Eating For Athletic Performance and Chocolate Hazelnut Cakes

If you're here to get the recipe for the Chocolate Hazelnut Cakes click here...BUT THEN MAKE SURE YOU READ BELOW!

This is an extra post before I get set to take off for the weekend so you can fullfil your fix. Since I posted this one with not much time in-between my last one please make sure you don't miss the post from yesterday.

I want to briefly talk about nutrition as it relates to performance on the field, on the court, in the pool, and in life. Please know that I'm writing this with athletes as my audience but this applies to every aspect of performance, including those who aren't athletes but still want and need to lead a healthy everyday life.

Performance Quest Fitness & Athletics works with a number of teams who's goal is to become athletic "beasts" in thier respective sports. The training is grueling and the benefits are astounding but what many of the athletes fail to realize is how important nutrition plays a role.

Let me put it to you this way. If I had to chose only one aspect of performance enhancing lifestyle, whether it be training, supplements, nutrition, or what-have-you, it would be NUTRITION - hands down.

In other words I believe you will get more - that is, feel better and perform better (as well as look better) - from nutrition alone than you will from training alone. Now, combine the two and watch out!

Training is a whole other 3-headed dragon that I will have to cover another time. I will briefly state this however. The 45-year old housewives that I work with train more athletically than the collegiate level athletes - football players, basketball players, volleyball players, baseball players, etc. - that I see working out nearly every day thinking that they're doing something to improve their performance this season or next. If you think you're doing something to improve your athletic performance and you're still using machines or isolation exercises, simply remember two very pertinent points:
1. "God made machines to keep the wankers off the barbells"

and

2. "Curls are for the girls"

This doesn't mean that girls should be doing curls either. It just means that curls achieve NOTHING positive toward your athletic performance. The only reason you'd do curls is if you are trying to win a bodybuilding competition - which, again, is a whole other topic that I'll save for later and maybe never post because I don't want to piss off any bodybuilders who accidentally stumble across a site with useful information. (Those of you who have known me for more than several years can now openly laugh out loud at me because I was a bodybuilder for a handful of years before accidentally being introduced to a man and a website that actually provided me with useful information. And no, I don't have any convicting pictures from that dark time in my life to show you. I've either burned them all or beat the computer(s) they were stored on with a baseball bat.)

So, what does performance-enhancing nutrition look like?

Remember this and you've got it..."EAT ONLY: Meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits and few root vegetables". That's the baseline. From there we can add whole milk for athletes who want to gain weight. For more on gaining weight see CrossFit Football Nutrition where John Welbourn, who is a 10-year NFL veteran o-lineman, talks about how to do this successfully as well as provides some recipes and other resources for you to get started. C'mon! If it works for the guys in the NFL (and there's a number of them eating this way now), it'll work for you too.

What does this statement, "meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits and few root vegetables" leave out then?

GRAINS: This means all grains! I know that grains, especially whole grains, are touted as healthy but this couldn't be further from the truth. Grains are actually anti-nutrients that literally punch holes in the gut lining of your digestive tract causing poisons and toxins to leak into your blood stream. They also cause mixed signals within your body so when you actually do eat something healthy, like meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits and a few root vegetables, your body will translate those healthy things as bad. This is reversible however once you start eating ONLY meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits and few root vegetables. You should not eat a fracking one of them (grains) if you want to feel your best, look your best and perform your best. This includes ALL grains:

• wheat (all wheat...even whole wheat and cracked wheat or whatever else you can think of)
• oats
• flour
• bread
• pasta
• cereals
• rice
• corn
• barley
• rye
• spelt
• Quinoa
• etc.

LEGUMES: Legumes is a fancy name for beans and they contain the same poisonous compounds, lectins, that ALL grains contain. Again, this includes ALL beans:

• black
• garbanzo
• kidney
• peanuts
• edemame
• SOY BEANS (ESPECIALLY)
• pinto
• et. al.

DAIRY: I know that I said dairy is okay for gaining weight but that's it! Dairy contains certain properties that cause abnormal cell growth in your body (no it doesn't have to be from a cow injected with rBST or rBGH. All dairy has these properties. Abnormal cell growth leads to more size or mass when consumed. The problem is, what is the clinical definition of uncontrolled abnormal cell growth, which an excess of dairy can cause? It's cancer! So, if you want to gain weight, slam down a gallon of whole milk a day on top of as many HEALTHY calories as you can stuff your face with in one day (lots of fats because they contain more than twice as many calories as proteins and carbs). As soon as you get to the weight you want to get to GET OFF of dairy! The best sources of dairy for gaining weight are:

1. Whole Milk
2. Soft Cheeses
3. Whey Protein
4. Heavy Whipping Cream

The worst sources of dairy that should be avoided like the plague whether trying to gain weight or not include:

• Yogurt
• Ice Cream
• Hard Cheeses (like parmesan)
• Cottage Cheese

SUGAR: Of course this has to be on there. This includes sodas, sports drinks (which are as damaging as soda...read here), any and all juices (fruit juices included), candy, ENERGY DRINKS (actually have the effects of meth and you can actually go to jail for failing a field sobriety test for drug symptoms if you have too much.), etc.

Again, I know that all of these things are touted as healthy (except for sugar) but I can promise you they're really not and, in fact, they're actually hampering your athletic performance, degrading your quality of life, and shortening your lifespan with every single bite!

To see a list of what you should eat click here: Foundations of Good Nutrition

As a general rule of thumb you should be eating healthy proteins, fats, and carbs with every meal. There are variations off this to help maximize gains but this is a great starting point.

One of the best resources you can look into isn't even on the shelves yet. The Paleolithic Solution, written by Robb Wolf, can be purchased now at Amazon.com and will arrive on your doorstep in Sept. Get it here. Check out the teaser to the book here:

Another phenominal resource is The Paleo Diet For Athletes

All that I ask is that you try this performance-enhancing way of eating and realize the benefits for yourself. It's simple and it won't consume your life. You never have to count calories and the food tastes AMAZING! Just try some of the quick and easy recipes below. Always remember quality matters more than quantity. Give it a month with absolutely none of the stuff listed above. Literally try it without cheating once in 30 days. You should be able to do anything for only a month. Just see how you feel and perform. You won't regret it.

Here are a few recipes to get you started
Chicken Stir Fry
Chicken Strips
Grilled Pork Chops
Taco Salad

Coach Justin
PerformanceQuestFitness@gmail.com