So, it is the end of March and when I look back at my January post about staying fit over the winter I am a little disappointed. Why? With less than eight weeks to go before my first race I'm feeling unprepared and out of shape. While I maintained some workouts over the winter they were nothing like what I had accomplished in the months prior. I told myself I was enjoying a much needed rest. True, but slacking on the training will cost me a little, add some unwanted pounds and I'm back to the drawing board. So now what?
Have no fear there is a game plan in place. First, I decided to ditch the carbs from my diet. Whoa, hold on a triathlete that does not eat carbs? Absolutely not. I am ditching the bad carbohydrates. Items like white rice, white potatoes, white pasta, and heavy breads. Those comfort foods were all I wanted over the winter, the only problem now is the 7 pounds I need to rid.
Carbohydrates are in just about everything we eat, but if you are knowledgeable on what the good carbs are, and ditch the junk, you can lose some weight and still have energy to train. What I mean by bad carbs are those items made with white flour. Check labels carefully because many of the products that you might think are healthy are made with something called,"enriched," flour. Enriched flour means that the original flour which was good and contained some type of whole grain in it, has been stripped of that and to meet some requirements there are minimal minerals added back into the product, but not the minerals that you really need like Vitamin B or Vitamin E. After adding back in these non- essential vitamins the flour is baked at a high temperature taking away even more of the good stuff out. After this process is done you are basically left with a very low quality flour that will turn into sugar in your body. The sugar turns to fat. The sugar is fed into your cells. The cells like this and then your body craves more of the sugar and you gain weight because you are feeding the craving. Have you ever eaten a bagel and been hungry an hour later? Your body has crashed after the bad carb and then you crave the very same thing that made you feel pretty good, but the good is only temporary.
Read food labels and avoid the enriched flour products and things with high fructose corn syrup in the ingredient label. You will be shocked how many food items that claim to be whole grain that are not whole grain, and contain high fructose corn syrup in them. Whole grain means it will sprout if water comes into contact with it. The corn syrup is a filler and acts the same way that sugar does. Your cells say,"yummy," I like this and it feeds a vicious cycle that leads to eating and craving more of these food items. The other problem with high fructose corn syrup is that it is completely manufactured and your body cannot break it down or process it, so it is never completely eliminated from your body; just what you don't want.
One other food tip is to shop the perimeter of your grocery store. Around the edges of your local grocer you'll find produce, meats, usually some type of bakery( be careful here) and dairy. Stay out of the middle of the store because that's where you'll find all the snack items and foods that are processed- meaning they have a long shelf life and are laden with preservatives; meaning you don't want that in your body.
So how many grams of carbs can you eat per day? This is tricky and depends on your physical activity level and if you are trying to lose weight. For someone who is trying to lose weight the recommended amount of carbs is very low, only about 20- 50 grams per day and doing only moderate exercise a few days per week.
Carbohydrate levels for athletes or people who are exercising each day are much higher than listed above. According to a recent study done at the University of Cape Town for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, if you are working out an hour or more a day chances are you are not getting enough carbs to boost your glycogen deposits which improve your performance. So if you are a daily grinder you need about 70% of your caloric intake to come from carbs( good carbs) which equals four grams of carbs times your body weight per day. So a 130 pound person x 4grams =520 grams per day. But you can't eat all those carbs at once. Glycogen storage best takes place 30 minutes after intense exercise. A good rule is to build on those carbs and make sure you get some immediately after your workout.
What if you only work out on the weekends? You still need around 70% of your caloric intake from carbs, but instead of calculating 4 grams x your weight it should be scaled down to 2 grams x's your weight. You will want to stock up on your carbs towards the end of the week( around Thurs. and Fri.) if you are going hard on Sat. and Sunday by consuming 4 grams X's your body weight and then scale back down again if you are decreasing your workouts during the week. For more information you can visit the USDA site to help with calculations.
The bottom line is to fill your refrigerator with healthy foods like lean proteins, leafy vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. It is also important to add protein into your post workout meal as protein aids in muscle recovery. Water, water, water- need I say more?
We all get off track from time to time. The key to getting back on track is to formulate a plan and execute it. Sound familiar? I'm back to my training regimen, and I've ditched the bad carbs. The weather is finally breaking so no more excuses! See you out there.
Tri- On Friends,
Kelly
For more info on the above check out these websites http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_carbs_per_day_for_weight_loss
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/fitness-training/carbohydrates-0806.html
http://video.answers.com/how-carbs-make-you-fat-weight-loss-68736443
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