Recently I blogged about the “10 nutrition rules” and I received plenty of feedback. There’s obviously a lot interest in this subject.
Nutrition for performance is paramount but I’m always surprised by the number of endurance athletes who have high workout levels so that they can seemingly eat with impunity.
Chocolate, cakes, biscuits and alcohol seem to be a part of many a triathlete’s diet and it’s only these high volumes of exercise that keep their weight at artificially low levels. If you don’t believe me then listen to their comments when they get injured or ill or how guilty they feel for having “a day off”.
The key to healthy weight levels is not extreme volumes of training but some carefully thought out strategies which are then applied on a daily basis
I thought I’d raise your awareness about some “lean eating” strategies written by the coaches at Precision Nutrition (www.precisionnutrition.com).
These are also very topical as I’m sure that many of you will be relaxing the training levels and indulging yourself over the Christmas holiday. Once we get to January 2 thoughts of summer racing will return as will the need to get down to a decent racing weight. Here are the strategies which I have adapted slightly for endurance athletes.
1 Eat slowly.
Check your watch. Start eating. When you’re done, check your watch again. How long did it take you?
My guess: not long enough.
Your goal is at least 15 to 20 minutes per meal. You need that long in order to taste your food properly, and to let your body tell your brain that you’re full.
Put your utensils down between bites. Chew properly. Savour what you’re eating. Enjoy it. Spend time with it. You’ll enjoy food more, and get leaner to boot.
2 Eat until you’re “80% full”.
What the heck does that mean? It means you eat until you’re just satisfied. Until you’re no longer physically hungry. Instead of “stuffed” or “full”. Don’t get hung up on exactly what “80% full” is, or whether you’re getting to “75%” or “88%”. Shoot for the general idea.
Remember: eat s-l-o-w-l-y. Be patient with “80% full”. It takes practice. But once you get the hang of learning your physical (rather than your social or psychological) hunger cues, this one will be a breeze.
3 Get your 5 hours. Make them count.
(This isn’t a practical tip for serious triathletes but it does work if you are just aiming to maintain fitness, so its ideal for the Christmas holidays when you have more social commitments.)
Sure, you could drill yourself into the ground with long, gut-busting workouts. But why?
As we’ve proven, you can get great results with about 5 hours of exercise per week.
The trick? Make those hours count.
Our suggestion:
1. 3 days a week, weight train for about 45 minutes. Choose complex exercises with lots of moving parts that give you bang for your buck, such as:
• pull ups/pulldowns, rows
• push ups, presses
• squats, deadlifts, lunges
• hip hinges (i.e. swings)
Think movements rather than body parts. Think quality rather than quantity. Put some tough stuff together in a circuit and give ’er.
2. 2 days a week, do sprint intervals (or do the equivalent, such as intervals on a rower) for about 15 minutes.
3. Do about 10 minutes of warm up and mobility work every day.
4. Fill in the rest of the time with “active recovery”: gentle, moderate movement such as walking, swimming, yoga, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and just plain old “stay moving”.
4 Sleep.
Sleep changes your hormone balance and your recovery ability. This changes how your body responds to nutrients, exercise, and stress.
The more sleep you get, the leaner you are. The less sleep you get, the fatter, weaker, and sicker you’re eventually likely to be. At least 1-2 hours before bed, turn off the TV, computer, and cell phone. Darken the room. And get ready to sleep yourself lean. Aim for 7½ – 9 hours per night
5 Pay attention.
If you’re struggling to change bad habits, start by becoming aware of what you’re doing, thinking, and feeling (both physically and emotionally). We call this noticing and naming. You can’t change something if you’re clueless. So tune in. Paying attention also makes your performance better. For example:
• If you eat slowly and mindfully, conscious of every bite, you’ll probably eat less but enjoy your food more.
• If you train carefully, with a plan, you’ll probably do your exercises correctly, with a clear focus, and stay uninjured.
• If you notice what “triggers” you into unwanted behaviours, you can “break the chain” and choose a different path.
(This is what I call mentally present and is a good habit to learn for your training as well as your eating)
6 Forget “willpower” and “motivation”.
Change your environment and your systems. And get social support.
Willpower is a very limited and unreliable bank account. Never count on it. Ever!
Instead, build an environment, a system, and a support network that helps you get to your goals.
• If food is in your house, you’ll eat it. So don’t have that food in your house.
• If your gym is horribly inconvenient, you won’t go. So make it convenient, or buy some weights for home. And meet a friend to work out.
• If you wait till you feel full of energy to work out, you’ll never do it. So schedule it like an appointment.
• If you’re surrounded by people who don’t support your goals, you’ll have a tougher uphill journey than a spawning salmon. So take a class, join a group, say hi to other fit folks in your gym, and build a strong social support network of fit and healthy people. (for triathletes think about training with a group instead of on your own and also finding people who will sort your ambitious racing goals rather than tell you it cant be done)
7 Take action. But do ONE small thing at a time.
Sure, we all love “change everything” moments like winning the lottery. But that ain’t reality.
Forget thinking about change. Forget reading about change. Do change. Act. Now.
The only way to succeed at anything is to take action now — ONE small step at a time. Trust us.
Today, what is ONE, very, very small action you can do to move towards the change you want? What could you do in the next three minutes? Today?
Do that one small thing. High 5 yourself. Check in each day and make sure you’re doing it. Then, next week, do another very small thing. Only one. High 5 yourself again.
Repeat until ripped and awesome. It’s just that simple!
There you have it. 7 nutritional habit strategies and not one of them suggests cutting out “bad foods” or eating more vegetables. Just give them a try and please come back and tell me how you are getting on
Stay healthy & have fun
If you are interested in how nutrition can impact your performance and would like to learn more about Precision Nutrition please visit their website www.Precisionnutrition.com
