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Showing posts from September 1, 2012

Good nutrition reads

Opps - this may be very misleading but the title of this post is not geared to "diet" books. My collection of professional journals, newsletters and magazines is growing and it's hard to keep up at night. I try to read a little, every night before bed, for it's important to me to keep up with credible research to better serve the public. Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter Sept 2012, Vol.30, Number 7. (I include bits and pieces of each article. For more info and references, send me an email) Salad Oil Choice affects nutrients The type of oil you use in your salad dressing might make a big difference in how well your bodyutilizes the nutrients in those leafy greens and other fixings. Monounsaturated fats, like those found in higher amounts in olive and canola oil, are most effective at liberating the fat-soluble nutrients in salad and veggies, according to new Purdue University research published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research . Salads dresse

Nutrition on "rest" days

Campy helping me recover after my long run on Monday morning. What a successful, fun and performance boosting 3-day training load over the long weekend. Nine and a half hours of training in three days all thanks to proper training structure during the week and well fueled bodies for the planned weekend. With 5.5 hours during the week -1 day off (mon), 1 active recovery day (swim tues), 2 swim workouts (wed and fri, light strength on wed) and 1 hard track run + recovery spin (thurs), the focus was body training stress over the weekend (not during the week) in order to adapt effectively to boost fitness. Certainly, this was not possible without special attention to recovery days - over the past few months (as you have been reading in my training recap blogs). When I start gathering thoughts for my monthly Iron Girl  column, I keep my eyes and ears open as to what athletes are discussing. With no plans as to what I will write about each month, I try to provide practical, effective and

100-calorie whole food snacks

Cheese and crackers. I remember the day when this was the definition of a "snack" Now a day, it seems like people are snacking more than ever. Certainly effective to honor hunger, control blood sugar and to nourish the body but snacks can turn into look-a-like meals, often nutritionally inadequate and calorically dense. Cookies, chips, bars and cereals now come in individual 100-calorie servings but these "healthy" looking processed, convient foods may provide calories but often leaving you wanting more. Now, fast food establishments are advertising "snack" items just in case you happen to feel hungry while driving (or during work). In learning to develop a healthier relationship w/ food to fuel my lifestyle, I've really learned to appreciate, enjoy and savour my meals. I love meal time for the yummy-tasting foods that I provide to my body as well as for the enjoyment I find in preparing my meals. I enjoy spending more energy around meal time

Sport Nutrition Tip: Nutrient Timing

  Wow - I really didn't think I had it in me for another day in the hills of San Antonio FL yesterday morning. After a very challenging ~2:45 ride (challenging in that staying on Karel's wheel for almost three hours on flat ground can be tough - but the ups and downs of hills have me releasing my inner Jens Voigt "Shut up Legs") and a brutally hot almost 1 hour run, I was beat all day on Saturday. I was in bed by 9:30am although I think I could have called it a day around 4pm.   We woke up early on Sunday so Karel could join the group in San Antonio for a little to see if he still had any surges left in his category 1 cycling legs.....while on his tri bike.   When we arrived to the famous San Antonio parking lot (if you are there after 8pm, good luck finding a parking spot as it is filled w/ bike racks and mdot stickers on cars) I was worried about my energy during the ride.  We had an endurance bike on the schedule - almost 4 hours and I was really conc

Weekly recap - food, workouts and Campy

  Another week is about to come to an end. Branson 70.3 is approaching and life is keeping us busy. After our hilly bike + run workout in San Antonio (Dade City), Florida this AM, I'm in recovery mode so this blog post is very random but a brief summary of the week.   First off, another pic of Campy. Doing his thing - focusing on a good night of rest.   What a workout today! Karel told me it would be tough....and it was. 58 miles in hilly San Antonio - staying on his wheel and keeping his pace. Love my new climbing cassette and enjoyed having Karel in front of me to remind me how to pace my race on Sept 23rd. Love the hills but also need to race smart.     After the bike we went our seperate ways as I can no longer keep up w/ Karel on the run. We both ran for about an hour but w/ Karel holding an average pace of 6:50 min/mile for his 8 miles, I was just glad to do my thing for 7 miles. It was blazin' hot but we both felt good when it was over.   We b