I hesitated to even write a post on nutrition. Nutrition is
such a dynamic and hot button issue that even broaching the subject is opening
a huge can of worms and endangering me to a fate of tar and feathers. And yet,
I’m going to do it anyway. I’m going to stress that I am not a nutritionist
(though I’m working towards it) and everything I go on about in this post is
based on my own research, reading and experience.
Everyone knows we should eat a well balanced diet. A healthy
diet supplies the body with the nutrients it needs to support basic energy
requirements, maintain an optimal level of fitness and prevent chronic
disease. A good, healthy diet should be
made up primarily of real, whole foods and very limited amounts of highly
processed and packaged foods. It’s also
important to keep in mind that when you are training for an endurance event,
like a half or full marathon, what you eat is going to have a significant
influence on how you feel, perform and recover.
Daily diets, and the calories you eat, come from three main
sources of macronutrients; carbohydrates, protein and fats.
Carbohydrates (60% of calories, 1 gram = 4 calories) - The
majority of daily calories should come from carbohydrates, as the body burns
carbs at its primary fuel source. Carbs come in two forms, simple (sugars) and
complex (starches). In general,
consumption of simple carbs should be avoided. We all know that sugar (including white sugar,
brown sugar, “raw” sugar, and high fructose corn syrup) and processed (white)
flours are actually made up of pure evil.
It’s true; I’ve been to the factory. Naturally occurring sugars, such as
those found in fruit and milk, can be eaten but should be kept to a minimum in
favor of more complex sources of carbs. Complex carbs include breads, grains
and vegetable starches. A lot of grain
sources of carbs have been vilified in recent years (primarily wheat due to its
massive commercialization and the issue of gluten sensitivities). I’m not going
to get into that debate here, but I will tell you that in my own diet I try to
avoid wheat and only eat grains (1 to 2 servings a day), such as quinoa,
amaranth and millet, that have been sprouted or soaked. Soaking grains (and
beans and nuts) makes them easier to digest and makes their nutrients more
bioavailable. Personally, I try to get
most of my complex carbs from other sources, such as sweet potatoes and squash.
How much do you hate me right now? Well, I’m afraid I have some more bad news.
Beer is not a quality source of carbohydrates. I’m sorry. I really am. The good
news is there is a whole variety of “free carbohydrates” that you can eat to
your heart’s content. Guess what they are?! Vegetables! More specifically
vegetables with a high water content, including tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli,
kale, spinach, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots… This really makes up for that beer
thing, doesn’t it?
Protein (15% of calories, 1 gram = 4 calories) - Most meat eaters exceed their daily need for
protein quite significantly. We really
only need 1.2 to 2 grams of protein per 2.2 pounds of body weight per day.
That’s much less protein than most people think. Still it’s important to
include a bit of quality protein in every meal or snack you eat. Good sources
of animal protein come from pork, beef and chicken. Of course in Alaska, we
have one of the best sources of high quality protein in the fish we catch in
our backyards, salmon in particular. Eggs and yogurt can also be used to meet
protein needs. Of course, it should go without saying that all of these are made
much more healthful if they come from organic, pasture-raised/grass fed
sources. Nuts, nut butters and beans can are also good and tasty sources of
protein. Beans and nuts are made more
healthful by soaking as with grains.
Fat (25%, 1 gram = 9 calories) – I’ve been called a fat Nazi
on more than one occasion. But I am no such thing. Perhaps a more appropriate
name would be fat snob or fat elitist. I love fat. I need fat. Fat is our
friend and is sorely misunderstand. Let’s all take a moment to feel sorry for
fat.
As you may have guessed, like carbs and protein, there are
good sources of fat and not so good sources. Contrary to what most believe, fat
from animal sources (provided they are grass-fed/pasture raised sources…blah,
blah, blah) are actually GOOD for you.
Guess what else is? BUTTER (again with the high quality caveats)!
Yay….I’m finally winning some friends. Other great sources of fat come from
nuts, olive oil, avocados, flax seeds, chia seeds, and coconut oil. Fats to
AVOID are pretty much all polyunsaturated oils (corn, vegetable, sunflower,
safflower) and margarine. Cooking in butter, coconut oil or olive oil is a much
healthier strategy than using margarine or canola oil. FYI… margarine is made
in the same factory as sugar and white flour so it too as a healthy dose of
pure evil.
Hopefully I haven’t confused or irritated anyone too much.
Nutrition can be quite overwhelming and its seeming complexity can often turn
people away from trying to learn more about it or follow a healthy lifestyle. Start small and don’t try to tackle it all at
once. And remember…we all have our vices and NOONE is perfect. Just ask me
about my Diet Dr. Pepper addiction. A good approach to all of this is to follow
the 80/20 rule. Eat whole, natural and nutritionally dense foods 80% of the
time and allow yourself to “splurge” the other 20% and you’ll still come out
healthier without losing your mind or your friends.
I’ve only just touched the surface and I encourage you to
check out these sites for more information:
As if I haven’t gotten myself in deep enough, I will cover
training and race day nutrition in my next main post. Heaven help me.
Run for your lives,
Bree
P.S. I hope you are all enjoying the blog thus far. If you are, I humbly request your support in
my endeavor to raise funds on behalf of Team Continuum. Team Continuum, or Team
Can, is a non-profit organization that helps cancer patients and their families
cope with the expenses and stressed of everyday life. I am running with Team Can at the New York
City Marathon on November 4th and would be most grateful for any
support.
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