Low Energy during CrossFit?

[Reneenm]

Hi there! I am on day 17 of my first Whole30. Everything is going exactly as stated in ISWF and I couldn't be happier. Cravings are gone, I don't miss wine nearly as much as I thought, my need for snacking is gone and I just feel more even throughout the day. In addition, my clothes are feeling looser. So, for someone with about 30lbs to lose, I'm super excited about trimming down some. My one problem is a complete energy crash during my 3-5x/week CrossFit WODs, especially during metcons. Today's workout was seemingly a million lunges, double unders and burpees and I swear I could feel the energy in my body just burn out. I've been a CrossFitter for a year and while the workouts are usually tough, I can typically get through them without feeling like death midway through.

So, my long-winded question is: How do I tweak my diet with Whole30 compliant food to help me perform better at the gym? I already eat approximately one sweet potato per day, usually with dinner. Before my workout I eat a breakfast of 2 eggs cooked in ghee and 1/2 an avocado. I do eat a post workout meal of lean protein (chicken breast, lean steak or pork) and sometimes mashed sweet potato or a little fruit. I don't want to overfeed myself and not lose weight but I guess I need to find a balance between fueling myself for workouts without overeating. Any thoughts/advice/tips would be much appreciated! Thank you!!

[Jenn B]

I am not an expert, but I will share my experience; I found working out in the first full three weeks of my whole30 really difficult as my body was adjusting (didn't hit a rythym with working out until around day 25). That combined with the subtle sicknesses that roam in winter months that weren't knocking me down, but were present, and as a female, hormone fluctuation (probably multiplied by change in food intake- kind of a shock to my system) I really am not feeling back to super with working out until now, as I am approaching 2 months of "compliant" eating. I experienced great workouts within the first 30 days, but I could not capitalize and maintain that momentum and felt distraught.

I will suggest (as per the meal template) that you eat veggies with your breakfast and not use breakfast necessarily as your pre workout meal, based on what you described you ate. For example, today I ate breakfast at 9:00 (2 eggs, brocoli/avacado). I felt I did not need a pre workout meal, however I still ate a hb egg around 11:00 before I did interval work. Was I hungry? No. Did I need a pre workout meal? I don't know. But I am just following the template. After, I ate my post workout meal (which included a carb), then an hour or so later had lunch. I also noticed you said you eat a sweet potatoe w/dinner and only sometimes in your post wo meal. Maybe you could add that post workout carb more consistently to your post wo meal.

I think one of the things I have learned is that there is no "arriving" with our bodies. I will never always have great workouts partially because there are other factors external and internal. You are inquiring and sticking to working out despite some pitfalls. Like I said, in my experience, it truly has taken weeks to adapt (on day 50 or so am only now feeling more consistent and strong) and in my workouts I have experienced the same crashing as you (to where I had to stop, or was just not able to push myself to what I knew I was capable of- which was frustrating, but just had to accept it)

[Reneenm]

Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate it! I will try a pre-workout snack and I will be more consistent with adding sweet potato or roasted butternut squash to post-workout meals. I guess when they said "tiger blood," I was expecting some miraculous gift of rockets under my feet or something. I think you're right that hormones and seasonal germs can affect performance as well. Perhaps I'll need to go longer than 30 days to see any real improvement in my workouts. Thanks for your ideas!!

[paleochef]

I found that I needed a little more fat per meal. I often eat half an avocado at each meal ( this seems like more than the thumb size portion in the template). On days I don't have as much fat, I am low on energy during my wods.

[Crystal Austin]

Paleo chef an avocado serving on the template is 1/2-1 avocado not a thumb size

[Robin Strathdee]

My guess is that you're low on the carbohydrate side of things. Especially the starchy ones. We CrossFitters work haaarrrd. Your body uses the food you eat to fill your muscles with energy. It can use any food you eat, but starchy veggies are low hanging fruit..er...easy pickin'. So, keeping enough vegetable carbs in your diet makes it much easier for you to perform during CrossFit workouts. I try to get mine in at breakfast and dinner (I workout at 4 or 5 P), and always make sure I have something 30 min pre-workout (homemade bacon and guacamole is a favorite of mine). Sometimes, if I haven't eaten enough for the day (we all know that happens), I'll throw in a green apple or some bell peppers. Makes a world of difference in my workouts.