The average person has 40,000 to 65,000 thoughts a day and 95% of those thoughts are negative. If you do not believe you have a tendency to walk on the grumpy side, try counting your negative thoughts for 15 minutes. The next step is to replace negative thoughts with empowering messages. Read More

Aerobic exercise is associated with an increase in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that occur when metabolic rate is elevated. When the production of ROS is increased, the body’s natural internal antioxidant defense system kicks in to counteract harmful effects of exercise stress.  Read More

Eating an orange or kiwi may be your answer to burning more fat during exercise.    Most people do not know that vitamin C is involved as a cofactor in the biosynthesis of carnitine, a molecule required for burning fat as energy fuel (fatty acid oxidation). 

Preliminary findings are that subjects who are vitamin C depleted have lower levels of carnitine leading to a 25 percent decrease in fatty acid oxidation per kg body weight when performing a submaximal, 60-minute treadmill test than individuals whose vitamin C status is adequate.

Excessive amounts of refined sugars can cause oxidative damage, and are linked to heart disease, cancer, and aging. Athletes depend on sugar for energy. Do products sweetened with honey, molasses, date sugar or brown sugar provide any natural antioxidant protection?  Antioxidant capacity of table sugar, corn syrup and agave syrup  contain minimal antioxidant capacity when measured using the ferric reducing ability of plasma ( FRAP) assay. Less refined sweeteners have a higher FRAP (antioxidant rating). Based on a typical intake of 130 grams of refined sugar per day, if only less refined sugars are used, the antioxidant protection would be equal to that of one serving of berries. Don’t be fooled by healthy sounding sweeteners, they all have 4 calories/gram and offer little nutritional benefits.

A high intensity workout at maximum effort, for 60 minutes burns up about 15 cal/min or 900 calories.  Subtract from exercise calories, the calories you would have burned sitting for an hour, about 100.  Exercise caloric expenditure would be an additional 800 calories over resting rate of 1500 calories for the average woman, making her total requirement 2300 calories for the day.   For males, average resting caloric needs are between 1800 – 2000 calories.  To calculate a more accurate value for resting calories use the Harris- Benedict equation.

Working hard does not mean you can down as much food as you want.  Just two pieces of a large cheese pizza and a 16 ounce soda totals up to 755 calories, 21 g protein, 15 g of fat, and 136 g of carbohydrate. 

.

In the last 30 years, fructose consumption in the American diet has increased fivefold.

Athletes consume fructose, which is the natural sugar found in fruit, as part of a high carbohydrate diet.  Most sports drinks contain a combination of fructose along with other sugars. 

The negative effects of alcohol, which is actually fermented fruit sugar, are similar to excessive amounts of fructose, metabolically.  Excessive amounts promote the development of insulin resistance, resulting in a “fatty” liver and a fat abdomen.  Like alcohol, fructose affects the limbic system, which is the reward center of the brain.  Both sweets and alcohol can hard-wire the brain to set up cravings for more. 

Athletes who use fructose and alcohol can use moderate amounts of these sugars safely, particularly if they are maintaining energy balance.  Avoiding concentrated sources of high fructose corn syrup, such as sweetened sodas is as important as not overdoing the beer tent at the end of a race.

Endurance athletes need extra calories to keep their energy stores topped off.  Too often this calorie perk turns into a junk-food jag.  While running and cycling may get the heart rate up, unfortunately, chowing on deep fried foods and greasy burgers can clog up  arteries, no matter how active you are.

Wild salmon is a great tasting protein source and contains beneficial omega-3 fats.  Research shows that two servings per week or 250 mg of EPA+DHA per week can reduce the risk of fatal coronary heart disease by as much as 36%.  Even if you don’t have heart disease, the American Heart Association recommends taking 0.5 to 1.8 grams of EPA+DHA daily, or consuming fatty fish as a preventative measure. 

If you prefer to get those beneficial omega 3’s from a natural source, just sub Trident® salmon patties for those burgers.  Available in the frozen section, they can be prepared in just 10 minutes.  Top with high antioxidant vegetables and enjoy a healthy meal.

 One of the mistakes I see many vegetarian athletes make is forgetting that plant based protein may also contain substantial amounts of carbohydrate or fat.  Here is an example: 2 tablespoons of peanut butter provides 8 grams of protein – but it also has 16 grams of fat and is 190 calories.  A half cup serving of black beans has fewer calories – just 114 – but adds 20 grams of carbohydrate and only 8 grams of protein to the diet.  When an athlete needs 100 grams of protein per day, it is sometimes difficult to balance the additional carbohydrate and fat calories with total energy needs.

 A great vegetarian choice that provides a high proportion of all nine essential amino acids is the whole soybean.  In one half cup of mature yellow soybeans, there is 14 grams of protein, only 8.5 grams of carbohydrate and 9 grams of fat, and 194 calories.   Foods that contain whole soy in the diet are tofu, soy milk, canned soybeans, and edamame.

Identical twin studies can provide the control to demonstrate the effect of diet and training.  Take the case of these two brothers. They are identical genetically.  One of the brothers trained as a runner, the other, a weight lifter.  Both are lean…but guess which one is the weight lifter?

Lifting weights without providing the right diet won’t get you maximum gain.  Building muscle is a combination of nutrient timing and training. 

In order to build muscle, it takes a stimulus, like weight lifting, and some fuel.  Does that mean devouring a 10-oz T-bone steak?  Not exactly.  It only takes 7-10 grams of essential amino acids to provide enough fuel to get the muscle building machinery ramped up. To realize significantly more gain, include some carbohydrate with the protein, and eat before exercising.

What does 7 g of essential AA + carbohydrate look like on the training table? Try some of these food choices: 
Read More

Prep Time: 10 minutes                                           1 large servings or 2 small

             This is burrito is a great “emergency” meal when you have been running around like a crazy person and had no time to think about what to eat for dinner.  Keep the fish on hand in the freezer, stock Mexican flavored black beans and a jar of salsa in the cupboard and low fat soft burritos and low fat cheese in the refrigerator.  All of these items will “keep” for several weeks so have them in ready reserve at all times.

1 4-oz. individual frozen fillet of Alaska polluck  or other mild fish
¼ cup Mexican flavored black beans
(save rest of can for a vegetarian burrito, or side dish)
½ tsp olive oil
4-6 Tbsp mild salsa
1 oz low fat cheddar cheese (about 2 Tbsp)
1 low fat soft burrito (to reduce carbohydrate in meal, use 8” size instead of 10”)
Food oil spray

Toppings recommended for flavor and antioxidants:
Read More