The Top 5 Crossfit Diet and Nutrition Books

The Top 5 Crossfit Diet and Nutrition Books

Your relationship with food is the most important determinant of your longterm well-being. The first thing that you should think about when you want to make a change in your life is your diet. Nutrition is the foundation of the development of an athlete and of humans in general.

Hierarchy

When you start to think about what you eat there are some basic questions that you need answered. Here is a guide to the most recommended diet and nutrition books here at Crossfit Virtuosity. The basic guideline that we follow at Crossfit is to “eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.” If you want to get a little more information you should read the following books

  1. What should I eat? The Paleo Diet by Dr. Loren Cordain. Dr. Cordain has made a great argument that we should eat as our caveman ancestors ate. He points out a strong correlation between the development of agriculture and modern diseases. Get back to basics with the Paleo Diet: meat, fish, vegetables, nuts, seeds and some fruit.
  2. Where does my food come from? The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Omnivore’s Dilemma is a fascinating book on the modern food chain. Where does your food come from? Probably not from where you would think or hope. This book examines some of the real costs of our modern agriculture system and the impossibly long food chain from the giant monoculture farms through the processing plants and the huge oil-consuming transportation system. It makes you think long and hard about your food choices. It is also the best written of all the books on this list.
  3. How much should I eat? Enter the Zone by Dr. Barry Sears. Ultimately if you are going to diet, you need to think about how much you are eating. We’ve all heard the phrases “eat in moderation” and “too much of a good thing.” Portions make a difference–A huge difference. Following the Zone Diet is the best, way to measure your portions. It not only works for losing weight but, more importantly, it is a performance diet. If you really want to be a star crossfitter (or merely a better crossfitter) you had better start Zoning.
  4. Why do these diets work? Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Taubes has written the most thought out and well-researched diet book to date. It has a lot of good information a helps explain why all this dieting works and doesn’t work.
  5. What else do I need to know? Lights Out: Sugar, Sleep and Survival by Bent Formby and T. S. Wiley. This is probably the worst written book on the list and the most wildly speculative. However, the writers postulate a fascinating theory that should not be dismissed too quickly. Light pollution effects our sleep habits, which effect our hormones, which effect our eating habits and ultimately leads to obesity and disease. The writers claim that light pollution causes our bodies to “think” we are approaching the end of summer when the days are longest. Thus we crave more sugar and carbohydrates to store up energy for the cold winter. Turn off ALL the lights, sleep more and eat less sugar and watch the pounds melt away.

Those are the books you should definitely buy. However, definitely do NOT buy The Paleo Diet for Athletes. Initially you will say, “but we are Crossfitters and athletes so this should apply to us.” However, in this book Dr. Cordain only concerns himself with endurance athletes. He does not address the needs of athletes that use other energy pathways. The biggest problem with the book is that Dr. Cordain all but reverses some of his basic beliefs about the Paleo Diet and advocates eating more simple carbohydrates and non-paleo type foods to get more sugar into your system. Lame.

For more tips on eating right and staying healthy subscribe to the Crossfit Journal, but specifically read Issue 21 on how to follow the Zone Diet.
Subscribe to The Performance Menu
Read the following blogs.
Mark Sisson’s blog Mark’s Daily Apple
Robb Wolf’s blog

Related articles:
Corn
The F Word
How to Start Your Meal Plan

Was this article helpful to you? Do you have any other great diet books to recommend? Please post your thoughts to the comments.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

22 Comments

  1. Best Diet Books for You September 20, 2011 at 11:17 am - Reply

    Best Diet Books for You…

    […]The Top 5 Crossfit Diet and Nutrition Books | CrossFit Virtuosity | New York City[…]…

  2. Henri, mincir rapidement March 9, 2012 at 5:35 pm - Reply

    Henri, mincir rapidement…

    […]The Top 5 Crossfit Diet and Nutrition Books | CrossFit Virtuosity | New York City[…]…

  3. best testosterone boosters February 9, 2013 at 12:59 pm - Reply

    Thank you for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your next post thanks once again.

  4. the paleo diet cookbook reviews February 24, 2013 at 7:45 am - Reply

    I have read a few excellent stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how a lot attempt you place to make this kind of fantastic informative website.

  5. paleo diet recipe book March 15, 2013 at 4:02 pm - Reply

    It’s actually a great and helpful piece of info. I’m satisfied that you shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.

  6. weight loss diet April 18, 2013 at 2:54 pm - Reply

    I need to to thank you for this wonderful read!! I definitely
    loved every little bit of it. I have got you book-marked to look at new
    things you post…

  7. master cleanse review April 24, 2013 at 8:02 am - Reply

    Heya i am for the first time here. I found this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out
    a lot. I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided
    me.

  8. toddler paleo recipes April 25, 2013 at 4:55 pm - Reply

    If you are going for most excellent contents like myself,
    just pay a quick visit this website daily since it presents quality
    contents, thanks

  9. Buy liposom May 12, 2013 at 8:19 pm - Reply

    Hi I am so delighted I found your webpage, I
    really found you by error, while I was searching on Bing for something else,
    Anyhow I am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a incredible post and
    a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design),
    I don’t have time to browse it all at the moment but I have saved it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read much more, Please do keep up the great job.

  10. low t May 22, 2013 at 12:11 pm - Reply

    I do not even understand how I finished up here, however
    I assumed this post was good. I don’t realize who you’re however certainly you’re going to a well-known blogger in the event you aren’t already.
    Cheers!

  11. paleo June 10, 2013 at 7:27 am - Reply

    Thanks for every other fantastic post. Where else may anyone get that kind of information in such an ideal manner of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such info.

  12. wrinkle cream June 18, 2013 at 10:44 pm - Reply

    Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this web site, for the reason that i want
    enjoyment, as this this site conations genuinely good funny information too.

  13. hair removal creams June 19, 2013 at 6:46 pm - Reply

    I comment when I appreciate a article on a website or if I
    have something to valuable to contribute to the conversation.
    It’s caused by the passion displayed in the article I looked at. And after this article The Top 5 Crossfit Diet and Nutrition Books | CrossFit Virtuosity | New York City. I was excited enough to leave a thought 😉 I do have a few questions for you if you tend not to mind. Could it be only me or do a few of the responses appear like they are coming from brain dead visitors? 😛 And, if you are posting at additional online social sites, I’d like to follow
    anything fresh you have to post. Would you make a list the complete
    urls of your shared sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?

  14. health June 26, 2013 at 2:51 am - Reply

    I’m not sure why but this web site is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check
    back later and see if the problem still exists.

  15. the 21 day sugar detox June 30, 2013 at 2:09 pm - Reply

    Oxidation occurs at the cellular level so detox
    need to occur there as effectively. The Clean Program: Dr.

  16. Test O Boost July 7, 2013 at 7:54 am - Reply

    I do agree with all of the ideas you have introduced to your post.
    They are very convincing and will definitely work.
    Still, the posts are very short for beginners.
    May you please lengthen them a little from subsequent time?
    Thank you for the post.

  17. Ultimate Candida Diet July 12, 2013 at 8:25 am - Reply

    What’s Going down i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It absolutely useful
    and it has helped me out loads. I’m hoping to contribute & assist different users like its aided me. Good job.

  18. You are actually a excellent webmaster. The web site loading velocity is amazing. It seems that you’re doing any distinctive trick. Moreover, The contents are masterpiece. you’ve performed a great task on this topic!

  19. Alternative Medicine July 25, 2013 at 12:29 am - Reply

    Pretty part of content. I just stumbled upon your web site and in accession capital to say that I acquire actually loved account your blog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing to your feeds and even I success you access consistently rapidly.

  20. Alternative Medicine July 26, 2013 at 3:16 am - Reply

    I think that is one of the such a lot important information for me. And i am satisfied reading your article. But want to statement on some general things, The website taste is great, the articles is actually excellent : D. Just right task, cheers

  21. Amino Prime Testosterone August 5, 2013 at 12:10 pm - Reply

    You have made some decent points there. I checked on the web for additional
    information about the issue and found most individuals will go
    along with your views on this site.

Leave A Comment