Classic Diet Summary
Classic Diet Path
The Classic Diet Path is all about harnessing the power of eating clean, whole foods without having to count or measure. It provides the right amount of accountability and freedom to dial in the quality of foods in your daily diet.
Once you have registered for the Summertime Challenge, you may select your diet path by following the link below.
Choose Your Diet PathClassic Diet Path?
Is the Classic Diet path right for me? The Classic Diet is perfect for beginning and intermediate athletes, or for those who are simply aiming to clean up their diet by removing the garbage and replacing those foods with nutritionally dense whole foods. If this is your first nutrition challenge, if you get overwhelmed with tracking and recording the exact quantities of your food, or if time is a limitation, then the Classic Diet path is perfect for you.
3 Diet Levels
Our 3 Diet Levels provide you with clear guidelines that take the guesswork out of your diet. You are encouraged and rewarded to make the best choice possible for each time period of the day. You aren't locked into one level, which gives you the freedom and the power to go at your own pace. Learn why whole foods will change your mindset and you'll experience lasting results.
Food Search
Knowing what to eat and what to avoid is quick, easy, and enlightening. Use our Food Search to learn what foods are allowed at each level and why. Learn how to read labels and reference this tool to help you become your own expert and coach. You can even print our handy Food Summary Chart to stick on your fridge, at the office, or wherever you need a reminder.
Frequently Asked Questions
During the Challenge, you are always encouraged to make the best choice possible. You have the flexibility to change between diet levels whenever you need to do so. In fact, you can choose your level for each of the 6 time periods of the day. That way, you are always rewarded for how well you do. No more falling off the wagon, or bingeing because you messed up a little.
Simply track which level you achieved for each meal or time period. You even have the option to journal notes about your meals, foods, or how you were feeling for each time period. Then click save and you are all set.
The Summertime Challenge is all about creating lasting change by turning daily decisions into habits and lifestyle changes. Now you have the power to change your diet on your terms. We'll just help keep you focused, accountable, and supported the whole way through.
Neither the Classic Diet path nor the Macro Focus Diet path are necessarily better than the other. It all comes down to your goals, your personality, your experience, and your preference. Both paths can work for weight loss or performance gains. However, if weight loss is your primary goal, or if this is your first experience with a nutrition challenge, we recommend the Classic Diet path.
Making significant dietary changes is a big step, so worrying about measuring, weighing, and counting calories and macros can be overwhelming for many. We've worked with tens of thousands of athletes who have seen crazy awesome results, in terms of weight loss and performance gains, from following the Classic Diet path. Don't feel like you are selling yourself short by not jumping right to the Macro Focus Diet path. The Classic Diet is the ideal path for anyone who is looking to do a metabolic "reset", learning what foods might be negatively affecting them, or focusing on weight loss.
The Classic Diet path can still work for performance athletes or those who have a heavy training volume, but it can be a challenge for these athletes to get enough carbohydrates at the Elite level to support their activity levels.
Additionally, athletes who used to struggle with a healthy relationship with food have reported that the Classic Diet path provides freedom in focusing on how food fuels their body in a positive way, as opposed to obsessing over counting calories and controlling their food intake.
No. If you don't eat during one of the six periods of the day, then there is no Cheat. The time periods are Breakfast, Morning, Lunch, Afternoon, Dinner, and Evening. If you only eat 3 times per day with no snack, and didn't cheat during those meals, then you have a perfect score for the day.
This is an "innocent until proven guilty" scenario, meaning that if you don't eat during that time period, it counts as ELITE. However, we do not advocate starving yourself for points. Everyone's snacking habits and number of meals per day are different, so experiment with what works best for you and your goals. Eat, try new recipes, and enjoy the process.
From the outset, it is important to realize a calorie is not a calorie. Nutritionally speaking, not all calories are created equal. While we look at calories for this Challenge, we stand by the principle of eating nutrient-dense foods. Focus on the specific foods making up those calories. It is not just about calories in and calories out. When you focus on quality foods, as outlined in our 3 diet levels, many people don't even need to count calories.
That being said, it is important that you are within range so as to not be consuming too few calories, which is not the goal of the Summertime Challenge. The best tool is our Macro & Calorie Calculator which will give you a good calorie target to aim for based on your goals and where you are at right now. The recommendations vary depending on your activity level and your goal during the Challenge. The Classic Diet path doesn't require you to track your calories, but knowing your recommended range for both rest and active days can be quite enlightening.
You can find even more details and our general recommendations by reviewing our Nutrition U Series.