Nutrition-Back to Basics
Today, I thought I would attempt to look at nutrition, and
how we perceive food, and how it affects our fitness, and health, with a little
emphasis on masters athletes (mainly because I am one!)
Firstly, I’d like to say that as usual we have over analysed,
and over complicated our nutrition. The food manufacturers have given us many
tasty, quick, easy, and seemingly healthy foods in plastic, and cardboard.
There are a couple of things in that statement, that I’d like to expand on.
One is choice. I wrote a letter to my niece not long ago
about a big problem in this world today,and that is that we have too much
choice. So much in fact that we are losing the ability to make up our minds,
and stick with it. Realise this. Food companies are only trying to sell you a
product, and they make sure it’s sweet, or fatty, and tasty, or both. They are
trying to run a business, and it’s to do with doing the bare minimum to stay
within the regulations, and do it as cheaply as possible for maximum profit,
and that is all. And those of us who take a few vitamins, and minerals, it is the same. So don’t be
fooled by them.Do some research it all there on the Internet. When you go and
buy any brand of muesli bar, or savoury biscuit, remember, cheap costs, high
profits and you might want to put that packet back, and listen to the Pink Lady
or Sundowner apples, and Valencia oranges or the Mercott Mandarins, or the
Coffs Harbour bananas, or the Mildura grapes singing out in the next aisle,
pick me, pick me, I can do a better job than that other stuff. I can, I really
can!!!!.
Fast and easy is another one. Oh I’m too tired, McCain’s
pizzas look good, or rice in a bag looks quick. I don’t like cooking much, but
I can get a stirfry, or steak, chicken, and veggies going in 15 minutes. Ever
tried a big bowl of veggies with mint sauce for lunch, or tomato and bacon
sauce, very good! One weekend make up a big pot of veggie soup and freeze it,
great in the winter. Salads for summer crunchy. You can eat as much of this as
you can hold. No counting calories just enjoy the taste. Fruit is great. Buy in
bulk and make a fruit salad. So long as you don’t cut your finger and include
that it’s too much Protein!
Protein is the big word on everyone’s lips these days as the
secret to weight control, and they do have a point in that Protein needs to be
broken down into its amino acids, or building blocks, and then rebuilt into
muscle tissues in our body. So that takes more metabolic energy to do that, and
so your basal metabolism rate goes up a bit, but don’t dwell on that point too
much, it’s not a lot but it can build up over time into some sort of calorie
deficit. Older people need a bit more Protein to help slow down the loss of
muscle mass as we age, whether we are active or not. The main reason why we
lose muscle mass is the 2nd part of that last statement, we are not
as active. So what are you going to do about that! Remember to that Protein
used to build muscle needs a stimulus, so you need to get off your bum, and
show a bit of “ticker”. Protein also gets laid down as fatty tissue if it is
not used for muscle building, and if you do exercise, especially for an
endurance sport then Protein can make up to 15% of your energy source. If you
are going to increase your protein sources then make sure that that Protein is
1st class Protein. These are foods that have all the essential amino
acids. The ones that I use, and are probably the most common ones, are all
types of lean meats, and fish and whey and casein Protein powders. These types
of Protein are known to initiate muscle tissue growth in the body. But just as
I said to my niece you have to be balanced. There is only one secret and that
is that you need to be balanced.
Fats. The stuff that makes things taste good. People think
of fats as the “bad boy” of nutrition, and we have been fed heaps of garbage
through the media about fats over the years, and really it has done more harm
than good, because we have turned to a pseudo-Mediterranean diet and started
eating processed carbohydrate, because gram for gram, they are less calorie
dense than fats, so we can eat more right?! Wrong. We are in trouble today
because of that message. Yep, fast processed foods are out!They have the fats in them that are really doing us alot of damage. Give them up like
you did when people were smoking, they are just as bad for you anyhow. The
difference between a fresh apple and a processed fruit strip with no added
sugar is the cardboard, plastic, price, and all the extra fructose which is the
sugar found in fruit. It’s called a labeling loophole! So see what I mean,
breads, cakes, muffins, biscuits, chips,Nachos, cheese chips, Twisties, sweet
biscuits, a lot of dry biscuits are all in the same list.All hidden fat and again the nasty ones. I will only eat
bought bread if there is nothing else. I am proud to say that I make my own
bread from fresh ingredients. Yes I have a small flour mill that I grind my own
flour, and yes it is powered by me. Not a motor. So I get an upper body workout
at the same time, and you can turn down the heater after that too. I make my
own biscuits with Chia seeds ground up, and a small amount of flour, and eggs,
and a small amount of honey and that’s it. I use these as food for when I am
running marathons, ultramarathons, Ironman triathlons, and on my long training
runs. Seeds and nuts are full of good fats along with avocados and oily fish.
Here another big mistake can happen, and it’s called portion control. These are
all calorie dense foods. Fats have about 9 cal per gram, soooooooo ? you just
make sure that you get your fats from unprocessed, wholesome foods, and you
only need a SMALL handful, not half a kilo of peanuts,. Another big mistake is
that we under estimate our food intake, and over estimate our calorie
expenditure. Here is an interesting fact. Our bodies can only burn about 10 cal
per minute maximum. That is high-speed interval running, VO 2 Max training,
intensive weighttraining. It is not jogging, walking, playing tennis, or golf. So
if you walk for 30 minutes a day that’s about 4 cal per minute and that is only
120 cal extra, that’s not a reason to have a treat like a cappuccino and a
muffin of 1000 cal. Do you see what I am getting at.
Carbohydrate as everyone
knows are the preferred source of fuel for our bodies. They have about 4 cal
per gram of carbohydrate. So will carbohydrate be a major part of your diet?
Sure will. About 50 to 65%. BUT, not all carbs are the same. We will take the “bad
boys” first. Processed carbohydrate, the cause of 70% of illnesses that we get
today, from cancer to heart problems to Type 2 diabetes. These carbohydrates should
be treated like cigarettes. But I hear you say, that I like them, they taste so
good! And you are right, and I fall into the same trap occasionally, but I keep
telling myself, learn to like the foods that are good for you. So what are
these “bad foods” I am talking about biscuits, cakes, most brought breads, most
cereals, chips, Twisties, lollies,Picinic
Bars, Mars Bars,Snickers, bagels, muffins, pastries, and the list goes on. So
now we come to the “goody-goody two shoes” of food. Fruit that is raw, not
canned, vegetables, fresh or frozen. Porridge, rice cakes, honey, some muesli ,
nuts and seeds as I have said before, non-flavoured yoghurts, home-made breads,
or some of the unprocessed specialty breads like cape seed loaves, and
multigrain breads. One thing that catches everyone out is that grain based
carbohydrates, although good, are very energy dense. And we eat way too much to
support our lifestyle, way too much. So if your job, or lifestyle is largely sedentary,
instead of a sandwhich, try a chicken, turkey, or beef salad, or in winter make
it with vegetables, minus potato and corn. The Protein smoothie can be good if
you make it with just 
Protein powder and skimmed milk or with water and fruit
like blueberries, strawberries, or Kiwifruit. If you feel hungry later in the
afternoon, a chicken breast is good, all on its own. Other things are
blueberries, strawberries, and other fibrous fruit like apples, oranges,
kiwifruit, watermelon, rock melon are all good examples of fibrous fruit. I
suppose what I am trying to say is to keep the grain based carbohydrates for
before, and or just after your main activity of the day like a workout session,
lifting weights, running for more than one hour at a good steady pace, or
cycling for a couple of hours or on a wind trainer. Things will be different if
your job is active, and by that I mean a lot of carpenters, plumbers, and
electricians, anything where lifting, pushing, pulling is a large part of your
day, then grain based carbohydrates have a place because they are energy dense.
Those of us that use workouts as exercise only need those carbohydrates either
just before and just after a workout. Scientific literature notes that there is
a 3 hour window, from the start of your exercise routine for carbohydrate, and
protein replenishment, but don’t go and stuff yourself with rubbish. One slice
of bread, a banana, a protein powder and skimmed milk shake, is all you need if
your workout is about 1 hour. Remember, you broadly have only burned 400 to 500
cal if that workout was even moderate. I said before, our upper limit is around
10 cal per minute of very intense exercise. If you’re a marathon runner or an
Ironman triathlete who is training for more than one hour per day, then the
amount of proteins, and carbohydrates go up too, but they should only be within
that 3 hour window. Add some yoghurt to the protein shake, peanut butter or other
nut butters, a turkey or chicken sandwich, a banana and yoghurt, a small bowl
of pasta with tomato sauce. When building up training for an Ironman triathlon
or an ultra marathon, I can be training up to 20 hours a week for short periods
of 8 weeks or so, but I try and go back to the fruit and vegetables outside
that 3 hour window. Most times it is okay, but like everyone else I give in
occasionally to a muffin and cappuccino, hey the muffin had blueberries in it
so that is healthy right!? But I have also been on my bike for 7 hours before
that.
Protein powder and skimmed milk or with water and fruit
like blueberries, strawberries, or Kiwifruit. If you feel hungry later in the
afternoon, a chicken breast is good, all on its own. Other things are
blueberries, strawberries, and other fibrous fruit like apples, oranges,
kiwifruit, watermelon, rock melon are all good examples of fibrous fruit. I
suppose what I am trying to say is to keep the grain based carbohydrates for
before, and or just after your main activity of the day like a workout session,
lifting weights, running for more than one hour at a good steady pace, or
cycling for a couple of hours or on a wind trainer. Things will be different if
your job is active, and by that I mean a lot of carpenters, plumbers, and
electricians, anything where lifting, pushing, pulling is a large part of your
day, then grain based carbohydrates have a place because they are energy dense.
Those of us that use workouts as exercise only need those carbohydrates either
just before and just after a workout. Scientific literature notes that there is
a 3 hour window, from the start of your exercise routine for carbohydrate, and
protein replenishment, but don’t go and stuff yourself with rubbish. One slice
of bread, a banana, a protein powder and skimmed milk shake, is all you need if
your workout is about 1 hour. Remember, you broadly have only burned 400 to 500
cal if that workout was even moderate. I said before, our upper limit is around
10 cal per minute of very intense exercise. If you’re a marathon runner or an
Ironman triathlete who is training for more than one hour per day, then the
amount of proteins, and carbohydrates go up too, but they should only be within
that 3 hour window. Add some yoghurt to the protein shake, peanut butter or other
nut butters, a turkey or chicken sandwich, a banana and yoghurt, a small bowl
of pasta with tomato sauce. When building up training for an Ironman triathlon
or an ultra marathon, I can be training up to 20 hours a week for short periods
of 8 weeks or so, but I try and go back to the fruit and vegetables outside
that 3 hour window. Most times it is okay, but like everyone else I give in
occasionally to a muffin and cappuccino, hey the muffin had blueberries in it
so that is healthy right!? But I have also been on my bike for 7 hours before
that.
Fluids are important too. Not only good for health, and
hydration, but they can fill you up. Sometimes you are not really hungry,but
thirsty. You also need to be aware that fluids can be a significant source of
calories in your day. Beer and wine are big culprits. Half a dozen cans or so
of beer, or a bottle or 2 of wine, can double your daily calorie intake. I hear
all the time, people saying that they lose weight just because they cut their
alcohol intake. Most cans of beer, and glasses of wine are around the 150 to
250 cal per glass. So if someone has 6 cans of beer, that is a tick under 800
cal. Do that a couple 
of times per week and there is your spare tyre. The same
with wine. Orange juice is a killer too, healthy yes, but you have 9 oranges in
that class and that’s a lot of sugar. Coke, Pepsi, and all the others soft
drinks are around the same energy content. So say if you cut out orange juice
from breaky, and have an orange instead, and cut the charge you get with a can
of Coke or other sugary drinks in the afternoon, you can reduce your daily
intake by 400 cal a day without even trying. If you like the bubbles like I do,
then low-calorie drinks like Diet Coke, or Pepsi are okay in moderation.
Sometimes there is nothing nicer than a cold bubbly drink. Soda Streams that
are on the market today are also a good option.
So to sum up, you can increase your protein intake, without
affecting your kidneys, but it must be first-class proteins, one with all the
amino acids in. All lean meats, and fish, caseins and whey 
powders are some
that I use. Keep the grain based carbohydrates around your highest energy
activities during the day, and make sure they have come from a nutritious,
unprocessed source with plenty of fibre. Eat a lot of fruit, and vegetables
fresh, or frozen. Keep the dairy going with yoghurts, and milk, but watch the
sugar, and or fat. If they are low fat, they might be full of sugar, so read
the labels. Drink plenty of fluids, but be aware that water is the only calorie
free drink. And I forgot. You need to work out too. 3 to 4 hours a week of
intense, and I mean intense exercise. Yes I hear all the whingeing, and
complaining, and I had this injury or that ,and I have this special condition.
In the end they are only excuses and I bet they were being trotted out many
years ago at school!! I remember not long ago, I had this one chap tell me he
had this, and that wrong with him, and I said to him give me 30 minutes, and I
can have a program worked out that will be high intensity, and will not affect
your injured part. He ran out of excuses!!. 3 to 4 hours of exercise a week is
only 2.5% of the 118 waking hours that we have per week. It’s not much is it.
powders are some
that I use. Keep the grain based carbohydrates around your highest energy
activities during the day, and make sure they have come from a nutritious,
unprocessed source with plenty of fibre. Eat a lot of fruit, and vegetables
fresh, or frozen. Keep the dairy going with yoghurts, and milk, but watch the
sugar, and or fat. If they are low fat, they might be full of sugar, so read
the labels. Drink plenty of fluids, but be aware that water is the only calorie
free drink. And I forgot. You need to work out too. 3 to 4 hours a week of
intense, and I mean intense exercise. Yes I hear all the whingeing, and
complaining, and I had this injury or that ,and I have this special condition.
In the end they are only excuses and I bet they were being trotted out many
years ago at school!! I remember not long ago, I had this one chap tell me he
had this, and that wrong with him, and I said to him give me 30 minutes, and I
can have a program worked out that will be high intensity, and will not affect
your injured part. He ran out of excuses!!. 3 to 4 hours of exercise a week is
only 2.5% of the 118 waking hours that we have per week. It’s not much is it.
There is a saying that my strength and conditioning coach
likes to use. And it is this.
“Do today what others won’t do, so tomorrow you can do the
things that others can’t”. If you really think about that, it says an awful lot
about what we need to do to be healthy, fit, and an effective person. It’s your
choice, and you are the ones, that must take action. You, not the personal
trainer, or the dietician, or the doctor. It is YOU. I already have taken that
decision, and I am on my journey. I hope to see you somewhere out on the track
somewhere with a Snickers, ummm sorry that was a stick of celary!!! celary not Snickers. What, you've ridden your bike for 7 hours? OK but only half!!! And I hope your bum hurts!!!
