I have been really struggling this winter on two counts. Firstly my weight had
stabilized at 72-3kg which, although a great improvement, is still a little heavy for racing (it’s all about power to weight ratio). Secondly, I have been forced to move my rest day to a Thursday. I work in Altrincham on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday leaving the house at 6.4am for the hour commute and not returning until just before 7 in the evening. I was so tired and hungry on a Thursday night I was just not training effectively on what perhaps might be, given races at the weekend, one of the most important days of the week.
Over the last year, coach Adrian Timmis has become more convinced that there are big gains to be made on nutrition and has tied up with nutritionist Barry Murray of optimumnutrition4sport in a bid to exploit them. In fact, Ada is now insisting that all his new athletes have a session with Barry as part of an initial assessment he feels it is that fundamental to peak performance.
My advice from Barry started with some forms to fill out, a general questionnaire covering health, training and lifestyle, and a detailed food diary covering a typical day with weights quantities and times.
I then visited Barry at Elfoods (great name) in Loughbor
ough where he sees his ‘patients’. I had my eyes opened to what I have been eating (which many would think quite healthy) and what it has been doing to my insulin levels during the day. Essentially I have been taking a series of ‘healthy’ high Glycemic Index (fast acting carbs) hits during the day and bouncing from sugar high to sugar high, with intense hunger in between for the last year. This has been contributing to my lethargy in the evening and explains a lot thinking back, particularly the way I was bonking in some of the cross country races. He has also noted I did not eat enough protein, took no supplements and did not eat for recovery at all, particularly after long MBO scores.
So I am now on a new diet and the weight is already coming off. I also feel better and less hungry.
Essentially I have cut added sugar out of my diet completely for any meal in the day pre-training and all carbs during this time are Low GI or “brown”. I am also eating protein with every meal and snack now. Added to this are a simple supplements plan of fish oils, multi vitamins etc, and the introduction of protein shakes at various points in the day.
Lunch at work is a bit of a challenge to get right easily, but Barry has also helped with suggestions for meals that are easy to prepare given my hectic lifestyle. My new sponsor, providing hoards of Nkd and Trek bars, does make this easier, though, as they are all Low GI (except for the Trek flapjacks).
It’s too early to say what effect this new diet will bring in the medium to long term, apart for several comments on my training diary from friends talking about whether I will be growing a beard and wearing sandals any time soon, but it has opened my eyes generally and now, as a family, we will be making the switch to lower GI Carbs wherever we can and cutting out added sugar.
Oh, and red wine and 85% dark chocolate are good for you (they are antioxidants)!!