The problem with creating and following a "healthy" diet is that in the field of nutrition these days there is such a broad spectrum of what is considered "healthy". There are extremists on all ends of every nutritional argument and there are more articles online about nutrition than seemingly anything else health-related. Why is this? Everyone has to eat! Everyone has done their own anecdotal study on what works best and everyone has been eating their whole life--true story! How are you supposed to sift through this shit pile of information? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but one must get their hands dirty when dealing with a pile of shit (or call upon their inner ninja powers and somehow magically remove the shit). The point of this post is to help you sift through this ominous pile of fecal matter that is "nutrition articles" on the internet and maybe you'll start to see something beautiful (or at least sensible) out of this mountain of "nutrient-less" waste.
For starters...who am I to talk? Well, I'm by no means the most qualified of all experts, but I do have a background in Nutrition (from the University of Arizona) and I have been a competitive athlete for a solid 14 years. Now, all of those years were not dedicated to nutritional study, but I have been reading and researching, attending seminars, webinars, etc. pretty extensively these past 5 years. This post is NOT going to be a "10 best secrets to a diet for your greatest season ever" or "Perfect Race Day Meal Plan" or anything of the sort...what I'm hoping for is to inspire YOU to research for YOURSELF and find what combination of recommendations work for YOU and your gut.
To address the first problem--the endless piles of shit that exist about nutrition on the internet.
My guidelines for a successful search on solving your nutritional mystery:
1. Efficacy- Is this article I'm reading true?
Start by investigating what the article is saying...is it saying that there is a magical supplement that will make you faster, stronger, more energetic, etc.? It's probably not entirely true, and if it is, it may be selling something illegal and I don't think you want to be the next Lance Armstrong, so investigate further and determine which portions, if any, of the article are actually true.
Things to watch out for:
Gimmicks (Ex: "you'll lose 10lb per week", "Gain muscle faster than ever", "Better results with less training"), Unwanted additives (Supplements are NOT regulated by the FDA, therefore, they don't have to include their entire ingredients list like normal foods do...be sure that you trust the company you are buying from and be sure they don't add any mystery ingredients that could be harmful).
Where to start:
Pub Med! this is an EXCELLENT source if you want to find REAL information. The information from these articles is all peer-reviewed--meaning, there has been a group of scientists that are well qualified to determine whether this fits in the general shit pile or not and they deemed this piece of research worthy of their scientific journal. I will talk later about how to determine which of these articles is more reliable and more helpful than others when dealing with nutritional research, just be patient :)
2. Everyone is Different (just like Everyone needs to eat...and poop)- Some people have an ironclad stomach--they can eat oreos all day or right before a race and not have a problem, some people are not quite so lucky.
Read articles that are scientifically relevant that speak on all sides of an argument. For example, a popular argument in the endurance community: to veg or not to veg? Read articles that are both for and against plant-based diets. Go into this quest with an open mind and maybe even take notes if you're really hard core. Write down the information from both sides of an argument and determine which side is relevant to you. Determine if you're the kind of person that "feels better" with less meat or if you're the type of person that absolutely needs your 'Merican dose of good old beef.
3. Be Your Very Own Lab Rat--Start A Case Study- That's right, start performing lab experiments on yourself. Not as scary as it sounds, I promise. You are the only person that experiences every "feeling" that food gives you. If you're really ambitious-- start a food log...write down things about your energy level, how you felt (did you bonk really hard after an hour? are your finger nails starting to fall out? did you have explosive, uncontrollable farts for your whole run? you don't necessarily need to be that explicit :) ). Consider all aspects of food--energy level, digestion, performance--document what you eat, when you eat it. Be a scientist! Find out what is going to work for YOU on race day and during training. Try different recommendations for set amount of times (2 week vegan trial, 2 week meat eating trial, etc) to see what works best for your body. This may get really shitty at times (pun-intended) but when your stomach, muscles, brain, and heart are happy and working as a well-oiled machine on race day all the "failed tests" will be worth it.
My Personal Research--Good books I've found along the way that helped kick-start me my very own Magical Mystery Tour:
A couple years back I sat and listened to a nutrition talk given by nutrition guru and Fluid Recovery founder David Brown. He had some AWESOME information about the timing of nutrition and recommended this read:
Book on Amazon
I continued to struggle with nutrition and had an awful time at Wildflower in the Long Course race in 2012 so I was recommended Bob Seebohar's book: Nutrition Periodization for Athletes
Book on Amazon
Personally, nutrition has been a topic of research since I was about twelve years old. My coach told us we could swim faster if we ate healthier and gave an example of one of the older girls on the team that had amazing ten second time drops after changing her diet.
I have done most every diet (except Atkins) under the sun. I was allergic to wheat in high school and followed a mostly gluten-free diet; I never swam as fast in my best events on that diet as I did when I was younger--while diet may not have had a lot to do with it, I always wonder!
When in college I expanded my personal nutrition experimentation even further while studying it at a university level. I was vegan the Summer leading into and most of my Senior year of college--I was convinced this was what was the best diet for me because I really did not like or crave meat and it always gave me a stomach ache. I had already abstained from red meat for three years so it was very easy to cut out all other meats as well. After about 10 months my nails and hair stopped growing (I usually have very fast growing hair and nails!) and I'm sure there were other actual signs of malnutrition but I never went in for a blood test!
I have calorie counted, protein counted, charted my daily diets, etc. BUT I have never been happier, felt better, or been leaner than recently when I stopped counting calories, and followed the Fuel Targets from Bob Seebohar's book^ This happens to be a comfortable resting place for me on my Mystery Tour, but the point of this whole blog is that YOU are an entirely different person and YOU should search for the key to your nutritional success :)
So go out there, read, eat and be merry!!
Music Recs!!
Space-Time Thrombosis by Valeas
I'm absolutely obsessed with this song right now, I refer to it as STT for short! Give the guy some new hardware and WOW!
Starry Eyed Driver Mash-Up by Isosine
I was totally diggin' this song during my trail run today so I thought I'd share it :)
Enjoy!! :)
@nicoletruxes
