Kevin Currell, on Nutrition for performance

The information in this blog is taken from a presentation done for my triathlon club  by Dr Kevin Currell, Senior Performance Nutritionist, English Institute of Sport/British Triathlon.

Kevin’s main philosophy on dieting has 4 main elements: Performance, it must be evidence based, individualised and simple.

Main performance fuel in diet:

Fats: enable the immune system to function properly, provide the building blocks for muscle, important energy source

Vitamins: key nutrients to support a strong immune system

Minerals: support repair within the body and help prevent injury, key nutrients for the body to cope with training

Antioxidants: help the body cope with the stress of training, stimulate metabolism and recovery

Protein: provides the building blocks for muscle

Carbohydrate: the main fuel during any exercise

How to fuel recovery:

ENERGY recovery: fast release carb, protein

e.g.

Boiled Rice + Chicken + Tomato

Sauce

•Jacket Potato + Tinned Tuna

•Bagel + Cooked chicken breast

•Pasta Salad + Chicken Breast

MUSCLE recovery: Protein, carb, antioxidants

e.g. running. Inflammation and muscle breakdown is up, immune function and carb stores are down. Running is stressful!

Post run food e.g.

Protein: This helps to repair the muscles quickly and effectively.

Proteins are the building blocks of the muscle.

• Antioxidants: Help the body to cope with the stress put on the body

• Good fats: These also help the body to cope with the stress put on

the body

• Carbohydrate: Provide the fuel for the muscles to repair themselves

Pro Inflammatory foods

• Foods high in saturated fats

• Cakes and pastries

• Crisps

• Chocolate

• Butter

• Cream

• Sausages

• Pies

• Sweets

• Chips

Anti Inflammatory Foods

• Fish

• Fruit - especially berries

• Vegetables

• Nuts and seeds

• Wholemeal pasta, bread and rice

• Porridge

• Spices

• Herbs

• Olive oil

• Dark Chocolate

OPTION 1 e.g.

500 ml Recovery Drink– Immediately after

running

Handful nuts + dried berries and yogurt –

within one hour after running

Option 2:

500 ml Milk – Immediately after running

Glass Cherry Juice + Peanut butter recovery

bar – within one hour after training

Option 3:

500 ml Whey Protein Berry Smoothie –

Immediately after training

Handful of nuts – winthin one hour after

training

SLOW recovery: protein, slow release Carbs, good fats, antioxidants

Slow recovery means Less Stress, Better Weight Management, More Nutrients, Don’t eat carbs on their own!

E.G. slow recovery meals:

·       Salmon fillet and cous cous + salad

·       Chicken breast, brown rice, roasted veg, olives

·       Stir fry beef, pine nuts, noodles and roast veg

·       Chicken and Quinoa risotto and salad, balsamic olive dressing

·       Prawns + wholemeal pasta, roast veg, tomato sauce

·       Chicken breast, wholemeal pasta, pesto

SLOW CARBS:

Breakfast Cereals

No Added Sugar Muesli

No Added Sugar Granola

Jumbo Porridge Oats

Shredded Wheat

Weetabix

Breads

Wholemeal Bread

Rye Bread

Burgen Bread

Main Meals

Wholegrain Pasta

Brown Rice

Sweet Potato

Cous Cous

Quinoa

Chick Peas

Lentils

Snacks

Fruit

Dried Fruit

Oatcakes

Rice Cakes

Vegetable Crisps

Dark Chocolate

FAST CARBS:

Coco Pops

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes

Cornflakes

Branflakes

Special K

Bread

White bread

Main meals

White pasta

White rice

Potato (eat only if steamed or mashed)

Snacks

Sweets

Crisps chocolate

What’s What in the food groups?

Carbohydrate

Pasta

Rice

Bread

Cous Cous

Quinoa

Potatoes

Muesli

Porridge

Choose wholegrain options where possible

Proteins

Beef

Pork

Chicken

Fish

Turkey

Milk

Nuts

Tofu

Ensure a good protein source in each meal

Fats

Handful of nuts

Tablespoon Olive Oil

Tablespoon of Ground Flaxseed

Medium Avocado

Handful Olives

Hummus

Fish

Add good fats to at least two of your meals per day.

Vitamins

Fruit

Vegetables

Have 8-10 portions of fruit and veg

Minerals

Nuts

Red Meat

Fish

Wholegrain Foods

Fruit

Vegetables

Have 3-4 portions of red meat

Antioxidants

70% Cocoa and

above Dark

Chocolate

Cinnamon

Blueberries (and most other types ofberry)

Olives

Spinach

Walnuts

Balsamic Vinegar

Berries are an excellent antioxidant.

Pre exercise eating guidelines:

• Try and have a main meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) within 3 hours of the start of training.

– Carbohydrate based meals

– Avoid meals high in fat

• If you have not you need to have a sugary snack in the hour before you train e.g:

– Banana

– Cereal bar

– Toast and jam

– Malt loaf

Pre swim snacks could include: Sports Bar, Muffin, Flapjack, Pancakes, and English Muffins

Recovery: timing is key. Some food within 20 mins, and a main meal within 3 hours

My Thoughts:

Its interesting because someof the principles outlined here are ones that I already adopt within the 3-2-1- diet plan that i already operate. For example:

• I eat main meals within an hour or so of training
• I eat a piece of fruit before my early morning training

What i am still learning, though, is the food groups, and how the combinations work together. As i wasn't at this talk, but recieved the notes / info afterwards, I wasn't able to ask my usual barrage of questions! So internet research and reading it will be I think! Lots to learn still!

•Cereal Bar

Is Fruit sugar (fructose) bad for you?

This was a question someone asked me on twitter – they had read that fruit sugar is stored as fat, was this true? Fruit sugar is mainly fructose. So I asked a Nutritionist, and they said yes possibly, did I want to try a no fruit diet experiment? Jeeeeez not ANOTHER diet!!??

As always, I needed to see what the experts were saying.

A crude search will provide you with this explanation:

‘One thing you may fail to realize is that fruit contains a lot sugar. Even though it's natural sugar it can still cause weight gain if you eat too much and do not burn it off.’http://www.flat-stomach-exercises.com/forgotten-weight-loss-tips.html

And more scholarly articles that in places refer specifically to science and research:

Fructose is transported into cells via a different transporter than glucose

Once fructose is in the liver, it can provide glycerol, the backbone of fat, and increase fat

formation. (http://bodybasicsbootcamps.homestead.com/bonuses/Fructose_vs_Glucose.pdf(

Our liver is the major site of fructose metabolism. In the liver, fructose can be converted to glucose derivatives and stored as liver glycogen. The liver can only use and store so much fructose as glycogen at one time. The remainder will be stored as fat; thus, a very high single-serving dose of fructose is much more likely to find a home around your middle (http://bodybasicsbootcamps.homestead.com/bonuses/Fructose_vs_Glucose.pdf)

Glucose can be processed by all cells in the body, by fructose can’t. It bypasses an important step due to its molecular structure, and therefore goes straight to the liver, and is more likely to be stored as fat (http://www.parrillo.com/articles/52.pdf )

But, there is some contradiction:

Relax. Experts have concluded: “The intake of naturally occurring fructose from an unprocessed, whole food diet is low and unlikely to contribute to any negative metabolic consequences.”

(http://bodybasicsbootcamps.homestead.com/bonuses/Fructose_vs_Glucose.pdf)

Further reading:

http://www.anaturalhealingcenter.com/documents/Thorne/articles/fructose10-4.pdf

http://www.whatsyoureden.com/pdf/8_Fructose_Ideal_carb_for_gaining_fat.pdf

Although I am still not completely convinced, there is some suggestion that fructose could be more likely to store as fat. BUT, is that just if you eat TONS of fruit? Who knows?!? So there’s only one way to find out!

WHAT I PLAN TO DO:

·       Try the new no fruit diet for 3 weeks (hopefully,if it doesn’t drive me insane before then!)

·       Continue with the 3-2-1 diet http://melanieryding.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-is-3-2-1-diet.html

·       Cut out all fruit consumption,

·       Cut out fruit juice

·       Only eat fruit first thing in the morning (if at all) directly before exercise

·       Change all snack options from fruit to something else (like rice cakes, carrots, baby tomatoes, for example)

I measured my weight and body fat % this morning, first thing. I will do so again at the end of the experiment, and see what results I get. Watch this space!

3-2-1 Diet update – It’s been ten weeks...

Ok, I think I am getting to grips with this! I got this diet advice from nutritionist Becky White at http://www.onesixeightfitness.com It took a while and I have been speaking to some others on twitter who tried it too. I have been following it 10 weeks now. (If you have been reading my food diaries, http://www.melanieryding.co.uk/#/last-weeks-trainingdiet/4542843916 you will know I am better at it sometimes than others!) In 10 weeks, I have lost 10 pounds! This has not been a steady 1lb a week mind you, so do bear that in mind. This is without calculating, keeping a strict diary, nothing like I have been doing with weight watchers in the past.

This is what I concluded: the rules for my success seem to be thus:

1.      The first week, you will see BIG losses, 4.5lb for me, but this will be a one off!

2.      Avoid diet foods, low fat options, check labels, and avoid things with added sweetener (aspartame) go for full fat options. Sounds mad, I know, but I have been told that the body processes natural sugars much better, and tends to store artificial sugars as fat.

3.      I ALWAYS do a training session before breakfast, 1hr maximum, any intensity – yes, I have even managed track sprint repeats before breakfast! This is your main fat burning session, no other in the day will fat burn as well as this one.

4.      I ALWAYS have a black coffee and a piece of fruit when I get up, before a train. Black coffee staves off hunger pangs, the fruit kick starts the metabolism

5.      If my morning session is more than an hour, I take a snack with me.

6.      I always have porridge for breakfast afterwards (2 sachets of oats so simple) it seems big, but it needs to be your bulkiest meal of the day

7.      My lunch is medium sized, never bread, usually pasta salad, chicken, ham, etc and fruit.

8.      My tea is always light, maybe fish, chicken, stir fry, etc, bulked out with veg.

9.      This is the last meal of the day, I eat very little afterwards.

10.   When I’m hungry between meals, I snack on fruit, dates, apricots, and drink black coffee.

11.   Always do a training session BEFORE meals not after, this maximises fat burning.

12.   My training and meals are now focussed and balanced around each other. Eating is fuel for training. Training happens before meals, to help increase fat burning (except on race day!)

13.   Always look at the bigger picture. This is a lifestyle change, don’t focus on this day, this weight, this week. Look at the wider story. Like I said, the 10lb didn’t come off in a steady 1lb a week fashion!

       Working on my diet this way I have found I have much more energy for training than trying to count the weight watchers points. I am happier and less hung up on weight loss.

I can’t recommend it enough, I honestly can’t, specially for athletes who are trying to lose weight, I know how hard that balance is, believe me!

The 3-2-1 Diet

A little while ago now coach and I decided between us that there may be some performance gains to be had if I was to attempt to become leaner. We decided 7-14 pounds was the initial realistic aim. The target weight was one I had achieved in the past, but I was training for a half iron distance triathlon at the time so it was easier to do (I remember due to the volume of long distance training I struggled to keep weight on at that time actually!) I tried the return to the weight watchers diet. It had always worked excellently for me. This time, though, I struggled. On weight watchers, I just wasn’t getting enough calories to sustain the volume and intensity of the training. I became very tired, and my performance started to suffer.

I needed a Nutritionist to give me advice. Luckily, I found Becky White, via Twitter (@onesixeightfit) and asked for her help. This was just before Budapest, so travelling and dining out meant I couldn’t really give the advice she gave me a proper go until this week, when I was back in England again.

I have to admit I found her advice very contrary to what I had been taught at weight watchers. She told me to train BEFORE meals, and to always try and do one session before breakfast each day. She called this the fat burning session. I had always thought I needed the food for fuel. I was instructed to eat a piece of fruit (to kick start the metabolism) and drink black coffee (to stave off hunger pangs) before I went out in the morning. This seemed very odd. The first time I tried it, I had a tough swim set in store. I had done this set earlier in the week, mid afternoon, half way between lunch and tea. I did it at 6.30am, with just an apple and my black coffee to keep me going, and found each speed set was significantly faster than it had been that afternoon a few days earlier. I was amazed. Becky wasn’t at all surprised!

So, maybe she was on to something? I was told to eat twice as much porridge as I had been doing for breakfast (jeeez, that was hard work at first!) I had to eat a medium sized lunch, with pasta, or something, then a light tea, filled out with mostly vegetables. I found this really tough at first. By the following morning, I was STARVING when I went out for my empty stomach ‘fat burning’ training session! I was told that food was fuel, so I had to eat wisely, only snack on fruit or nuts, and switch from tea to back coffee. Ok, odd, but I’ll give it a try. However, the thing that surprised me most was she told me I ate too many foods that contained man made sweeteners and I should cut them out. This was THE OPPOSITE to weight watchers. I took that thought to the weight watchers leader. She declared it nonsense. Well, if I am going to try it, I may as well try ALL of it, so I stopped buying diet foods, and cut back on things containing man made sweeteners. Seemed very very strange. I had got so used to choosing the low fat diet options! But, if you are in doubt as to the logic of this advice, so was I. See the separate blog on aspartame. I did my homework, then decided it was worth a try. Becky had not met me, knew nothing about me yet immediately asked was I struggling to get rid of the last few pounds, when I showed her my food diary.

So, 3-2-1 meals, black coffee, more veg, more fruit and HUGE breakfasts, and main meals within an hour of training sessions. One full week of trying that, and I went to weight watchers this Wednesday. It is also worth noting that this week has been a recovery week, post World Championships, so I have also done WAY less training than usual.

Despite this, I lost 4 pounds this week! The weight watchers leader asked what I had done. I reminded her about the nutrition advice. She was astounded. She said she honestly hadn’t expected it to work! Neither had I!

The main thing I took from this is that I need to start reminding myself that my body is the machine, and the food is the fuel. I am an athlete. I can’t just eat whatever I like, whenever I like. I need to think about what fuel combinations are best. The early training sessions can be tough to get up for some times, but with results like these... I’m keeping on this 3-2-1 diet for now!! I have had NO trouble with training intensity while on this food regime, so I’m a very happy bunny!

read more about the 3-2-1 diet and WHY it works here
http://melanieryding.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-is-3-2-1-diet.html
 

Training fuel, aspartame & weight loss

 1/9/2010

Another tough weight watching week this week. I thought I had been good, but 0.5 on. On-off-on-off – getting a bit fed up with this. I asked for some nutrition advice. Becky White from www.onesixeightfitness.com asked me to fill in a food diary for three days. I explained I was struggling to maintain training and weight loss at the same time. She came up with some very interesting results. Not at all what I expected. I recently cut back on what I eat – understandably. She told me I ought to double the size of my breakfast – that it should be the biggest meal of the day. AND... I should try and do some training BEFORE breakfast – to maximise fat burning. Sounds tough stuff to me! Dinner also should be my lightest meal. Gosh, that’s going to take some changing!!

The most interesting thing, though, was her take on artificial sweetener. Apparently research suggests that that ‘the two are linked because the body doesn’t know how to digest these artificial substances and therefore stores them as fat. Opt for ‘full fat yogurts and sugar added drinks or none at all!’

So I went looking for this so called research.

Here, they suggest that the aspartame suppresses the natural feeling of fullness, and therefore you overeat, but backed up with no direct links to research findings:

http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/weight_gain_myth.htm

This article also links aspartame to weight gain, but says that it’s because of the links to the effects on your metabolism. It does include research references:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210183902.htm

This article refers to the same research, but deems it inconclusive, and in need of even more research!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7233459.stm

It does mention that the theory is not one nutritionists agree with. Hmmm. This nutritionist is the one that brought it to my attention, and she is also the one that asked me did I tend to carry excess weight around my middle. I just want to add, she has never even met me!

This article, again, does not back up its claims with evidence, but I am beginning to think that the case and point here is the argument between low SUGAR and low CALORIE. Maybe someone needs to separate them out in a piece of research!

http://www.sucralose-org.co.uk/myths/default.asp

Finally I stumbled upon a research abstract that sums it up beautifully!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20078374

So, I think I conclude that although current research does not establish a CONCRETE link between aspartame and weight gain, there are a lot of causal factors that still need further investigation! That’s not all that helpful! But it does give me something to think about!

So what am I going to do about all this?

Well, I think I will start by consuming the diet stuff I already have, then we’ll see what happens next. I’ll have to come up with a list of replacement alternatives while my head embraces this whole ‘full fat’ idea. It just doesn’t seem right or logical to me!! Better get to work on that list! I do have a sweet tooth, this will be HARD!

I’ll try the double the breakfast half the dinner idea... well it can’t do any harm trying something new, the weight watchers thing doesn’t really work for this hard at work athlete at this moment in time. But, I think I need to find a balance. I see the weight watchers points logic; it’s a way of simply labelling all the things that are good and bad for you in a clear understandable way. So does that mean more veg? I guess so!

Finally, I think I need to see food more as fuel, an think carefully about when I am eating in relation to when I am training – that WILL be hard, because I am meant to do all training JUST BEFORE a main meal! That sounds like a logistical nightmare in the making!

I’ll let you know how I get on!

I Give up!!

Sounds like I’m quitting with this weight loss thing? Well not exactly. Over the past few weeks, I have found my training hitting a new low, struggling to generate power and almost grinding to a halt out on the roads. I discovered that weight loss and high intensity training were a difficult combination. Coach said it was down to the lack of fuel and negative calorie intake per day. The balance is very tricky. On the first week, lost 2.5 lb. Great! Week 2, gained 1. Oh, but I was away for the weekend anyway, so it could have been worse. No matter. Week 3, lost 4lb but also lost a truck load of speed and energy. At the time, I didn’t put 2 and 2 together and was just happy to see the weight melt away! Week 4, lost 1 lb, better I thought, that’s sustainable. Week 5, gain 1.5lb. hmmmph. What happened there? Week 6, this week, lost 0.5lb. That’s ok I guess, since I am STILL trying to find the balance between fuelling my body for training while still losing weight. ITS HARD MAN!!

Things I discovered this week?

1)      I have been picking up the wrong jelly in the supermarket – it’s been 1.5 points per pot, NOT 0 like I thought. Well, there’s why I gained last week I suppose!

2)      Training is now going superbly well, my speed is returning to me, and I feel much more reassured. This has been balanced by a much smaller incremental loss in weight. There’s  a connection methinks. Important for it to be this way round, will the world championships only weeks away.

Things I can still change?

1)      Stop having a bit of bread here, a bit of bread there...

2)      Weightwatchers low fat snack still add up, I MUST try and healthy snack more.

3)      Cooking my own stuff is better, its just a pain in the ass sometimes. Must make an effort to try keep it up.

4)      Eat regularly, including lunch, don’t ‘miss it’ or leave it till later.

5)      Less ice cream, even if it is weight watchers!

So, one more week. Then I’m off on a plane. What will the last week bring, we will have to see. I originally wanted reach 12 stone before I departed. I’m 2.5lb off that. Realistically I can’t afford to lose that in one week, and still train effectively, so my focus, till I’ve done my last race of the season, is to maintain, or as a bonus, lose a small amount, and then for now, I’ll be happy.