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Nutrition
                     August Fitness Makeover: Fine-tuning a diet to
                     fuel your active life

                     By Alex Kostich
                     Active.com
                     8/20/2002

                     August’s Fitness Makeover will focus on
                     nutrition for the endurance athlete. A year
                     ago, Bob Petraglia from Boston, Mass.,
                     began swimming 800 meters three times
                     a week for fun and fitness. As most of us
                     find, he was addicted to the endorphin
                     rush that his newfound exercise provided,
                     and within six months Bob was up to
                     2,000 meters six times a week (with
                     3,000 meters on the seventh day).

                     This fall, he plans to race in the annual
                     2.4-mile Waikiki Roughwater swim, and
                     depending on how that goes, perhaps a
                     five-mile swim in St. Croix.

                     These are ambitious goals for a relative newcomer to the sport, but
                     having spoken with Bob I’m confident that he’ll be crossing the finish
                     line in both events with no problem at all.

                     Bob had questions regarding his daily diet and how he could
                     maintain or gain back some of his weight; he has dropped 18 pounds
                     since he started swimming, only half of those pounds intentional and
                     necessary.

                     At 5’9” and 152 pounds, Bob needs to be about 160 pounds,
                     according to Leigh Fish, MS RD, a Los Angeles-based registered
                     dietician who specializes in athletes (her boyfriend Josh also
                     happens to be a triathlete on the US National Team!).

                     Given that I am not a registered dietician or nutritionist, I have
                     deferred all advice that follows to Leigh — and have only served to
                     break it down into a reader-friendly article (and I’ve learned a few
                     things from our guest source in the process … so thank you, Leigh).

                     Bob writes that he feels healthier, more alert, and a lot hungrier than
                     ever before since he began swimming on a daily basis. This is
                     natural, and he needs to increase his intake of carbohydrates in a
                     specific way to avoid losing more weight — while sustaining the
                     energy he needs for optimum performance.

                     Most people assume that binge-ing on pasta, grains and breads is
                     the best way to gain the quick energy needed for endurance training.
                     Wrong.

                     According to Leigh, Bob needs to keep his metabolism running all
                     day long with frequent snacking, and not just three large
                     carbo-friendly meals.

                     “Eating only large meals may not give you the sustained energy that
                     you need for an intense swim workout, especially if your most recent
                     meal was more than two hours before the training session,” she
                     explains.

                     “Although you wouldn’t want to have a large meal right before your
                     swim, a small snack which is mainly carbs, such as a cup of juice or
                     a half a granola bar, would be just right.”

                     Bob supplied me with a comprehensive daily diet breakdown of foods
                     he eats and snacks on (which I forwarded to Leigh), and vegetables
                     were the only food group that was somewhat neglected.

                     “Including vegetables in your lunch and dinner meals is very
                     important,” says Leigh, “because it allows you to eat a large volume
                     of food without a large amount of calories. Be sure to choose an
                     array of colors when eating fruits and vegetables, as this will provide
                     you with the multitude of vitamins and minerals that you need before,
                     during, and after your workouts. Remember, not everything comes in
                     a pill, even if it’s a multivitamin.”

                     (Great advice, if you ask me … like most people I know, I rely on
                     vitamins more than I should for my daily allowances).

                     Bob’s diet could also use more dairy, and Leigh recommends
                     consuming it after the tough workouts.

                     “Reloading with a protein/carbohydrate food is useful to replete any
                     glycogen stores that may have been lost in heavy training. Good
                     options are a glass of milk, low fat ice cream, cottage cheese, or
                     yogurt.”

                     Bob’s consumption of protein is Herculean, with generous daily
                     portions of chicken, nuts, hamburgers, and tuna. Leigh reminds him
                     that fish and eggs are another protein source not to be overlooked.

                     Bob’s only apparent vice is a passionate addiction to Doritos. A
                     whopping five times a week at up to 10 handfuls a pop, this is the
                     one area that gave Leigh the right to slap our subject with a major
                     meal makeover.

                     “‘10 healthy handfuls a day’?! Now really, how healthy can a handful
                     of Doritos be? A good substitute here would be pretzels," Leigh
                     says. "In the meantime, weaning yourself off the Doritos would be a
                     wise option since your dependence seems to be so … immense!

                     "Allow yourself Doritos three times a week and limit your intake to
                     two handfuls that fit into a small bowl. If you want more, refill the bowl
                     ... with pretzels! Slowly, your dependence will just turn into a
                     now-and-again indulgence.”

                     Comment from the peanut gallery: My guilty pleasure is ice cream,
                     and since speaking with Leigh I’ve begun weaning myself off of those
                     easy-to-consume-in-one-sitting Ben & Jerry’s pints. Instead, I’ve
                     stocked my fridge with Ben & Jerry’s frozen yogurt, and I now only
                     allow myself a half-pint (served in a bowl instead of right from the
                     carton). Hopefully I’m getting my post-workout protein fix while
                     weaning myself off of those oh-so-good-but-oh-so-bad fat calories.

                     As far as monitoring his weight, Bob need only step on a scale once
                     a week. Daily scale-stepping will show minor fluctuations that can
                     wreak havoc on one’s psyche and contribute to hyper-self-analysis
                     — not a good road to go down.

                     Instead, a weekly weigh-in can give you a consistent reading that
                     over time will paint an accurate picture of where your body weight is,
                     and should be.

                     Bob is an avid vitamin- and mineral-taker, and although Leigh admits
                     that most people would rather rely on a pill for their essential needs,
                     she stands by her claim that there is no comparison to vitamins and
                     minerals gleaned from real foods.

                     She does, however, suggest the occasional extra dose of Vitamin C
                     and E, given the endurance athlete’s above-average training intensity:

                     “Vitamin C and E are good antioxidants, especially for endurance
                     athletes who experience a great deal of oxidative damage during long
                     bouts of cardiovascular activity. It can’t hurt to take this, but also
                     may not be necessary each day.”

                     Finally, the last bit of wisdom that Leigh offered to impart to Bob (and
                     possibly to more than a few readers of this column), is the “if a little
                     is good, then a lot is better” misconception about protein intake.

                     Given Bob’s healthy meat consumption discussed earlier, there is
                     little reason for him to boost his protein intake with powders and
                     energy bars in his between-meal snacks.

                     “Considering the intensity level that you are swimming, you need, at
                     the most, 1.2b/kg of protein per day," Leigh said. "For a 152-pound
                     man, this is only 83 grams of protein. 1 cup of milk for breakfast, 3
                     oz. of turkey and 1 slice of cheese for lunch, and 5 oz. of turkey for
                     dinner provides about 87 grams of protein. Some protein powders in
                     smoothies can offer up to 25 grams of protein (and 100 calories), all
                     of which are unneeded in Bob’s case.”
 

                     Although the above overview is broad and has been written to apply
                     to the general active population, it is important to note that the
                     feedback came after a comprehensive analysis by a registered
                     dietician.

                     It was based on an individual of a certain height and weight, with
                     detailed specifics of the subject’s diet plan. Anyone considering a
                     drastic change to their eating habits (for better or worse) is urged to
                     consult a registered dietician or nutritionist who can outline a plan to
                     address each individual’s specific needs.
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This page last updated:  8/6/02
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