I’ve noticed that in our over-abundant western diet people tend to waste a lot of energy around food by; choosing low energy foods that our bodies have to fight off, over-indulging in heavy meats (especially red-meat) that take a lot longer and require a lot more energy to digest (among other issues),
and the consistent overuse of our digestive system by constant snacking and eating.
One of my current clients has been a little concerned about what to eat both pre and post workout. In my world food choices never really change, I don't subscribe to any particular measurement of protein, carb, and fat ratio pre and/or post workout, because I follow the YourDay BalanceGame method of CBC (clean, balanced and consistent).
The main concern to me with food is eliminating all the foods and drinks that have been known to take away from your health, the main ones being dairy, sugar, gluten and all the chemicals and genetic modification we’ve become accustomed to.
I understand some of you don’t want to let go of your milk or bread, and that’s fine as long as you understand how it may be taking away from your health and weight management goals. I also understand you can probably show me all the research articles on “positive benefits” of milk, wine, beer, coffee, wheat etc. etc….but while I’m eating my organic grass-fed, free-range and wild-caught vegetables, meats and grains (which people have also went out of their way to try and prove are no greater than conventional pesticide filled, caged food choices) I don’t have to deal with the lack of integrity in my body as I choose foods that I am 100% sure are the best option for me given my current understanding of health. I’ve never heard anyone say not to eat organic kale because it might give me cancer or raise my blood sugar!
So, what to eat pre-workout?
Outside of organized team sports which take a lot more mental preparation; if you're an extreme athlete like a marathoner, ironman, crossfit-competitor, bodybuilder or any of the other physical competitions that take up nearly as much time as a second or sometimes first job, it’s understandable that nutrition can become a big deal. But... how many of you are truly invested in your fitness at that level?
I see far too many people who try to emulate these athletes by getting all of the gear, swag, supplements and accessories that make them look the part, kind of like me dressing the part of a golfer when I play in my a fundraiser golf tournament once a year at most.
You know who I mean, the aspiring competitor, actually merely a weekend warrior, who buys all the gear and starts loading up on all the pre and post workout shakes and powders to create maximal energy, muscle gain, endurance or whatever other artificial benefits the products tout.
The worst is when the ladies get super-inspired by a fitness-model or female crossfit competitors physique, get super committed to hit the gym daily, count every calorie and because they see someone else doing it, start their strict protein shake regimen, pre and post workout, and wherever else makes them feel like they're getting the protein they need to get the build they desire.
I say the women’s scenario is the worst because the majority of the women i’ve run in to in the gym are looking to be more lean and feminine, in contrast to the men who don’t really care about lean as much as they want to be as big as possible.
So, I feel for the woman a little more when they get on the protein shakes thinking they are feeding their muscles, and not understanding that with the amount of artificial sweeteners, chemicals, and milk in most protein shakes it’s inevitable that they are going to carry a little more body fat. This is only compounded when the rest of their diet isn't balanced and healthy.
According to Dr. Bowden, a nationally known expert on weight loss and nutrition, chemicals such as high fructose corn syrup are obesity promoters, “high jacking hormonal pathways, sending messages to cells to store fat and generally disrupting the regulatory system that helps control appetite and weight.”
I experienced this firsthand my junior and senior year of college. I felt 205lbs was the weight I needed to be at to be the most competitive on the field. Looking back it’s obvious that I wasn’t the healthiest 205 I’ve ever been, but you couldn’t have told me that then on my diet of EAS Meal Replacements, and my obsession with eating every 2 to 3 hours.
Check out the ingredients of the most popular protein shakes from their websites and some other perspectives:
Muscle Milk http://www.musclemilk.com/products/powders/naturals
http://www.leanitup.com/muscle-milk-or-metal-milk-whats-really-inside-the-bottle/ muscle milk metal pix
EAS Whey Protein suppz.com http://eas.com/product/100-pct-whey-protein-powder check it out for yourself.
As I looked for their labels on the actually product sight it was hard to find, it seemed as though they tried to hide the chemical ingredients by only discussing the “featured ingredients”.
I would caution those weekend warriors and committed women looking to lean up and get serious about their training regiment to look at the whole picture. For all of those cross-fit athletes who are not quite competitors, when you see Rich Froning discussing his diet of peanut butter and whole milk, you better believe if you aren’t doing 3 of 4 workouts a day 6 to 7 days a week and you aren’t the worlds fittest man or woman, you will probably have some extra fat to work with.
Larry Palazzolo wrote a great article on the subject you can find here.
Around the time the article came out in mens fitness about Froning’s not so competitive diet, I was getting my first taste of crossfit, and me and Azadeh had started traveling around the country doing nutrition seminars for different gyms and boxes. That article was one of the most common questions brought up when we started our talk about milk and all of it’s ill-effects.
The very first seminar we put on was in San Antonio at S.O.C. Crossfit. We had a great vibe with the co-owner and his wife and everybody seemed excited about the wisdom we were dropping, until it came to the milk subject. JB who now owns Pillar Crossfit, who actually has a remarkably Froning look to him, was the first to bring it up. He was all in on everything we were talking about until it came out that he was consuming a gallon of milk every couple of days. After a few weeks of not believing me he finally decided to cut it out completely and got to his leanest ever as you can see in the picture above going from around 12% to 9% body fat. (In men you can usually see all 6 abs defined once they are under 12%).
So here they are, My Pre-Workout Tips…
1. Let go of your obsession with food.
I started fasting years ago as a means to break some of my emotional ties to food. At times when I feel my cravings are overpowering my daily habits I take a day where I only drink water for a day or do a "Mean Green" juice fast where I only drink the juice who's recipe I took straight from the documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."
I found a great article that talks about some of the benefits of fasting on health. According to the article:
"fasting not only lowers one's risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes significant changes in a person's blood cholesterol levels."
2. Stop taking your training so seriously.
The majority of exercisers are not what I would call elite, or else elite would mean average :-/ . Which means we don't get paid to train, which means we probably literally cannot afford the amount of time and energy it takes to be a full-time athlete. So, if you are not dedicating 4 to 5 hours a day to training why are you trying to eat as if you were?
3. Try something new.
If you normally eat a full course meal pre-workout in the am try going with just a piece of low glycemic fruit and a handful of nuts. Don’t stuff yourself the night before and it woks that much better. Maybe try a low glycemic juice for the boost of nutrients without all of the excess digestion and processing. Maybe even try just having water once in a while.
4. Get your nutrition daily.
The bulk of the nutrition you need comes the days before you actually exercise.
Pilon, from Experiencelife.com The Case for Intermittent fasting says, If you tend to get hungry before working out, the sensation might be more psychological than physical. “Most likely, what we call hunger is really a learned reaction to a combination of metabolic, social and environmental cues to eat,” he says. “Consider that most people get noticeably hungry or irritated if they have gone more than two to three hours without eating. But during this time, metabolically speaking, they are still in the fed state.”
Just because your body is used to it doesn't mean it’s the only way. Try these tips and see how your body responds, and as always I would love to hear your feedback and stories of success or failure. It's all a learning experience.
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