Eating Properly before and after a workout

[BJhunter]

the first day swam a half a lap and almost died,

That sounds like Trackie & Zero chasing the bandwagon for Round 3 for this year's playoffs

 

[sevenofnine]

bread and pasta are highly processed?

could have fooled me.

 

[Adriana✿]

Cutting sugar out of your diet and eating whole, unprocessed foods is a great way to start, but to be frank, most of the information in the skinny bitch books is contradictory and inaccurate. For example, they condemn processed foods, but then go on to recommend pasta, bread and tofu - all of which are highly processed. Also, a vegan diet is not at all conducive to the level of performance you are trying to achieve.

The simplest and best advice I could give is stick to the perimeter of the grocery store when shopping, and avoid the aisles, which mainly contain packaged and processed items. Buy things in their natural form wherever possible, and avoid sugar.

Ya I thought that cutting sugar and junk food was the best advice I got from the book though I liked learning about what's in our food and will try some of their menus with real food instead of vegan. I'm an alberta girl, love my steak

Yesterday I ate organic fruit for breakfast and coffee.(lasagna night before to try carb loading). Lots of water, half a clif bar then was able to swim 10 laps! still underwater breaststroke until I build up the muscle and not drown.

I ate too much before swimming on the 1 lap day and should have swam first AND THEN worked out like last night.

Swam 10 laps underwater breaststroke, ate a banana, drank water, then biked for 10 km
Ran 1 km and was too tired to continue. Had organic pea soup, greek salad for dinner, then ichiban later and some milk.

When I get back from Camping next week I am gonna try Jodies advice
and the athlete's paleo (no dairy, no grains, no high-glycemic fruits/veggies).

I am going for a 4km run today on an empty stomach and see how I feel. Thanks for all the tips!
Is drinking gatorade DURING a workout okay?

and what kind of drink would this be? Could I please get some examples? 4:1 carbs/protein fuel, preferably liquid.

 

[Adriana✿]

Dont get discouraged, I started to excercise last fall and the first day swam a half a lap and almost died, I did about 4 laps that day in about an hour and now im up to 40 laps (2 km) a day in about an hour. 40 lbs later I feel and look alot better.

I can't believe how good but tired I was last night. Swimming is a great workout! I feel amazing today

 

[Krustee]

wow so much misinformation i don't know where to begin.

chocolate milk as a post workout drink was brought up by the dairy industry.

if you wanna know what to eat and do, study the diets of soccer players. their recovery is probably one of the best to emulate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IiGvAPKEb4

I want to go there!

On a more serious note, if you've been training & eating properly, you've figured out what works for your body and likely increased your carbs by default. Most importantly, don't eat anything you don't normally eat as it could upset your stomach. Most runners agree, race on an empty stomach, frequent water during and post race, replace those glycogen stores asap with 4:1 carbs/protein fuel, preferably liquid. Carb load prior to races when they're over 1 hr.

Good luck!

Cutting sugar out of your diet and eating whole, unprocessed foods is a great way to start, but to be frank, most of the information in the skinny bitch books is contradictory and inaccurate. For example, they condemn processed foods, but then go on to recommend pasta, bread and tofu - all of which are highly processed. Also, a vegan diet is not at all conducive to the level of performance you are trying to achieve.

The simplest and best advice I could give is stick to the perimeter of the grocery store when shopping, and avoid the aisles, which mainly contain packaged and processed items. Buy things in their natural form wherever possible, and avoid sugar.

The above advice is good stuff Adrianna & the peeps who offered it are speaking from experience so I would venture to say there is no guess work going on with their suggestions.

I'm an alberta girl, love my steak

Nuthin wrong with eatin meat!
Just don't eat too much.

Some things you should know about eating meat is that it takes enzymes to digest the protein in meats.
You will want to ensure your gut has the necessary enzymes when the meat gets there so I suggest you intake papaya, pineapple, bananas &/or other tropical fruits before you eat your meat.
The key though is to have it at least 20 minutes before.

That is just a small part of boosting your digestion & absorption of meat proteins.

Your diet should consist of a proper balance of foods that promote healthy digestion such as yogurt because it contains probiotics.

Don't believe the media hype that you have to buy yogurt that has added probiotics because ALL yogurt has that.
It is true that pasteurization kills off bacteria but most do add the probiotic back in.

Don't eat yogurt before you eat meat as they are not compatible together.

Apple Cider vinegar is compatible & will aid in digestion of any protein as well as carbohydrates.

Also beans & meat do not mix well in the gut but who can turn down a good bowl of chili?

Read this:
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/optimumhealthessentials/a/Tips_Digestion.htm

Oh - one other thing, don't drink a lot of water with your meals, especially meat meals.
Mastication is important & watering down the digestive process in your mouth just makes the amylase enzyme less effective.

Yesterday I ate organic fruit for breakfast and coffee.(lasagna night before to try carb loading). Lots of water, half a clif bar then was able to swim 10 laps! still underwater breaststroke until I build up the muscle and not drown.

Actually, there are those who say only eat fruit before noon!
Which I agree with... to an extent, as I do not think it meets the needs of an athlete or someone who trains heavy.
Anthony Robbins is one who comes to mind.
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutriti...diet-tips-i-got-from-tony-robbins-799183.html

Personally I believe in the biorhythms of the body & that there are times of the day when certain foods are best assimilated by your digestive system.
Read this:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson55.htm

I think carbohydrates are best consumed before noon & at least 45-60 minutes before workouts.

Meats are best around noon time & carbs veggies at night.

After a workout it is not recommended to eat meat as your gut will struggle to digest it.
This is why there are so many whey protein & recovery drink mixes as the best time to get protein into the muscles is within 0-2 hours after a workout but digesting meats then is the worst time.

As an anti-catabolic measure, taking in simple & some medium carbs (disaccharides & some polysaccharides) as well as MCT's is ideal right after a workout, or a bit during if the workout extends beyond 90min of intense exercise.
Milk, being a disaccharide, is a good base for consuming the many post workout powders as long as you do not have any lactose issues. If you can find unpasteurized milk from a reputable source buy it. (Govmt. regs make all the big dairies pasteurize)

A really good read are these books:
Nutrient timing
By John Ivy, Robert Portman

Optimal Digestive Health
By Trent W. Nichols, Nancy Faass

I ate too much before swimming on the 1 lap day and should have swam first AND THEN worked out like last night.

I disagree here as there is a limited store of glucose, or more precisely ATP, in your muscles & when you attempt to do extended exercise you deplete those stores risking a catabolic response as your body attempts to find more fuel for the hard working little engines (mitochondria) in your muscle cells.

If you are training in aerobic exercise then you can take advantage of the aerobic energy pathway which can draw glycogen & fatty acids to form the ATP needed in the cells.

When I get back from Camping next week I am gonna try Jodies advice
and the athlete's paleo (no dairy, no grains, no high-glycemic fruits/veggies).

Paying attention to your glycemic index is important IF you understand what it is useful for.

You can manipulate your body's effect in regard to it's glycemic response & in the case of bodybuilding see great gains in muscle growth.
Conversely, you can also see great gains in fat & lethargy if you do not know what you are doing.

I am going for a 4km run today on an empty stomach and see how I feel. Thanks for all the tips!
Is drinking gatorade DURING a workout okay?

Depends on what you consider empty.
You should take in some simple carbs like honey/lemon water before you run. (20-30mins)

This is basically what Gatorade does, replace glucose & electrolyte stores.

Not really needed unless you go long in your workouts.

and what kind of drink would this be? Could I please get some examples? 4:1 carbs/protein fuel, preferably liquid.

From my bodybuilding days I found this stuff to be quite good both in endurance & intense weight training exercise.

Metabolol
http://www.personalbestnutrition.com/cgi-bin/pbn/105.html
Good stuff!

Read this also:
http://vaxxine.com/eves/muscles.htm

I could go on for days & get really in depth on my philosophy & nutritional/training details but most will not understand it anyway so best to keep it simple.

Hope this helps.

 

[Krustee]

We would hope you wouldn't, your posts are long enough. Why can't you give a short version instead of going on and on?

Why can't you put me on ignore instead of complaining?

Not aware how to put a member on your ignore list?

Are you masochistic?

A little slow?

Both?

 

[bigben]

Pick up a copy of the "Sports Nutrition Guidebook" by Nancy Clark, published by Human Kinetics. It's cheap ($22 Canadian) and damn good.

 

[Krustee]

Sorry folks - I gotta keep it short form so I can't explain why you should do or not do anything just trust me & don't ask questions because there is a limit on how many characters I can post in a commentary.

This also goes for my economy & political posts.

• No background info
• No explanations
• No helpful insights
• No context
• No fluff

Just meat & no potatoes!


THANKS Hubba!!!

 

[Very Veronica]

Check this out, i'm going to pick some up today: http://sequelnaturals.com/en/vega/products/vega-sport-performance-optimizer/features-benefits

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Vega is a line of power-packed organic plant-based whole food replacement/supplement products designed by Brendan, a N Van triathlete/vegan. I incorporate it into my lo-glyci/pesce-med diet and hey, look at me! Lots of nutrition/training info & support on the site, check community area where many are non-vegan (first post is a review of a brazillian steakhouse) but enjoy the benefits of these optimal health formulations.

 

[Jodie]

Check this out, i'm going to pick some up today: http://sequelnaturals.com/en/vega/products/vega-sport-performance-optimizer/features-benefits

I bought a packet of this stuff to see what the big deal was. Now, I have only tried it once, so I can't empirically say whether or not it improved my performance, but these were my conclusions from reading the packaging and looking at the actual product inside:

The amount of product per serving is quite small, therefore the amount of any of the beneficial ingredients you get is microscopic --> I'm not sure how much of a benefit any of these ingredients will truly have in such small quantities. For example, it says that it contains coconut oil, which provides energy for the liver. Well, have a closer look at the ingredients list and you will find that it actually contains only 500 mg (that's 1/10th of a teaspoon!) of coconut oil. Plus the coconut oil has been processed into some unnatural powdered form, where I doubt it is nearly as effective as straight up coconut oil. You'd receive much greater benefit by using a few teaspoons of coconut oil in your cooking instead.

Another example would be ginger, of which the product contains 10 mg or 1/500th(!) of a teaspoon. Do you really thing ginger has any therapeutic benefit in that quantity? Why not grate a bit of ginger onto your food?

What I think is that it's basically a simple carbohydrate drink with a small quantity of electrolytes (only 10 mg of Na and <60 mg of K), and a bunch of fancy ingredients that have little or no medicinal benefit in such small quantities.

But I welcome any informed opposing opinions on this matter, including from people who have tried it and achieved results.

 

[Adriana✿]

Check this out, i'm going to pick some up today: http://sequelnaturals.com/en/vega/products/vega-sport-performance-optimizer/features-benefits

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Vega is a line of power-packed organic plant-based whole food replacement/supplement products designed by Brendan, a N Van triathlete/vegan. I incorporate it into my lo-glyci/pesce-med diet and hey, look at me! Lots of nutrition/training info & support on the site, check community area where many are non-vegan (first post is a review of a brazillian steakhouse) but enjoy the benefits of these optimal health formulations.

I have a full tub in my fridge of this stuff!!! A client just brought me some! Too funny! Its Vega Berry Flavour by Sequal. Complete Whole food meal replacement.

You look great V. I want your and Jodies athletic physique, when I am done. I am soft yet firm right now and I want to be all firm LOL

I have been eating badly for so long that for now I am just working on eating mostly raw fresh organic food and cut out the sugar/junk food/ordering in/out food.

I want to keep it as natural as possible.

Thanks for the tips all! I took three days off from training but will try for 3 hours today. I was able to workout for 2.5 hours on just a coffee, a banana and gatorade during my workout the other day. Working out on an emptyish stomach works best so far!

I will try this stuff for a few days and see how my workout goes. I love his website! Good stuff on there.

 

[Adriana✿]

I bought a packet of this stuff to see what the big deal was. Now, I have only tried it once, so I can't empirically say whether or not it improved my performance, but these were my conclusions from reading the packaging and looking at the actual product inside:

The amount of product per serving is quite small, therefore the amount of any of the beneficial ingredients you get is microscopic --> I'm not sure how much of a benefit any of these ingredients will truly have in such small quantities. For example, it says that it contains coconut oil, which provides energy for the liver. Well, have a closer look at the ingredients list and you will find that it actually contains only 500 mg (that's 1/10th of a teaspoon!) of coconut oil. Plus the coconut oil has been processed into some unnatural powdered form, where I doubt it is nearly as effective as straight up coconut oil. You'd receive much greater benefit by using a few teaspoons of coconut oil in your cooking instead.

Another example would be ginger, of which the product contains 10 mg or 1/500th(!) of a teaspoon. Do you really thing ginger has any therapeutic benefit in that quantity? Why not grate a bit of ginger onto your food?

What I think is that it's basically a simple carbohydrate drink with a small quantity of electrolytes (only 10 mg of Na and <60 mg of K), and a bunch of fancy ingredients that have little or no medicinal benefit in such small quantities.

But I welcome any informed opposing opinions on this matter, including from people who have tried it and achieved results.

I am going to try it as well as eating raw natural real food. It can't hurt, lets see if it helps.

 

[Jodie]

I am going to try it as well as eating raw natural real food. It can't hurt, lets see if it helps.

Do let us know if you notice a difference in your energy and/or recovery. Like I said, I actually only used the stuff once, so I can't really comment from personal experience, but my logical, analytical side tells me some of the claims this product makes could be a little far-fetched.

 

[Very Veronica]

I bought a packet of this stuff to see what the big deal was.

Another example would be ginger, of which the product contains 10 mg or 1/500th(!) of a teaspoon. Do you really thing ginger has any therapeutic benefit in that quantity? Why not grate a bit of ginger onto your food?

What I think is that it's basically a simple carbohydrate drink with a small quantity of electrolytes (only 10 mg of Na and <60 mg of K), and a bunch of fancy ingredients that have little or no medicinal benefit in such small quantities.

I hear ya. I drink a matcha tea with unsweetened chocolate almond milk a half hour before my workout then after, grate fresh ginger & turmeric in my smoothie but curious to try.

I have a full tub in my fridge of this stuff!!!

Serendipity! I personally use the less nutrient rich 'smoothie infusion' as i enjoy playing healthy in the kitchen..sounds like you have the top of the line whole food optimizer. Nice client!

I also recommend The Hormone Diet by Dr. Natasha Turner, ND (naturopathic dr.). It's a complete diet/lifestyle/exercise program to balance hormones for optimal health, extensive/latest scientific research with an easy to follow/adapt diet section. Once you start eating proper food at the proper times, i promise you'll toss your cookies..in a good way! http://www.thehormonediet.com/

 

[Krustee]

I am going to try it as well as eating raw natural real food. It can't hurt, lets see if it helps.

One would then wonder if it was the raw food or the Vega supplement causing any resultant change.

Maybe trying the supplement first with your current diet regimen would allow a more scientific approach to the effectiveness of the supplement or raw foods.

But what the hell do I really know?

Some here think I just cut & paste all my info off the internet & -
believe it or not...
some actually think I stalk SP's on the Island???

How crazy is that eh?



You might want to have your blood type tested & see if you fit into any of the predisposed categories for food allergies & assimilation quality.

Finding a practitioner who truly knows how to read this type of thing is questionable but I have heard some sing the praises of blood/food type testing.

More here:
http://www.dadamo.com/
http://www.dadamo.com/program.htm
http://www.uoregon.edu/~sshapiro/ER4YT/FoodLists_TOC.html

I am * blood type & according to the info I have read the stuff they are suggesting seems plausible.

I enjoy pasta & breads too much to give them up so I guess I will always be packin some extra pounds.

I can say that whenever I had to prepare for a competition at 7-8 days prior I had to eliminate breads & reduce salt/sodium down to a bare minimum eating mostly only fish (tuna) veggies & fruits then at 2 days out I reduce fruits to only the morning.

By following this I was able to reduce my body fat & increase my vascularity which combined with the much thinner skin allowed the judges to see my muscle striation.

If you read what they suggest for my type then it does seem to fit.

But don't assume that I did any of that because I had a clue what I was doing cuz I always just take wild & blind guesses for what I do.

I'm not very edumakated.

 

[kalel]

you ladies have my vote for discipline and dedication. i personally find the vega products disgusting but it could be because 1) i prefer supplements to jack my protein shake up myself by tweaking the macronutrients based on what i need at that particular time, and 2) i could care less if it's whole food or not. i do eat clean, but i'm not one for the wild claims made by companies like vega since most of them are made by people profiting from them.

 

[Jodie]

When I was cutting body fat % a typical day of food went like this*

Breakfast: Plain oatmeal + splenda + low calorie protein powder (it's 90 cal, 20g protein per scoop got it at GNC) with 4oz milk (fat free)
Mid-morning snack: 2 apples, 4oz milk (fat free)
Lunch: Whole wheat tortilla with guacamole, black beans, and pico de gallo
Mid-afternoon snack: 5 Melba toast and 2 wedges of Lite Laughing Cow Cheese, 1 fat-free Kraft cheddar slices (30 cal, 0g fat, 8g protein),
Dinner: 1 6oz chicken breast cut up, salsa (watch sodium if you're buying canned, I made my own), 1/2 whole wheat pita, 1/3 of an avocado, a dash of hot sauce, 1/4 cup of brown rice.

....

I had enough energy to do 1.5 hours of cardio, 1 hour of weight training, 30-60 minutes of yoga, and 45 minutes in the pool each day.

I'm going to venture a guess that your fat loss had more to do with calories in and calories out than the actual food you ate. Looking at your sample meal plan, it looks like you were only consuming about 1200 calories per day -with 4 hours of physical activity, you were essentially starving yourself and forcing the body to burn its own fat for fuel. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, depending on how much body fat you were trying to lose, but I'm just saying that the types of foods you were eating actually had a lot less impact on your fat loss than the quantities you were eating.

 

[Krustee]

I had enough energy to do 1.5 hours of cardio, 1 hour of weight training, 30-60 minutes of yoga, and 45 minutes in the pool each day.

I'm going to venture a guess that your fat loss had more to do with calories in and calories out than the actual food you ate. Looking at your sample meal plan, it looks like you were only consuming about 1200 calories per day -with 4 hours of physical activity, you were essentially starving yourself and forcing the body to burn its own fat for fuel.

More like 1600 - Note that I didn't mention quantities for a lot of the foods. The oatmeal was about 2.5 servings, the guacamole and beans are generously portioned.

Note that it's just a sample plan. If I was starving myself, I'd have burned muscle and ended up flabby not burned fat and built muscle

Jody makes a good point here Missy & I really didn't pay attention till I read her comment on it.

Could you please tell us at what weight you started & finished at?

Also, you are sayin that you did at least 3.75 to 4.25 hours of exercise per day...
I am assuming that those training sessions were not back to back, is that correct or did you actually go for 4+ hours of exercise with nary a break?

 

[hunsperger]

...

I'm going to venture a guess that your fat loss had more to do with calories in and calories out

is there any other way...

 

[hankypanky]

diets are key to everything like 90 percent and working out is about 10 percent...