Yanti & Salty Beyond Ridiculous Manatees PART 6--CLOSED (Page 12)

Absolutely one-million percent! So long as you do it in a healthy way!

Actually, that is why I want to focus on it so much. 

There becomes a VERY fine balance between a sustainable and healthy diet and getting your body fat percentage down.

This is something I struggle with. There is sooo much misinformation out there about nutrition, it's very difficult to keep it all straight. Or at least I find it to be.  

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Michael Pollan

Eh, I like and agree with the general concept but it is more complicated than that. 

OK, here comes Yanti the Jackazz Knowitall! (You knew I couldn't keep her hidden for long, right? Wait, whaddaya mean you didn't notice she ever left?)

Unless you have a diagnosed metabolic-involved disorder (inc. diabetes, hypoglycemia, thyroidisms, etc.), it's going to be pretty hard to under-eat, no matter how slim you are, in a developed-society setting. Unless you're really starving yourself, on purpose, getting woozy during workouts most likely means you're overexerting, not under-fueled. You've got more than enough body fat to keep going--for a LONG TIME--if the effort level is moderate and you're properly hydrated.

Eating before workouts not necessary. May (or may not) be desirable, but not necessary. Most of us could probably do with halving any workout nutrition. It gets a little tricky practicing for long-course racing, but not much. Recovery nutrition really not necessary unless it's a killer hi-intensity session (should be rare) or a very long ride/run (also rare).

It still comes down to Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

And I still agree with that, in general. I absolutely agree that people tend the worry WAAAAAAAYYY too much about under-eating. 

I'm thinking more about the logistics and expense, room in my cycling bag for enough plants to get me through the day, every day when I am running more than 10 miles a day.  

Meal timing, pre/post workout blah, whatever. Not a big deal.

And then protein. Figuring out how much you need and how to get it.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just saying it's a little more complicated when you get down to some of the small details. That's all. 

*and also, not all of my workouts are moderate and actually I do feel woozy if I'm not nutritionally prepared for them.  I wouldn't call them rare, I'd call them twice a week. 

LOL. I'm imagining large stalks of corn, heads of cruciferous veggies, carrot-tops, etc. sticking out of a giant mountaineering backpack

That's what that giant jar of (preferably natural or even homemade, but you know I don't care that much, for myself at least) PB in your desk drawer is for. Crispbreads made of whole grains make for good crackers.

Homemade three (or four or five, and/or with added veg) bean salad is pretty dense and proteinaceous.

Homemade mueslis/granolas ... just add milk.

Even running ave. 10+mi/weekday, you're very unlikely to run low on protein requirements unless you're really just Pop-Tarting out like a sick Yanti.

IMO for women like you--and that would be very few of us unless we're in the thick of peak IM training and that's just a few weeks--the things to really watch are calcium and iron. If you eat meat and dairy products, and pair wisely for the iron, it's not difficult at all.

Not a nutritionist ... and planning ahead, and the little details, are indeed a little more complicated, but not by much. It's also not necessary to make sure you're getting everything you need every single day--as long as the averages work out over every few days/weekly, you're pretty well covered.

Amen on the stalks of corn out the backpack. I'd do it with beets 

Not that I worry about running low on protein because I don't eat enough. It's because I am trying to eat as little as I can and still get what I need.

It's easy to eat too much and It's hard to eat just enough while also maximizing performance. And I guess that is my point.

And the more I think about it, the more I associate it to the run lots, mostly easy, sometimes hard. I think for a veeeerrrrrrrrryyyy long time that is extremely effective. But at some point I think there is a limit to "lots" where you aren't seeing gains and "hard" needs to be defined a little more specifically. It's not that there is a flaw in the concept per se, I just think it gets a little more complicated at some point for those wishing to find their potential.

Overall though, both of those concepts could very likely work forever for most people.  

Now do we get to talk about something exciting?

I've got something: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuRivVd0i4I

This is my niece's thank you message to me yesterday. We are more alike than I thought. Watch to the very end. 

(By the way, I totally didn't send her a bday card. That is important information)

Very true. You're moving quickly into the pointy-end area, and if it were a graph, you can see that even making big changes winds up yielding less of a difference. (as the slope increases ... moving far right shoots you up the graph just a bit ... or vice versa, however the graph is set up).

I actually was not aware that you were trying to limit the total amount you're eating. Lord shoot me for saying this, but it does make sense. The top end folks are lean, lean lean. They may have different physiques, but overall the body composition is quite similar. Later it may get tricky to keep enough fat on your body to be healthy and immunologically more robust (there's a strong correlation there and a theoretically if not proven sound causation) but maintain the lean mean runnin' machine physiology as well.

That was adorable and hilarious!

Yeah,  don't worry you can say that kind of thing to me. I think that my body composition will change over time (and already is) without me worrying a whole hell of a lot about diet but I am more or less trying to expedite the process. Not a lot, but a little. It doesn't hurt to figure this stuff out now anyway. Even when the day comes where I am trying to keep enough fat on, I want to know the most effective and healthy way of doing it.

Any 4 year old that  does a little freestyle rap then signs off with "peace out homie" is going to be trouble. 

Aaaaah now I wish I had high-speed!

Also, Salty, you guilted me into eating an apple instead of cinnamon toast.

Now I want the toast, too.

The Pop Tarts are *gone*. Glum.

I guilted you?!?! You are the one who commented on my body composition 

Ahhhhhhh I can't believe they are gone! You actually made them last quite a while though, I'm impressed!

And  yeah, I wish you could see this video. It would be an eye opener to what I was like as a child. 

In North Carolina, mac n cheese is considered a vegetable...  Just sayin'

mmmmmm North Carolina. 

Wow. Sure puts things in perspective doesn't it.

Oh BTW, I emailed UCF and they want me to sign up on the 2013 team! I've already hit the minimum fundraising for an "away" triathlon. I'm pretty excited about being on a team. I'll probably be the only one at Oceanside tho .

Awesome!!  Welcome, fellow Team Fight member!

Very, very cool!