For me, I do not find that I imitate the above image nor do I have a place on a reality TV show as the next honey boo bob with my go go juice (Mt. Dew and Red Bull mix). My diet is pretty square, a function of time and place, and I do not really go with organics, gluten-free, vegan, and or restrictive diet. I just like good old comfort food that I was born and raised on and I really have a pretty open palliate with no real GI distresses.
The one thing I have noticed during my training and in recent years is that what I do take in does reflect in my performance when I am training. The days of slamming a quick meal or going the other way and skipping one all together can result in a total bonk. Bonk is term used in endurance sports to describe the absolute absence of energy in your body midst a workout. It is miserable. It is a very similar feeling as to when you are nearing the end of a twenty-four hour stomach virus and every ounce of energy is exhausted and you ache incessantly.
In the longer distance triathlons many athletes and trainers will reference a fourth discipline (1-swim, 2-ride, 3-run); 4-nutrition. There is essentially two areas for nutrition. The nutrition you use leading up to the race and then the nutrition you will use during the race. This fourth discipline gave me pause as I do not have any experience at these longer distances where nutrition can easily ruin your entire race or cause phycical harm and as well I have very limited experience in sports nutrition out side of what I read. So, even though I have stayed at my fair share of Holiday Inn Expresses I have hired a sports nutritionist/dietitian to help. Outside of the rationale of helping me meet my goals for this race I thought this would be a good check on my 40 years of food experience.
Last Friday was my first meeting with my nutritionist. This was an initial consult. Prior to this meeting I had filled out some general health questionnaires as well as completing an activity and food log. She then took my data and produced a report depicting my nutrition summary. Good news mom, you did a good job. My nutrition was not too bad and my meals are pretty well rounded. This was even with a breakfast for dinner meal we did one night. I was a bit deficient in my proteins and some of my fruits and veggies. These deficiencies are in part due to the demand of my current workout level and the higher demand my body needs to rebuild with these nutrients. Additionally, we covered a hunger satiety scale. This is a scale that helps you gauge when your are hungry and when you are full and if you concentrate on keeping yourself with certain zones your caloric intake will be fine without counting them. Lastly, we reviewed my food preferences and then built some meal plans to help alleviate some of my deficiencies. It was all really great info and it gave some good piece of mind that what I am eating not just for myself but also for my family is contributing to good health.
Even though it was fairly good report my time with the nutrionist is not done. I have several more appointments to work on the other areas of my nutritional plan. These will be focused on gauging my progress towards incoporating the veggies, fruits and proteins, as well as working on the nutrition plan I will need to consume during my events themselves to help assure I make that finish line.
So while I run to get some steak and eggs and a fresh fruit bowl. I leave you with this video that depicts an extreeme bonk via Ironman. Sorry if an ad runs first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTn1v5TGK_w
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