The Importance of Nutrition

We’ve all heard the phrases—“You can’t out-train a bad diet” and “Abs are made in the kitchen.” So why do so many people still struggle with nutrition, even when they’re committed to improving their health and fitness?

In my experience, it comes down to two big reasons:

1. Convenience – Life is busy. Meal prep takes time and effort, and let’s face it—it’s a lot easier to hit the drive-thru or grab a pre-packaged, overly processed snack than to cook a whole-food meal.
2. Confusion – Social media has turned nutrition into a chaotic mess. Suddenly, everyone’s a “nutrition expert,” pushing products, courses, and gimmicks. Keto, carnivore, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free… Should it be organic? What about seed oils? Am I drinking enough water—or too much? The noise can be overwhelming, leaving people more confused than empowered.

Too many are stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. The truth? You need to focus on the basics.

At CrossFit Influence, we take inspiration from the original CrossFit nutrition prescription:
“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that support exercise but not body fat.”

We simplify it even further with three core nutrition principles:

1. Whole foods first
2. Balanced meals – Every meal and snack should include protein, carbs, and healthy fats
3. Minimize processed carbs and added sugars

It’s simple—but not always easy.

Here are a few guiding thoughts to help you start making better choices:

• If you couldn’t have harvested it from a garden or farm and eaten it an hour later, it’s probably not real food.
• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. That’s where the real food lives.
• If it has a food label, it’s probably not food. (There’s no ingredient label on a tomato—or a chicken.)
• If it doesn’t perish, it doesn’t nourish. If the package says “Best if used before 2019,” it’s not doing your body any favors.

And finally, remember this: perfection isn’t the goal—progress is.
Start by making the best choices available to you right now. Then aim to get just a little bit better each day.

Small steps. Simple changes. Long-term results.