Nancy Clark, RD, Author at MedFitNetwork

To Eat—or Not to Eat: The Pre-Exercise Question

Nancy Clark, RD/22 September 2014/ All MFN blog/

What should I eat before I exercise?

That’s the question athletes of all ages and abilities most commonly ask when I’m presenting a sports nutrition workshop. While most people expect a simple response, such as “Eat a banana” or “Have a slice of toast,” the answer is actually complex and depends on many factors. After all, we are each an experiment of one.

The following information can help you figure out the best way to fuel your body before you exercise.

Does what you eat within 30 minutes of exercise offer performance benefits?

Your body can actually digest and use the food you eat before you exercise as long as you are exercising at a pace you can maintain for more than 30 minutes. Research also suggests that eating a snack just five minutes before moderate exercise can improve performance compared to exercising on empty. Yet, if you will be doing intense exercise—an erg test, track workout, or heavy weight lifting session, you should experiment to determine the best time to eat. You will likely feel more comfortable allowing two or three hours for your pre-exercise food to digest and empty from the stomach.

Will pre-exercise food cause heartburn or nausea?

While many people can comfortably tolerate pre-exercise food, others experience stomach distress. If the food you eat within the hour pre-exercise “talks back to you,” figure out:

Does the discomfort happen if you allow two or more hours for the pre-exercise food to be digested?
Does the type of food cause the problem? That is, do a few pretzels settle well but a cup of yogurt feels acidic?
Did you eat too much? Would half a bagel with a skimming of peanut butter digest better than the whole bagel?
Are you doing very high intensity work? If so, your stomach will shut down and your body will want to get rid of the contents….

What if I exercise in the early morning, before my stomach is awake?

If you drag yourself out of bed to exercise at early o’thirty, before your body and your mind are fully awake, you might not want to eat much of anything. I know of chocolate-breakfast many rowers, runners, swimmers, and ice hockey players who eat their breakfast the night before. That is, instead of eating a bowl of cereal at 5:30 a.m., they enjoy it at 10:00 pm, before going to bed. This food helps them wake up in the morning with a normal blood glucose (blood sugar) level, and provides energy for an enjoyable and effective workout.

What if pre-exercise food contributes to diarrhea and undesired pit stops?

Food generally takes one or two days to travel through the intestinal tract. Hence, an undesired pit-stop during a long run on Sunday might relate to food that you ate the day or two before. That is, if you ate an unusually large bowl of high-fiber bran cereal on Saturday when carbo-loading for the Sunday long run, you might end up wishing you’d carbo-loaded on low-fiber corn flakes or Rice Chex. Or maybe that bean burrito on Friday night caused the problem? You can try tracking your food and fiber intake, looking for suspicious patterns.

In general, exercise speeds up intestinal motility. With time, most bodies can adjust if you train your intestines to handle pre-exercise food. For example, one runner started by nibbling on one pre-exercise pretzel, and then two, and gradually built up his tolerance to the suggested 100 to 300 calories of carbs consumed within the hour pre-exercise. He enjoyed the benefits of feeling stronger at the end of his runs.

Should I purposefully not eat before I exercise because I want to lose weight while I exercise?

towel, dumbbells, apples and water bottle isolated on white One client reported she didn’t eat before she went to the gym because she was exercising to burn calories. Why would she want to add calories to her diet? Wouldn’t that defeat the main purpose of her workouts?

Think again: If you consume 100 to 300 calories before you workout, you will be able to exercise harder, at higher intensity and burn more calories than if you schlep through the session on fumes, with little enthusiasm or enjoyment. (Plus, you will not be as hungry afterwards and will be able to refrain from over-indulging.) Trust me, the plan to exercise-on-empty is hard to sustain; it is not fun. Just notice the drop-off in attendance at the gym between Jan. 1 and Feb. 1…

Food is fuel. As an athlete or a fitness exerciser, you need to fuel your body appropriately—including pre-exercise. Just as you put gas in your car before you take it for a drive, you want to put fuel in your body before you embark on a busy day. Be as nice to your body as you are to your car, please!

By eating nothing before my morning workout, won’t I burn more fat?

You may have heard you can burn more fat during low-level “fat burning exercise” if you do not eat beforehand. Yes, you might burn more fat than carbohydrates, but burning fat differs from losing body fat. You lose body fat when, at the end of your day, you have created a calorie deficit. That is, you will lose body fat (weight) if you have eaten only 1,800 calories by bedtime, even though you burned off 2,200 calories during the day. By fueling pre-exercise, you can have a better workout—and perhaps burn more calories than if you were to run on fumes.

To lose body fat, I suggest you fuel adequately by day, so you will have energy to enjoy an active lifestyle, and then lose weight at night by eating a lighter dinner. Fueling by day and dieting by night (so you lose weight when you are sleeping), is far preferable to restricting by day only to over-indulge at night due to extreme hunger.

Can training on empty enhance endurance?

Some recent research suggests that highly competitive athletes might be able to enhance their performance if they train under-fueled a few times a week. These depletion workouts can alter muscle metabolism so that the muscles are able to compete better when fully fueled.

If you want to “train low,” be sure to do your important high intensity workouts when you are well fueled. You cannot (enjoyably) exercise hard when you are running on fumes. Your performance will suffer unless you do some high quality hard workouts when you are well fueled.

From The Athlete’s Kitchen; Copyright: Nancy Clark, September 2014

Boston-area sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, MS, RD offers one-on-one consults with both casual and competitive athletes. Her private practice is in Newton, MA (617-795-1875). For information about her Sports Nutrition Guidebook (2014) and food guides for runners, cyclists and soccer players, see www.nancyclarkrd.com. For online education, see www.NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com

ADHD, Athletes & Appetite Issues

Nancy Clark, RD/9 August 2014/ All MFN blog/

Many teens and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are great athletes. In elementary school, they may not have been good at sitting quietly, but they certainly could excel at sports. Many found exercise had a calming, centering effect. With maturation, exercise still helps them get through their school/workday.

Athletes with ADHD often have trouble organizing an effective fueling protocol, including the basic tasks of shopping for and preparing food, as well as having the right foods available at the right times. This can create problems with low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and hunger that gets disguised as inability to concentrate, stay focused on a task, edginess, hot temper, and reduced athletic performance. Athletes with ADHD often disregard these symptoms, thinking they relate to their ADHD diagnosis, not hunger and poor diet.

ADHD medications

Athletes with ADHD often take appetite-killing meds that easily disrupt normal fueling cycles and contribute to fluctuations in energy. Athletes need steady energy to be able to concentrate and perform at their best. Hence, athletes with ADHD need to vigilantly monitor their bodies for early signs of hunger, including feeling fatigued or moody. Some may seek an energy drink such as Red Bull or some coffee, but the solution is not caffeine. They need fuel!

When athletes with ADHD miss meals due to lack of planning, they often end up craving sweets—a sign the body is too hungry and wants a sugar-fix. They can then easily succumb to overindulging in cookies, candy, and other so-called “junk foods.” This may happen at 10:00 pm, after their appetite-suppressing meds have worn off, and this can disrupt normal sleep patterns, as well as kill their appetite for their breakfast and that perpetuates a bad eating cycle.

What’s an athlete with ADHD to do?

The information below is helpful for any athlete – not just those with ADHD…

Take mealtimes seriously. If you can find the time to train and compete, you can also find the time to fuel right. In fact, all competitive athletes who don’t show up for meals might as well not show up for events. Everyone loses his or her competitive edge with hit-or-miss fueling.
Fuel your body on a regular schedule by eating even-sized meals at least every four hours. If meds curb your appetite, plan to eat by the clock, and not by (non-existent) hunger. If necessary, set the alarm on your watch or cell phone. If the sight or small of food makes you nauseous, try cold beverages such as a fruit smoothie with additional protein powder.
Organize your eating into four “food buckets.” Consume the contents of a bucket every four hours, either as a meal (Breakfast, Early Lunch, Late Lunch, and Dinner) or as smaller mini-meals based on wholesome foods, not sweets.

For most athletes, each meal/food bucket should be the caloric equivalent of two or three slices of pizza. That’s about 500 to 800 calories per bucket (or 2,000 to 3,200 calories per day), depending on your body size, sport, and energy needs. For athletes on appetite-curbing ADHD meds, the breakfast bucket should be the biggest bucket and incorporates some of the lunch calories that will otherwise get left uneaten.

The following sample menu has 4 food buckets that offer a steady supply of energy for an ADHD high school athlete:

Time	Bucket	Sample meal
7:00	Breakfast	Bagel + peanut butter + tall glass milk + banana OR 3-egg omelet (lowfat cheese,veg) + toast + fruit Better bet if unable to stomach all of lunch: Bagel & peanut butter + omelet + milk + banana
11:00*	Lunch #1	Tuna sandwich/whole wheat bread + string cheese + milk
3:00*	Lunch #2	Pre-exercise: Energy bar + apple Recovery: Dried fruit & nuts + pretzels
7:00	Dinner	Chicken + brown rice + veggies + milk

* Remember: If you take ADHD meds, you may not feel hungry but your body still needs fuel. Figure out what you can eat, regardless!

• Eat BEFORE your appetite-killing meds kick in. Again, figure out how to front-load your calories. For example, one athlete with ADHD started eating a hearty sandwich for breakfast. Another enjoyed “planned overs” from dinner the night before. By front-loading, they felt calmer during the day, had better workouts in the afternoon, and were better able to focus on the task at hand.

• Plan to fill your food buckets with foods in their natural state, and limit your intake of highly processed foods. Some health professionals believe additives and food coloring in processed foods can trigger hyperactivity in certain people. Plus, highly processed foods often offer less nutritional value and fewer health benefits. Shop for fresh foods along the outside aisles of the grocery store: fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meats, low fat dairy, and whole grain breads.

• Include a protein-rich food in each food bucket, such as eggs, cottage cheese, peanut butter, lowfat cheese, Greek yogurt, turkey/cheese roll-ups. Again, nothing is wrong with having dinner for breakfast; enjoy that cheeseburger and oven-baked “French fries” and then roll the scrambled eggs and cheese into a wrap for lunch. Protein is satiating and helps stabilize blood sugar. A trail mix made with nuts and dried fruit is another option with compact calories for easy nibbling.

• Make a shopping list before you go to the grocery store, and shop after having eaten a meal. That enhances your chances of choosing more of the best sports foods, and less of the rest. Examples include: orange juice rather than sports drink; oranges instead of orange juice; oatmeal (served with a little honey) instead of frosted flakes (with a lot of sugar); whole-wheat bread rather than white bread; scrambled eggs instead of Eggo waffles; baked potatoes in place of French fries; plain yogurt sweetened with maple syrup instead of pre-sweetened yogurt; trail mix rather than M&Ms; protein bars rather than candy bars.

Not only for athletes with ADHD

If you find yourself edgy and unable to focus in the afternoon, experiment with reorganizing your meals and snacks into four (calorically-equal) food buckets and notice the benefits: better focus, fewer cravings for “sweets”—and better performance.

For more information about management of ADHD in kids and adults: http://www.additudemag.com

Reprinted from The Athlete’s Kitchen, August 2014
Copyright: Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

Boston-area sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, MS, RD counsels both casual and competitive athletes. Her private practice is in Newton, MA; 617-795-1875). For information about her new Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 5th edition, see nancyclarkrd.com. For online education, also see sportsnutritionworkshop.com.

Super Sports Foods: Do They Really Need to be Exotic?

Nancy Clark, RD/14 July 2014/ All MFN blog/

Do you ever get tired of reading yet-another headline about The 10 Best Super Sports Foods, only be instructed to buy exotic fruits, ancient grains, and other unusual items? Do we really need chia, spelt, and quinoa? Is anything wrong with old-fashioned peanut butter, broccoli and brown rice? Doubtful! Powerful nutrients are found in standard foods that are readily available at a reasonable cost. You know, oranges, bananas, berries, oatmeal, almonds, hummus, lowfat yogurt, brown rice, tuna … the basic, wholesome foods recommended by the government’s My Plate (www.ChooseMyPlate.gov). Are those foods exotic? No. But do they still do a great job of offering super nutrition? Yes!

To add to the confusion about exotic sports foods, the sports food industry touts their list of engineered super sports supplements. Ads lead you to believe you reall tuna-slices y need to buy these products to support your athletic performance. The question arises: Are there really special nutrients or components of food that can help athletes to go faster, higher or stronger? If so, can they be consumed in the form of whole foods or do we actually need special commercial supplements?
At a 2014 meeting of Professionals in Nutrition for Exercise and Sport (PINESNutrition.org), exercise researchers from around the globe discussed that topic and provided the following answers to the following thought-provoking questions.

Is there any difference between consuming pre-exercise caffeine in the form of pills, gels or coffee?

Regardless of the source of caffeine (pill, gel, coffee), it is a popular way to enhance athletic performance. Take note: High doses of caffeine (2.5 to 4 mg/lb body weight; 6 to 9 mg/kg) are no better than the amount athletes typically consume in a cup or two of coffee (1.5 mg/lb; 3 mg/kg). Hence, drinking an extra cup of coffee is unlikely to be advantageous, particularly when consumed later in the day before an afternoon workout and ends up interfering with sleep.

Do tart (Montmorency) cherries offer any benefits to sports performance? If so, what’s the best way to consume them?

Tart cherries (and many other deeply colored fruits and veggies) are rich in health-protective antioxidants and polyphenols. Tart cherries can reduce inflammation, enhance post-exercise recovery, repair muscles, reduce muscle soreness, and improve sleep. Athletes who are training hard, participating in tournaments, or traveling through time zones might be wise to enjoy generous portions. Yet, to get the recommended dose of cherries that researchers use to elicit benefits, you would need to eat 90 to 110 cherries twice a day for seven days pre-event. Most athletes prefer to swig a shot of tart cherry juice concentrate instead!

What about food polyphenols such as quercetin and resveratrol?

Polyphenols are colorful plant compounds that are linked with good health when they are consumed in whole foods. Yet, polyphenol supplements, such as quercetin or resveratrol, do not offer the same positive anti-oxidant or anti-inflammatory benefits. An explanation might be that once in the colon, where most polyphenols go, parts leak into the bloodstream during heavy exercise. These smaller compounds create the anti-inflammatory effect. Athletes who routinely eat colorful fruits during endurance training offer their gut the opportunity to distribute good health!

Does curcumin reduce chronic inflammation?

Curcumin (an active constituent of tumeric, the spice that gives the yellow color to curry and mustard) has beneficial properties that have been shown to help prevent cancer, enhance eye health, and reduce inflammation. Subjects with osteoarthritis (an inflammatory condition) who took curcumin supplements for 8 months reported less pain (due to less inflammation) and better quality of life. Unfortunately, curcumin is rapidly metabolized and therefore has low bioavailability when consumed in the diet. To increase absorption, supplements often contain curcumin combined with piperine (black pepper extract).

Does green tea help improve body composition in athletes? What is the best way to take it?

tea Green tea reportedly enhances fat oxidation and helps with weight loss, particularly when combined with caffeine. But the amount of additional fat burned is minimal, and the 10 to 12 cups of green tea needed to create any effect is a bit overwhelming. (Hence, most studies use a green tea extract.) Because green tea has not been studied in lean athletes, we can only guess that it is unlikely to offer a significant improvement in body composition.

Is watermelon juice a powerful stimulant for sports performance?

Watermelon juice is a source of L-citrulline, an amino acid that contributes to production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps relax the blood vessels and thus enhances blood flow so more oxygen can get transported to the working muscles. One study with athletes who consumed L-citrulline supplements reports they attained a 7% higher peak power output as compared to when they exercised without L-citrulline.

Yet, when athletes were given watermelon juice (contains L-citrulline) or apple juice (that has no L-citrulline), the peak power was only slightly higher and the L-citrulline gave no significant benefits. The bottom line: Watermelon is a nourishing fruit and a welcome refreshment for thirsty athletes. You would need to eat a lot of watermelon to get the equivalent of L-citrulline found in (expensive) supplements. Your best bet is to enjoy watermelon in standard portions as a tasty addition to your sports diet.

What can be done with pea, hemp, or other plant protein to make them as effective as whey for building muscle?

In general, plants (such as peas, hemp) contain less leucine than found in animal proteins. Leucine helps drive the muscle’s ability to make new protein. Hence, to increase the muscle-building properties of plant proteins, you need to either eat large portions of, let’s say, hemp or pea protein (to get a bigger dose of leucine), or you can combine those plant-foods with leucine-rich proteins, such as soy, egg, or dairy foods.

The bottom line: Your best bet to optimize performance is to optimize your total sports diet. No amount of any supplement will compensate for lousy eating, though a few just might enhance a proper diet.

Boston-area sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, MS, RD counsels both casual and competitive athletes. Her private practice is in Newton, MA (617-795-1875). For information about her Sports Nutrition Guidebook (new 5th edition) and food guides for runners, cyclists and soccer players, see www.nancyclarkrd.com. For online education, also see www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com.

Instructor Showing Health Results On Clipboard To Senior Couple

Getting Older, Day by Day: 15 Facts to Retain Youthful Fitness

Nancy Clark, RD/7 July 2014/ All MFN blog/

Like it or not, every one of us is getting older, day by day. As a fitness exerciser or an athlete, you might wonder how aging impacts performance—and what you can do to retain youthful fitness. The following information is gathered from a workshop (www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com) presented by Dr. William Evans, an exercise physiologist and expert on aging, muscles, and protein. The following information can help you chart a healthy course into your future.

Carbs, Protein & Performance

Nancy Clark, RD/30 June 2014/ All MFN blog/

What percentage of my diet should come from carbohydrates? … Should I exercise on empty? … How much protein should I eat after I lift weights? … Is whey the best source of protein?

These are just a few of the questions addressed at the annual meeting of SCAN, the Sports And Cardiovascular Nutritionist’s practice group of the American Dietetic Association (www.SCANdpg.org). Over 400 sports dietitians gather to learn the latest news from prominent sports nutrition researchers. I hope this information will help you choose a winning sports diet.

Carbohydrate Update

Louise Burke, PhD, Director of Sports Nutrition at the Australian Institute of Sport, addressed the following questions:

• What’s the best percentages of carbohydrates, protein, and fat for a sports diet — 40-30-30 or 60-25-15?

meal Neither! A better approach is to define nutrient needs according to body weight. For example, the International Olympic Committee developed these guidelines:
Intensity of exercise gram carb/kg body wt gram carb/lb body wt
Low intensity 3-5 g 1.5-2.5
Moderate (~1 hour/day): 5-7 g 2.3-3.2
Endurance (1-3 hours/d): 6-10 g 2.5-4.5
Extreme (>4-5 hours/d): 8-12 g 3.5-5.5

• How much should I eat during exercise?

During exercise that lasts 1 to 2.5 hours, you want to target 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate (120 to 240 calories) per hour. That’s about 1 to 2 gels or 16 to 32 ounces of a sports drink per hour (after the first hour, if you ate a pre-exercise meal or snack)

During endurance exercise, 60 to 90 grams of different sources of carbohydrates (such as sports drink, banana, gummy candy) per hour is appropriate, as tolerated. Consuming the higher end of the range (90 g, as compared to 60 g) is associated with greater stamina and endurance.

• How long does it take to refuel from exhaustive exercise?

If you eat a carb-rich sports diet, you can replenish depleted glycogen stores in 24 to 36 hours post-exercise (with no exercise during that time). While it’s important to pay attention to your recovery diet, most athletes do not need to eat immediately after exercise unless they are doing double workouts. (Within an after exercise, yes; immediately, no.)

• What can I do if I cannot tolerate any food during exercise?

Try mouth swishing with a sports drink. This sends a message to the brain that energy is forthcoming and you’ll feel more energetic. Swishing can enhance performance by 2% to 3% if you are exercising on empty and have not eaten pre-exercise—as often happens with morning exercisers. (Swishing seems to be less beneficial after a pre-exercise meal, but more research is needed to verify those findings.)

• Should I train with poorly fueled muscles, as a means to teach my body to burn more fat, so it spares the limited glycogen stores?

Active seniors Training with low glycogen stores (“train low”) drives up the metabolic adaptations to burn more fat. By burning fat instead of glycogen, you’ll spare the limited glycogen stores. Theoretically, this should enhance stamina and endurance because glycogen depletion is associated with fatigue. To date, “training low” has been most effective in research with untrained individuals. Athletes who exercise with depleted glycogen are unable to exercise at high intensity and that may hinder performance.

Training with low glycogen during lower intensity workouts might be one way to stimulate the muscle adaptations to burn more fat (and thus spare the limited glycogen stores). But athletes should do their high intensity workouts when they are fully glycogen-loaded.

Exercise physiologist and researcher John Hawley, PhD of Melbourne, Australia acknowledged that train low/compete high is receiving a lot of attention among serious endurance and ultra-distance athletes. Hawley suggests “train low” should be defined as “train at 50% of resting muscle glycogen, 50% of the time”—and only for selected sessions. Training with low carbohydrate availability can be achieved by exercising with 1) low blood glucose, or 2) low muscle glycogen stores. Both generate adaptations that promote the training response and might be advantageous to competitive endurance athletes. Hawley cautions serious athletes that “training low” compromises training intensity and may lead to inferior performance during an event, particularly if the athlete needs to do a competitive sprint to the finish. That final sprint often determines who wins…

Protein Update

Stuart Phillips, PhD, professor of kinesiology, McMaster University in Ontario, Canada presented an update on protein, answering these questions:

• Do athletes need more protein than non-athletes?

While the recommended protein intake for the average American is 0.4 gram protein per pound body weight (0.8 grm protein per kg), most exercise scientists agree that athletes need a more to optimize muscular development: 0.5 to 0.8 grams protein per pound (1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram) body weight per day. However, most young women and men generally consume about 0.55 to 0.65 g protein/lb (1.2 g and 1.4 g protein/kg) body weight per day, respectively. They can appropriately meet their higher need without supplements.

• How much protein do I need after I lift weights?

Consuming 20 grams of protein-rich food (Greek yogurt, tuna sandwich, 16 oz. chocolate milk) after resistance exercise is plenty to optimize the rate of muscle synthesis. Athletes should then continue to eat protein and carbs at meals and snacks throughout the day.

The highest rate of protein synthesis is 3 to 5 hours post-exercise. This raises the question: Should athletes who work out twice a day plan to avoid exercising during that time frame? The “good stuff” (building muscle) happens during rest and recovery and the “bad stuff” (muscle damage) happens during exercise. Remember: rest is an essential part of a strength training program!

• Should I buy whey protein supplements?

Probably not, unless you are a frail, elderly person with a limited food intake. Drinking milk (20% whey, 80% casein) and eating a balanced sports diet with adequate protein from many sources can be as effective as whey supplements. Hard, hard work is the basic trigger for bigger muscles!

From The Athlete’s Kitchen
Copyright: Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD, April 2011

Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) helps both casual and competitive athletes win with nutrition. Her private practice is in Newton, MA (617-795-1875). Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook and her food guides for new runners, marathoners offer additional information. They are available at www.nancyclarkrd.com. See also sportsnutritionworkshop.com.

Why Can’t I Simply Lose a Few Pounds? 5 Dieting Myths & Gender Differences

Nancy Clark, RD/23 June 2014/ All MFN blog/

Despite their apparent leanness, too many active people are discontent with their body fat. All too often, I hear seemingly lean athletes express extreme frustration with their inability to lose undesired bumps and bulges:

Am I the only runner who has ever gained weight when training for a marathon???
Why does my husband lose weight when he starts going to the gym and I don’t?
For all the exercise I do, I should be pencil-thin. Why can’t I simply lose a few pounds?

Clearly, weight loss is not simple and often includes debunking a few myths. Perhaps this article will offer some insights that will lead to success with your weight loss efforts.

MYTHS: You must exercise in order to lose body fat.
To lose body fat, you must create a calorie deficit. You can create that deficit by
1) exercising, which improves your overall health and fitness, or
2) eating fewer calories.

Even injured athletes can lose fat, despite a lack of exercise. The complaint, I gained weight when I was injured because I couldn’t exercise” could more correctly be stated, I gained weight because I mindlessly overate for comfort and fun.

muesli with fresh fruits as diet food Adding on exercise does not equate to losing body fat. In a 16-week study, untrained women (ages 18 to 34) built up to 40 minutes of hard cardio or weight lifting three days a week. They were told to not change their diet, and they saw no changes in body fatness.⁽¹⁾ Creating a calorie deficit by eating less food seems to be more effective than simply adding on exercise to try to lose weight.

Athletes who complain they “eat like a bird” but fail to lose body fat may simply be under-reporting their food intake. A survey of female marathoners indicated the fatter runners under-reported their food intake more than the leaner ones. Were they oblivious to how much they actually consumed?⁽²⁾ Or were they too sedentary in the non-exercise hours of their day?

MYTH: If you train for a marathon or triathlon, surely your body fat will melt away.
Wishful thinking. If you are an endurance athlete who complains, For all the exercise I do, I should be pencil-thin, take a look at your 24-hour energy expenditure. Do you put most of your energy into exercising, but then tend to be quite sedentary the rest of the day as you recover from your tough workouts? Male endurance athletes who reported a seemingly low calorie intake did less spontaneous activity than their peers in the non-exercise parts of their day.⁽⁴⁾ You need to keep taking the stairs instead of the elevators, no matter how much you train. Again, you should eat according to your whole day’s activity level, not according to how hard you trained that day.

MYTH: The more you exercise, the more fat you will lose.
Often, the more you exercise, the hungrier you get and 1) the more you will eat, or 2) the more you believe you “deserve” to eat for having survived the killer workout. Unfortunately, rewarding yourself with a 600-calorie cinnamon roll can quickly erase in a few minutes the 600-calorie deficit you generated during your workout.

The effects of exercise on weight loss are complex and unclear—and depend on the 24-hour picture. We know among people (ages 56-78) who participated in a vigorous walking program, their daily energy needs remained about the same despite adding an hour of exercise. How could that be? The participants napped more and were 62% less active the rest of their day.⁽³⁾ Be sure to pay attention to your whole day’s activity level. One hour of exercise does not compensate for a sedentary lifestyle

MYTH: You should exercise six days a week to lose weight.
Research suggests exercising four times a week might be better for weight control than six times a week. A study with sedentary women (ages 60 to 74) who built up to exercising for 40 minutes of cardio and weights suggests those who did four workouts a week burned about 225 additional calories in the other parts of their day because they felt energized. The group that trained six times a week complained the workouts not only took up too much time, but also left them feeling tired and droopy. They burned about 200 fewer calories in the non-exercise parts of their day.⁽⁵⁾ Yes, they were ages 60 to 74, but the info might also relate to you?

MYTH: Couples who exercise together, lose fat together.
Not always. In a 16-month study Senior couple on country bike ride looking at exercise for weight loss, the men lost 11.5 pounds and the women maintained weight, even though they did the same amount of exercise.⁽⁶⁾ In another study, men who did an 18-month marathon training program reported eating about 500 more calories per day and lost about five pounds of fat. The women reported eating only 60 more calories, despite having added on 50 miles per week of running. They lost only two pounds.⁽⁷⁾

What’s going on here? Well, a husband who adds on exercise will lose more weight than his wife if he’s heftier and thereby burns more calories during the same workout. But, speaking in terms of evolution, Nature seems protective of women’s role as child bearer, and wants women to maintain adequate body fat for nourishing healthy babies. Hence, women are more energy efficient. Obesity researchers at NY’s Columbia University suggest a pound of weight loss in men equates to a deficit of about 2,500 calories, while women need a 3,500-calorie deficit.⁽⁸⁾ No wonder women have a tougher time losing weight then do men https://thefitnessequation.com/phentermine-online/….

The bottom line
If you are exercising to lose weight, I encourage you to separate exercise and weight. Yes, you should exercise for health, fitness, stress relief, and most importantly, for enjoyment. (After all, the E in exercise stands for enjoyment!) If you exercise primarily to burn off calories, exercise will become punishment for having excess body fat. You’ll eventually quit exercising—and that’s a bad idea.

Instead of focusing on exercise as the key to fat loss, pay more attention to your calorie intake. Knocking off just 100 calories a day from your evening snacks can theoretically result in 10 pounds a year of fat loss. One less cookie a day seems simpler than hours of sweating…?

From The Athlete’s Kitchen
Copyright: Nancy Clark, MS, RD March 2013

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) counsels casual and competitive athletes in her private practice in the Boston-area (617-795-1875). Her Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Food Guide for Marathoners and Cyclist’s Food Guide all offer additional weight management information. The books are available via www.nancyclarkrd.com. See also www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com.

References:

1. Poehlman, E., W. Denino, T. Beckett, K. Kinsman, I. Dionne, R. Dvorak, P. Andes. Effects of endurance and resistance training on total daily energy expenditure in young women: a controlled randomized trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 87(3):1004-9, 2002.

2. Edwards, J, A. Lindeman, A. Mikesky, and J. Stager. Energy balance in highly trained female endurance runners. Med Sci Sports Exer 25:1398-404, 1993.

3. Goran, M. and E. Poehlman. Endurance training does not enhance total energy expenditure in healthy elderly persons. Am J Physiol 263:E950-7, 1992.

4. Thompson, J., M. Manore, J. Skinner, E. Ravussin, M. Spraul. Daily energy expenditure in male endurance athletes with differing energy intakes. Med Sci Sports Exerc 27::347-54, 1995.

5. Hunter, G., C. Bickel, G. Fisher, W. Neumeier, J. McCarthy. Combined Aerobic/Strength Training and Energy Expenditure in Older Women. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2013 Jan 30. [Epub ahead of print]

6. Donnelly, E., J. Hill, D. Jacobsen, et al. Effects of a 16-month randomized controlled exercise trial on body weight and composition in young, overweight men and women: the Midwest Exercise Trial. Arch Intern Med 163:1343-50, 2003.

7. Janssen, C., C. Graef, W. Saris. Food intake and body composition in novice athletes during a training period to run a marathon. Int J Sports Med, 10:S17-21,1989.

8. Pietrobelli, A., D. Allison, S. Heshka, et al. Sexual dimorphism in the energy content of weight change. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 26:1339-48, 2002.

Water: A Wonderful Performance Enhancer

Nancy Clark, RD/16 June 2014/ All MFN blog/

Water is a wonderful performance enhancer. When a star UConn basketball player took the advice of his sports nutritionist Nancy Rodriguez RD and started drinking enough to consistently void a light-colored urine, he was amazed at how much better he felt all day. Unfortunately, too many athletes overlook the power of this essential nutrient. Perhaps it’s your turn to give water a try? This article offers droplets of information to enhance your water IQ, optimize your water balance, and help you feel & perform better.

• You don’t have to drink plain water to get adequate water into your body. All fluids count, as do foods that have a high water. For example, oatmeal is 84% water; low fat milk, 90%; coffee, 99.5%; lettuce, 96%; tomato, 95%; broccoli, 89%; low fat vanilla yogurt, 79%; and ice cream, 60% water.

water-glass • Water is the solvent for biochemical reactions. Your body cannot function without sufficient water, as noted by the fact that athletes die from dehydration.

• Your body needs water to moisten food (saliva), digest food (gastric secretions), transport nutrients to and from cells (blood), discard waste (urine), and dissipate heat (sweat). Water is a major component of the cells in muscles and organs; about 60% of a young male’s body weight is water, as is about 50% of a young woman’s body weight.

• Different body parts have different water contents. For example, blood is approximately 93% water, muscle is about 73% water, and body fat is about 10% water. Water constantly moves between the inside and the outside of cells. About 4% to 10% of your body-water gets replaced every day with “fresh” water.

• Note: Bioelectrical impedance (BIA) methods of measuring body fat actually measure body water. From that, a formula estimates the ratio of water to muscle and fat. Hence, if you use a Tanita Scale or Omron device, be sure to maintain adequate hydration. If you are dehydrated, you’ll end up with an inaccurate (higher) estimate of body fatness.

• Your body produces about 8 to 16 oz. (250-500 ml) water per day during normal metabolic processes. During a marathon, a runner’s muscles can produce that much water over 2 to 3 hours. When muscles burn glycogen, they simultaneously release about 2.5 units water for each one unit of muscle glycogen; this helps protect against dehydration.

coffee • Coffee is a popular source of water. Although once thought to have a diuretic effect, current research indicates coffee (in amounts normally consumed) hydrates as well as water over a 24-hour period. That is, after drinking coffee, you may urinate sooner, but you will not urinate more than you consume. Army research on caffeine and dehydration confirms coffee is an acceptable source of fluids for athletes, even during exercise in the heat. Hence, coffee and other caffeinated beverages such as tea or cola count towards your water intake.

• An increased concentration of particles in your blood triggers the sensation of thirst. If you are a 150-pound athlete, you’ll start to feel thirsty once you’ve lost about 1.5 to 3 pounds of sweat (1% to 2% of your body weight). Sweat loss of more than 10% body weight is life threatening.

• Body water absorbs heat from the working muscles and sweat dissipates the heat. That is, the evaporation of a liter (about 36 ounces) of sweat from the skin represents loss of about 580 calories. Sweat keeps you from overheating during exercise and in hot environments.

• To determine how much water you lose when you sweat, weigh yourself (with little or no clothing) before and after an hour of hard exercise with no fluid intake. The change in body weight reflects water (sweat) loss. A one-pound drop in weight equates to loss of 16 ounces of sweat. A two-pound drop equates to 32 ounces—that’s one quart. Drink accordingly during your workouts to prevent that loss!

• When you sweat, you lose water from both inside and outside the cells. The water outside the cells is rich in sodium, an electrolyte that works in balance with potassium, an electrolyte inside the cells. Sweat contains about 7 times more sodium than potassium; hence sodium is the more important electrolyte to replace during extended exercise.

• Mo exercise-Sclerosis st athletes who lose more than 2% of their body weight (3 lbs for a 150-pound athlete) lose both their mental edge and their ability to perform optimally in hot weather. Yet, during cold weather, you are less likely to experience reduced performance, even at 3% dehydration. Three to 5% dehydration does not seem to affect muscle strength or performance during short intense bouts of anaerobic exercise, such as weight lifting. But distance runners slow their pace by ~2% for each percent body weight lost by dehydration. That means, if you weigh 150 pounds and lose 3 pounds sweat (2% dehydration), your 8-minute mile slows to an 8:19 pace. That’s preventable!

• Adequate fluid intake can reduce problems with constipation and urinary tract infections. There is no scientific validation of theories that excessive water intake will improve weight loss, remove toxins, or improve skin tone.

• Should you plan to drink “eight glasses of water a day”? No scientific evidence supports that rule, so you can simply drink in response to thirst. You can also monitor the volume of your urine. If your urine is scanty, dark, and smelly, you should drink more! If you have not urinated during your work or school day (8:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.), you are severely underhydrated.

• Is bottled water better for you than tap water? Doubtful. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, nearly half of bottled waters come from municipal water supplies—not from the mountain streams pictured on the labels. This suggests standard municipal tap water is high quality. Rather than spend money on bottled water, turn on your tap! This will help stop the flood of 95 million plastic water bottles that get discarded each day, of which only 20% get recycled. Drink plenty of water—but think “green.”

Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) counsels both casual and competitive athletes at her office in Newton, MA (617-795-1875). Her Sports Nutrition Guidebook and food guides for new runners, marathoners, and soccer players offer additional information. They are available at www.nancyclarkrd.com and www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com.

References:

Armstrong, L., A. Pumerantz, M. Roti, et al. 2005. Fluid, electrolyte, and renal indices of hydration during 11 days of controlled caffeine consumption. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 15:252-265

Koslo, J. “Water, hydration and health: What dietetics practitioners need to know” in SCAN’s Pulse, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2012 31:1 (Winter)

National Academy of Sciences. Institute of Medicine. Food and Nutrition Board.
Dietary Reference Intakes for Water. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/DRI//DRI_Water/73-185.pdf

Wilmore, J and D. Costill. Physiology of Sport and Exercise, Human Kinetics, 1994.

Chocolate and Your Sports Diet

Nancy Clark, RD/12 June 2014/ All MFN blog/

Chocolate—Is it a bad food for athletes, an addictive drug, and the instigator of dietary disasters? Or is it a health food, dieter’s weight loss aid, and effective recovery food for tired, hungry athletes?

I vote for the latter! Personally and professionally, I like to think of chocolate (in moderation, of course) as one of life’s pleasures. Here is some research that might be of interest to active people who love chocolate.

Chocolate Cake—or Breakfast? chocolate-breakfast
Chocolate cake for breakfast enhances weight loss. Really? Yes, according to researcher Prof. Daniela Jacubowicz ⁽¹⁾. The subjects were 193 obese, non-diabetic adults who ate either a 300-calorie low carbohydrate breakfast or a 600-calorie breakfast that included protein plus chocolate cake (or another sweet dessert). Both groups were instructed to eat the same amount of total calories: 1,400 for the women and 1,600 for the men. In the first 16 weeks, both groups lost an average of 33 pounds per person. But in the second half of the study, the no-cake group had poor compliance and regained an average of 22 pounds per person while the cake-eaters continued to lose another 15 pounds each. By 32-weeks, the cake eaters had lost about 40 pounds more than their peers.

Prof. Jacubowicz noticed that those who had cake for breakfast had fewer cravings for carbohydrates and sweets later in the day. By frontloading their calories, they were less hungry and less likely to stray from their food plans. They had curbed their cravings for sweets and treats, in comparison to the group that ate the smaller breakfast.

So what does this research mean for you?

Eat a satisfying breakfast that leaves you content. Do not stop eating breakfast just because you think you should.
If you want a treat, such as chocolate cake, enjoy it earlier in the day, as opposed to indulging at 9:00 p.m. when you are tired, too hungry, and lack the mental energy needed to stop yourself from overeating. Think of it as having dessert after breakfast instead of after dinner.
Even on a weight reduction diet, you should eat what you truly want to eat, without deprivation of your favorite foods. Otherwise, you’ll end up doing “last chance” eating. (You know, “I just blew my diet by eating cake, so I might as well keep eating it because this is my last chance before my diet starts again…”)

Note: Even people with diabetes can substitute chocolate cake for grains at a meal without creating blood glucose problems. Just eat the cake instead of—not in addition to—the grains!⁽²⁾

Dark Chocolate—A “Health Food”?
It’s not a secret: a candy bar contains primarily nutrient-poor calories from sugar and fat. For example, a Hershey’s Bar (43 g) contains 210 calories—of which 46% are from sugar, 55% from fat. Hence, you want to enjoy milk chocolate in moderation, not in binges….

dark-choc However, less-processed dark chocolate can be considered a healthier choice. Chocolate is made from cocoa, a plant that is a rich source of health-protective phytochemicals (just like you’d get from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains). Two tablespoons natural cocoa power (the kind used in baking) offers the antioxidant power of 3/4 cup blueberries or 1.5 glasses red wine. Unfortunately, dark chocolate has a slightly bitter taste and most people prefer the sweeter milk chocolate, a poorer source of phytochemicals. (We need to raise our children on dark chocolate, so they will they learn to prefer it!)

Dark chocolate also contains flavonoids, health-protective compounds found in many plant foods including tea, apples, and onions. Epidemiological surveys of large groups of people indicate those who regularly enjoy chocolate consume more of these health-protective flavonoids than non-chocolate eaters. This reduces their risk of heart disease. For example, in the Netherlands, elderly men who routinely ate chocolate-containing products reduced their risk of heart disease by 50% and their risk of dying from other causes by 47%.⁽³⁾ Maybe a daily (preferably dark) chocolate fix can be a good idea?

Chocolate Milk—for Recovery?
If you’ve just had a killer workout and want to rapidly refuel and repair your muscles, boost your blood sugar, and replace sweat losses—as well as reward yourself with a tasty treat—reach for some low fat chocolate milk! Research indicates refueling with chocolate (or any flavored) milk enhances recovery of both fluids and muscles better than the standard carb-only, sugar-based sports drink.⁽⁴⁾

Anyone responsible for stocking the recovery food table for tired, thirsty athletes who want to rapidly refuel after a hard workout will tell you chocolate milk is an all-time favorite. Weight-conscious female athletes, in particular, let themselves enjoy this treat “guilt-free” and meanwhile boost their intake of nutrient commonly missing in their diet, such as high quality protein, riboflavin, calcium, and vitamin D. What a positive change from their embattled relationship with chocolate! This is good.

But shouldn’t we be staying away from sugary foods? The World Health Organization recommends a limit of 10% of calories from refined sugar per day; that’s about 200 to 300 sugar-calories for most athletes. Getting sugar from chocolate milk is nutritionally preferable than from sports drinks. Milk’s high quality protein, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin and a host of other important nutrients is far better than sugar water with a dash of salt!

For those of you who happen to read the Boston Globe (3/13/12), you might have caught my answer to a healthwriter’s criticism of USA Swimming for choosing chocolate milk as a sponsor. My response: “Kudos to USA Swimming for choosing to be sponsored by a whole food as opposed to an engineered sports food. To have role-model athletes touting low fat chocolate milk is preferable to the alternative of them touting sports drinks. I only wish more “real food” companies would do the research needed to counter the influential engineered sports food industry.”

The bottom line
By no means is chocolate the key to a healthy sports diet, nor is eating lots of dark chocolate preferable to snacking on apples and bananas. We all need to eat chocolate in moderation so it does not crowd-out other nutrient dense foods. But chocolate can be balanced into an overall wholesome sports diet and add pleasure to the day—even if you are dieting to lose weight. For chocolate lovers, deprivation of chocolate may create more problems than it solves.

References

1. Jakubowicz D, O Froy, J Wainstein, M Boaz. Meal timing and composition influence ghrelin levels, appetite scores and weight loss maintenance in overweight and obese adults. Steroids 77(4): 323-331, 2012.

2. Peters, AL, MB Davidson, K Eisneberg. Effect of isocaloric substitution of chocolate cake for potato in type I diabetic patients. Diabetes Care 13(8):888-92, 1990.

3. Buijsse B, Feskens EJ, Kok FJ, Kromhout D. Cocoa intake, blood pressure, and cardiovascular mortality: the Zutphen Elderly Study. Arch Intern Med. 27;166(4):411-7, 2006.

4. Lunn WR, Pasiakos SM, Colletto MR, Karfonta KE, Carbone JW, Anderson JM, Rodriguez NR. Chocolate milk & endurance exercise recovery: protein balance, glycogen and performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 44(4):682-91,2012.

For Skinny Athletes: How to Gain Weight Healthfully

Nancy Clark, RD/28 May 2014/ All MFN blog, Conditions/

If you are among the few skinny folks who have a hard time bulking up, you may be feeling frustrated you can’t do something as simple as gain a few pounds. For underweight athletes, the struggle to bulk up is equal to that of overfat people who yearn to trim down. Clearly, genetics plays a powerful role in why some athletes have so much trouble gaining weight (and keeping it on).