Happy 4th of July! It’s been a great weekend so far and I just love the extra day. I hope you are all having a nice holiday if you get the time off. Chris and I have been watching the Tour de France and it was great to see an American win today’s stage 🙂 Go Farrar! I had my own little crash boom bang this weekend and I don’t mean fireworks! . . . (more…)
July 4, 2011
January 29, 2010
soups on!
When Chris and I both got home tonight we were pooped! Chris was feeling less than stellar from a crazy day at work, and we were really contemplating just grabbing something to eat out, but with a few days still left for the Eat In Month Challenge we just decided it would be better to stay in. Plus, I had ingredients ready to go for some (more…)
January 11, 2010
October 9, 2009
BEST pumpkin pancakes. period.
Happy Friday to everyone!! This week went by pretty fast and I actually got some good gym time in, yay! I think this weekend is going to be packed already, and there will be no room for dilly dallying like last weekend 🙂
Tonight for the Viva Bike Vegas Ride they are having a pasta party for all the riders and friends/family. Frankly I could make a butt-load of pasta myself for $10, but I want to go and support Chris and chat with the other riders. I’ve been having Chris eat predominately carbs towards the end of the week to maximize his stores and calories. I also told him to go easy on the pasta. Just stuffing your face the night before won’t help and will make you feel bloated and icky in the morning. He still needs to make sure to get a substantial meal in, especially since it will start early in the morning and will last at least 6 1/2 hours.
Saturday is the ride! Gosh, I think I’m more nervous than he is. I don’t want my guy to ‘hit the wall’ and end up like that video I recently posted. I think he’s going to do awesome, but I still worry like always 🙂 Consistency will be key and making sure to fuel up at every station.
This weekend I have to study for my research methods midterm on Monday . . . eek! I also have to paint, organize and decorate the guest room for my mom when she comes in less than two weeks. Wednesday I leave for the SCAN sports nutrition workshop at the Olympic Training Center. Lots to do!
One of the high carb meals we had this week was breakfast for dinner!! Who doesn’t like warm pancakes at any meal?! I decided to make my favorite WW pumpkin pancake recipe from Pinch My Salt. They come out golden, fluffy and full of spicy, pumpkin flavor. You can find it here.
Instead of whip cream, I like to use Greek yogurt.
I added one vanilla bean and it was out of this world, bursting with intense vanilla flavor.
I’ll save the rest of the beans for vanilla ice cream or pudding. Any ideas?
I put the rest of the pod in the sugar jar to give it some more vanilla flavor. Yum!
Along with it I made a little omelet, with roasted red peppers, grilled chicken and spinach, and of course real maple syrup. Yum!
This is really easy to prep before hand too. Just separate the wet and dry ingredients and then mix together when you want to make them and enjoy! I just couldn’t resist and had to have another one 😉
Buster likes to help with the dishes too.
It’s funny he has to be right in the middle of the kitchen and I have to be careful I don’t trip over him!
Each time I go to the farmer’s market I plan to get a new variety of mushrooms to try out. This week I decided on this . . .
Looks very strange! It’s a wild Oregon mushroom, but I can’t remember the exact name of it. Maybe one of you mushroom experts out there can help. It sure looks similar to a Maitake? I’m not sure exactly what to do with it, but I was thinking of some kind of mushroom Bolognese, we’ll see!
I hope you have a great weekend 🙂
October 2, 2009
Carbs are good
Yes! Carbohydrates are an integral component to an active lifestyle, especially for endurance athletes. Having the right amount of fuel at the right time can make or break performance. Every person is different in their tolerance and there is no one ‘perfect’ equation to it, so it’s important to experiment during training to see what works best. I know I’m preaching to the choir out there, but here are some general carb guidelines for performance:
In general . . .
- 50-65% CHO or about 5-10g/kg per day for active
- 40-50% complex CHO, <10% simple CHO
- 70% CHO for heavy endurance training, not for long term but for days before a big event
- CHO is the energy source for anaerobic glycolysis and primary energy source for high intensity activities
Pre-Competition . . .
- Make sure you have a sound diet during training because you can’t make up for nutritional inadequacies that quickly.
- Focus on easily digestible/low-fiber foods a 1-2 days before unless your body can handle it
- Meals should be higher in CHO and relatively lower in protein and fat
- Protein requires ~7x more water with an additional ~50cc of water lost for each gram of urea produced
- Stress/Nerves can alter and slow digestion
- Never try something new right before/during the event
If you have . . . 3-4 hours before the event
- Nice, big substantial meal
- 60-70% CHO, low residue/fiber (3-5g/kg)
2 hours before the event
- Lighter meal (solids and/or liquids depending on the person)
- 60-70% CHO, low residue/fiber (2g/kg)
1 hour before the event
- Snack or CHO beverage
- 60-70% CHO, low residue/fiber (1g/kg)
- aim for low glycemic index foods or add a little bit of protein (scoop of pb) if reactive hypoglycemia is common)
3 hours = 3g/kg 2 hours = 2g/kg 1 hour = 1g/kg
So depending on how much time you have before the event dictates how much is recommended to eat, but it really depends on the person and their individual tolerance. Most events are early in the morning and someone isn’t going to get up at 2 am so they can eat a substantial meal. They would want to make sure they eat/drink something that will satisfy their hunger, replenish and stock their stores lost overnight without causing GI distress.
During the event . . .
This is really only needed when the exercise is intense (~70% VO2 Max) and it will last longer than 1-1.5 hours, and/or if the weather is hot and humid. Athletes can use 30-60g CHO per hour so it’s important to keep the BS stable and prevent depletion or else the body will just stop or ‘hit the wall’.
- Ingest 15-20g CHO every 15-20 min of mixed CHO sources to utilize all the intestinal transporters and maximize absorption. I just try to shoot for at least 1/2-1L of fluid an hour and a packet of gummies because I can’t stomach the CHO drinks.
- Avoid only fructose because it can delay gastric emptying and cause GI distress in some.
- 6-8% CHO solutions are best
- CHO supplementation before and during events has an additive effect
- Delaying replenishment until towards the end can increase BG, but not enhance performance
After the event . . .
- It takes about 20 hours to rebuild glycogen stores
- 1-1.5g/kg within 15-30 minutes and then 1-1.5g/kg every 2 hours until 7-10g/kg is reached. This is especially important for the athlete who has another event soon.
- CHO/PRO has no benefit on glycogen synthesis, but protein is very important for muscle recovery.
- Most important factor is the AMOUNT of CHO, not necessarily if it is high or low GI, although high GI appears best to maximize stores.
CHO loading is also another strategy athletes use before an event. A good way to tell if it is working is to watch the trends on the scale. If you are gaining weight that means you are storing glycogen because for each gram of glycogen, there is 3g of water weight gained.
Because Chris is getting ready to race a century (118 mile) ride in 2 weeks, I’ve been using him as my guinea pig to help him maximize his performance with nutrition. I think the main thing for him the week before is going to be eating MORE, lots more, to fuel his ride that will take at least 6.5 hours to finish. The last big ride he burned about 2,800 kcals in 4 hours, wow that’s almost a pound!
Speaking of carbs, I definitely include complex and simple carbs in most of my meals because I’m pretty active, they are healthy and I like them! I think my favorite type of carb is pasta in any form if you hadn’t noticed by all the pasta recipes I post 🙂
I went to the farmer’s market today and got lots of goodies: kabocha (Not to be confused with kambucha tea, so sorry for my misspelling earlier!!), apples, pears, lemon thyme, wild chanterelle mushrooms and vanilla beans. So many recipe ideas rolling through my brain!
I decided to experiment with these beauties . . .
I didn’t really have anything planned for dinner since our leftovers ran out, so I decided on a simple dish: chanterelle papparadelle with a lemon thyme sauce. I had never had these mushrooms before and they were very earthy and meaty and went well with the lemon thyme. I had some of TJ’s lemon pepper pasta leftover and it went well too. I just sautéed the mushrooms and a shallot, made a roux with butter, flour and non-fat milk (salt, pepper, & a small pinch of cayenne) and added 2 tbsp lemon thyme and mixed it all together.
Overall a quick, satisfying dinner! I sure wanted to have a glass of sauvignon blanc with this! FYI: wine is no good for performance darn-it!
What are some strategies you use to maximize your performance?
June 2, 2009
new additions
There have been many new things in my life recently from a new house, new furniture, new kitchen, new schedules, and now a new . . . dog! We picked up Buster the basset on Sunday morning and he is doing quite well for changing homes pretty regularly. He’s 6 years old and we adopted him from the Las Vegas Basset Rescue. This organization is so wonderful and they do so much for their doggies. We couldn’t be happier with the happy guy. Actually he’s your typical basset . . . doesn’t like to do much but lie around all day, have a good walk (all of about 20 minutes max), eat some grub and lie down again. Oh . . . the life of a basset. He’s the first dog I’ve seen that really sleeps hard, I mean really hard. We have to shake him for awhile before he’ll get up! So funny! We had to get him some ear rinse to keep his long ears clean and this tool to help with shedding, along with other typical doggie things. We hope he’s enjoying his new home too.
Blogging buddies meet Buster the basset . . .
He even knows how to roll over (haha)
In house news, we finally got a dining table to eat at, yay! I’m glad to sit at a table and not on the floor. We still have to spruce up the place with some pictures, and need to get the drapes on the walls. Our little housewarming party is approaching fast . . . eek!
This past weekend we made some fresh baked pasta (THE best) and a rhubarb crisp. We used half whole wheat and half AP flour. I love rhubarb in the summer, especially when it’s paired along with strawberries and topped with a crumbly, crisp topping. . . yum!
I also tried the crisp with TJ’s non-fat tart frozen yogurt. It was good, but I have to say it doesn’t quite compare to the soft serve we get at that yogurt place near our house of course, but it will do for now.
It doesn’t melt right to me, but is more like a smooth sorbet?
Last night I also tapped into the frugal cook and made a polenta mushroom casserole that was delish! I swear it tastes better than it looks. It’s flavor was very smoky and slightly spicy from the addition of a little canned chipotle chiles in adobo. If you haven’t experimented with these yet, they add quite a bit of flavor to many dishes. I usually buy a can and then freeze little portions in baggies to use later, since you can’t really use one whole can in one recipe unless you want to burn your whole mouth off. Next time I will make the polenta the night before so it will ‘set’ up better for the topping. I tried queso fresco for the first time, but I don’t know if I would use it again because I couldn’t really taste it on top, as it was masked by the smokiness of the chiles.
Polenta Mushroom Casserole
Yield: 8-10 servings
Polenta:
- 5 1/2 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups dry polenta (fancy name for corn meal)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
- salt, pepper, all-purpose seasoning
Mushroom Topping:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 3/4 lb lean ground chicken (I had this leftover in the freezer)
- 2 – 8oz cartons sliced crimini mushrooms
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup fruity balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp – 1tbsp chopped drained canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes, drained and chopped
- crumbled queso fresco cheese, or mozzarella, or goat cheese for topping
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare polenta, combine first 4 ingredients in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish, stirring well. Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until liquid is absorbed. This can be done the night before to help it ‘set’ better.
To prepare topping, while polenta bakes, heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add chicken and mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook until mushrooms release moisture and begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Add vinegar, chiles, oregano, and garlic. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until liquid evaporates, stirring constantly. Stir in tomatoes, and cook over low heat 20-30 minutes or until the mixture thickens and reduces, stirring occasionally.
Spoon over polenta; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Increase oven temp and bake at 400° for 20-30 minutes or until cheese begins to melt and brown. Serve with a side salad. This is great for leftovers!
Look and the plate is on a table now, yay!
Any new additions in your life or in the past that made you happy? Hope your having a great week!
