Archive | January, 2013

Older, Faster, Stronger: People Been Writing About My Diet

The Caveman Diet – Make Your Body Roar

By Kirsten Bedard, reprinted from her fantastic Ladylean blog, with Kirsten’s permission.

No one can better attest to the power of proper fuel than an endurance athlete. Strenuous activity requires the right diet for both performance and recovery. While an inactive person trying to shed a few pounds can focus on calorie deprivation, someone who demands work from their body knows that the RIGHT food is the only way to keep their engine firing. Of course, if you are already an athlete, you may think that training is key. To a degree. But if you want to reap greater rewards from your training, diet is the determinant of success.

Margaret Webb, a 50-year-old marathoner, is living proof of how a few pertinent dietary changes can lead to dramatic increases in both physical performance and body composition. We met a few months ago to discuss how she could become a faster, stronger runner – IF this was possible.

“You better believe it!” was my response.

I advised her to follow a lower carbohydrate diet, with a primary focus on maintaining balanced blood sugar levels ALL day, especially before and during her workouts. This is the same way of eating I recommend for someone who is trying to lose weight, lower cholesterol levels, increase energy, or age gracefully. Store less, burn more. It’s a simple equation and it works.

It works if you DO IT, that is. And Margaret has done it, and continues to do it. Since she started eating this way, ten pounds have fallen off her frame, her speed on both long and short runs has improved, and her energy and recovery have sky-rocketted. If an already trained athlete like her can experience positive change, then the diet works. The proof is in the pudding.

Endurance athletes are reluctant to lower their carbohydrate consumption, yet this is EXACTLY what most of them need to get fitter and faster. One of the first things I advised Margaret to do was cut out grains – the high density, inflammatory, acidic sugars that make up the bulk of most people’s meals. Was she reluctant at first? You better believe it. Who wouldn’t be? Everyone loves a bowl of pasta or a hunk of baguette, and running marathons seems like the ideal excuse to eat more of them. But after two weeks, she was convinced.

Eating for fuel means that vegetables and fruit provide her primary carbohydrates. By avoiding high insulin meals she ensures that her calories are never unnecessarily stored as fat. This takes care of weight and energy levels, while the addition of more glucose concentrated carbs prior to and during long runs, provides the sugar she needs when her body needs it most. There is NO benefit to shovelling in the sugar in high quantities any other time of day. What people don’t often realize is that during endurance activity, fat is a longer lasting form of fuel than carbohydrates. So let your body use it.

Don’t forget the fat. Unsaturated fats are found in avocados, olive oil, fish, nuts, and seeds. Margaret adds one of these to every meal and snack to stabilize her blood sugar, preventing over-eating and constant craving. Who would believe that eating more fat could help you lose fat? Margaret does now. Her new pre-long run meal is a couple of dates filled with almond butter. That’s more fat than sugar. She says her long runs are easier than ever.

And then there’s protein. Proper recovery requires amino acids, as does muscle building. These processes boost her metabolism and better her performance. Like for many athletes, before she tweaked her eating, protein was not a primary consideration for her. Now it is. Fish, eggs, and lean meat all break down into the building blocks needed to keep her body repaired and ready. Along with the healthy fats, protein also keeps her energy levels stable and alleviates the desire for dense carbs.

Whether you are training to run marathons or trying to lose weight, the right way of eating remains the same. And the response of a well-trained body is the true test of what works.

Your body is a machine. Fuel it right. Keep it lean.

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Older Faster Stronger: The Cavemam Diet

This is the first thing I did on my road to super fitness.

Lost 10 pounds in five weeks. Super-charged my energy and health. Didn’t count a single calorie. And developed a new delicious way of eating that feels as if it will stabilize my weight for life.

When my nutritionist/personal trainer Kirsten Bedard suggested doing a version of the paleo diet, I may have grunted, intentionally disparaging our ancestral heritage. No grains? No dairy? Are you kidding me? As a menopausal marathoner, I figured those two major food groups were exactly what I needed. Plus, I had just finished writing a book about sustainable, local and organic foods, and now I was supposed to go pre-agriculture?

“Just try it for two weeks,” she said.

I tried to get my family doctor to say going paleo was crazy. He didn’t. Nor did a sports physiologist and a sports medicine doctor I consulted. “It’s the way we were meant to eat,” was their common response.

That was four months ago.

Except for one or two meals a week – I’m not a fanatic — I have eliminated virtually all processed food, sugar and grains from my diet, and my only dairy is a tablespoon of Greek yogurt and two tablespoons of cottage cheese over a breakfast bowl of fruit. My meals consist of all the veggies I can eat (though not much corn or white potatoes); fruit; protein in the form of meat, fish and eggs; and good fats such as avocado, olive oil, flax and nuts (though not peanuts). My carbs come from vegetables and fruit, which pack a lot more nutritional punch per calorie than high-glycemic grains and rice. And with my menopausal metabolism slowing down yet heavy marathon training to fuel, I need excellent calories not junk calories.

Kirsten warned me that I might feel a bit wonky in the second week as my brain grew accustomed to its new chemistry. I felt fantastic, like I was super charging my system on micronutrients and vitamins. Before paleo, I had crashing fatigue nearly every afternoon, yes, about an hour after eating a sandwich. Now my moods and energy stay high – and steady – throughout the day. And the deep muscle soreness I experienced after a hard long run has abated. Next day, I am sufficiently recovered — and keen even — to do a major strength-training session for my legs and some kick-ass core work. Paleo experts say the diet aids in muscle building – perhaps my stunning new glutes can be Exhibit A and B in that case.

I did learn (by getting very light headed) that supplemental glycogen loading is required to fuel hard workouts longer than an hour. Kirsten recommends a “timed release” of carbs by taking a power bar or gel before and fueling with gels or sports drinks during the workout. As I’m not a fan of processed food, I’m still experimenting with alternatives – two majool dates stuffed with almond butter sustains a hard 90-minute interval training session.

I’ll talk about the science and application of paleo a lot more in my book, as well as my most excellent paleo stools. But for now, no more disparaging comments about Neanderthals. Call me Cavemam and I’ll take it as a compliment.

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