food Archives | Rowing News

Cottage Cheese

Rowing News — Mon, 15 May 2017 04:01:03 +0000

It’s on the menu for many athletes, and for good reason. Cottage cheese is packed with protein—one cup contains roughly 28 grams of it—which makes the dairy aisle staple an ideal pre- and post-recovery fuel. It’s also high in calcium and vitamin B12, which helps prevent cardiovascular disease, and easily portable for the busy athlete. Enjoy it on its own or mixed with fruit.

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Lights Off, Fuel On

Rowing News — Tue, 09 May 2017 04:01:59 +0000

At night, growth hormone peaks between 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., the same time kids have growth spurts. You want to take advantage of elevated growth hormone by providing your muscles with the tools they need to grow. This means eating a snack with protein, such as cottage cheese, turkey roll-ups, or three to four ounces of leftover chicken before going to bed. At around 4 a.m., when blood glucose is sinking, another hormone, cortisol, triggers muscles to break down into amino acids, the building blocks of protein. These amino acids then get converted into glucose by the liver and normalize blood glucose levels so the brain has fuel to function. A bedtime snack can help maintain normal blood glucose levels overnight. Don’t exercise on empty in the morning. When you awaken in the morning, your cortisol levels are elevated and breaking down muscle. If you eat nothing before your morning workout and skip breakfast afterward, you stay in a catabolic (muscle-loss) state. This is a bad idea. A pre-workout snack, such as a banana, granola bar, or swig of orange juice can switch your body from being in muscle breakdown mode to muscle-building mode.

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Mealtime 101

Rowing News — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 04:01:54 +0000

Meals and snacking patterns have changed over the past 40 years. Many of us are eating fewer calories from meals and more calories from snacks. As a result, I get questions from both athletes and non-athletes alike about how and when to best fuel their bodies. Food consumption affects the central clock in your brain. This clock controls circadian rhythms and impacts all aspects of metabolism, including how your organs function. Erratic meal timing can thus impact the development of cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, and obesity. If you define breakfast as eating 20 to 35 percent of your daily calories within two hours of waking, about one-fourth of U.S. adults do not eat breakfast. This drop in breakfast consumption over the past 40 years parallels the increase in obesity. Breakfast skippers tend to snack impulsively and end up with poorer quality diets and increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Most active women and men can and should enjoy about 500 to 700 calories four times a day: breakfast, early lunch, second lunch, and dinner. To overcome the fear that this much food will make you fat, reframe your thoughts. You are simply moving calories in your pre- and/or post-dinner snacks into a substantial and wholesome second lunch. The purpose of this second lunch is to curb your evening appetite, refuel your muscles from your workout earlier in the day, and align your food intake to your circadian rhythms.

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Smooth Move

Rowing News — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:04:04 +0000

A fruit smoothie that includes Greek yogurt, banana, and berries offers plenty of satiating and muscle-building protein as well as the carbohydrates to refuel and replenish after a tough session. As a general rule, your muscles want three or four times more calories from carbohydrates than from protein. If you like the convenience of protein shakes, toss in some carbs.

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Friend or Foe?

Rowing News — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 13:32:48 +0000

Athletes’ opinions about carbohydrates range from evil to essential. The research, however, is more conclusive. It supports eating a sports diet based on grains, fruits, and vegetables—the wholesome kinds of sugars and starches that feed the brain and fuel the muscles during hard exercise. But what about those who say they feel better when cutting out carbohydrates? When I hear this, I’ll ask what they were eating prior to making the change. The answer is almost always the same: fast food and junk rather than high-quality meals. No wonder they feel better; they are eating better.

An easier way to reduce sugar cravings is to prevent extreme hunger.

Of course, those who do report feeling better after cutting out grains might be dealing with food sensitivities. When you cut out a whole food group, though, you eliminate a lot of foods. It’s likely just a few foods contributed to their feeling unwell. A registered dietician can help you reach the same level of “feeling great” by working with you to figure out which foods are the culprits. Some athletes rave that their low-carbohydrate diet allows them to curb their addiction to sugar. A high-fat diet curbs hunger, and simultaneously curbs cravings for sweets. An easier way to reduce sugar cravings is to prevent extreme hunger.

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The Perils of Perfection

Rowing News — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 15:02:21 +0000

What predisposes some athletes —to developing an eating disorder? In a survey of women with eating disorders, 12 of whom were athletes and 17 who were not, 75 percent of the participants shared the following predisposing factors: low self-worth, poor body image, and issues with peers. Additional predisposing factors included depression and anxiety. Among the athletes, getting injured triggered disordered eating behaviors.

Perfectionism is a trait common to many athletes.

It can contribute to high levels of achievement, but it can also lead to the pursuit of a “perfect” but biologically unrealistic body type. Among dancers, many of whom are perfectionists, eating disorders are prevalent. A survey of 245 dancers from one collegiate dance program and four professional dance companies suggests both collegiate and professional dancers scored similarly on tests that diagnose eating disorders. Dancers with eating disorders reported more anger, depression, and physical discomfort. If only the dancers had gotten help in college (or earlier), they might have been able to enjoy better quality of life as a professional. This same advice applies to all athletes who struggle with food, weight, and body image. The sooner you get help, the quicker you’ll be able to recover. And yes, you can eat well and still remain lean.

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