CrossFit Workouts and Nutrition Tips to Help Your Weight Loss Journey Succeed

I put windbike because I personally have the Echo Bike, but I know gyms have all different bikes…assault bike, concept 2 bike, airdyne, etc… Any of the above are fine. It will suck either way.

In Min 1, the athlete has the full minute to complete 20 Cals (Males) or 15 Cals (Females). The next minute is built-in rest, so if the athlete finishes their bike early, they get extra rest. If the work takes the athlete into the rest min, they just get less rest.

Min 3 is 1 round of a dumbbell “DT” which is based on the hero workout with a barbell “DT.” One round of Dumbbell “DT” is 12 Dumbbell Deadlifts, 9 Dumbbell Hang Power Cleans, and 6 Dumbbell Push Jerks. The RX weights are 50/35 lb.

For the dumbbell deadlifts, just the front edge of each dumbbell head needs to touch the outside of the athlete’s feet, both heads DO NOT have to touch. For the hang power cleans, the DBs go from the side of the athlete to the shoulders of the athlete clearly breaking the athlete’s frontal plane view. The push jerks can be any shoulder to overhead variation, just ensure full lockout is achieved.

Same deal as the calories on the bike. If the athlete finishes the round in the minute of work, they earn extra rest, if their work takes them into Minute 4, they just get less rest.

Athletes need to do 5 rounds of the 4-minute EMOMs to complete the workout.

Scaling

Reduce the number of calories on the bike, and/or the weight of DBs.

ASSAULT ON FRAN

21-15-9 Reps for Time

• Thrusters (115/85 lb)
• Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups
• Assault Bike (calories)

Weight Loss Journey – HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT

How to lose weight fast – By knowing what and what not to eat, you will maximize your efforts trying to lose fat. Calorie balance is an essential aspect of this understanding.

Weight Loss Journey – UNDERSTANDING CALORIE BALANCE

Calorie balance is the ratio between calories taken in and calories expended in any one individual at any given time. This is the MOST IMPORTANT factor when it comes to changing your weight. What you actually need on a daily basis will be individual to you based on your age, lifestyle and fitness habits.

There are 3 states of calorie balance:

• Negative calorie balance (hypocaloric diet)
• Calorie balance (eucaloric diet)
• Positive Calorie balance (hypercaloric diet)

It is impossible to be in more than one of these states at any one time.

• A negative calorie balance will always result in weight loss. “Even though body water alterations may occasionally mask this loss of tissue, it is always going to occur, with ZERO exceptions so far discovered.”
• A eucalorie balance means that the athlete will not gain or lose weight because they expend as many calories as they consume.
• A positive calorie balance means that the individual is consuming more calories than they are using.

Weight Loss Journey – EATING THE RIGHT MACRO NUTRIENTS

The second most important aspect is making sure that you are eating the correct amount of macronutrients that your body needs. Macronutrients consist of:

• Protein (4 calories per gram)
• Fat (9 calories per gram)
• Carbohydrates (4 calories per gram)

There is technically a 4th, alcohol, but I’m not going into that one specifically. However if you drink alcohol, you should know that 1 gram of alcohol has 7 calories and they do count. They just won’t build muscle.

The seven tips below will guide you on your way to proper nutrition and efficient weight loss.

1. Your Weight Loss Journey – Cut Sugars and Starches

The most crucial part to cut off in your diet when trying to lose weight is carbohydrates (starches). To give you a little bit of a background, insulin is responsible for storing your fat. Insulin-release is also stimulated when you eat too much sugar that comes from starch or carbohydrates.

The more sugar you eat, the more your body releases insulin, and the more it stores fat. But when insulin goes down, you don’t give your body a lot of chance to store up on fat, making it burn more to fuel your body instead.

Another benefit of lowered your insulin level is that it allows your kidneys to do what they are supposed to do – and that is to get rid of excess sodium and water in your body. Excess sodium causes you to bloat up and store the water as weight exces. As soon as you get rid of carbohydrates on the first few weeks of your diet, you will notice you are losing more weight than expected.

Nutrition for performance

2. Eat Vegetables, Complex Carbohydrates, Healthy Fats and Protein

Taking away many of the more commonly understood sources of carbohydrates (pasta, white rice, bread etc) does not mean you can’t have them anymore. Carbohydrates from vegetables sources can provide the recommended range of 20 to 50 grams per day. You can get your daily requirements of carbohydrates through eating vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and swiss chard for example. Sweet potato is an excellent source of carbohydrate as well.

Healthy protein sources can be found in tofu, beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, lamb Fish (also rich in omega 3 – an important antioxidant needed by your body). Aside from that, eating proteins and healthy fats is a must. Healthy fats can be obtained by including fish oil, avocado, olive oil, peanut oil and alike.

By constructing your daily meal in these components, you help better boost your metabolism. The best part about eating these kinds of healthy fats is it doesn’t raise the risk of you getting any kind of heart disease.

Choose wisely

3. Weight Loss Journey – Add Strength Work into your Training 

 Yes, it’s possible for you to lose weight without exercise, but getting your body active is always recommended for better results. Going to the Box at least 3 times a week to warm up, stretch out and lift some weights is beneficial in speeding up your weight loss. Lifting weights allows you to burn more calories and increase muscle mass when done properly.

Remember, muscle metabolism takes up a lot of calories. When done right, you will most likely gain weight because of the gained muscle mass, but lose fat because your body had converted it to supply the energy it requires for using your muscles. It is also essential that you replenish your body and recover properly after training.

4 Steps to Efficient Recovery After CrossFit Training

4. Weight Loss Journey – Make Time for A Cheat Meal

Deprivation is usually the cause why so many people falter on their weight loss journey. Allow yourself to indulge at least once a week.

But just because you’re allowed a cheat meal doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you can. Pick a reasonable size portion and eat the food that you’ve been fantasizing about. This will help you to stay on track and maintain discipline the rest of the time.

Overdoing it will cause you to fall behind on the results you want to achieve. This is the time you can eat something unhealthy, but make sure you do it to satisfy your taste buds and not your appetite.

5. Weight Loss Journey – Control Portions and Calories

Without proper nutrition knowledge, calorie counting will be both exhausting and somewhat useless. The truth about it is calorie counting becomes unnecessary when you stick to the protein – healthy fat – low carb vegetables plan.

Sticking to that diet alone tells you that you’re already hitting the kind of nutrition you need in order to lose weight. But if you still want to count your calories to make sure you’re sticking to the plan, by all means, go right ahead.

Using a calorie counter or a calorie calculator is the best option if you’re not into keeping a food journal.

Learn how to track your Macros here.

6. Weight Loss Journey – Drink Plenty Of Water

Always remember that your body needs the proper hydration to make sure that all metabolic processes are working like a well-oiled machine. Water can make you feel fuller, help you reduce cravings, and hydrate your cells and skin. Water is also a great way to help flush down the excess sodium in the body.

Remember when we said too much insulin can stock up on sodium? Well, as soon as you cut back on your simple carbs, and lower down your insulin, your body is going to need the right hydration to help eliminate the excess salt that’s causing you to keep your water weight. So, drink up like there’s no tomorrow!

7. Weight Loss Journey – Sleep Properly

The body regenerates cell repair faster while you’re sleeping. If you think your exercise routine has gotten you feeling completely sore, a good night’s rest will help heal the torn tissues caused by working out. You can also relieve pain by bathing in warm water. Every movement in the body causes wear-and-tear, so if you want to naturally get rid of the pain, sleeping will help hasten the healing. Many top CrossFit Games Athletes sleep 8 – 10 hours a night.

Do you want to Lose belly fat and know one of the biggest secrets to success of every top athlete in the world – It’s dietary planning and meal prep.

You can train as hard or as often as you want, but if it’s not underpinned by an effective and consistent diet, don’t expect to achieve the results you want.

Having a structured and well-planned diet is critical to success, whatever your fitness goals – be it strength and performance gains to compete in the Olympics or optimal body composition to look good on the beach. I’ve worked with top athletes across the spectrum –  from GB Rowing and Weightlifting to UFC fighters and CrossFit Games athletes like Sam Briggs – and we deliver exceptional results.

All our athletes and clients have one thing in common – every meal they eat is prepared and planned, every calorie is counted, every macronutrient timed for maximum effect and every single ingredient used is of the highest quality to fuel their bodies for optimal performance.

But meal prep isn’t just for CrossFit Games athletes and Olympians – it is the cornerstone of success for anyone who trains to be faster, fitter, stronger and in better shape than ever. If there is one thing that will guarantee results, it’s a diet structured to meet your goals…and that starts with prepping meals efficiently and effectively.

Weight Loss Journey – WHAT IS MEAL PREP?

Meal prep is exactly what it says on the tin – preparing your meals for the day or week ahead, to enable you to consistently meet your fitness and performance goals.

Prep your meals

Weight Loss Journey – So how do you do this and where do you start?

Everything begins with a plan. But the key thing with meal prep is ‘understanding your numbers’.

That means calculating how many calories you should be eating on a daily basis to support your goals – whether that’s fat loss, muscle building, strength or performance. There are so many websites now where you can easily work out your daily calorie need, which takes into account your age, sex, height and weekly training sessions.

Once you know your daily calorie total, you can break this down into macronutrients – so the proportions of carbohydrate, protein and fat you need in your diet to hit this daily calorie goal. So that could be 300g of carbs, 180g of protein and 60g of fat for someone with a daily requirement of XXXXX calories. This is then where the art of meal prep comes in.

Now it’s all about planning your three, four or five meals a day, along with snacks and post-workout nutrition, to hit your macronutrient targets.

Learn how on the next page…

So this means taking your 300g of carbs, 180g of protein and 60g of fat and dividing it between all your daily meals – ensuring that you’re getting a steady supply of quality protein throughout the day from your meals, while utilising your carbohydrate and fat intake at the right times for maximum impact.

Meal prep then, in its most essential form, is consistently preparing every meal, with the right amounts of macronutrients to ensure your food is there exactly when you need it – boxed up and ready to go. This prevents you from straying off course with sub-optimal convenience food and keeps you on track to meet your fitness goals.

Weight Loss Journey – WHY IS MEAL PREPPING SO IMPORTANT?

Remember when we said ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’? We meant it.

Nothing was ever achieved through guesswork alone. Having a clear goal, and then a solid plan to get you there, will invariably yield results – whether that’s smashing a squat PB, losing 10lbs or finally getting a shredded six pack.

Determine your goals and organise your nutrition to match

This scientific approach to nutrition is so important.

There are no shortcuts or ways around it – dialling in your diet and then sticking resolutely to the plan, day in and day out, will get you the outcomes you want.

Ultimately, prepping your meals brings consistency. If every meal is pre-planned, has the exact macros your body needs, and is ready to go whenever you need it, you will steadily progress towards your goals. It stops you veering off course and prevents you from falling back on convenience food or eating to satiate hunger and cravings, which can easily make you overshoot your calorie targets and dent your progress.

Proper regimented prep ensures you’re getting the right macronutrients in the right amounts:

• Enough protein to support muscle growth and tissue repair,
• The right amount of carbohydrate to support performance and replenish muscle glycogen
• The right amount of fat for vital functions like hormone production.

Having quality, nutrient-rich whole foods on-hand means your body is getting a constant supply of the right macro- and micro nutrients it needs to function optimally. A properly planned diet can keep your metabolic hormones and blood sugar levels balanced and stable – so no more spikes and crashes, just constant energy to help you perform at your best in the gym and be at your most productive and creative at work.

In that sense, getting your nutrition right can be life-changing.

Eat well, reach your potential

Weight Loss Journey – PRO TIPS FOR FOOD PREP

You want to cook and cool your meat as quickly as possible to minimise the effect of amino acid breakdown from cooking. One trick for doing this is creating a bigger surface area to cook on your meat. Slicing open your chicken breast before cooking is a good method of doing this.

– If you’re going to batch cook your chicken for several days’ worth of meals, cut all the breasts in half, put the chicken in the oven with some hot water, then it takes only 5 or 10 minutes to cook, so you’re essentially poaching it. Then stick them in the freezer to cool quickly for a few minutes to bring it under that magic 71 degrees and stop break down.

1. Don’t boil your vegetables. Boiling something like broccoli can lose over 50% of the nutrients and it destroys any beneficial enzymes. Steaming preserves the most nutrients in food during the cooking process.

2. If you don’t have a proper steamer, try putting a colander over a pan of boiling water. Add your vegetables, chicken or fish and then cover with a tea towel, and they will be ready in a matter of minutes. As food begins to break down at 71 degrees in terms of amino acids and enzymes, steaming is the quickest and most optimal cooking method.

3. If you want the maximum nutritional benefit from some vegetables, try eating them raw. Raw broccoli can be really crunchy and nice if you do it right.

4. Broths are awesome. Doing food in a slow cooker, you’re not taking food to a temperature where it’s going to be uncomfortable. You’re cooking it slowly at a low heat and not breaking down the food.

– Making overnight oats in the evening is a brilliant way to prepare several days’ worth of quality breakfast. Just put oats, berries, nuts, flavourings and adding in some milk. It’s easy and convenient.

Find out what you should be eating…

Weight Loss Journey – WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE BE EATING?

Weight Loss Journey – 5 Vegetables

• Squash is awesome.
• Celery is a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Lime – great in drinks instead of coffee all the time instead of dehydrating yourself with coffee all the time

Weight Loss Journey – 5 Lower glycemic carb sources

• Oatmeal
• Sweet potatoes
• Yams
• Non-starchy vegetables
• Buckwheat

Weight Loss Journey – Post-workout shake

• Maple syrup
• Kiwi
• Apricots
• Pineapple

We hope your Weight Loss Journey succeeds!