The NEW year brings yet another NEW-trition challenge. For those new to Daybreak (and as a reminder for you Daybreak vets), our nutrition challenges are never about crash diets, temporary habits nor unsustainable routines. It’s about educating and exposing you to different ways of eating so that you can choose the best nutritional structure that works into your and your family’s daily routine. In other words, it’s about balance. While we’ll be more structured during the challenge by throwing in some points, penalties and scoring to keep you motivated, we’re hopefully creating some habits that can last you long after the challenge is over.

Challenge Runs:
Start of Mon 1/9 through end-of-day Sun 2/5

Nutrition Clinics and Q&A:
Kick Start Night: Thu 1/5 at 7:30p
Check-In: Wed 1/25 at 7:30p
Follow-Up: Wed 2/8 at 7:30p

We are going to first educate you (and reward you) on eating quality foods, and then we’ll work on eating in the right quantities of food at the right time. And we’ll be throwing in points for getting to the gym and achieving a weekly movement challenge.

First two weeks (Mon 1/9 – Sun 1/22): Focus on QUALITY foods
Second two weeks (Mon 1/23 – Sun 2/5): Focus on QUANTITY of food while maintaining quality

QUALITY EATING

The first two weeks will focus on eating quality food spanning PROTEINS, FATS & CARBS primarily from natural, cage-free, grass-fed, pasture-raised, local, and/or organic sources. We will cover quality eating in more detail at the clinics.

• Protein: Eggs and egg whites, beef/steak, pork, chicken, turkey, duck, fish (tuna, salmon, haddock, cod, snapper, swordfish), and shellfish (shrimp, lobster, scallops, crab)
• Fats: Oils (coconut, olive, avocado), avacado, coconut and coconut butter, nuts/seeds and their butters. No corn, sunflower, nor canola oil.
• High Energy Carbohydrates (HE Carb): Potatoes, sweet potatoes. beets, corn, rice, oats, fruit (bananas, berries, apples, pears, kiwi, citrus, dried fruit)
• Low Energy Carbohydrates (LE Carb): All types of leafy greens (romaine, kale, spinach, bok choy, swiss chard, etc), peppers, snap peas, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, brussel sprouts, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, onions, etc.
• Combinations:
  • Dairy (protein + fat) – yogurt, cheese, milk, cream
  • Beans (carb + protein + fat)
  • Quinoa (protein + carb)
• Not allowed:
  • Processed sugars
  • Added sugars: agave, maple, honey
    • However, trace amounts in, say, Rx Bars or post-workout recovery drinks, are allowed, but you can’t make “paleo” brownies! =)
  • Alcohol
  • Gluten-containing grains: wheat, barley, rye, etc.

QUANTITY EATING

While maintaining what we’ve learned from the QUALITY portion of the challenge, we’ll then focus on QUANTITY of food where we’ll encourage portion controls and timing. We’ll cover more in our clinics, but the essence is maintaining 3-5 meals (based on body composition) and eating at the right times. We will cover quantity eating in more detail at the clinics.

Meal Composition:

• Normal meals should include Protein + Fat + Carb:
  • ½ Plate – LE Carb
  • ¼ Plate – Lean protein
  • ¼ Plate – HE Carb
  • Thumb’s worth – Fat
• Post and pre-workouts (60-90 minutes pre-WOD or 2-40 minutes post-WOD) should include Protein + HE Carb (and no fats)

Number of Meals per Day (general guidance):

• Small/Med Female: 3-4 / day
• Med/Large Female or Small/Med Male: 4-5 / day
• Med/Large Male: 5 / day

We’ll divide points among three categories: Quality Points, Movement Points, and Quantity Points. This is obviously an honor system. Only you know what you’re putting in your mouth. The goal is not to create a point system that is so pervasive or complicated that you’re spending more time calculating your points than you are eating. The goal is to give some constructs to the challenge and provide you a little extra motivation and accountability.

Quality Points: 

You will begin each and every day of the challenge with 4 quality points. If you eat as prescribed in quality section above, you keep all 4 points. Eezy peezy. If you slip or need to work in a little balance, you will lose points as follows:

• Bite or Sip = -1 point (per infraction). If you take a taste, a couple bites, a couple sips of something in the “not allowed” section (from above) you lose 1 point that day per infraction. For example, a sip of wine = a loss of 1 point.
• Cup, Bowl or Plate = -2 points (per infraction). If you have a plate/bowl or glass of something “not allowed”, you lose 2 points per infraction. For example, a small slice of cake at a birthday party = a loss of 2 points.
• Anything More = -4 points

Movement Points:

You will have the chance to earn movement points by working out and/or completing a weekly movement challenge.

• Daily WOD = 1 point per day. If you get to Daybreak or hit a travel WOD at home or on the road you get 1 point added to your daily score.
• Weekly Movement Bonus = 7 points per week. If you get the weekly movement challenge completed before the week ends on Sunday, you add an additional 7 points in your weekly “Movement Challenge” column.
  • Week 1: 250 Wall Balls
  • Week 2: 8 Miles of Air Bike
  • Week 3: 10,000 Meters of Rowing
  • Week 4: 250 Burpees

Quantity Points:

We will spend the first 2 weeks focusing on eating well and for the last 2 weeks you will earn points for eating in the right amounts for the prescribed number of meals per day… these will earn you quantity points. We are making this a bit simpler to track…

• Eat 2 or more meals at the correct portion levels = 2 quantity points added to your daily score

Recording Your Score:

At the back of the gym we will write your name next to appropriate columns for your daily score and your weekly movement bonus. Each day, simply write your score in the appropriate column. To recap:

For the first 2 weeks, you will have the chance to earn 4 quality points per day, 1 WOD point per day and 7 challenge points per week… that’s 28+7+7 (or 42) total available points for each of the first 2 weeks).

For the last 2 weeks, you will have the chance to earn 4 quality points per day, 2 quantity points per day, 1 WOD point per day and 7 challenge points per week… that’s 42+7+7 (or 56) total available points for each of the last 2 weeks.

Perfect score = 196 points over the course of the challenge!

Entrance Fee: $5 (to hold you accountable). Envelope at front desk

Prizes: A portion of the entrance fees will be paid back out to the top scorers (to be determined based on the number of entrants). The remaining fees and a contribution by Daybreak CrossFit will be used to host a night out for all participants.

Sign-Up: At front desk by this Sunday 1/8.