. Okinawians now have the first generation with obesity issues, they are generally one of the healthiest on the planet with the lowest rate of heart disease.

That's all I can think of now.

It was a great event. Thanks to Coach Glassman & Dr. Sears for putting this thing together.

Matt

Thanks for the summaries! I think I might have to go buy the latest book!

Oops! Thanks Matt! Now I get it. (Duh...)

It’s nice to hear a summary from someone with a good understanding of the Zone. No surprises or new ideas about the things you’ve told us were said at the seminar, but its excellent info.

I hear you on the people who think the Zone is all about 40/30/30. It's not only in the performance section. Many people who are interested in weight loss will go to great lengths to try to fit certain foods into the Zone as long as they work it out to be "40/30/30", and then wonder why the Zone isn't working well for them. It kind of goes hand in hand with Dr. Sears' remark about it being easier to get people to change their religion than it is to get them to change what they eat. Many people don't see the forest for the trees when it comes to what they eat. It's not their fault. They just haven't yet understood the entire picture. They will cling to out of context passages from Zone literature, lending their own spin to it, often to justify fitting in the foods they just don't want to let go of, and what they're eating ends up bearing little resemblance to the Zone.

You were very fortunate to be able to attend the event. If you remember any more of the info, please let us know about it. Whenever I've talked to Barry S. he's always sharing some new insights about the Zone (things that are new to me at least).

Thanks again for an excellent summary!

Well said Sue.

There is a preview on CrossFit.com of a video from the lecture. The full version of the video is on the journal but you have to have a subsription.

I have not watched it but will some time over the weekend.

Matt

I lied, it looks like the video is a freebie on the Journal. http://journal.crossfit.com/ It is 2 vdeos about 20 minutes total. Just a teaser of we heard.