The diet of a 19 year Master Chief who is a Navy SEAL(get in here and lets discuss)

[Acevedo85]

http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog....html#comments

very interesting read

Here is a synopsis of my evolution with diet and CrossFit. My athletic background since childhood was swimming. I swam competitively for 12 years. Throughout that time, I also played numerous other sports. In addition, I became very interested in nutrition. This was in part due to my mother taking a nutrition class in college when I was young and also because it seemed to go hand-in-hand with athletic performance. Finally, about 19 years ago, I started a successful shot at SEAL Training.

For most of the last 19 years, I have been very physically active. It is part of the job. The workouts have changed over time. When I was a new guy it was a combo of running, swimming, and chest / triceps on Mon / Wed, back and biceps on Tues / Thurs (or whatever routine Muscle and Fitness suggested). As time went on, that changed to more lifting and surfing, and less running. I was eating what most doctors would consider a healthy diet: Lots of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat everything. I would supplement with some sort of protein shake and soy milk. My weight remained steady at 185 for about a decade.

Late in 2001, I had a cholesterol test. Total cholesterol was 197. My triglycerides were 148 and my HDL was 30. I can’t remember what my LDL was, but it was low as well. The docs were happy with the under 200 number, but concerned with my low HDL. They asked how my diet was, and after I explained it, they said it “couldn’t be due to diet”. I remember asking how to raise my HDL. The response was that I was eating healthy, so the “low HDL was genetic and would require a supplement of Niacin”. I took Niacin for about 2 weeks then threw the bottle away. It made me flushed and generally was annoying. I’d take my chances with the low HDL.

In 2005, I was introduced to CrossFit by some colleagues. When I saw them knocking out muscle-ups, cleans, or whatever, followed by the writhing-on-the-ground post workout ritual, I was sold. I slowly, but surely, started hitting either Crossfit or the Gym Jones workouts, although initially, I still held on to abs, chest, triceps, etc… The results with the CF spoke for themselves, and by the end of 2006, that was all I was doing.

The good thing about CrossFit-style training is that it is truly measurable. For example, my first Fran time was 10:23. The next time it was in the seven-minute range. Then by the summer of 2007, I got stuck at 4:15 on Fran. Every other benchmark: From 400M to 5K, and 1 rep max lifts to the various met-con workouts, I had plateaued. It was incredibly frustrating.

About that same time, I had the good fortune of attending some CF Level 1 ***** we held at work. The second one I attended had my full attention. The biggest take away for me was on the topic of nutrition. Greg Glassman gave an incredible lecture on the importance of nutrition to health and performance. He gave examples of the top athletes’ dedication to their diets. He recommended a paleo-centric version of the Zone Diet. The Zone was something I was familiar with. I remember Vicki (Kurt’s wife, the dentist) dabbling in the zone some years back. In fact, I had half-heartedly tried to make my meals zone-ish since that time. I decided to follow the Zone strictly for a while and see where that led me.

Shortly after starting the Zone, I noticed an improvement in all my CF Benchmarks. I was strictly following 20 blocks a day. I had to increase my fat more and more as I went on due to ravenous hunger. Eventually I was at 20 blocks with 3-4 x the fat recommended by Zone. I was still eating grains. That was when you sent me the copy of Good Calories, Bad Calories. The timing could not have been more perfect. I was already experiencing better health and athletic performance on a lower carb diet (Zone). I read the book twice, picked your brain a bit, and started on a true low-carb diet.

My diet most resembled Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint. I only ate veggies and some fruit to the tune of 70-90 grams of Carbs a day, lots of saturated and monounsaturated fat, and clean meat sources. On that regimen, performance skyrocketed. All my CF benchmarks improved dramatically:

Fran under 3:00 (From 4:15 on standard Zone!)

Deadlift at 2.5 times bodyweight, etc…

There is an athletic standard floating around the CF community that contains a myriad of skill sets. The skills include one-rep max on different lifts, max pull-ups, 5k run, 400m run, 6k row. It is a full spectrum of athletic endeavors. Since switching my diet (to VLC PaNu), I have achieved advanced or elite on all the various skills.

There are lots of athletes out there who are at or way beyond that level. What is impressive is that I am 39 years old, beaten up from 19 years in the Teams, and have only been seriously Cross-Fitting for three years. That degree of improvement at my age could only be due to diet.

Since then, I have been continually adjusting and monitoring carb levels and type, as well as doing intermittent fasting. I have meticulously documented my diet and workouts for the past year. Here are my conclusions:

1. Carbs are way overrated for performance. I have the same results at 40g per day as 100g per day.

2. My absolute peak performance occurs about 12 hours after my last meal. That continues until 17 hours. After a 17+ hour fast, longer duration, high intensity workouts suffer. Suffer is a relative term however. Compared to 95% of the population, it is more than adequate.

3. On the 50-70 grams of carbs a day, with a daily 13-15 hour fast broken post workout with all of my daily intake of carbs, I have noticed the following: Body fat dropped like a rock, muscle mass grew, performance improved. To top that off, my hair, which was receding rapidly, has stopped falling out

4. Allergies have dramatically improved.

5. I couldn’t tell you the last time I was sick and I have kids in public school.

6. My recommendation for a housewife, kid, SEAL, or anyone is as follows:

a. Keep carbohydrate intake under 90 grams per day, striving for 50 grams.

b. Carbs should be berries, sweet potato, green leafy veg / broccoli-cabbage.

c. Eat clean meats: Grass fed beef / lamb, eggs, wild caught fish, sardines, and wild game.

d. Fats: I eat a ton of grass-fed tallow (beef fat) and coconut oil / milk. I recently, after a visit to PaNu Headquarters (Dr. Harris’ home), have begun using grass-fed butter and cream for the family and me.

e. Intermittent Fasting daily (I call this a narrow eating window and I usually do the same). I try to do a daily fast of 12-15 hours on days I work out. On non-workout days, I will fast 15-24 hours.

August 2009 labs for Jason on a high sat-fat VLC diet show his HDL-C (sans Niacin) has more than doubled from 30 to 75, and triglycerides have fallen from 148 to 80. Of course, LDL-C has risen to 226 Friedewald (probably lower if direct) and Total-C is now 317. Jason is able to resist harassment to take statins as he knows that his LDL is all “big and fluffy” and not atherogenic. I would estimate his LDL-P (particle number) or ApoB is around 120 based on my own labs and those of others. His fasting insulin is a superb 3.65 microunits/ml.



PS:Jason answered a poster's questions about his macros, routine etc..here it is
1. How tall and what weight does your brother have? 70' and 178# for the past 2 years

2. What bodyfat percentage does he have? Last tested 11/2 years ago w/ calipers put me at 7%, however I would say it is 10%.

3. Macro ratio? Important: On training days and non-training days? Same for both days: 10-15% Carb, 20-30% Protein, and 55-70% Fat.

4. How often you train per week? 3 days on, 1 off, 2 days on, 1 off. No more than 5 days per week and I try to force myself to take a light week once every four weeks or so.

[C_Kent]

Good stuff

[Money Shot]

brb just because he does better on low carbs means everyone else will be exactly the same and will also have the same cholesterol issues

[KennyK]

i agree with the fasting.

[Defiled]

Sounds like how i eat. Works great for me.

[spursbrah]

My old supervisor at another job was a Master Chief, E-9 or something. He wasn't really a badass but smart as fuk

[Acevedo85]

i agree with the fasting.

THIS

I have done it myself and fully believe in its benefits.....i just dont see how well it can work in the brutal realm of endurance training.

[Fishmin]

All I need is my daily dose of flood

[Acevedo85]

Jason (the SEAL) answered a poster's questions regarding diet, routine etc...

1. How tall and what weight does your brother have? 70' and 178# for the past 2 years

2. What bodyfat percentage does he have? Last tested 11/2 years ago w/ calipers put me at 7%, however I would say it is 10%.

3. Macro ratio? Important: On training days and non-training days? Same for both days: 10-15% Carb, 20-30% Protein, and 55-70% Fat.

4. How often you train per week? 3 days on, 1 off, 2 days on, 1 off. No more than 5 days per week and I try to force myself to take a light week once every four weeks or so.

[ZenBowman]

Good advice. I recently got injured and was unable to workout intensely for a bit. I went with a slow-carb diet (no grains, only permissible sources of carbs being legumes and vegetables), and bodyfat actually dropped, without working out.

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog...-any-exercise/

Now I've started working out again, will keep the low/slow-carb diet and see how things go.

[OliFresh]

brb just because he does better on low carbs means everyone else will be exactly the same and will also have the same cholesterol issues

THis

[Loctus]

Stopped reading at "CrossFit"

[invain]

Yeah I'm fairly convinced carbs are extremely overrated and when eaten in excess can be much more dangerous than fats. I know tards will claim this is broscience and you need carbs, but this is all based off what I've learned as a biochem major as well as hours of my own research, and my own experimental dieting.

[Yaaaaaabuddy]

Eating almost no carbs + fasting for up to 24 hours regularly? I dont get it, how would you even be able to hit your maintenance calories every day? You would barely have any muscle mass on a diet like this

[Acevedo85]

Yeah I'm fairly convinced carbs are extremely overrated and when eaten in excess can be much more dangerous than fats. I know tards will claim this is broscience and you need carbs, but this is all based off what I've learned as a biochem major as well as hours of my own research, and my own experimental dieting.

I agree, but what about when it comes to endurance training?

[vik_man]

no pics no care

[ign_fan_4life]

Stop reading at Crossfit.

[SkyGuardian]

Completely agree with the fastingband macros. Ever since I started IF ive been making serious gains. Plus overall i feel better.

[Brust88]

I function and look better when I'm carbed up. I guess if I had to break it down my diet would be 50% proteins, 35%carbs, and 15%fats.

When cutting I drop the carbs and I just shred off weight.

[invain]

I agree, but what about when it comes to endurance training?

Even less so IMO. Lower intensity exercise, such as running a marathon, is aerobic, thus your muscles can still use fat for energy.

There's actually a specific type of fat called intramuscle triglycerides that behaves very similarly to glycogen.

Glycogen is really only essential during anaerobic exercise, which is high intensity, IE weight lifting.

[isthis2012]

Interesting but I feel like they're about to try and sell me something.

[Baseballer]

Stopped reading at "CrossFit"

crossfit-like workouts are the basis for almost every special operation force in the US military. u mad?

lol at bandwaggon haters on the misc.

[Phenom01]

Yeah I'm fairly convinced carbs are extremely overrated and when eaten in excess can be much more dangerous than fats. I know tards will claim this is broscience and you need carbs, but this is all based off what I've learned as a biochem major as well as hours of my own research, and my own experimental dieting.

so are fats and protein. Anything in excess is overrated. The author of the article or what ever it was has a flaw. He states that he consumes about 70% of his calories from fats. No **** his performance is not going to be hinder. In the end fats and carbs are energy source.

ib4 high carb nazi. Did you know that low carb dieting can cause diabetes?

[fevr]

For bodybuilding... no.

For people that rely on their body for their job (military)... I'm going to give it a try.

[fevr]

crossfit-like workouts are the basis for almost every special operation force in the US military. u mad?

lol at bandwaggon haters on the misc.

It's bodybuilding.com. That diet won't maximize bodybuilding type gains.

Will it help you get better at running 3 miles, then doing 100 pullups, then swimming a mile, then doing an obstacle course, then running another mile, all with no rest inbetwen... probably.

[Ace Thedics]

Get off of the SEAL's nuts you homo.

[Baseballer]

It's bodybuilding.com. That diet won't maximize bodybuilding type gains.

Will it help you get better at running 3 miles, then doing 100 pullups, then swimming a mile, then doing an obstacle course, then running another mile, all with no rest inbetwen... probably.

oh this is bodybuilding.com? how the fuk did i end up here???


OP just simply made a thread about what a SEAL's diet looked like. He didn't say for everyone here to be on it.

[pablocai]

from monday to thursday i eat the same as this guy, sometimes less 50gr of carbs per day

also do IF, training in the morning and honestly, I feel like **** the entire workout, but it does work to lose bodyfat

[jmonty]

silly seal, you should eat fish

[SebastianG]

I'm actually thinking about doing crossfit type of exercises. I'm tired of doing the same **** over again at the gym