A Great High-Protein Snack

For me it's a snack, but it could also be a great high-protein, post-training breakfast.

Training supplements for the New Year

Some of you have asked about protein powder supplements, and since you may be traveling someplace where you can get this stuff cheaper than here in Delhi, here's what we recommend.... 

(1)  We use daily a cheap whey protein powder that we buy at Wal-Mart for about $15 per 2 pounds.  It comes in lots of flavors, but I like plain ol' vanilla best.  Look for leucine, an essential amino acid that helps with muscle recovery/repair and growth.  Avoid anything soy-based.  Remember, you're aiming for at least .8 g/pound of bodyweight of protein per day.

(2)  I also strongly recommend taking fish oil.  There are too many benefits for me to explain!  (I take about 3.5 grams daily to get my omega-3 fatty acids.)

(3)  Optional:  Once your protein and omega-3 fats are dialed in, the next step in supplementation, in my opinion, is creatine monohydrate, not only for its athletic benefits, but for all the other health benefits as well (for your brain and metabolism).  I've been taking 5mg of pure creatine monohydrate ($30 from GNC) daily for the past semester, and it's had a remarkable effect on my ability to recover.

Diwali-break Reading

Happy Diwali!  Enjoy your time to de-stress and catch up on your sleep.

Here's some fun reading for your downtime enjoyment:

• The best exercise is the kind you love.
• Deciphering the Paleo Diet.
• Wanna be faster?  Get strong first.
• Everything you need to know about milk.
• Even endurance athletes need to lift heavy.
• Don't bother with sit-ups; just lift heavy weights.
• How boozing affects your training.

Paleo Downloads

Free Printable Downloads

• Robb Wolf's Paleo Diet Guides - a free, printable, infographic-style download that will help you troubleshoot common problems with the Paleo diet
• Paleo Quick Start Guide - everything you need to know to get started now
• Shopping List - from the meal plans in The Paleo Solution 
• Paleo Food Matrix - hundreds of meal ideas at your fingertips 

Eat Your Protein!

"If you are over age 35, you must get adequate protein intake because your body won’t respond to training stimulus in the same way as when you were 20 unless you get enough protein." 

See the full study summary here.

How much protein do you need?

"The MINIMUM amount of protein for athletes should be at least .55 grams/pound/day.  Depending upon your sport or training regimen, the daily requirement can go as high as .9 to 1 grams/pound.  To determine a reasonable estimate of your daily protein needs, use this calculator that factors in your age, height, weight, activity level, and training goals."

See the full article here.  (Personally, for simplicity, I aim for roughly 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.)

What are the best sources of protein?  Read this.

Nutrition Notes

Nutrition Notes

Distilled Nutrition Advice for Athletes

Here are some basic rules I've come to believe in and try to practice with regard to healthy eating (with a few specific to fat-loss). It's a simple set of habits that make up for a good and sustainable eating program.

• Eat complete, lean protein (meat or eggs) with each meal. Servings should be about the size of your fist. Your overall protein intake should make up at least 30% of your total calories. Or, to think of it another way, try to eat 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass. I generally try to get something like 100-120g of protein each day.
• Eat vegetables (or fruit, but in lower quantities) with each meal. A serving of fruit is about 5 ounces, which is about half of one of those huge apples you can buy from the commissary fruit guy! On the other hand, I can eat 2 cups of cabbage for the same number of calories.
• Ensure that your carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables, rather than starches and grains. No bread, crackers, rice, etc.
• Avoid sugar like the plague! It ages you, spikes your insulin levels, messes with your metabolism, and is generally evil.
• Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choices being water and green tea.
• Eat mostly whole foods; avoid things that come in packages or boxes.
• Overall, aim for a rough calorie ratio of 30-40% carbohydrates, 30-35% protein, and 25-35% fats. (Your fat intake should split equally between saturates/animal fat, monounsaturates/olive oil, and polyunsaturates/fish oil).
• Prepare your food in advance to avoid having to make choices when you're hungry. One day each week spent doing this makes a huge difference!
• Eating out is hard, but there are tricks. Plus, once you learn more about what to eat, you'll be able to make good choices.
• When you're trying to lose fat and the scales aren't moving, re-evaluate. That will probably involve weighing and measuring to re-calibrate portion sizes. I use an online diet journal at fitday.com. You can make a free online account. It’s interesting to log your diet for a week or so (honestly!) and then analyze the data to adjust from there.
• You WILL break these rules from time to time, and that's normal! You can't beat yourself up about it. Try for 80/20 (80% compliance, 20% cheats). Then, eventually, you'll find that breaking the rules makes you feel crappy, so you will want to break them less and less.
• Remember, you cannot outwork a bad diet. No matter how hard I train, if I don't watch my diet, I get fat. (It's easy to consume 500 calories, but it takes a long time to burn it off!) Instead of thinking, "I work out, so I deserve this treat," you have to think: "I work out too hard to sabotage it by eating that stuff, which will inhibit my recovery and delay my athletic progress."

Even simpler:  Crossfit’s nutritional mantra -- “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar."

Further reading:  If you really wanna geek out on this stuff, these are some things I've read that have been pivotal for me . . .

• "What If It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?" by Gary Taubes in the New York Times. Taubes is actually a science journalist (who also wrote the anti-sugar article I referenced in a very heated thread at AES about whether or not we should sell coke on campus.) He throws down a totally fascinating challenge to conventional wisdom about diet and nutrition. Inspired by the article, I read his later book called Good Calories, Bad Calories, which is big but an awesome read.
• Anything by Robb Wolf, the original Crossfit/Paleo guru.  His book, The Paleo Solution, is a good place to start if you're interested in finding out what all the Paleo talk is about.
• Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint. He also has a blog that I followed regularly for a couple years, and  here's the place to go for an intro.
• I also think Jon Berardi-- a coach who has advanced degrees in exercise biology and nutrition -- gives good nutritional advice for athletes, and I really like his 7 rules.