Nutrition

Had some good sessions this week, 2hrs 15 od this morning aiming to do negative reps (faster splits) every 30mins - It was encouraging to be finishing at a 6min/mile pace as well as a real feel good factor that I'd run for couple hours and finished fast. This is something I'm going to try in my next ultra in three weeks. Negatives every 10 miles just as an experiment really, the most difficult is at the start when all the 'sprinters' :-) fly off and the tempation to go with them.

Moving on, I want to talk about eating cycles. What I mean by eating cylces are adjusting the amount you eat in partnership with the volume or intensity of training. This is important, even if someone is trying to lose weight. Long term not eating more whilst training more disn't fit and will cause a crash, where by it be a stop in training or a stop on the balanced diet.

Maybe short term it would work but in the long run its not maintainable because we all have to work and get on with life as well do are exercise.

E.g. Today I ran for over 2hrs then went to work then after work did a strength and conditioning session which is high intensity. (Notice it's usually one or the other, either high volume or intensity. Both together vary rarely only usually in events or some training days because you just cant recover from it by the next time) I ate 6 slices of peanut butter on wholemeal toast. You may think it's a lot, but one, I was going to train again in the afternoon and two, I had just run for over 2hrs. I wouldn't eat that much if I wasn't doing as much that day. Unless I re-fuel properly how can I keep training for the next target. You must balance it all out.

Sometimes people enter events such as, running, cycling, swimming or whatever it may be which require a fair bit of commitment to training. The mistake people do is use them as a weight loss plan. DONT DO THIS! If you get most of your training in and eat appropriately to how active you have been that day then the weight will take care of itself. The issues arise when people are on some sort of fad diet which restricts there calorie intake each day to a set amount. The 'diet' doesn't take in to account what you may have done that day. If you have for example, run 10 miles then some insane low calorie diet is going to totally exhaust someone. So for example that day eat more, then the next go back to normal. Eating more that day is not 'going off track' - it's eating because you really do need it. Food is not the enemy it's the fuel to achievments.

So when I get asked, 'How can you eat that much and not be 'fat'?', thats why, I don't always eat e.g. six pieces of peanut butter on toast post workout. I eat to meet the needs of the day. You can't do insane cuts and make it last, which in turn is the point of a healthier lifestyle.

If I do a marathon then I'll lose weight? is something I get asked, or told. Then I say ok, do it, do the training, do the nutrition and get the job done. It's easy to say what you could do - like me saying I could be a Homer Simpson style man if I wanted. I wont because I wouldn't do it. Easy to talk, commitment to do.

With that comes this assumption that you will automatically lose weight if you target something like this.

NO! Unless you manage your nutrition correctly which in turn will aid you to get the training sessions done then no you won't. A huge increase in activity levels will mean you need to eat more or you'll burn out. You can do this and still achieve any physique or weight goals.

I know people who have put weight on whilst training for a marathon. It's not uncommon due to the hard training involved as well as the need to eat enough to cover the training as well as feel ok for work and other daily commitments. So like always, the eating cycles need to be varied to match daily activity levels. As well as this people, girls included need to do strength and conditioning to get leaner and stronger, more muscle helps hugely with getting leaner but thats for another day.

Happy living :)

Nutrition - Weight loss 29/6/2011
*This page will be under the 'nutrition' page*

Ok I'll be honest when I'm training hard for a big endurance event I can pretty much eat what I want, within reason it's just I feel better when I'm eating well so generally do. However I do eat a lot thus when I'm out of big amounts of 100% commitment training I sometimes put weight on.

Six weeks has past since the ultra and from having the initially rest and now returning gradually with 'normal' amounts of training but still ultra marathon style eating, or at least not far off I've put 3-4kg on. I'm not worried but just for you readers who want any advice on healthy weight loss, curious with what I fuel my body with or just find it an interesting read then I'm going to keep a 1 week log of my nutrition just to give an idea. Usually by event time my weight returns to my racing weight of about 11st (At the moment I'm about 11st 10lbs).

Generally the only rules I follow is that nothings 'not allowed' just that it's all balanced. Generally I find once I set my sights on a goal and train for it I mostly want good food anywey. I also try to eat a good dose of vegitables with one meal a day. Thats generally it. The rest is common sense - it's not rocket science and it's not unrealistic ban's on food that people just can't maintain and constent counting. It's just sensible eating and by far the most important a fairly active lifestyle. E.g Outside my training I bike most places, not far just to work or to town etc but it mounts up without thinking. I've done it for so long now that It's just how it is. Just like some people walk their dogs - it becomes habit and thats the answer. Well thats what I think :)

So for 1 week (as of Thursday 30th) in the 'nutrition' page I shall note my nutrition.

Nutrition wise day 1:
AM - porridge with milk and banana (approx 50g oats)
Mid am - slices of toast wholemeal a little spread
Lunch - Big vegitable serving with chicken
Mid Pm - Oats so simple with water (1 sachets)
Pre 7.30pm multiterrain 10k ish race - As above oats so simple with water (1 sachets), rasberries and banana
Post race - Im having to write this a little early but as I'll be late home I'll just have an omelette probably with some toast.

Looking at that without going in to too much detail about quantity, it's ok maybe slightly on the low side really but it's good enough. I could have increased the carbohydrate intake lunch time but as I'd ate a fair bit last few days with no training I felt fine so just stuck to something quick. I also find the oats so simple a good and convenient way for me to get my nutrition on board when at work. All it needs is a boiled kettle. As you can see I like my porridge :)

Day 2

AM - porridge, banana, milk
post training - 2 slices toast
Lunch - Pasta, veg, salmon
mid pm - 2 toast
mid pm - oats so simple (1 sachet), banana
Dinner - Chicken Stir Fry

Day 3
Breakfast - porridge banana milk
During run - 2 x cliff shots
Post 20mile - Pasta, chicken and a rocket salad
Mid Pm - 2 Peanut butter Rolls (whole meal), apple
Mid Pm - Cherries
Dinner - Veg (a load) with some mackrel fillet
Late eve - Cuppa with 3 choc biscuits :)

Was in work untill midnight Saturday so couldn't resist to have some biscuits also took plenty of food with me thinking I'd be hungrier than I was post 20mile. Overall thats not a bad days eating.

Day 4 (Sunday)
Breakfast - Porridge, banana, milk (usual)
Post run/before kayaking - Flapjack, 1/2 pint milk, banana
Mid Pm - Nutra grain
Pre Work - Sweet potato, vegitables, chicken
In work - 2x plums and 2 ham salad rolls. (Wholemeal with plenty of spinich)

Had some snacks during the day but didn't have a good meal from breakfast untill just before work as I was too rushed so opted for a small flapjack for calories and some milk. Cant beat milk for any sort of recovery + gives some easy calories. My best tip with sandwiches is to make them your self - much nicer and much healthier. Another is I always use spinich instead of lettice, far more nutritious, food of champions! :)

Day 5
Breakfast - Porridge, milk, banana
Post session - 2 toast peanbutter, apple
Lunch - Sweet potato, veg, chicken
Mid Pm - Belvita (some oaty biscuit), pear
Post session 2 - 1 toast peanut butter, nutri grain
Dinner - Stir Fry

Really busy this day, looking at that maybe could do with a little more but felt fine off that and since this week I'm starting to get leaner again and closer to my race weight :) since the 6-7week break.

Day 6
Breakfast - porridge, banana, milk, berries
Post Run - 2 peanut butter toast, apple
Lunch - Sweet potato, veg, chicken
Post session 2 (Circuit) - 2 wholemeal peanut butter rolls. Pear
Dinner - Sweet potato, veg and spinich and some pork loin.

Yes good day of eating today. I've also noticed I've hit the chicken population hard this week. Nothing wrong with that mind. Would have licked to have had more fish in the week but at the end of the day if it's not in the house and something else is then tough.

With one day left I feel great again and I've had a good week of training. Back up to 60miles and decent weeks nutrition. My weight is already creaping down to my ideal 11st.





Is Protein Overrated?

Feel free to disagree but I'm starting to think protein is overrated. Don't get me wrong I eat lots of the stuff just because I really enjoy fish, meats, eggs and the usual veggie option quorn to name a few and protein is essential for growth and repair but all this stuff about 1-1.5 grams of protein for every lbs of bodyweight to put on muscle is over hyped. In addition to cutting carbohydrates in conjunction with a high protein diet leaves us with no energy what so ever. This might be ok if 'muscles' is your full time life but let's be honest everyone else works, and let's face it having no energy in work can only be a bad thing as without work there's nothing really, unless you'r lucky enough to not need to work! This is why I try to make sure that I eat enough to fuel me for the day as well as cover whatever training I've done that day so that I'm not lethargic, grumpy, sluggish and bascially useless because of too much protein and not enough carbs.

Secondly, I'll use myself as an example, I'm 72kgs at the moment - Thats about 100g of protein to put on some muscle, I'll say 120 even 150g to be safe which can easily be achieved by eating enough food without having to do all the high protein low carb stuff. Most gym guys eat way too much and could substitute some of the protein for carbs which would leave them mentally and physically in much better shape. Granted you will lose weight on the high protein diet because you generally eat less calories so lose weight leaving you very lean if you do a reasonable amount of training but lean doesn't always mean best possible shape!!

Here's an example of what I mean - 75g of dry pasta would give someone about 8-10g of protein, that's without say some tuna which would pump it up a lot. Another is bread - 1 slice of wholemeal toast has about 4g of protein. If you have a sandwich thats 8g for two slices, let's face it we sometimes have 4 so that would be 16g without the filling. Milk - A pint has not far off 20g of protein. So say your average bowl of cereal is also full of protein. Same in other foods such as vegitables, which don't have much but all adds up. Basically protein isn't only in animal products which people seem to have a perception of. Looking at that a 100g a day, even 150g is easily achievable so long as we eat enough without leaving us low on energy from some carb cut.

On top of this the extra carbs in you'r diet will take there fitness to the next level - end of story, so don't get SPORTS training confused with the bodybuilding mindset thast going around!

Eat healthy, eat enough and train hard then the so called 'look' will take care of itself.

Fast Food Swaps

As there hasn't been much action on the training side of things this week I thought I'd write today about nutrition, more specifically food swaps. Except for stuff that go in the microwave or 'plastic' frozen food nothings 'off the radar' with me nutrition wise. I dont see any need to tell someone stop eating this and that. Just eat less of the bad stuff and more of the healthier stuff. Everything in moderation. Lets be honest unhealthy stuff like chocolate and cake do taste good. I just recommend people to eat a 'bit' of everything but exercise. I've noticed that many people eat less 'junk' food in time, when they start exercising and become fitter - they find they feel better from healthier food so cut down naturally. We have to eat to live so just manage your health around your food - not around fad diets!

Speech over, today I'm going to talk about food swaps when eating out. What I mean by food swaps are basically choosing good food whilst still having a life. For example - Eating out, it gets a bad name for making people obese, I dont think its the food it's just the choice people make when they get there. I't doesn't have to be avoided just choose the best options from the menu.

1) Indian food - Tandorri based indians are really healthy - there's no cream just marinade. Tomato based curries like Jalfrezi are healthier and less rich than creamy tikka massala or korma. Bread swaps - Chapati instead of Naan's (Ok, naan bread is amazing but if you are watching what you eat the calorie difference is huge) A typical Plain Naan - 500 plus calories depending on the size (Let's be honest there usually huge) compared to a Chapati - 100 - 250 maximum.

2) Saturday night kebab - Despite the typical serving of that doner meat rubbish or huge pizzas being unhealthy there is a beauty of a swap in the kebab shop, and to be fair it's probably one of the healthiest low fat protein packed meal you can have from a takeaway - Chicken Shish kebabs. A typical serving has about 500 calories in and is basically a pitta bread with grilled chicken and plenty of salad. In contrast, the heart attack on a plate that is Doner meat and chips can set someone back well over a thousand calories and not be too far off the amount of fat recommended for the average person in a day in one meal.

3) Subway - By going easy on the sauces and choosing the healthier subs like 'subway club', chicken teriyaki, Ham and turkey and not the classic metball marinara Subway is actually pretty good fast food. The healthy persons fast food. By choosing wholemeal bread aswell to try to balance the carbohydrate utilisation you could have a 'foot long' sub for about 650 calories which is a great feed. I usually order a foot long subway club with no sauce (actually sometimes barbecue, just because I love it :) and I get all the salads which usually raises the eyebrows of the staff for some reason.

4) Chinease takeaway - Whats this thing about getting rice and chips? Dont bother with this if you can help it - Chop Suey is one of the 'healthier' options as it's beansprout based and has lots of stir fried vegitables. Chow mein is also good if you want to bulk up the carbs as its packed full of noodles, again stir fried dishes are good guide. Unfort the tasty sweet and sour covered in batter is one of the most calorific meals on the menu and has too much saturated fat - A guide is about 1200-1500 calories depending on the size. Thats a lot for one meal but fine as an occasional treat :)

5) Sunday dinner - ummmmm there is no sub for this just eat unlimited amounts of veg and eat it like a king!

When eating out choosing anything 'grilled' is by far healthier for people. Thats the best advice I think. Also you know when you want to treat yourself and it's fine, just keep it all balanced with plenty of exercise.