CrossFit entered the diet debate as a low-carb, low-calorie, good-fat opponent to the low-fat, low-calorie, high-carb opposition. While the “establishment” vilified dietary fat as dangerous to our health, we were attacked and maligned for proposing that the consumption of excess refined carbohydrates was the root cause of the chronic disease epidemic.
Way back in 2003, in the now-famous CrossFit Journal Issue 15, we explained our position and offered a library of timeless resources to support what we were seeing with our athletes.
Over the last 20 years, numerous diets have captured the spotlight, touting themselves as cures for obesity and metabolic derangement — often by emphasizing one or two macronutrients to the exclusion of the others. Keto promotes high fat and some protein, but basically no carbs. Carnivore allows for high protein and the fat that naturally accompanies it, but no carbs. Traditional bodybuilding diets typically recommend high protein and carbohydrate intake with very little fat. Diets like the Honey Diet or Sugar Diet have carb-only phases with virtually no fats or protein. And on and on.
Over this time period, we have been steadfast in our recommendation. We haven’t changed anything. We’ve offered a simple, macronutrient-balanced option that works incredibly well for elite fitness and health, and we have millions of athletes who can testify to this.
This is where we hold the line:
- A diet should be based on whole, unprocessed foods. Real food. Meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no (added) sugar. Food as nature intended it, with very few ingredients or additives. This is the quality component of the plan.
- We must weigh and measure our food so we can match precise inputs with our results and determine the dietary approach — total amount of food and macronutrient allocation — that works best for us. Keep intake to levels that support exercise but not body fat. Only by logging exactly what we eat can we make specific and precise adjustments to move toward our goals. As with all areas of life, if we’re not getting the results we want, we need to measure what we’re doing to figure out what needs to change. This is the quantity component of the plan.
That’s it.
That’s all you need for elite health and fitness: good quality food eaten in the proper quantities. That’s the foundation. Everything else builds off of this. We don’t need to worry about how much creatine to take or the timing of our post-workout meal if we aren’t eating real food and can’t easily explain to someone exactly what we eat each day. For anyone who needs a starting point to figure out how much quality food to eat, here’s a cheat sheet to determine macronutrient allocation based on body weight, activity level, and a 40% carb, 30% protein, and 30% fat distribution. Start here, then tinker as needed based on results.
We’ve always said our nutrition recommendations are simple but not easy. It takes effort, thought, commitment, and discipline to be elite. When athletes seek nutritional guidance to achieve their fitness goals and dreams, we work with them to fine-tune the quality and quantity of their food, as this is where the results are. Regardless of what’s happening in the rest of the nutrition space, we remain steadfast in these principles. They’re not fancy, social media worthy, or the shiny new object. However, good quality food consumed in the right quantities has transformed the lives of millions of our athletes, and that is all we care about. That’s why we maintain our nutrition standards, no matter what.
About the Author
Stephane Rochet is a Senior Content Writer for CrossFit. He has worked as a Flowmaster on the CrossFit Seminar Staff and has over 15 years of experience as a collegiate/tactical strength and conditioning coach. He is a Certified CrossFit Trainer (CF-L3) and enjoys training athletes in his garage gym.