Nutrition Specifics

I gave last week’s general rant on nutrition because I felt like it would be necessary as background to begin to understand why I do the specific things I do with food. Here is more on my actual personal specifics with some of why I do them.

I eat when I’m hungry not by a strict clock/”it’s lunch time,”/every “x” hour pattern. I usually eat two meals a day. I feel like that generally splits the calories the best to keep energy up. I believe it’s important to digest food fully which is why it’s not every two hours. It’s more important what you “utilize” not just keep stuffing in. Usually for me hunger-wise the first meal is two to four hours after I get up, but again I follow hunger. That means some days are just one meal and some might be three. Generally my first meal is lighter or smaller than my second meal. Not necessarily “small,” but often simpler and with a high volume, moderate to lower calorie food. Sometimes with a specific, dense protein (usually eggs). A big portion of the time it’s oatmeal with fruit, butter, a dash of milk and cinnamon and/or honey. I believe in adjusting your intake to your specific activity level so a heavy workout planned later in the day might mean a bit more at the first meal. On the flip side not working out that day might mean a really light first meal (usually fruit or fruit salad) or just one meal later in the day (no morning meal).

If I’m going to do a mid-level workout that day (an hour or less) I often specifically don’t eat early in the day because I do believe you burn more fat by basting/semi-fasting before a workout. Energy I believe is also dependent on what you ate yesterday as well, not just what you at three hours ago. This is dependant also on when I’ll be training that day. If it’s earlier in the day I don’t eat and as a general rule (especially if doing endurance work) I don’t like to eat closer than two hours before a workout unless it is something very small like an orange, etc. If it’s going to be late that day I generally eat the early meal.

My second meal is usually a larger more full or complex meal and generally follows the days training or work. If I train hard and know that will be a couple hours before I get to eat I may have something small quickly after as I have found in practice that that does help my energy/recovery. I don’t worry about this or make a big deal over it. If refuse to be a slave to food and I think it’s good to vary these things to keep your body/mind prepared for any situation. I try to eat generally an hour or two after training as I feel that has given the body time enough to calm down and experience hunger so that you’re ready to eat, but not so long that it begins to eat into your energy reserves.

My second meal is almost always basic and made up of a meat, fibrous vegetables and a starch. I don’t believe in the bodybuilding style of “mono-dieting,” (they eat the same thing basically all the time), yet neither do I believe your daily variety has to be crazy. You should get plenty of variety on a day to day and seasonal basis, but I don’t believe it’s necessary or practiced or historically correct that one meal has to have a dozen different vegetables. It can but don’t stress about it.

For meat I’m a beef guy and I think commercially beef is the “best of the worst,” so to speak. Meaning it’s the least tampered with, but really everybody needs to be moving to organic/local/home raised. I rotate in with chicken (though I’m finding I’m eating less and less chicken*), fish, turkey, lamb, organ meats and wild game. I don’t eat pork or fish without fins and scales nor any shellfish. I am a Levitican in dietary practice (following the dietary laws (mostly) set out in Leviticus in the bible or what is more commonly known as “Kosher.”

Understand that I do NOT do this for religious reasons. I believe there are scientific reasons behind those laws and the animals prohibited are not meant for human consumption. I don’t think it has anything to do with your righteousness , salvation or “goodness.” That being said – now-a-days you might be better off with wild hunted pork than a factory farmed chicken.

Starches could be potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, corn, squash, barley, lentils, beans, homemade whole wheat bread or corn bread in whatever combination is natural to the meal (i.e., spaghetti, etc.). Vegetables could be anything as long as they are green and fibrous. We grow as much of our own as we can so my diet does contain a large amount of mustard greens, broccoli, green beans, onions, yellow squash, etc. I believe in eating them the traditional ways so that means if it’s a salad then with oil (olive, grape seed or flax) with vinegar or if it’s pasta, potatoes or grains then with oil (olive) or butter.

It can be very easy to get into the habit of skipping the fruits/veggies in the typical American diet or also if you’re eating for muscle building. Almost all the rhetoric there is geared to fat/protein/carbs. I have however made a conscious effort even a rule to get at least one fruit and fibrous vegetable a day. It really is best for you.

I don’t believe in specific calorie counting (although I believe it’s a good idea to have some general knowledge of the calories/energy density of food. Read the labels.), or specific ratios. I end up with a good balance of protein, fats, carbs, fiber, vitamins, etc. In the question I believe it was really asking how do I support huge endurance workouts nutritionally and I think that the combination here (carbs/fat) gives me both immediate and lasting energy for those workouts.

I think in following this day to day I keep energy requirements met while still lost fat. I also specifically stop thinking about food as the most necessary component for a good workout. The better shape you get in the better you can do even without eating immediately before. Build the strength to perform – food or not. More tomorrow.

God Bless,
Bud Jeffries

*I made mention of the chicken and it’s simply something my family and I noticed. Due to a sale at a local butcher my wife had purchased a good deal of beef. This made up the staple of our diet for several weeks. Then she made a chicken dish one night and all of us collectively felt less satisfied, craving things we don’t normally crave, and a few hours later were hungry again. It was the next day before any of us said anything to each other about it, but it all seemed to point back to the chicken. Several other times since we’ve had chicken and the result was the same each time, however we have noticed this does not happen when having chicken livers. Because of this the amount of chicken being prepared in our kitchen has significantly reduced.