JERF. Maybe you’ve heard it before. It means Just Eat Real Food. The first time I ever heard this phrase was a few months after starting CrossFit and I can honestly say it changed my life. Figuring out what I should and shouldn’t eat was made so simple with those four words. CrossFit has been around for a while now and the dynamics of the sport have changed a lot in the past couple of years. What started as an underground cultish sport has become so mainstream that Hollywood actors and rappers are getting into it. What started as a backyard brawl is now the CrossFit Games. When I started CrossFit I couldn’t enter a CrossFit box without hearing the words “Paleo” or “caveman.” Lately, those words seem to be slipping out of favor and have been replaced with other words like “macros” and “flexible.” To me, this just shows that times change and so do people. Whether you choose to count macros, calories, or what have you, the nutritional path you take towards achieving your fitness and aesthetic goals should be built upon a foundation of real, whole foods. Counting your macros and sticking to them can lead to weight loss, muscle definition, and gains, I don’t doubt that for a second. But sometimes I think people need to be reminded that there is much more to total health than these things. Macros, or macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat), comprise your food on an energetic level, but micronutrients, i.e. vitamins and minerals, are equally important and beneficial and are required in trace amounts for optimal human function. If you take a one way “if it fits my macros” approach, ignoring food quality, or severely restrict any one macronutrient in your diet, it could lead to vitamin or mineral deficiency. Deficiencies can take years or months to show up or diagnose. If you get sick often, feel “off” or tired most days days, get lots of headaches, feel tired in the morning when you wake up, you could be suffering from one. I recently did a nutritional assessment for someone. They brought a food log of three days. Each day consisted of protein bars, beverages, and coffee up until dinner which was their only meal of real food (protein and vegetables) all day. In this person’s eyes, they were eating all day but wondering why they were so lacking in energy. While a bar or powder can be a good substitute to jumpstart recovery after the gym or hold you over until a meal, they are nutritionally inadequate when consistently consumed in replacement of actual meals of real food. The bottom line is to get your nutrition from real food as absolutely often and consistently as possible. Period.
