Nutrition Tips
Nutrition Tip #2: Diets and Weight Loss - Part II
Saturday, December 1st, 2007You might have heard of Allen Carr, author of a number of books on how to stop smoking. He also wrote a book “Easyweigh to lose weight” which I read a while ago. This is not yet another diet; rather, he makes you think about the types of food that you consume and questions their suitability for a healthy lifestyle. He then compares the traditional western diet with what animals, our closest ancestors (gorillas and other great apes) and humans hundreds of years ago fed on for ages. The biggest difference in food types is that humans today tend to consume a large quantity of animal-related products (meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) while our ancestors thrive almost exclusively on a plant-based diet, consisting of fruits, vegetables, roots, nuts, seeds, etc.
The difference is visible - or have you ever heard of obesity, high blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis, stroke, rheumatism and many forms of cancer in wild animals?
Since I replaced meat, fish, milk, cheese and eggs in my diet with plenty of fruits, salads, vegetables,cereals, nuts, etc. I lost almost 30 pounds. Yes, I became a vegan. Do I miss anything in my diet? Not the slightest, the advantages in vitality, energy, heath and in my running are so dramatic, I have no need to turn the wheel back.
Of course, you don’t have to be that extreme. But why not replacing a few meals a week with something vegetarian and find out how your body and your running will respond? Give it a try, there is nothing to loose, as athletes like Paavo Nurmi, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert or Carl Lewis (all vegetarian or vegan) can prove. On top of all, you lower your risk for heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatism, etc. And - on average - vegans live 7 years longer.
1 Comment »Nutrition Tip #2: Diets and Weight Loss - Part I
Thursday, November 29th, 2007The other day I went to a book store to have look at the latest publications on dieting for weight loss. It’s funny, almost all those books start out telling you that diets don’t work because of the yo-yo effect. And then they go into detail why the specific diet they are promoting is the only one that works for good.
If you are like me, one of the reasons for your running is to keep your weight in balance. Besides exercise, I tried a number of diets for years to slim down, nothing worked in the long term. We all know the headlines about obesity and the studies on weight and health risk. Even eating more vegetables and five fruit a day will not make a difference if you stick to your regular diet otherwise.
About six months ago, I lost nearly 30 pounds without suffering hunger, and they have not come back. My running has improved dramatically, both in speed and distance, and my heath is better than ever. My secret? I replaced one type of food with plenty of vegetables and fruits. Which one? I’ll tell you in my next post.
No Comments »Nutrition Tip #1: Maltose
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007For the 2006 Marathon des Sables I had about 3000 calories per day “on board”. My food consisted of lightweight, high-calorie food, mostly travellunch packages where you just add hot water. For the race stages I had a couple dozen power bars that I could munch on while keeping up the pace. I had tested my travellunches and bars before on several occasions and was confident to have taken the right things along. But the Sahara taught me a different lesson. During the day I couldn’t eat anything at all; the heat and humidity made me cough up everything solid I tried to keep down, and after day one I spat out all sweets (like my power bars), while my body was longing for salty stuff. In the morning I could down my cereal, but in the evening I ate no more than half a travellunch; my body just couldn’t take it. After a few days I threw away a number of travellunch packs and sweet bars. Then I exchanged some power bars for a pack of maltose (malt sugar) from another runner. I dissolved the maltose in my bottle of water the next morning. Maltose is a high-carb, low-GI sugar that hardly tastes at all. And what a difference it made! I felt like going from diesel to rocket fuel! My body absorbed the maltose so much better than the sweet bars or the other foods I brought along, so I’ll leave the sweets at home in 2008 and will carry a good supply of malt sugar along. If you don’t know it, give it a try. By the way: Maltose is part of many high-energy isotonic drinks, but if you drink it pure you don’t get that awful sugary taste of those drinks, just the pure energy.
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