Surfers Nutrition – THE BASICS

Food For Thought- Surfers Nutrition

This is a long and bumpy road my friends, full of bullshit, misdirected corporate marketing, ill-fated media information, and confusion. So where should one start? REAL FOOD!!!

Atkins diet, zone diet, sugar busters, paleo diet, south beach diet, grapefruit diet, Fruitarian diet, Cabbage soup diet! That last one is actually a real one, I had no idea and find it hilarious.

The list goes on and on, and simply adds to the enormous amounts of confusion and lack of clarity. So where should you start? It comes down to what you want your body to be capable of. Understand that YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

If you want your body to have the energy to surf for long sessions, and also be able to recover from those sessions, then you had better be putting some good food into your mouth.

While a thirteen year old can probably get away with sucking back soda and twinkies, and still surf for 4 hours straight, it is very likely that you’re 40 year old body cannot.

Not too mention it would probably give you some severe heartburn, and had you been eating like that your whole life, you’d very likely be diabetic, arthritic, and gassy.

So like I said, it comes down to REAL FOOD. Meat, fruit, veggies, and some occasional high quality grains.

REAL FOOD = ENERGY = SURFING

With this post I am not attempting to get into the intricacies of macronutrient ratios, food timing, and specific weight loss methods, what I am trying to convey is that you need to eat some high quality substances if you want to get the most out of your body.

Not just so you can surf, but so you can live your life!!

A few basic HEATLHY EATING TIPS:

–shop the perimeter of the grocery store; produce, meats, dairy. Everything else in the store is full of nutrient stripped grains, preservatives, and food technology.

Real food won’t last on a shelf for two years.

–if it wasn’t on the earth 10,000 years ago, don’t eat it. You’re body does not know what to do with all the junk in modern foods, and in fact can react very badly to it.

The loads of toxins, aspertame, and artificial flavorings you ingest put huge stresses on your body and can lead to inflammatory processes and disease.

–drink only water, green tea, or fresh squeezed juices. Everything else you are drinking is basically just sugar, and provides no nutrition to your body.

You’re tropical smoothy shakes, yep, not that great for you.

–stay away from anything made with 1. white flour 2. white table salt 3.pasteurized milk 4. white sugar Those all pull energy out of the body and contribute nothing to your overall health.

–read ingredients; if it has MSG, hydrogenated anything, trans-saturated fat, high fructose corn syrup, aspertame, BHA, BHT, canola oil, soy oil, or food colorings, DON’T EAT IT

-at the bottom of this post is a flow chart to help you determine whether a food is real food, and actually something decent to put into your body.

Understand that surfing is a hugely demanding sport on the body because of the wide ranging demands on the joints, muscles, and energy systems. 

If you want the most out of your body in the water, provide yourself the energy for sustained paddles, help your tissues heal from overuse, and help your digestive system, then quit eating bullshit, and START EATING REAL FOOD.

Proteins, vegetables, fruits, and some grains. 

In some upcoming posts I’ll get more in depth into macronutrient ratios, specifics on fats/oils, food timing, and more detailed into problems with milk, soy, grains, and gluten. stay tuned!

Cris Mills