After an extreme weekend of riding or racing, I like to see all the data from my fancy Polar watch and check out how many calories I used up. During a 2-3 hour ride, I can easily burn 1000-2000 calories (the equivalent of a large meal at In-and-Out). And this is on top of the 1500+ calories I SHOULD be eating. I'm not a big person, many of you probably burn 50-100% more than that!! But we extreme athletes & adventureous souls can be a bit lazy about our calories...often not taking enough calories in; and when we do, we don't always put the right things in our bodies. We reach for that super drink, super bar, or super-sized (enter your guilty pleasure here). According to Sara Grout, nutritionist who specializes in functional nutrition and metabolic typing, an athlete's nutritional requirements are critical not only to their performance but also in their longevity and to the prevention of burnout and injury. The body is constantly under stress -- and if it isn't receiving proper nutrients, the body starts to leach them from its stores. The chance of burnout and injury increase (some joint problems could be related to poor nutrition) while your performance suffers (legs feel tired, not enough power, reoccuring illness). This is the most interesting information that Sara shared in a recent interview about nutrition and performance of the endurance/extreme athlete: the constant stress from exercise itself and the recovery process can cause the digestive lining to weaken. This makes it hard for the body to properly use the food and absorb the nutrients. Result - you might be eating the right foods but still lacking nutrients.
Checklist for your frig & pantry - Take a look at your diet. The right formula on what you should eat is as individual as your training. Each person requires an optimal palette of foods based on unique physical demands. In light of keeping a complicated topic simple, this checklist will help guide you to fine tune your current habits and help you stay in the game.
- PROTEIN and FATS are your best friends! include both of these in every meal and snack. especially when it comes to fats, athletes need good fats. low fat is not better.
- JUST SAY NO TO BARS... instead reach for whole foods for your pre-workout and post-workout meal. examples include: banana, homemade protein bars with nuts and honey, baked sweet potato.
- RAW Vs. COOKED veggies - raw isn't always better. the body is able to absorb nutrients better from cooked veggies
- SEA SALT- it is the major electrolyte that will help with fatigue and balances the other electrolytes. If cramping is any issue, Sara recommends magnesium/calcium but be sure that you are well hydrated and getting enough sea salt. note that i didn't just write salt; sea salt has the compounds most similar to those you lose in your sweat.
- HUNGRY? eat more fat and protein
Enjoy your meal...you earn it! Chi
Just reading this made me hungry and I took a look in my frige...pretty sad. Odds and ends that clearly don't combine well. Any tips on actual receipes that work well or books we could check out to help get a better handle on the actual meal choices.
ReplyDeleteThnaks Chi...you Rock!
What have you and Binh cooked up there?? Looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteHey Cynthia, what about the carbs?? Doesn't the endurance athlete need about 60% of their diet in carbs, including pre and post workouts??
ReplyDeleteVeggies are carbs! :) We need to teach the body to burn fat as fuel, and we do that by eating plenty of good fat and getting our carbs primarily from veggies. This will aid in performance, recovery and even fat burning. Great questions!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I am pretty sure there are a lot of good nutrients we need from the grain group. The high endurance athlete is not going to eat enough carbs from veggies alone.
ReplyDeleteHi Genny - This pic was a couple of years back in Big Bear. We were making some fish tacos as a pre-race dinner. they were super yummy!!!
ReplyDeleteKevin & Anonymous - without a doubt carbs will make up most of our diets. When i interviewed her, i asked her the same question - her response was that the endurance/extreme needs about 50-60% carbs (some may need more). most of the time, athletes focus on carbs and not enough on protein and fats. she wanted to emphasize the importance of these other macronutrients. Sara can answer more but i do know from her experience that the best sources are leafy greens and low starch veggie (broccoli, cauliflower). listen to your body and go with what you tells you and notice which foods make you feel better than others.