There’s a lot of black and white thinking when it comes to hydration during exercise, but what’s the real answer?
THIS or THAT Nutrition
“THIS or THAT Nutrition”
Unfortunately, the bulk of “healthy eating” recommendations tend to come in the form of a “This or That” feel:
Don’t eat bananas. Eat blueberries.
Don’t eat red meat. Eat beans.
Don’t eat frozen vegetables. Eat fresh.
Don’t eat conventional. Eat organic.
Don’t fuel with energy gels. Fuel with whole food.
Don’t count calories. Eat intuitively.
Don’t drink to thirst. Drink to a plan.
Don’t eat high carb. Eat high fat.
This messaging conveys a Wrong or Right vibe: This Choice OR That Choice, with no in between.
Most of us need to unlearn this mindset of needing to live (and eat) on one end of the spectrum or the other. There are too many moving pieces when it comes to our health foundation, our healthspan, and our athletic pursuits to settle permanently on one end.
It is a disservice to ignore Our Personal Context and to be inflexible.
And don’t get me wrong - I’m NOT saying “all things in moderation” either. That obviously doesn’t work or we wouldn’t have the health issues we do in this country (and in many parts of the world). Additionally, athletes are different. We don’t train “in moderation” when we have specific goals.
Take caution next time you encounter the This or That food rule. Chances are there is way more to the story (e.g., the framework, the context, the contributing factors, the “where do I fit in this picture?”, etc.) that needs consideration and attention.
Food for thought and thought for food and stuff in between,
Dina Griffin, MS RDN CSSD
Sports Dietitian
Chief Fueling Officer at The Nutrition Mechanic
dina@nutritionmechanic.com
Periodization Layers to Health and Performance
Periodization Layers to Health and Performance
As athletes, we are typically familiar with the concept of training periodization. Some of us may not realize we are applying periodization principles per se when we work with a coach, purchase a training program, or willy nilly design our exercise programming.
“Periodization” can be generally viewed as segmenting a plan into blocks (or focused periods) in order to achieve a certain purpose. Of course, with athletic training there are many approaches to periodization to yield stronger, fitter, and/or faster athletes (no matter the level of athleticism and ability). In my view, it’s also groovy if we can develop “healthier athletes” in that mix too.
The cool thing is that we have nutrition periodization to further support our goals.
Originally developed by Sport Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist Bob Seebohar, the concept applies to athlete nutrition. On a basic level, the nutrition approach involves altering nutrition patterns to match and support the athlete’s training demands and other physical and health goals so that we get the most out of our training.
Think of it with this question: “How is my current nutrition pattern supporting what I am doing and wanting as an athlete?” (You can replace “athlete” with “fitness enthusiast” or even “human being”.) And bonus: “how does my nutrition support my health goals… and me as an aging individual?”
What I want us to ponder (no matter whether you are an athlete), is the layering potential we have to give to our “food life periodization.” In brief:
Minimizing sarcopenia (the age-related loss of muscle mass) as we reach our 40s and enter the latter half of our lives (it’s not just protein, Bro).
Protecting bone density - particularly for women and the transition to perimenopause and postmenopausal years where there is a significant change in bone density.
Prevention or management of disease states. Got diabetes in your family? Heart disease? Alzheimer’s? Cancer? What are you doing from a nutritional perspective to prevent it?
Brain health - Lest we forget, our diet impacts our cognition and focus. And I don’t know about you, but I’d like to keep all the tools in the toolbox as I age.
Physiology - WOMEN! Are you changing your nutrition pattern to support your physiology or are you fighting it? Or worse, thinking that you are doomed because you are a middle-aged woman destined to suffer and experience body changes that you have 0% control over?
Optimizing your dietary pattern for you switcheruppers (e.g., those of you switching to plant-based/vegan … have you done an assessment with a Registered Dietitian / Sport Dietitian to ensure you are meeting your needs? how about optimizing?)
The bottom line is:
How you structure and adjust your nutrition has numerous effects on The Here and Now.. and Your Own Long Haul.
Let’s make it count.
-Dina Griffin, Chief Fueling Officer
Performance Dietitian
dina@nutritionmechanic.com
How do we show up “nutritionally”?
How do we show up “nutritionally”?
Hey, hey, it’s been a while since I dropped a few words here for the amazing SufferBetter crew. It’s cool to know good things like this community still keep plugging along during a pandemic, and we can continue supporting each other and still aiming to do good for our environment.
In a world with much strife and struggle, it almost seems frivolous to write about nutrition and health optimization (a primary focus of my work).
Like… who cares about food and nutrition right now? We’re trying to survive a pandemic for crying out loud.
But one perspective to keep in mind is that we can’t show up for others very well if we aren’t taking care of ourselves.
I do realize that not all of us are fortunate enough to have basic needs such as shelter and food security. But for those of us right now who do, are we honoring our nutrition needs adequately? And does this translate to showing up in life to “better be there” for others?
So, my ask of you is to do a “self-care check” from a nutrition perspective. Okay, wait. The term “self-care” is controversial. For some, it imparts shame and blame and invokes thoughts of “I should be doing [fill in the blank thing that we’re supposed to be doing]”. That’s not the intention here; I’m not trying to Should all over you.
Rather, I’m trying to come from the angle of “How do YOU think your nutrition is serving you and enabling you to live your best life?”
To help uncover this a tad more, ponder these questions and notice where your thoughts go:
• How often am I using food (and/or alcohol) as a coping strategy or stress reliever? How do I feel afterwards?
• Am I skipping meals and if so, for what purpose?
• How is my diet or dietary pattern actually working for me and how do I know? (Tip: If you are following a particular diet due to a celebrity or professional athlete recommendation (or Netflix shockumentary), we may need a fact check.)
• How does my nutrition and health status enable me to reach my fitness goals or other athletic endeavors I wish to pursue?
• How do I really feel each day as far as my energy, fatigue, pep, and vitality?
Answering these questions may lead you to consideration for doing a check in with a nutrition professional who can help you finesse and fine-tune. There is no harm in stepping forward to pursue this path. And it actually may enable you to live your days Suffering Better.
Thanks for reading and sending peace to you,
Dina Griffin, MS RDN CSSD
Chief Fueling Officer
dina@nutritionmechanic.com
Food and Fueling: Moving from the Binary Approach
Too often these days, athletes and nutrition professionals can get caught in the binary approach to nutrition and fueling the athlete:
· High carb or low carb?
· Calorie counting or not?
· Carnivore or vegan?
· Drink to thirst or drink to a plan?
· Gels or solid food?
· Vitamins/Supplements or not?
It goes on and on…
As much as it can seem overwhelming or even frustrating to fully appreciate, the “right way” to nourish and fuel for sport is not black and white or an either/or type of approach. Additionally, there are too many variables to yield an exact “just do this” formula that would work for everyone. Perhaps someday we will be there with clever technology and algorithms, but we’re not there yet.
Let me give you a flavor of just some of the factors that need to be considered when starting to optimize one’s nutrition for health and sport:
· Current dietary pattern to assess energy intake, macro- and micronutrients, metabolic flexibility and efficiency
· Blood biomarker testing to assess for deficiencies, inflammation, energy availability
· Genetic and nutrigenomic data
· Experience level of athlete (new to sport vs. years of experience can affect fueling and hydration plan structure)
· Type of athlete (think Crossfit athlete vs. ultra runner vs. ‘combo’ athlete as an example)
· Female ‘stage of life’ (puberty/adolescence, pregnancy or post-partum, pre-menopause, peri- and post-menopause)
· Medication use, medical history and family medical history
· Food preferences
· Lifestyle factors such as work demands and schedule, family dynamics, sleep schedule
· Dieting history as it plays into bone health, metabolic adaptations, mindset, disordered eating tendencies and much more
And there’s more, believe it or not, Suffer Better friends.
The point here isn’t to inundate you with the laundry list of factors that feed into nutrition personalization. Rather, it is simply to raise awareness that nutrition planning and implementation need not, nor should not, be approached in a polarized approach.
Keep this in mind as you consider your own nutrition patterns. Run far and fast from anyone who gives you nutrition ultimatums without digging deeper into the why, what for, and how with you.
-Dina Griffin, MS, RDN, CSSD, CISSN
Sport Dietitian and The Nutrition Mechanic
Readers can redeem a 15% savings on the online self-paced “Endurance Nutrition Primer” program available from www.nutritionmechanic.com by entering SUFFERBETTER at the checkout. Dina will make a matching contribution to the Suffer Better non-profit organization.
