Workout nutrition

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Josh

Workout nutrition has been a recurring theme in conversations recently.

In the old days, my buddies and I all used to drink whey protein drinks. When I went from 175 pounds to 200 (and then to 215) in about 8 months, it was from a combination of eating two protein bars a day, and working out twice a day.

While I don’t recommend that (I was terribly uncomfortable at 215), I do think that nutrition helps a lot.

All of the “experts” and “research scientists” will tell you different things about workout nutrition. “Eat x% cabs/fat/protein, plus branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), plus fish oil, plus etc.”

I’m not going to cite research studies about nutrition or nutrient uptake. They’re almost entirely based on people tested in laboratory settings, often times using college-aged males in small population sizes (less than 10), don’t take into account other factors (such as the fact that the sample used is composed of athletes, or that they eat cafeteria food all the time), etc.

That is, they’re not terribly applicable to you and me.

The guys in the trenches will tell you something different. They’ll say this – “Increased protein, water, vitamin, and fatty-acid intake will help you to feel less sore and recover faster.”

I agree with them.

The basic idea of workout nutrition is this – get nutrients into the body when the body needs them most.

For me, post-workout is the time I emphasize “workout nutrition.” In the recent past, though, I wasn’t using any “supplements.” My post-workout shake was a bottle of Trader Joe’s strawberry-flavored Kefir (fermented milk product).

Recently, I’ve been lifting a little more intensely, and have been feeling it. So I invested in some SPIZ. Now I’ll drink a “shake” with a balanced macronutrient profile, that has some additional amino acids, immediately after my workout.

If you’re exercising for more than an hour (or two, depending on your level of experience, and the intensity of the work), you might need to consume something during your workout to keep you going strong, and to keep you from breaking down too much.

But different folks have/need different strokes. Some people like to drink 1/3 of their workout drink before the workout, 1/3 during, and 1/3 after. Others don’t like to drink or eat anything extra.

Experiment with how your body feels. If you are getting particularly sore after your workouts, try some of the above strategies and see what works for you. I prefer drinks to bars, they’re more satisfying to me, and I prefer drinks with balanced macronutrient profiles (that is, they have fat, protein, and carbs in relatively balanced proportions) to drinks that are just (or mostly) protein.

Experiment with the quantity of calories you consume, too. Having 100 calories post-workout is much different from having 500. Of course, intensity and volume of work will, again, be your guide here.

As a final note – any workout nutrition should merely be supplemental to an already solid, whole-food-based diet, that is providing you with the foundation you need for health. No supplement can replace that.

Diet…is there a mystery here, or not?

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Josh

I just read the most recent post over on “Mark’s Daily Apple,” called “The Definitive Guide to Saturated Fat,” and wanted to share my response here, on my blog, because I think it’s pertinent to the continuing diet debate in our country.

Here’s my comment:

I wonder about dietary information beyond “eat what’s natural (i.e., non-processed food, or efls’s, and being as “natural” as possible (untampered with, organic, etc.)), in season, from your local area.”

These studies all seem to point to one thing – people live for about 75-100 years.

The folks from the areas with higher mortality rates live in places where medical care and hygiene are comparatively low; and in some cases, where warfare or death due to violence is comparatively high.

The human body, like any organism, has a high degree of adaptability (which is why we’re still around), and it seems to me that the body will find a way to subsist on anything “natural” as long as it isn’t poisonous (either as a quality or as a quantity (excess)).

Fats, carbohydrates, proteins…whatever, in any crazy combination, as long as you aren’t getting too many or too few of one over the other two, which doesn’t really happen if you’re eating the way mentioned in the first paragraph.

After all of the reading I’ve done, having lived to this point and met people from all kinds of places and walks of life, etc., I really wonder about this topic a lot. As a lot of people mention, there is very little evidence that saturated fat intake (or cholesterol level) are directly correlated to heart disease or mortality, particularly when taken by themselves (without adding other risk-factors like smoking and other stressors).

Most people, especially in “first world” countries, where healthcare is efficient and swift, live to be about 75-100 years of age. The outliers eat EFLS (edible, food-like substances, per Michael Pollan), have high levels of stress, genetic diseases, etc.

I don’t know…I may be completely off base about this. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Obsession and Diet

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Josh

I think there are a couple of other things that diets (books, etc.) do that are dangerous.

First, they put you in a position of powerlessness. When you pick up a book to get advice from it, you are saying to yourself that you don’t know what’s best for yourself. This is really horrible. People need to know the basics about diet (eat as close to nature as possible) and then just listen to their bodies. Counting calories, macronutrient grams, or anything else is not listening to your body. Let your body be your book.

The other thing these books do is they guide your focus. Most diet books are focused on weight loss. Weight loss shouldn’t be anyone’s primary objective. There have been several studies in recent years that have shown that people who are “overweight” (and I mean in bodyfat percent, not BMI which is a bogus measure) but active are much more healthy and less susceptible to cardiac and other risk factors than their “thin” but inactive counterparts.

We all know that a professional athlete will have a BMI that puts them in the “obese” range. To boot, my grandmother, who was raised in North Carolina, and ate “southern food,” and drank and smoked through most of her life, is now 89 years old.

What is the aim of all of this obsession in our culture? The human body is amazingly adaptable, and will find a way to get through almost anything your throw at it. Diet is an artificial focus. What is at the root of dietary concerns? Looking good? Being thinner? Or is it even deeper? Being healthy. Living a healthy and satisfied life.

As long as you continue to look outside of yourself for your happiness, you will never be satisfied.

How do you look within? Look to nature as your guide. What is your nature? I think being natural is or should be about much more than the way you eat. It should also be about how you live, where you spend your time, how you move and how frequently, etc.

Don’t obsess over your diet. Make things simpler and simpler, and you’ll be nearing the path of nature.