Nutrition for health and vitality

Hi all, for those that have read some of my posts before welcome back, and for those that are new, welcome!

In this post I am going to share an overview to my approach on nutrition as a health conscious individual and ironman athlete. In my mind I have 2 parts to my nutrition, part one is what I call my foundation nutrition and part two is what I call fuelling. I will address my foundation nutrition in this post and then my fuelling in another. When I discuss my fuelling I will use my Ironman Lanzarote nutrition plan as an example of how I also time my fuelling in races.

So I am clear, here is what I mean by nutrition: "The process by which living organisms obtain food and use it for growth, metabolism (energy production), and repair. Stages of nutrition include ingestion, digestion, absorption, transport, assimilation, and excretion."

I understand nutrition is a huge and much debated topic and that there are many approaches, particularly if you consider the range of goals that are associated with nutrition. What follows is not necessarily what I believe is right for everyone, but rather what I have chosen to follow and have found works best for me. I am passionate about nutrition and have worked with many clients to help them improve their nutrition, in my opinion those that have an open mind and are prepared to thoroughly try new things out and honestly evaluate the impact of these new things will ultimately get improvement and success. This can take patience, perseverance and a belief that there is a solution to any health/nutrition problem. Those that believe in one way, a right way and treat their nutrition as a right or wrong problem that HAS to be backed up by conventional science or popular opinion often experience frustration, not all things that add up on paper add up in the human body. To put it another way, if you study how a frog behaves in a glass jar, where variables are controlled (scientific experiments), it may not behave the same as it does in its natural environment, where variables are not controlled (life). By this I simply mean things are not often as straight forward as 1+1=2 in the human body, therefore to know what works for us we must become our own experiment. This experiment essentially never ends as our physiology is subject to change as we age and are exposed to different situations. I use science to help guide me but not control all decisions I make.

One other note I would also like to mention with MY nutrition is that I eat for health, energy and recovery coupled with a desire to maintain a healthy training weight and achieve a race weight when necessary. What I am sharing here is not necessarily about eating for weight loss, getting toned, ripped or building muscle. I do not place an importance on having a 'mens health' type body, if I did I would eat and train differently, rather I want to maintain my health as best as I can, have energy and recover well so I can race as FAST as possible. Truth be known as a mesomorph body type the thing I struggle with the most is dropping muscle, which I develop easily, whilst maintaining power so my power to weight ratio improves. Really I would would like to be 4-5 inches taller and more skinny with less muscle! I should also add, not as a means to gloat or boast, but rather as a means of testimonial that I have not had a day off work sick in over 10 years, I rarely get ill (less than once per year) and rarely get mildly symptomatic with things like a runny nose or sore throat which all seem to disappear very quickly for me. If I sense a symptom, I jump straight on it and have strategies I implement to counter the symptoms immediately. Also I have never had an injury that has stopped me training, the worst thing I have had was a mild case of ITB in 2003 when I started triathlon. I am very proud of this as I do not know many ironman that have completed 12 and not suffered from serious overuse injuries. I firmly believe sound nutrition has given me a great foundation of health. I am by no means a saint, however I am a curious cat who knows how he wants to live his life and has accepted nutrition will count towards 70-80% of the way I feel. With this in mind I have always sought after information, researched things and made informed choices about what I do nutritionally, I consider the science and use my intuition to test things for enough time that I can be sure it is either making a difference or not making a difference. I believe I am honest in evaluating and do my best not to kid myself, ultimately I place faith in myself to solve any challenges I may have. I believe a person 'in tune' with their body will always know it better than anyone else.

Foundation nutrition

My foundation nutrition is what I eat to provide well rounded nourishment to my body so I have health and vitality, whilst I need extra macro-nutrients and micronutrients such as; extra protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals as an athlete my foundation nutrition takes into account a base, essentially what I need when I am not training. For me it is a focus on getting the minimum amount of goodness in my body to give myself a great chance of being healthy. How do I assess what a minimum amount is? Well I use some numbers based on science to guide certain consumptions, however I 'dial' these in by tweaking and assessing how I feel. I do measure my weight and body fat and I do believe this needs to be in check, however I place a greater emphasis on feeling energised.

The approach and rules I prioritise are as follows:

Paleo diet

For my foundation nutrition I follow the Paleo diet. The Paleo diet in other words means stone-age diet. It is based on foods that our ancestors would have had available to them and have eaten. The premise is that our genetics have changed very little in the last few thousand years, however the food we now eat has changed drastically in just the last 100 years, as such our bodies haven't evolved to deal with modern foods, they are simply doing the best they can, in many cases they battle for decades before they are unable to handle the poor nutrition going in. Examples of nutritional related problems are all around us: In recent decades we have seen increased obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and cancers to name a few. By no means am I saying poor nutrition is the sole culprit but I think it would be naive to say it is not a high contributor.

Essentially there are 6 ground rules to the Paleo diet which yield 7 key benefits over the typical modern Western diet. I will touch on these but if you would like to know more about these rules and benefits then I would highly advise you read the Paleo diet book written by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. (link below) or listen to him talk about the Paleo diet on an IM talk podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/imtalk/   Its no. 102, episode 264). What I mention is his work and he will obviously explain it far better than I could ever attempt to! Either way here is a VERY brief overview of the rules and benefits of the Paleo diet. and some of the things I do in relation to them.

6 Ground rules

1. Eat plenty of lean meat, fish and seafood 
2. Eat plenty of non-starchy vegetables and fruit
3. No cereals
4. No legume
5. No dairy
6. No processed food

7 key benefits vs a typical western diet assuming the ground rules above are followed!

1. The diet provides a greater amount of protein, particularly animal protein which provides a considerable amount of Branch Chain Amino Acids for growth and repair. 
2. Fewer 'poor' carbohydrates will be consumed such as bread, pasta, starchy tubers and refined sugar. These types of carbohydrate are typically low in nutrients, low on hydration and are dense sources of carbohydrate with a high glycemic load. Over consumption of these can cause blood sugar issues and lead to insulin sensitivity issues for many. This can lead to fat gain and or disease. The Paleo diet encourages consumption of 'good' carbohydrates from non starchy vegetables and fruit that are high in nutrients, high in hydration and low in carbohydrates that cause blood sugar issues. 
3. One other benefit of high consumption of 'good' carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables is that it dramatically increases fibre intake. Contrary to popular belief vegetables and fruit provide far more fibre than whole grains. High amounts of dietary fibre is great for digestive health and blood sugar stabilisation amongst other benefits. 
4. If good quality lean meats, fish and nuts are consumed the diet can provide much healthier sources of fat. One key point here is that the diet can help balance Omega 6 to Omega 3 levels which should ideally be around a 1:1 ratio. Many people on a Western diet are found to have ratios of 20:1. This is an issue as Omega 6 is pro-inflammatory and Omega 3 is anti-inflammatory. You need both, however if Omega 6 is high it can increase and prolong inflammation which can slow down healing and all other inflammatory reactions. Whilst I couldn't conclusively prove it I am of firm belief that from increasing my Omega 3 intake via this diet I heal faster from training. 
5. The diet reduces sodium content and increases potassium content restoring the balance of two important minerals that are typically out of balance weighting towards excesses sodium. Excessive can contribute to various health issues such as high blood pressure.
6. The diet provides a net alkaline load due to fruit and vegetables that are net alkaline yielding. Most diets that are high in dairy and grains are net acid yielding. High acidity levels in the body over prolonged periods can cause all sorts of issues such as bone and muscles loss. High acidity has also been associated with asthma and exercise induced asthma. 
7. It provides a high amount of vitamins and minerals from natural foods that mean they are more readily absorbed. Remember many food sources such as whole grains, appear on paper to be good sources of certain minerals such as; iron, zinc, copper and calcium. However because whole grains contain anti-nutrients such as phytates which can bind to iron and block absorption they are not actually good sources!

Gluten free

Another rule I follow which is really part of the Paleo diet but does not get expressed as a separate rule is going gluten free. A few years back a former client and friend of mine who is also someone who follows the Paleo diet shared with me the impact going gluten free had on them. It was close to new years so I made it my new years resolution. Initially I didn't feel much different but after 3 weeks I had more energy and was digesting meals better, by this I mean I was not suffering any bloating or inflammation in the intestines which I sometimes experienced. In April of that year after being gluten free for 4 months I had my first beer of the year which someone bought me at an annual convention, after drinking it I immediately had stomach cramps and had to excuse myself for the rest of the evening as I was in quite a bit of discomfort, I have not drunk a beer since except on my stag do which was masked by the fact I was wasted on spirits anyhow! My drink of choice is now red wine or a white spirit if I want to get drunk! Anyhow going gluten free has really helped my digestion, I simply did not realise I was gluten sensitive until I removed it but I am very glad I did as it has no doubt helped my health. If you are wondering what gluten does, in very simple terms it can punch holes in the lining of the gut causing leaky gut meaning poorly digested food particles can cross into the blood. Here they have the potential to be treated as 'foreign' and attacked by white blood cells causing an immune response. Gluten is closely associated with many food allergies and autoimmune illnesses. Whilst I have never knowingly suffered from any I feel better for not having gluten and am also confident I am taking a positive step towards my health. So the major changes I have made are to try and ensure even my naughty treats are gluten free, I keep sending the gluten free easter egg picture to my wife hoping she will get the hint!!

85/15 principle

So for those of you that have read the above ground rules and thought, NO WAY! The 85/15 principles is something I use in conjunction with the Paleo diet. The 85/15 rule is about following a nutrition plan 85% of the time with 15% 'off' plan. This could mean having a drink or some junk food such as a pizza. The thought process of the 85/15 principle is that if your body receives good nutrition 85% of the time it will be able to handle the 15% poor nutrition without it severely impacting blood lipid profiles, blood sugar balance, acid/alkaline balance etc

As an example if I am in a week where I am not training I follow a pattern of eating 5 small meals per day (i'll talk more on this below) this will be 35 meals per week. If I eat 30 meals following the Paleo principles I will have achieved 85% therefore giving me flexibility to have 5 meals that may not be based on the Paleo principles. I monitor this and do pretty well in achieving this.

Eat small but regular

My base nutrition approach is to eat 5 times per day (this of course does not include pre, during and post workout snacks), each meal is typically spaced 3 hours apart, certainly no more than 4 hours, if I go 4 hours without eating I am in the words of my wife a grumpy old man! Which is true enough! I tend to have my biggest meal at breakfast so it provides the bulk of my energy for the day. Meals typically decrease in size as the day goes on.

A very simple formula to guide calorie intake which I do not live or die by but rather use as a 'flag in the sand' is 25kcal x kg/body weight = BMR. BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate, which simply put is the total number of calories your body would burn if you stayed in bed for 24hrs. Sedentary individuals are said to need approximately 25% more than this number, active individuals defined as those exercising 3-5 times per week need 50% more and really active individuals such as Ironman can need considerably more such as 200%. These figures are of course guides at best but can give a place to start if you are confused as to how much you should be eating to meet your energy demands. So as an example my training weight is around 68kg. Therefore 68 x 25 = 1700kcal. Now lets assume I am in a taper and estimate my activity to be 'active' requiring 50% extra calories, this would give me 1700kcal + 850kcal (50% of 1700kcal) = 2550kcal. If I spaced this out equally over 5 meals I should be eating approximately 510kcal at each meal. As mentioned I typically prefer to front load my calories in the morning and have a 600kcal breakfast and smaller lunches and dinners. It is worth mentioning the bigger the meal the more time I leave to digest prior to training sessions, particularly if the training session is going to be high intensity and demand most of my blood goes to working muscles. I do not want my digestive system arguing with my muscles for blood! As a guide if I have a 600kcal breakfast I like to leave it around 3hrs for digestion, 400kcal around 2hrs for digestion. No doubt you may already be asking what happens if you train really early morning? Well you have to make a call here and do the best you can. On race simulation sessions where I test nutrition strategies I get up at 04.00, eat snooze, wake, warm up and start training at 07.00, the same timings as race day, except on race day you normally don't get the snooze as you are travelling to the start line! However on normal training days I may get up at 05.00 eat a 400kcal breakfast, do a few hours work while I digest then go training at 07.00, that is the commitment!

Carbohydrate intake

An obvious question that athletes have on the Paleo diet is won't I need more carbohydrate? Can I get enough from fruit and vegetables? Well these are BIG questions and are worthy of a post or a book in themselves, I will certainly discuss pre, during and post session carbohydrate consumption in my next post, however for now I will keep in more general! If you are super keen on finding out more comprehensive information on this topic I highly recommend the Paleo diet for athletes by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel (link below). In short for me I eat tons of vegetables and mountain them up I also eat considerable amounts of fruit. I tend to eat most of my vegetables in the evening as I find I could not train hard with that much fibre in my guts. If I feel I really need to load or replenish my carbohydrate stores my preferred vegetables that are starchy are sweet potato (yes thats right - sweet potato is actually a vegetable!), parsnips and carrots lightly baked in avocado oil (tolerates high heat very well). In the mornings I tend to eat lots of low fibre fruits for carbohydrates such as melon, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. This is also where I adapt the Paleo diet a touch and use the 15% to modify it. So some non Paleo foods I may include to bump carbohydrate stores are gluten free granola, natural yoghurt, dark chocolate and energy bars and drinks when training - gluten free of course! These are my non Paleo treats.

Hydration (fluid and electrolytes)

My daily hydration strategy is simple I drink 0.033ml water per kg body weight which equates to 2.2litres for me. I tend to reduce this by 25% in the winter as I don't perspire as much and find my thirst naturally declines. This is a non training amount. When training I add 500ml for every hour of training I do that day. I drink little and often and choose Evian, Vittel or Highland Spring water wherever possible as it is cleaner water with less flouride in it, plus it contains good levels of minerals such as potassium and magnesium which can support absorption and health. I pretty much only drink water. I do not touch squashes or coke unless in the last 20km of an Ironman! Why? Well it raises blood sugar levels so fast it gives an instant kick, great when fatigued in an Ironman a disaster for those who want consistently good energy levels and weight loss!

How the training is going 

At present the training is going very well, I am really pleased with progress. Last week I did an endurance swim session that was 10x500m. I planned to swim the 500m's at a pace of 1.35/100m (approx 7mins 55secs per 500m) which is around a 1hr Ironman swim time, this is close to race pace for me. I was going to have 1 minute rest between each set. However the minute I pushed of the wall and started swimming I could tell I was swimming well for me. With less perceived exertion than normal the first 500m came in at 7mins 33secs (1.30/100m pace). I felt great after 30 seconds so decided to challenge myself to keep the pace and have 45 seconds rest. I completed all 500m around 7mins 30secs +/- 2 seconds with 45 seconds rest. The most pleasing thing was my RPE (rate of perceived exertion) was lower then normal at around a 6 out of 10. A session like that would normally register a 7 or 8 out of 10. A pleasing break through session which no doubt is the result of some solid base work mixed with some early speed work which I have injected in at the start of the build phase, which is now in full swing. Sessions like this are really satisfying and great for confidence, the key for me now is not to get carried away and over training by chasing times to hard in every session.  The next step with my swimming is to maintain the endurance and speed work and introduce the wetsuit. Swimming is a different beast in a wetsuit and in open water so I will start to sharpen my wetsuit skills and am planning my first swim in it next week, even though it will be in a pool as I am not going to brave the open water yet!

My cycling is going well, I have got plenty of endurance and strength sessions done, there are good signs of improvement on the turbo but outdoor sessions are hard to measure as the conditions are so variable as each ride feels widely different due to weather conditions, could be time for a power meter so I can more accurately measure my efforts! I did a 150km cycle with my training partner Ollie Williams (@Quichie123) last weekend and we got battered by the rain and wind throughout, it felt harder and taxed me more than a 200km cycle I done 2 weeks earlier, the data also showed I was 4km/hr slower, the good news was my average heart rate was similar! Hopefully spring will break through soon so I can get some less painful riding done. The tri bike is now set up and ready to go and as soon as I get a dry day will be taking it for its first ride in 2013! Always an interesting ride adjusting to the different dimension and balance requirements!

Running is also going good and I have 3 half marathons and a few solid 30km runs now under my belt.  I am running around 60km per week now and on my long endurance runs am comfortably holding my target race pace in heart rate zone 2. Like cycling though this has somewhat been dependant on  weather. This Sunday I went out for 34km and for the first hour when it was drizzling I was averaging 12.7km at zone 2 heart rate, then it started hammering it down with rain, it was also only 5 or 6 degrees. I was soaked and cold and the remaining 2 hours were tough, heart rates were all over the show. I weighed my kit when back and it was an extra 3kg when soaked with water - might as well of had a weight vest on! Needless to say that run taxed me more than I would have liked it to so the last few days have all been about recovery swims and turbo's. I will be back running easy tomorrow and if all is good will start to inject some intense sessions Thursday to Sunday.

Right time for a foam roll and turbo session now.....train hard, train smart and race fast.

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