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2005-07-15 10:29 AM

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Subject: My "diet" philosophy

I've had a few questions about my nutrition lately so I figured I'd post a quick general description of my "diet" philosophy. I say "diet" because it's really part of my lifestyle...although I have used South Beach and CKD diets for short periods to drop body fat quickly.

My current nutrition is the result of a few years of educating myself and then looking carefully at the foods I buy to make sure they really are what they appear. You'd be surprised how many things say "whole wheat" but the first ingredient is enriched flour. Always look for unbleached whole wheat flour as the main ingredient in breads and wheat pasta. Also, cereals can be very misleading. The label may say "whole grain" or something similar but that ends up being only minor ingredients and the primary things are sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup (the devil), and processed grains. Okay, that was a slight tangent but it gets to my point that you can't necessarily trust the main label without checking the ingredient list and nutrition data on the back. Anyway, I'm basically on a modified bodybuilder diet. It's higher in protein than most other athletes and higher in carbs than a bodybuilder because of all the long training sessions we do as triathletes. I basically keep 4 things in mind...

1) only whole grain and low GI carbs (aside from race nutrition and workout recovery)...whole wheat breads and pasta, brown rice, whole grain cereal, sweet potatos...those are my staples. Fruits and veggies are all fair game even though fruits contain a lot of sugars...they are unprocessed natural sugars and much healthier than the refined white stuff. Also, I steam all of my fresh veggies...boiling leaches away the good stuff.

2) don't avoid fats...good fats are your friend and can actually help you burn body fat...olive oil, flax oil, nuts, all natural peanut butter, salmon. I'm about 7% body fat right now and I've been eating 100-150g of fat per day...30-40% of my calories.

3) at least 2g of protein per kg of body weight per day...for me (168lbs) that's 150g protein minimum. I'd suggest at least 1.5g for most actively training people. Lots of good sources...chicken, lean pork, lean beef, fresh fish (salmon has lots of good fats), milk (2% or skim), low fat cheese, yogurt (I prefer Carb Countdown brand because it is lower sugar and higher protein compared to regular yogurt), eggs (a few whites and one yolk), canned white albacore tuna (I eat a lot of tuna), protein powder (check out the Optimum Nutrition products on DPSnutrition.com for a quality product at good prices in bulk), protein bars (I really like Detour, U-Turn, and Joy Ride bars...lots of protein and not too much carbs).

4) don't restrict yourself too much...enjoy the things you like (in moderation). Like I said, I don't really view the way I eat as a "diet"...it's just part of my lifestyle. I really enjoy the foods that make up the bulk of my diet...brown rice, chicken, salmn, tuna, nuts, whole wheat bread/pasta, lots of steamed veggies, lots of fresh fruit, spinach salads...I don't feel like I HAVE to eat chicken again, I want it. But I also don't completely avoid "junk" food because it tastes GOOD and makes me happy. Cold Stone ice cream, salty potato chips, beer, a big greasy burger, hot wings...I eat them all in moderation and try to adjust the rest of my diet that day to accomodate the extra calories if I expect to let loose a little.

Finally, I use FitDay.com to help me keep track of everything and make sure I'm not blowing over my daily requirements.  I'll even adjust what I eat through the day if it looks like my any of my macronutrients are too high/low.

Well, that's the basics I've established for myself...hopefully it is useful to some of you in establishing your own healthy lifestyle diet.



2005-07-15 10:46 AM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
That's a great post and awesome, solid advice. Thanks for taking the time to write all that up.
2005-07-15 11:11 AM
in reply to: #199139

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy

You and I are of the same school here.  I study nutrition extensively, and this is great advice.  But also keep in mind that a good poetion of your diet should come from fruits and veggies as well.  For me juces such as Naked, Odwalla and V8 are a godsend, since I oftrn have to aquire nutrition on the go.  All of the above are awesome choices.  They are pureed fruit or veggie juice.  They help you to get the vitamins, antioxidants and photochemicals your body requires. 

Be sure not to drink a whole container at once as the pureed friut is high in natural sugar (fructose).  You don't want your blood sugar to spike dramatically. 

2005-07-15 11:48 AM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
Maybe Autumn or Scuba-Punk could make this a "sticky" if everyone feels it is appropriate...
2005-07-15 11:54 AM
in reply to: #199117

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2005-07-15 12:37 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
Great advice.

I've been using fitday for a week and I love it.


2005-07-15 12:46 PM
in reply to: #199207

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
It would make a great article.
2005-07-15 5:13 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy

Nice post Joel.

Yes.  Please sticky this.  Too many people are terrified of the word "diet".  Eating right is fun and does great things for the body.  The biggest change for me came about when I stopped looking at food as evil and saw it as fuel.

2005-07-15 5:30 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy

A couple of questions (for anyone who wants to jump in, really):

(1) Do you vary your calories based on your workouts?  For example, if you know you are going to have a rest day, do you eat less on that day or if you are going to have a 5 hour bike ride, do you eat more?

(2) You've got your grams per pound recommendation for protein, what about fat and carbs?  And, are you basing this on lean weight or total body weight?  I'm wondering this because my BF% is way high (I need to lose, lose, lose.)

(3) Do you think Fitday has a good ballpark figure for calories burned?  I'm pretty comfortable with the Basal Rate it's coming up with (seems to be close to some other calculators for RMR) but unsure about total calories burned.

(4) What are you shooting for as far as % breakdown on a daily basis?  40-30-30? Or something else?

(5) I'd be interested in reading more about CKD, do you have a website or two that would be good for research? 

Thanks!  (And, really good info here.)

2005-07-15 6:47 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
I'll take a shot at all of these questions at some point this weekend...it's a "free" night for me and I'm going out to dinner
2005-07-18 9:33 AM
in reply to: #199139

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
Well there is NOTHING there to argue with. Except maybe instead of whole wheat bread go for whole grain bread. Other than that your diet is fantastic!


2005-07-18 10:20 AM
in reply to: #199572

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy

cadreamer - 2005-07-15 6:30 PM

A couple of questions (for anyone who wants to jump in, really):

(1) Do you vary your calories based on your workouts?  For example, if you know you are going to have a rest day, do you eat less on that day or if you are going to have a 5 hour bike ride, do you eat more?

Personally, I do tailor my diet on a daily basis...I'm anal like that.  To a degree it happens automatically through my training and recovery nutrition.  If I have intense and/or long workouts I'll be taking in more gels, sports drinks, and recovery drinks which boosts my calories over a typical day.  The tougher days for me are rest and/or light training days when I need to be careful not to eat too much...especially now because I'm trying to slowly drop a few more lbs.

(2) You've got your grams per pound recommendation for protein, what about fat and carbs?  And, are you basing this on lean weight or total body weight?  I'm wondering this because my BF% is way high (I need to lose, lose, lose.)

I base my prot requirements on total weight but you pose a good question with regard to people who have a particularly high BF%.  I don't know that I have a good answer for that.  My instinct would be to say that yes, still base your protein intake on total body weight because the protein is important to build new muscle and provide amino acids to repair damaged muscle.  I don't see much harm in eating more protein then your body needs as long as your total daily caloric intake is in line with requirements.  Excess fats and carbs are first in line to be converted to body fat. 

I don't shoot for any specific amount of carbs or fat.  I could probably benefit from fine-tuning my macro ratios a bit but I basically make sure I get enough protein, and then split the rest of my intake between fat and carbs.  I usually end up with something like: 20-25% protein, 35% carbs, 30-35% fat (all by caloric value).  Since fat is so much more calorierich compared to carbs and prot, that breaks down to something like 200g prot, 325g carbs, and 130g fat on a typical 3300 calorie, moderate training day.  I'm ~170lbs BTW.

(3) Do you think Fitday has a good ballpark figure for calories burned?  I'm pretty comfortable with the Basal Rate it's coming up with (seems to be close to some other calculators for RMR) but unsure about total calories burned.

I've found the estimates from my activities on FitDay to be very similar to those from my HRM so I feel comfortable that they are at least in the ballpark.  My HRM "knows" more detailed personal info and also knows exactly how hord I worked for a given training session so I consider it to be relatively accurate.  Only way to know for sure is to have a respiratory gas analysis done while exercising...and all that equipment would get heavy to haul around on my training sessions

(4) What are you shooting for as far as % breakdown on a daily basis?  40-30-30? Or something else?

See #2

(5) I'd be interested in reading more about CKD, do you have a website or two that would be good for research? 

CKD is something that bodybuilders typically use to drop bodyfat fast.  It's a high-fat carb-depletion diet with a 24-48 hour carb load every 7-10 days.  Basically, if you deprive your body of carbs and burn off all of your muscle glycogen you'll go into ketosis which is when your body switches to fat as a promary fuel source.  This sin't a diet you maintain for months...a few weeks at a time is all I've ever done but it is very effective if you follow the plan carefully.  There are very specific macro ratios that you should follow each day of the cycle to make the diet most effective.  Because it is so strick (and the required high intake of fat) it's hard for some people to stick with.  It just doesn't seem right to be eating 2-300g of fat per day but if you understand the physiological mechanism then you know it will work.  This is kind of similar to the initial phase of Atkins and South Beach but the key difference is the carb-up period.  This revs your metabolism resets your body chemistry and also provides glycogen stores for a couple hard workouts per week (early in each cycle).  Most endurance athletes will dismiss CKD because of the carb depletion but it really depends on how your body reacts.  I personally feel very little fatigue and can maintain my LSD training sessions just fine.  I would suggest this diet for the off season and early base phase of training...it's obviously not optimal for the heart of race season when workouts are intense.

More info on CKD:

http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/mcdonald/training-on-ketogenic-diet.htm

http://www.c-k-d.com/

Thanks!  (And, really good info here.)

2005-07-18 2:45 PM
in reply to: #199117

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New Haven, Michigan
Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
I'm new to this way of thinking, eating, exercise all of it. I want to attempt a triathlon in 2006. Basically work up slowly so not to injure myself but to do it correctly, which means eating...any ideas or where I could get some information from.
2005-07-18 2:51 PM
in reply to: #201401

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
The forums here and on other sites are a great resource...lots of people who are happy to lend advice and help you get on the right track.  Start reading through the threads in the forums and educate yourself some, then just start asking questions.
2005-07-19 3:49 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
This may be the first time someone has laid out this much nutrition advice and I did not disagree with one single piece of it.  It is obvious you have really done the research over time, as opposed to people who spout off the latest thing they heard somewhere and try to pass if off as knowing what they are talking about.  This is complicated stuff, because there so much information out there.  It takes time to wade through it all, and it's obvious you've done the work. Good for you. 
2005-07-19 6:05 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
The only thing that you have to be careful with is the tuna. The albacore has a higher amount of mercury in it and that can be dangerous.


2005-07-20 12:29 PM
in reply to: #202631

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy

Could be a concern, especially for women.  Although I'm not sure how much mercury you would expose yourself to from a single 6.5oz can per pay.  I average 5-7 cans of tuna per week.  Anyone find any data online to suggest what the concentrations are in canned albacore products?  I'd be interested in knowing...although I doubt it's anything I'd be too concerned with personally.

btaz2 - 2005-07-19 7:05 PM The only thing that you have to be careful with is the tuna. The albacore has a higher amount of mercury in it and that can be dangerous.

2005-07-20 12:50 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
Great post. I had a couple of questions. How do you usually fix your tuna? Just plain tuna would get old after awhile. Sometimes, I'll mix it with a green salad but I'm always looking for ideas that don't add a lot of fat. Besides, the protein powder, what other supplements have you used? How much of your protein do you get from supplements versus food? Finally, I've heard that protein intake needs to be spread through the day because if too much is taken in at once, the body passes through the extra. Any truth? I guess that was more than a couple of questions. I just started adjusting my protein amounts, as I'm trying to improve my recovery time. So advice on recovery would be appreciated also. Thanks,

Ernie
2005-07-20 10:15 PM
in reply to: #203168

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy

ejc999 - 2005-07-20 1:50 PM  How do you usually fix your tuna? 

At work I'll just mix a can with 1 tsb of light ranch dressing and some pepper...quick snack.  If I'm home I'll either make a fat tuna melt (wheat bread, 1 can tuna, lowfat cheddar, baby spinach, and some guacamole) or dump a can over a BIG spinach salad.

Besides, the protein powder, what other supplements have you used?

I've tried lots of creatine and glutamine supps but never really been impressed with any of them.  My standard list of daily supps include a multi vitamin, antioxidant vitamin, green tea extract, glucosamine/chondroitin, and flax oil.  I also use Endurox R4 for recovery after long or intense workouts and Accelerade during my longest rides.

How much of your protein do you get from supplements versus food?

Right now I'm probably getting 90% of my protein from whole foods.  Earlier in the season when I was trying to add some lean mass I was probably around 75% whole foods and 25% from shakes...but I was trying to get 3-400g per day so I needed ~100g from powder so I didn't have to eat several pounds ofchicken per day.

Finally, I've heard that protein intake needs to be spread through the day because if too much is taken in at once, the body passes through the extra. Any truth?

Definitely...you'll see different numbers thrown around but generally you should try to keep your protein intake to about 50g at a time max...and that would be a 1/2lb chicken breast or double scoop protein shake.  My dinners will typically be 50-75g protein but I tend to eat dinner over about an hour while I mess around online and watch television.  Same with my larger morning shakes...it might be 75g+ of protein but I'll drink it over an hour or two.  I'd suggest dividing your protein intake up into 4-5 servings over the day.  Right before bed is a good time to have a nice 25g shake to provide building blocks for muscle repair.  Remember, you get stronger when you rest, not when you train.

I guess that was more than a couple of questions. I just started adjusting my protein amounts, as I'm trying to improve my recovery time. So advice on recovery would be appreciated also.

Recovery - a few important things to remember.  Lie I just mentioned, training damages your muscles.  You only get stronger during the rest and recovery periods...your rest days and when you sleep...so it's important to keep a steady supply of fuel in your system even while you sleep.  It's common for bodybuilders to eat a high-protein meal just before bed and then wake up in the middle of the night for a quick shake.  And be sure to get enough rest and recovery...take a rest day even if you don't feel physically tired (this is difficult for endurance athletes...we feel lazy if we're not training) and be sure to get enough sleep!  Also, if you aren't using a specific recovery drink like Endurox then you aren't getting as much out of your training as you could be.

Thanks, Ernie

2005-07-21 6:15 AM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
Joel, 7% body fat. Your article inspires the heck out of me. Lots of good tips, keep "em comin".
7% body fat, That's outstanding. I'm now aiming for 12 %.
I'm hoping for much improved run/bike times by shedding lbs. Currently 5/10, 172. Goal is 160 with same muscle mass. What do you think?
2005-07-21 9:34 AM
in reply to: #199117

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Fort Lauderdale, FL
Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
I lost 85 lbs in 2 years on the "Low-GI Carb" thing. I read a lot about it on the South Beach Diet website. Very good advice.

My typical breakfast before a workout is two whole wheat slices of toast with natural peanut butter and sugarfree jam. I found a great low GI bread, Nature's Own "Light" Whole Wheat. 1g sugar, 40 cal/slice. I usually hit the gym at 7am and follow up my workout with a whey protein shake. Around 10-11 am I have another slice of bread with peanut butter or a whey shake.

Around noon I have either steamed chicken and stirfry veggies or a chicken cesar salad. I use a real cesar dressing that has lots of good fats and oils and a little sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Nix the crutons. The afternoon around 2-3 is time for a shake and/or peanut butter bread. I usually run/bike/swim after work so I like to do this right before I leave.

Finally for dinner, I get home, put some long grain white rice in the steamer, put some chicken/salmon/tuna steak out to thaw, go out and do my bike/run/swim. When I return I put the meat of choice on the grill. Cut it up, mix it with the rice in a bowl, put on some hot sauce like tobasco ( i love spicy food!) and eat up. I've been doing this for a couple years and it works.

Of course there are days I have a cheeseburger or whatever, but I stick to this 27/30 days on average. I'll be starting training for an olympic tri soon so will probably cut out all cheating. I really need to get on a "cut" weight routine now, and concentrate more on bodyfat and overall strength/endurance.


2005-07-21 11:41 AM
in reply to: #203572

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy

I haven't actually been measured, but realistically I think I'm 6-8% right now and would like to drop another 3-5lbs body weight by my 1/2 IM in September.  5'10" @ 172 sounds about like me.  Right now I'm 5'9" @ 168.  If your BF is higher though I'd bet you could benefit a good deal from some weight training...something like a whole-body circuit 2x per week.  Should only take you 30min but you don't really stop the whole time...keeps the HR up.  I've backed off my weight training now thT I'm in the core of my racing season but I'll be back in the gym 3-4 days/week starting in December again.

gullahcracker - 2005-07-21 7:15 AM Joel, 7% body fat. Your article inspires the heck out of me. Lots of good tips, keep "em comin". 7% body fat, That's outstanding. I'm now aiming for 12 %. I'm hoping for much improved run/bike times by shedding lbs. Currently 5/10, 172. Goal is 160 with same muscle mass. What do you think?

2005-07-21 10:02 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
Circuit training was an integral part of my weight loss before I started spending so much time in the pool. But I needed to learn to be a better swimmer. Now that I have about a month before my next tri I going back to the gym and resume my former routine.
I don't have a problem doing upper body workouts but I'm a little concerned about the effect of lower body weight training on my running and bike. What ya think, stick with upper body and core.
2005-07-21 10:07 PM
in reply to: #199117

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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
In the off season I'd say incorporate squats but in the middle of the race season I'd stick with compound upper body moves like pull-ups, bench press, dips, military press, and some all-body/core stuff like push-presses and lighter dead lifts that require all of your major muscle groups to work together without stressing your legs specifically.  I'm down to push-ups, pull-ups, bench dips, and a core/ab circuit for the rest of the season...no gym required.
2005-07-22 9:29 AM
in reply to: #199117

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2005
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Subject: RE: My "diet" philosophy
Wow, I haven't used fit day in a while...so I went for a visit.  I figured out I should be consuming 2800 calories based on activity..Yesterday I only consumed 1500ish, which is ALOT lower than I thought.  I need to really pay attention to this portion of my training!!!  I see that I'm eating way too little.  Your advice is an eye-opener, Joel.  And I thought I was doing fine.
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