I received a nice Plug from Joey Warren who was one of the finalists at the NorCal Regional Qualifiers and will thus be competing at the 2009 CrossFit Games. Here is that email:
I wanted to give you a testimonial that your diet shit works. I was hurt for 6 months with tendonitis in my shoulder that would not go away. I attended the Sunnyvale Nutrition Cert, and went paleo, zone, no gluten, and limited my dairy and trained my ass off for 3 months to compete in the qualifiers. My shoulder felt awesome, my energy was phenomenal, and my recovery was perfect. It earned me a spot in the 2009 Crossfit
Games. Thanks!!!
I really like to hear back from folks about how this stuff does or does not work. It’s not my intention to turn this into a religion, but rather to just have people do the following:
Please try it for a month, see what happens. Tinker and keep an eye on how you look, feel and perform.
What I continue to hear from folks is a largely paleo approach, whether weighed & measured ala the Zone or not, is the best route to optimum performance.
Since your Seattle seminar about 8 wks ago, I’ve been almost totally free of wheat, grain, starch and sugar, have reduced dairy, and am having loads of protein, fat, vegetables, lots of nuts, and perhaps too much fruit… whoever thought there could be such a thing as too much fresh fruit… it’s okay though because my elbow tendonitis disappears within 15 mins of a flare-up, energy and performance are satisfying and consistent, and I’ve lost 3 kilos, which allowed me to get a 2xBW deadlift for the first time. (I met the lift halfway by losing weight; somehow I like that! 🙂
Paleo is right. Everything else is dumb.
Brad
There you have it folks!
Coach Wolf!! So much posting….it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)..im not sleeping because im reading so much but hey, I learn more doing this.
Ive got a question Id like to send you and Ive tried emailing things to you before and gotten that spam block thingy…so..what can I write in the subject title to grab your attention?
Hope everythings going well.
Take care,
Chris
Chris-
its just an auto responder…it does not block emails. I read most emails, just can not respond to all…somewhere between 400-600/day at present…
Here is a good interview with Ido Portal (amazing Capoeira artist) talking about the Paleo diet. Just like Joey stated in the post, “your diet shit works”.
Mikey-
where is that link!?
i found your site around jan 2009 and from jan to around march just slowly cleaned up my diet: cutting out grains, less dairy, more veggies and less sports drinks. from around march till now iv been WAM and performance has SHOT UP! Recovery is MUCH better and general lethargicness has been lower since i cleaned up my diet 🙂
Absolutely! A year ago I read one of your articles for Performance Menu. I was skeptical and reluctant to give up eating my long time diet of pasta, milk, and bread. It was burned into my mind by coaches, trainers, and so called nutritionists that I had to eat high carbs. Nonetheless, frustrated by my Crossfit benchmarks stagnation, I went Zone/Paleo (limiting just 8oz milk per day) and within 2 weeks I was convinced. Even now, I continue to make progress and set new PRs regularly. Cutting out the gluten has especially made a remarkable difference.
Though I have to note, that it did take me some time to get my diet dialed in. After strict “zoning” I had to up the fat, and I cut some carb blocks and experimented with upping blocks, fat, changing foods, adding more vegetables and less fruit, etc. Regardless of the tweaks, I was following the same general guidelines, and it hasn’t failed me yet. One other quick thing to note, I have started supplementing with Vitamin D. I don’t know if it’s an inadequacy in my diet or something in my body, but I kept getting bad colds every 4 weeks and my blood work came back with a Vitamin D deficiency. Easy fix though.
The Vit-d deal is huge…Grace has commented on this several times. Good on ya for tinkering with this!
I completely agree. I went to Robb’s nutrition seminar just a week before the Nor Cal Qualifier thinking I was doing everything right but not getting the results I was after. After the seminar I looked down at my food log and there it was, plain as day, what was going wrong. I made some drastic changes and in just a week, I also started to perform better and also earned a spot at the games. I just cant wait to see whats going to happen over the next 2 months. I’m super excited about that journey. Thanks Robb.
thanks jocelyn! You kicked ass at the qualifiers! Looking forward to you crushing at the games!
Robb, I’ve been training with CrossFit for six months, and have been tinkering with my diet for 4 months. Exercise is important, but nutrition has made it possible to maximize my gains.
I have lost 30+ pounds on a Zone-ish, Paleo-ish (more like Whole-foodish), weighed and measured diet. The loss was all body fat, and I have made new strength and speed gains almost daily during that time.
I was influenced by your ideas kinda indirectly, by the testimony of Pat Sherwood (who mentioned you a few times in one of the comment threads on his videos). Basically, I’ve followed the complete moron’s version of a Robb Wolf Skin the Zone diet: add fat for extra calories, sub fat for carbs if I want.
On average day I eat, reckoned by Zone blocks, about 19 protein / 29 fat / 17 cho diet and I am loving life.
Robb, I’ve been strict zoning for a year, measuring food and eating glutens and dairy. I certainly saw great results in my performance, however I also attended your cert in Sunnyvale. Since then I eliminated all glutens and dairy, going all paleo except for some cheat meals here and there. I must say my performance has suprisingly skyrocketed. It’s strange I don’t necessarily feel an energy boost or anything like that. I simply don’t get tired as fast. I complete most workouts as wiped out as I’ve always been, however when I look at my results I’m way past where I was only a few weeks ago. I’m so into this, that Ritu (also attended in Sunnyvale) and I have started a nutrition program at CrossFit Unlimited and also started a blot at http://www.nutritionize.net. My wife has some amazing skills with cooking Indian paleo/zone meals so we’re working on a paleo/zone cooking clinic for the CrossFit community. Thanks for being my inspiration Robb!
AJ!
Thanks for the kind words, thanks for just giving the information a shot. It works!
Robb,
You’re such a BADASS! Are you BIONIC now? (Hope you healed well after the hand surgery (and eyes?)!!)
Chad — Athletes can gain so much from vitamin D (which is a steroid) not just cold/flu/Swine-flu protection!!
Most physicians will order if you ask ([25-OH-D] test) and the goal is 70 ng/ml which simulates Paleo blood levels (when humans were outdoor living 24/7). Dr. Cannell at the vitamindcouncil.com advises about 1000 IU per 25 lbs if you are not naked, outdoors, wearing clothing/ sunscreen/ makeup. I’ve noticed people with overt wheat intolerances require WAY more even 10,000 IU or upwards daily.
Men can notice more
–testosterone
Women
–better skin, hair, nails
–more balanced estrogen/progesterone
All Xfit’ers
–better gains and performance… at the GAMES!! yea!
–resolves a lot of allergies and asthma (which I used to have but ALL gone)
–heart disease protection
–cancer protection
–autoimmune disease protection
I noticed Cordain is really talkin up Vit D supplementation as well. I wondered if you influenced Prof Cordain, Robb?!? That’s AWESOME.
http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/2009/04/do-right-roid-vitamin-d3-part-i.html
Grace
diablocrossfit.com
Ahh…my hot, vit-d soaked pharmo-temptress! I had a chat with Cordain about this but I think he was pretty savvy to the material. they have some REALLY good stuff brewing.
Hi Grace,
Great info, I never knew that vitamin D was a steroid. Nor did I know that it had athletic benefits, I was just happy to stop getting sick haha. Forgive my ignorance, but I thought that vitamin D was toxic once you hit 2000 IU a day. I realize that this is coming from the same organization that encourages 9-11 servings of grains a day, but is there a toxic level that should be avoided? From the link you shared there doesn’t seem to be one. Thanks again for the info, I definitely need to do some more reading.
Robb- Did you have eye surgery as well? What kind? I hope you’re doing well.
Chad-
Lasix, doing very well. paleo diet allowed me to heal so well my doc could barely tell surgery has happened…virtually no scaring and other issues assumed to be “normal”.
Robb,
Thank you so much for what you’re doing in changing people’s lives. Sorry I missed you in Chicago. Previous engagements, I heard it was da Bomb!
Yours in Chitown
Hi Robb and anyone else reading this. There is an awesome 2 part video on youtube called Paleo Diet in a Nutshell, Part 1 and 2. Sorry I don’t have the exact info but just type that in the inquiry box and it will come up. I also sent this info to WIley Long who sends out the Paleo newsletter every week. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Claudia
Claudia-
I’ll get that in the FAQ section, it is quite good.
Well I’m glad it went well for you. As I may have mentioned to you, my surgery did not go very well, but then again, I didn’t have LASIK or else it might have been a very different experience. Good to hear you’re doing well.
Robb,
I qualified for the Games too, my diet’s been Paleo with random inclusion of dairy (usually some gluten free ice cream on the weekend. Hagen Dasz is the bomb). I’m the second biggest dude qualified for the Games after Jeffrey Leonard – 6’3″ 220 lbs and am excited to come out to Aromas and meet some folks, have fun and suffer here and there.
Paleo is phenomenal, Ryan at our place went down 63 lbs in 4 months and is doing fantastic, people get rid of their pains, aches, skin & mood improves, overall well being goes through the roof. And it’s so simple a caveman can do it!
I also leaned out from 235-240 to 220 and leaning out even more while getting stronger.
No joint pain, no aches and great recovery even when I’m pushing 3-a-days (sometimes, now I stopped that, since the qualifiers are over).
Thanks again. Post it up if you want to 😀
Leo S
P.S. See you guys in Aromas. And weren’t you supposed to compete in Games because K-Star forced you to?.
Leo!
Congrats on qualifying brother! It is almost like paleo works or something! I was supposed to give the games a run but I just did not have the heart for it. I might at some point down the road but I fear I’ve become a pussy in my old age! Just not as fired up for a shellacking as I used to be!
good luck and see you and the missus in Aromas.
Yeah, we’re planning on flying in on Thrusday and hanging there all friday, watching the Affiliate cup.
The nutrition cert was a great start on the paleo/if/grass fed path. Got through Omnivore’s dilemma, Protein Power & PP Lifeplan, Paleo & Good Cals/Bad Cals since then, cut out the caffeine, buying a lot of our food from a local beyond organic farm, ordered quarter of a grass fed cow and looking to get 1/2 a acorn pig in autumn. Still tinkering and trying to figure out
Thank you for the start on this path though. And it all began as “If there’s one thing you can omit – gluten…”
Nutrition is a deep rabbithole.