Tag Archives: nutrition

Food for Fuel and Pleasure

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Six months of nutrition coaching ended recently and what I learned was not what I expected at all. I thought sharing it would be a good thing to do because my experience goes a long way to show how every body is different. Although I didn’t get the end result I expected, it was worth all the effort and expense. Here are the big takeaways.

I learned what my body needs to feel satisfied, and it wasn’t what I expected.

I learned to substitute some of my favorite things for healthier versions. I grew to love sweet potato fries instead of french fries. And gluten free pumpkin spice scones are in constant rotation now. After months of not eating gluten or white sugar, my sweet cravings can be satisfied with good quality dark chocolate. Once my taste buds adjusted to a different palate, it was whole new world of taste. Berries never tasted so sweet! I learned to listen to what my body was telling me to eat, too. When I was feeling a little anemic, I’d crave foods high in iron. I learned to listen to what my body was telling me it needed.

I learned that because of how my body is, it’s kind of a choice between ideal blood sugar levels and feeling hungry all the time

This was the biggest surprise. The learning of this was not pleasant. There was one week that I did a very strict paleo diet and in that week I lost seven pounds (I’d already lost nine by that point) and I was hungry the entire week. Of course, my blood sugar numbers were perfect during that time. The desire to not be hangry is preferable to having excellent blood sugars. At least, if I want to remain married and have friends.

I learned how to achieve and happy medium between food for fuel and food for pleasure.

Most days are far from perfect. I’ve rolled back the program because I understand now that a strict paleo diet is not sustainable for me for the long-term. It was the process of food journaling really that helped me understand my cravings and where they come from. My nutritionist taught me some coping strategies which are incredibly helpful. Learning to reward myself with other things instead of food treats, things like self care time and pampering, taught me a much healthier way to deal with my emotional eating.

 

Going on this six month journey was an invaluable thing for me to learn more about my blood sugar levels.The interacction between food and all other aspects of our lives is incredible. I feel more armed than ever to make the best food choices for me!

Renaissance Periodization and ALL the Food Math

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Who loved math in high school?

Okay. I know that there are some of you that genuinely did, but I was not one of those people. I hated math. It didn’t come naturally to me. I had to work twice as hard to get a good grade and since high school I feel like I haven’t flexed any of those math muscles at all.

At least until I started doing Renaissance Periodization and doing literally ALL of the food math ever.

Let me rewind for a second and explain what I’m talking about. Renaissance Periodization, or RP, is a diet template (not a “diet” in the traditional sense, but diet like “the food you eat”) that is scientifically formulated to optimize nutrition and training.

Renaissance Periodization was founded with the understanding that science is the surest path to the truth, and in this field, to results. Our approach is the rigorous application of scientific principles to nutrition and training. Everything we do is built on a foundation of peer-reviewed literature and experimentally confirmed theory.

I’ve worked for a long time at making my body healthy and strong, but I know there is more I can do to be stronger and healthier. I’ve written before about my relationship with my body image and I’ve talked a lot about my philosophy on healthy eating. I generally do a pretty solid job of eating whole, nutritious foods, getting the right nutrients, and maintaining a healthy relationship with food in general. However, stepping on the scale showed me that I was still “overweight” (by BMI standards) and for as frequently as I work out and as healthy as I eat, I couldn’t seem to make that needle move even a little bit. I suspected my problem was, in fact, undereating.

I exercise 5-6 days a week, typically for 1-2 hours a day. Based on MyFitnessPal (where I was tracking my meals), I was only eating around 1800 calories a day. That is NOT enough, given my calorie output. However, I was in a food routine and it was hard for me to make myself eat more than that. Chronic undereating can really eff up your metabolism and ultimately tell your body to store fat because it thinks you need the energy.

That’s where RP comes in. A number of folks at our gym have used it to great success, and I’ve followed a bunch of athletes who also use it (olympic weightlifters and crossfitters). I thought that maybe following a template with a little more structure and expertise than I could offer myself may work a little better in my effort to lose some body fat and build strength. Clay, who has the opposite problem as me, wanted to use RP to do a muscle gain. We bit the bullet and each purchased our personalized templates.

According to RP:

Each diet offers the option to structure your meal timing for training days on which the training is done first thing in the morning and in every 3-4 hour interval later, all the way up to a late night session before bedtime. Non-training day diets come standard with every template.

Each fat-loss and muscle gain is designed to be run for approximately 3-6 months, with the programming to help you gain or lose anywhere between 5 and 25lbs in that 3-month span, depending on your body size, caloric expenditure, and goals.

The included maintenance diet (the base tab) that comes with both the cutting and massing plan can be run for as long as you want if your goals are to maintain your weight and improve your recovery and performance.

This is an example of the template I’ve been using

The best part about RP is the mentality. Yes, you are given a set of templates that dictate what your meals should be. However, the minds behind this business know that humans make choices and life happens and sometimes we fall off the wagon, sometimes we have life events we want to celebrate, and sometimes we mess up. There’s no penalty, there’s no guilt, they just say to get back on track tomorrow. That’s it. I love that way of thinking because I know that over the course of 12 weeks, I will be 99% compliant, but my birthday is next month, so is my anniversary. I want to celebrate both of those things and I will and I won’t worry or feel bad about it at all.

We started our respective templates at the beginning of the month and are currently in our fourth week. I’ve been doing SO much food math (lots of cross-multiplication) to determine the quantity of food I need to meet the required macronutrients per meal. So much math, that we’ve started to keep notebooks with our meals written out in grams and formulas that tell us what we need to make sure our meals are complete. Not to mention, our meal prep skills are ON POINT. Every Saturday, the fridge is packed to the brim with groceries, and every Sunday, those groceries are turned into 25 meals, neatly packed in tupperware.

So, yes. High school algebra has found a way back into my life. Much to my chagrin. But, this time, I’m happy to do it. I’ve seen small progress – which is appropriate given the time period I’ve been on the template – both on the scale and in the mirror, the latter being the more important of the two for me, honestly. I just want to feel confident in my body and know that I’m fueling it the best I can to achieve the goals I’ve set for myself.

Here’s to 8 more weeks of food math!

Quest Nutrition: Our Two Cents

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Last month, Quest Nutrition announced a new initiative: QuestLabs – a space to share new products with customers while they are still in the development stage.

As a member of Quest Labs, you’re an essential part of our innovation process. This privilege comes with many benefits, including access to products that haven’t been released to the public, plus the ability to help us continue to improve through your feedback. You’re now a stakeholder in Quest and it’s an honor to work with you. Welcome to Quest Labs!

As a fan of Quest protein bars and protein powder, I knew I wanted to get in on this, so Clay and I ordered a few of the test products to try…

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Protein Bar

quest barsClay: It’s Quest. They’re perfect. Nothing new here.

Kyle: Hahaha. Well, yes. That’s about it. I’ve been using Quest protein bars for a couple of years now and I love them. Lots of flavors, low in sugar and carbs, high in protein. Great for a pre-workout snack, these are often my breakfast go-to for a long run. The new flavors released here were Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Rocky Road and Blueberry Muffin. Though it was difficult to pick a favorite, I think I have to give this one to Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. I would like more of this immediately.
Crunch Bar

Clay: A really nice offering that steers away from the typical protein bar platform. I dislike that Quest advertises “3g of net carbs” on the front. Carbs are carbs, and these guys come in at 18g of carbs per bar. 10g of sugar isn’t enough to be too concerned with, and it really helps in the flavor department. 12g of protein help round out the macro portfolio, along with 4g of fat.

To me, these feel confused. They don’t know if they want to be a protein bar, or an energy bar. With that, it’s hard to categorize them. That said, these are delicious. The texture is light and crunchy, and the typical “whey” taste of protein products is non-existent. The Waffle bar offered vanilla and maple syrup notes, along with a VERY realistic Belgian waffle flavor.

As a whole, I think these will do great serving its purpose as a mid-day snack, or a grab and go breakfast option.protein crunch

Kyle: We differ here – the “net carb” issue is one that has been long debated, and while I’m generally trying to cut back on my carbs as a whole, the 18g here (and the 15g of fiber) don’t much bother me. Mostly because I would eat this in the morning and that’s when I like to have my carb heavy meals anyways.

These also call to mind other “cereal and milk” bars that are on the market now, but these succeed in being much healthier. Thumbs up, Quest.

End of story: These things were awesome. We tried Waffle and Peanut Butter Chocolate and I would like both of those in my life frequently.
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Keto Cup

Kyle: So – I’m going to say that these babies were delicious. They come in four different flavors: vanilla creme, chocolate fudge, mint and peanut butter. And as products that are meant to fit a loose ketogenic diet, they are high in fat. Clay will get more into what keto is and why he takes issue with these, but I’m going to tell you that as a treat? These are awesome. I’m not following a ketogenic diet, but I do like to make sure I get enough fat in during the day. I also have a major sweet tooth. Usually this results in me wanting cookies. Or brownies. Or both. At the same time. Unfortunately, those things are sugar bombs and make me feel gross after too many.

Keto Cups seem to fill that hole nicely. I would have one cup (a serving is two) a day when I felt like I needed a little treat, and I was surprised at how good they were! Thank you, fat, for packing in the flavor!

Ultimately, these won’t make it into a regular rotation, but I could see this product being an “every once in a while” treat.

Clay: Oh boy. Here we go. First, I would like to say that these are all opinions based on MY fitness and nutritional goals. Everyone’s mileage varies, so please keep that in mind.

I will preface by saying that I LOATHE health and wellness marketing. “Lose 10 lbs in 10 days!” “Get shredded in a month with fat burners!” “Guaranteed to add 40 lbs of mass!” While not complete lies, it is certainly misleading. They never add the whole “smart workouts and smarter dieting is required” part. It leads to bad body image, disappointment, and ultimately leaves an inexperienced individual feeling like they don’t want to come back to fitness. While Quest didn’t take it this far, there are still questionable marketing techniques in the name.

The Keto Cup.

First, the facts. A whopping 26g of fat, with 11g of carbs, and 7g of protein. It’s definitely a snack based on ketosis, the act of forcing your body to use fat for energy instead of carbs. The diet is a bodybuilding staple that allows for high caloric intakes, while still dropping body fat. The old phrase “fat doesn’t make you fat, carbs and sugar do,” is the general idea of Keto dieting.

Quest named it that to hit a place that doesn’t exist in the market. Low-carb sweets. The flavors are essentially Reese’s cup, Oreo, Thin Mint, and chocolate. My issue is that I doubt anyone actually Keto dieting wants a snack that has 11g of carbs. That’s extremely high for something not in a meal. Low carb? Sure. Call it that! Keto? No. Dieting for ketosis is difficult, requires an incredible amount of discipline, and instead of marketing a diet friendly product, it feels like Quest has made a mockery of the ketosis process. Long story short, while Keto is low in carbs, low in carbs does NOT automatically mean Keto. Keto Cups are just that. A low carb, high fat alternative to candy. They taste great, and have a nice macro profile for a NORMAL low-carb diet, but not for a Keto diet. Even on refeed days, Keto dieters seek more “real food” carbs than this can deliver. Solid product, misleading name. Quest’s marketing team made the product leave a bad taste in my mouth on this one.

To lighten things up a bit, I did really like these. I will definitely eat them again. I maintain a fairly low carb diet, and these will help with the sweet tooth cravings. They are absolutely delicious. When I go on a hard cut, where reaching a state of ketosis is the goal, they will be removed from the diet. Again, this is all based on YOUR goals for YOUR body. My issue is not with the product, but the branding.

Conclusion:

We both really like Quest products and I think we’re excited to see the ways the company is branching out. It will be interesting to which of these things make it to mass market production – QuestLabs has a great customer forum going, where folks are offering their reviews, and I think they genuinely care about what we have to say.

Note: The opinions offered above are our own – we were not offered any compensation or free products by Quest.

Do You Supplement?

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I’ve been struggling to get back into my workout and diet routine.  The aftermath of the holiday free for all wreaked havoc on my routines.  Then I went back to work and immediately got sick.  Two months and one antibiotic later, I’m finally getting back to the gym.  Everything is heavier and I’m so much more fatigued during my workouts.  It seems like my muscles are taking longer to get back to normal and I’m just plain tired.  Additionally, I’ve felt pretty weighed down from my consistent diet of chips and salsa and margaritas.  So I went online to look for some stuff.  It’s overwhelming how many pills and adaptogen complex powders there are out there in supplement land.  I’ve used DoTerra products before and I’m assuming they’re pretty natural so this is what I chose:

That's a lot of pills, yo.

This is a ridiculous amount of pills and I’m taking them all day long.  And, well, they tend to get things moving, if you know what I mean.  And by get things moving, I mean bowel moving.  They’re definitely are cleaning me out.  But I don’t have any more energy and they’re so darn expensive.  There is a huge market for people like me who don’t really like things that are hard like eating vegetables and exercise.  I worry about the nutrients my body isn’t getting from my diet.  I try to keep it balanced, but let’s get real.  I have a job, grad school, kids…I don’t always have time for good choices.  And there is no way I can eat half my weight in protein every day.  Are supplements a legitimate way to get what I need?  Web MD had this interesting article.  And then there was this:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/new-york-attorney-general-targets-supplements-at-major-retailers/

This is scary stuff, man.  I tend to live on the natural side of life.  But I have purchased every type of vitamin, drop, serum, powder, etc…there is trying to balance my desire for health with my desire for things like sleep and macaroni and cheese.

I have friends who swear by their supplements. They have this perfectly orchestrated concoction.  I just haven’t had that moment, I guess, where me and my supplements truly understand each other and become one with the universe.  What are your thoughts, scootadooters?  Are you and your supplements in a committed relationship?  Or is it all bologna?