Running to Think

This might sound hard but I'm finding it extremely useful and fun.
In order to spend some hours at the gym I had to decrease the mileage per week. My highest priority has been about improving the core muscles that usually kick in after the 40th km.
No strength in the muscles after 4 hours of running usually means that it's pretty much over. You heard that, my friends. Over. Finito. Go home.
I am not talking about glycogen and lack of carbs. These things remain the same for every ultra marathon and the strategies to replenish the overused resources are those that almost every ultra runner already knows.

Who are they?

When two belgian sport fanatics, get a break from their daily crossfit session, something good happens. Here is their vision: without proper nutrition you cannot even get close to your maximal performance. Eating healthy should be a way of living and the way to respect your body. Hence their attempt to engineer sport bars, such that it would be easy to carry and provide the correct amount of carbs, proteins and fat for your workout. Being healthy should be that easy!

What is PRIMAL Nutrition?

The bars that I am talking about are capable of satisfying your body with the primal nutrition needs that are required before and after workout, or just for your own reasons to stay healthy.

They are made 100% of natural ingredients such as the honey, grass-fed whey, dry prunes and dark chocolate. There is science in each of those, namely the Paleo and Zone diet, famous within the world of Crossfit. 

The Paleo Diet consists in eating just like we used to, back in the past... way back in the past. If a caveman could not eat it, why should you?

With this, I mean anything that could be hunted or found in the nature. Sorry, pasta, cereal, and candy are not included. 

The Zone diet is basically about learning how to put together perfectly balanced meals that promote maximum health, wellness, and performance. As a CrossFitter you should look at Zone as how much you eat. When following the zone diet every meal you eat is 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat. You also eat a certain number of “blocks” based on how much lean body mass (muscle) you have.

Back to the bars, there are two sizes and one flavor. One as a energy bar (± 150 kcal) the other one as a full power bar or meal (±300 kcal).

The verdict

I chose the medium bars as a snack between breakfast and lunch. This kept me away from snacking around and gave me the energy I needed. I chose the larger bars as my lunch, even thought I have to admit that I needed some time to get used to it in substitution of my regular pasta or salad.

No worries, though. Getting used to it, is easier than you think.

The taste is really good, for those who have a sweet tooth. I could feel the difference with industrial bars which are usually smaller and contain less nutritional values.

The packaging, is simple, as healthy food should be. The fact that you can always see the bar from the package is reassuring. For those following the Zone diet, it is possible to read how many blocks of each nutrient (carbs, protein, fat) are there in the bar.

Overall it is a sport bar that can be used by everyone.

The large bar costs 5 euro while the medium one costs 3 euro.

Want to get some? Order PRIMAL Nutrition at their website

I wish those gentlemen lots of success, believing that passion for healthy food leads to great and tasty things.

Caroline

Hi folks,
I hope you enjoyed the holidays with your dear ones, moments to cherish fully. I wish you the best for the years that come. May this year be filled with love, family, health and ofcourse physical activity!

I spent my holiday abroad. Francesco and I planned to go to his hometown Molfetta, in Southern Italy. I got in contact with his culture, his family, their habits, and their food. Food so delicious that I literally lost my character and determination to say no, once in a while. Do you want to know how this ended up? With a weight gain, of course.



A brief analysis of the aforementioned gain is reported below.

1. Eating more - caloric intake counting is math. No magics. 
2. Eating different types of food, more fried stuff, more cheese, pizza, pasta, etc.
3. Skipping breakfast due to the fact that I had enough from the day before - which basically slows down one's metabolism
4. Drink some more alcohol than I usually do (or well, don't)
5. No gym at my disposal to burn some calories 

I address these 5 points as responsible of my weight gain. Of course, my determination to change my condition as soon as possible is back. Here is my plan for the next two weeks.
Feel free to adopt my strategy to improve your condition after holiday.

1. Drink a lot of cold water
2. Eat 5 times a day (every 2 -3 hours), of course in smaller amounts
3. Eat carbs only for breakfast and lunch
4. Prepare healthy juices and smoothies with no added sugar
5. Eat more proteins
6. Avoid snacks such as chocolate, candies, ice cream, cookies and the like
7. Hit the gym 4-5 times a week to perform some interval as cardio and weight lifting in order to sculpt the body

This will help us to find the normal weight again. A bit more motivation and dedication are needed especially at the beginning. Don't give up because it will worth! Just be patient for next 14 days.

In addition, here is a delicious, light and easy-to-make recipe that can contribute to your weight loss.

 Time to make: 5 min preparation + 12 min boiling the wheat = 17 min

 Ingredients:

1. Roquette
2. 100g Roquefort cheese
3. 75g of wheat (type Ebly)
4. 1/2 green apple
5. 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6. salt/pepper

Dear ladies (and gentlemen),
we all know how hard the battle of losing weight is and our attempts to shape the body to what we consider ideal. Big thighs, flappy bellies, hanging arms... all things we don't like and we wish to change by means of exercises specifically designed to destroy that garbage (and us), sometimes in concert with a well-balanced diet. 
To begin with, we claim to target a certain body shape. Bad news is that genetics will dictate the uncontrollable. Good news is that we do have the power to change a few things that might actually contribute to our overall satisfaction. 
Today I want to be more specific and show you different types of bodies that we usually have to deal with. I'm sure you already heard about hourglass shape, apple shape and so on. 


But what you want is probably some technicality. And there you are the categories (somatotypes) into which we are most likely:

Endomorphs – “fat retainers”
Mesomorphs – “athletic”
Ectomorphs – “skinny”




Actually i have some kind of bad news. One thing we cannot do is choosing where we want to loose weight. Detect and target a specific spot to be reduced. Just fiction.
Remember how the layers of an onion are? For most people, fat acts exactly like that. It doesn’t just disappear from a specific place, but rather it comes off layer by layer from the whole body. However, some people have localised areas where fat loss (and of course gain) is more pronounced, and while fat is still shed from all over the body, the loss is proportionately different in different areas. 

What I experienced was a mix of both the conditions. When I am losing weight, that occurs everywhere with more emphasis on thighs and breast. Exactly! My breast!! 
A nightmare for every woman. 
Why does that happen? Well, during the initial stages of weight loss, women tend to lose fat in their breast, which is mainly fat tissue, indeed. Those with the shape of a pear tend to carry excessive body fat in their buttocks, hips and thighs as well. 
So, what can we do to prevent this terrifying situation? 
Not so many people know that the most important thing for those women to do is to keep their cardiovascular (cardio) activity to a minimum. Specifically to a level that reaps health benefits without excessive loss of fat, while emphasising resistance (weight) training in the effort to increase the size of the muscles that lie underneath the breasts.
While it is not guaranteed to keep the fat of the breast, your breast can very well be perked up by strengthening the main muscle group of the chest supporting them. Think of the pectoralis major and minor.
What I personally suggest is phrased in a kind of motto "eating clean, training dirty", especially those area's you don't really like of yourself. Then try to accept the body you have. I know it's not easy but, at the end everyone is unique and beautiful in his/her own way.
My body changed when i started to eat clean.  But let me be honest here: we live only once so have that piece of chocolate staring at you, on the desk, begging you to bite it, once in a while. 
After all, that will cost you 3-4 times/week of cardio and strengthening exercises.



Love,
Caroline

Long story short: everything, just in the right amount

CARBOHYDRATES

Most endurance athletes and coaches know how important it is to maintain the body's carbohydrate (glycogen) stores. They are also aware that, despite the fact that the depletion of glycogen may be delayed to a degree, by consuming carbs during activity, the body's stock capacity can only provide enough energy for about 90 to 180 minutes before fatigue sets in. 
It is when these stores are exhausted that runners 'hit the wall', cyclists 'bonk' and everybody is doomed to slow down. Some even to quit.

It comes without saying that prolonged exercise forces athletes to get the energy they need from additional sources. The basic rule is to load low glycemic index carbs 3 or 4 days before the race (will digest slowly) and high glycemic carbs during the race so that the body can absorb fast and efficiently.
Here is a table that you better remember by heart.

When?	How much?	Why?
3-4 hours before	2-4 g/kg bodyweight  = ± 210g = 840 Kcal	·   Liver glycogen will be filled ·   Blood sugar will be maintained ·   No hunger feeling
1 hour before	1-2 g/kg bodyweight = ± 140g = 560 Kcal	·   Keep the glycogen reserves high
During	0,7 g/kg bodyweight every hour of sport in intervals of 15-20 min = ± 49g =196Kcal/ hour è 50 kcal every 15 min NB: You can go until 70-75 g/hour = 280- 300 kcal / hour è 70- 75 kcal every 15 min	·   Keep blood sugar high ·   Increase carbohydrate oxidation ·   Delaying fatigue
Recovery (until 2 hours after race)	1,1-1,2g/kg bodyweight (preference for high GI) = ± 84 g = 336 kcal	·   Recover the blood sugar value ·   Resynthesis of muscle glycogen ·   Restore muscle tissue

Main sources:  Whole grain, apples, bananas, peaches, asparagus, carrots, rice milk, lentils, just to name a few.

PROTEINS

Proteins alone do not provide energy unless glycogen and fat are depleted and like fat, they can slow down your metabolism. You will typically get enough protein for race day if you eat high quality proteins, such as whey, egg whites, milk, soy, as part of your daily intake. Small amounts of protein during a race may reduce muscle damage. Recovery, however, requires protein. The recommended ratio is of 3 carbs to 1 protein.

Main sources:  Eggs, meat, fish, chicken, cheese, beans... But you probably don't want to go for meat ;)

FATS

Another good source of energy during exercise is fat. Fat has several advantages over carbohydrates. As a matter of fact, it yields over twice as much energy as carbohydrate (9 kcal v 4 kcal). Add the fact that our body is usually loaded with a good supply of fat and you get a consistent amount of calories and energy. Typically, the body has approximately 50-60.000 kcal of energy stored as fat compared to about 1500 kcal of glycogen. 
One of the effects of endurance training is to make the body a more efficient fat burning machine. Fat is not the enemy, if your body knows how to deal with it.
However, despite the abundant store of this substrate, it is not totally clear where the fat used in exercise comes from. Most fat in the body is stored in the form of triglycerides in adipose tissue. Some fat, known as intramuscular triglyceride, is stored directly within the muscle fibres. It is now believed that the greater utilisation of fat by trained endurance athletes comes from this source. This has a very important implication, because the amount of energy which can be derived from intramuscular triglyceride is thought to amount to only 2000-3000 kcal.

Depletion of the intramuscular triglyceride stores is now thought to limit endurance performance in much the same way as glycogen depletion. It has been shown that the replenishment of glycogen stores alone is not enough to restore maximum work capacity. Therefore, it may be just as important to restore, or strive to spare, the body's intramuscular triglyceride. 

Although fats are vital for physical activity, most individuals have enough body fat stored for energy during prolonged workouts. 
However, increasing the fat intake will only lead to less consumption of carbohydrates impeding glycogen stores (glycogen being the immediate source of fuel for physical activity). Moreover, fats have the tendency to slow down metabolism in general. Consider fats as a reserve tank of fuel, but keep them to a minimum during training and racing (20-30%).

Main sources:  Fatty fish such as salmon, nuts, cheese, avocado, …

Last but not least (and not to forget)

1.    Fibers: prevent gastrointestinal distress, they are difficult to digest, especially during high intensity training. Avoid whole grains and fruits with skin. In general, keep fibers to a minimum, at least on race day.

2.    Maintain proper fluid balance. This is vital for an optimal performance

Have a nice race!