Toilet Gags - Part 3

In parts 1 and 2 I've been talking about race nutrition to ensure that you have few tummy trouble, here I look at before and after and some...

Pre-race Nutrition

If you think practising your racing nutrition is the only important thing you could be heading for a problem. What you eat before you start, before you need to use your gel/drink/banana is key too.

My pre-race nutrition starts in earnest on my first long run. Ensure that the breakfast for your long run is something that will not cause any stomach issues for you. Crucially, use that breakfast strategy on race day.

Staying at a hotel? Check the menu (and times!) and bring your own food if needed and you can e.g. I like a bowl of porridge before a run, if the hotel does not have porridge option I take instant porridge that can be made with just the kettle in my room.

Can't replicate your pre-long-run breakfast? Then change it so that you can! Nothing new, remember? Here's my strategy, develop and practise yours!

The day before my races I ensure that I am hydrated, I drink a lot of water (3-4 litres), this will mean that I start well hydrated as don't seem to be able to drink much before a race without taking yet another trick to the toilet queue.

The evening before I never have anything spicy and usually I love a good chilli or curry. I will often have a steak or meaty stew. I know that you'll be asking why not pasta? Well for me that would actually cause the problems I 'm trying to stop here although for many runners it is the staple pre-race meal. I also ensure that I have lots of veggies – plenty of vitamins to support the run and my later recovery.

I do also have one glass of red wine, I think that this helps me sleep (although I doubt that it is the case), it certainly stops me from worrying so much about the day to come.

Post-Race Nutrition

Does it matter you say? Well not as much as pre and during but it can really help your recovery if you eat the right things after the event.

Protein will help your muscles to recover more quickly (it's the building blocks of those cells). I plan to have (another!) nice steak after my next marathon and perhaps a few glasses of bubbly. Take it easy with the alcohol post race though as you may already be a little dehydrated and the drink will make it worse plus you may also get drunk more quickly!

Portaloo Avoidance strategies

OK – if all else fails and nerves get the better of you or the gels/drinks that you practised with still make you ill, there is always Imodium (or other products that have the same effect). I have to admit to taking this before most races. I urge you to be careful though, ensure that any drugs you take are safe for you and be aware that taking a product to stop you from 'going' may have a longer term effect than simply the day of the race.

Toilet Gags - Part 2

In Part 1 I talked about practising nutrition for long events such as the marathon. In this part I'm going to talk about some of the nutrition options that you can use on the move.

Gels/Gel Cubes

This products have been engineered to provide a combination of energy either directly via sugars or via energy releasing B vitamins as well as (depending on the product), electrolytes (salts to help electrical impulses to the muscles), vitamins, mineral and even caffeine.

If you are sensitive to caffeine take care to read the labels, in fact read the label carefully anyway before you choose a product to try. Check to see how many of the item you need for the length of your event as well as any allergens.

Gels come as a viscous liquid product or in cubes like the jelly used in trifles. Which you choose can be down to personal preference for texture and taste as well as what your system can handle. Most gels need to be taken with water so you need to take this into account as well.

Carbohydrate drinks

These come ready made or as powders to mix with water. Products such as Lucozade are often handed out at intervals by the race organisers in UK races. If you plan to carry your own product you'll need to find a method that you are comfortable with, perhaps a water reservoir in a small backpack or a bottle belt, make sure you test the exact one you are planning to use in the race on your long runs.

Some carbohydrate drinks may also contain electrolytes – read the label carefully. If you have chosen to use a carbohydrate drink it is best not to use gels as well, both contain the same ingredients so it's one or the other.

Electrolyte drinks

As carbohydrate drinks these can come ready made or as a powder. These may also be part of a carbohydrate product as above. Electrolytes help to send the electrical impulses to your muscle to make them contract. If you are taking a lot of water onboard during your race it may be advisable to include electrolytes in your regime as that extra water may be diluting the salt in your blood stream.

'Real' Food

This will be much harder to carry with you but sometimes can be a good option for longer events (longer than marathon and where you will be using a backpack so you can carry light items). The items often chosen here are bananas and jelly babies. Bananas are a good source of fuel and also can help prevent cramps via their potassium content but they bruise easily and you've got to dispose of the skins. Some races do give them out in the later stages but this is not very common in my experience.

Jelly babies are a substitute for gels but contain only sugars not the extra vitamins/minerals/caffeine that has been engineered into the gels. Spectators regularly provide these to runners in marathons and half marathons I have completed!

Oranges will provide a little sugar and can help your mouth feel less dry if you are suffering that way but are hard to carry and again there is the skin to get rid of. I mention them mostly as they've been offered by spectators on a few races I've attended.

The most unusual thing that has been offered to me on race was a a cup of tea. The gesture although kind was not particularly helpful on a warm day at mile 7 of the Great North Run but you've got to love the hospitality of the spectators!

In part 3 I'll talk about pre and post race nutrition and what to do if you are worried that the worst will happen

Toilet Gags - Part 1

Toilet Gags – Part 1

It's supposedly what the English are good at – Toilet humour, or so I'm told. But it's no joke to be 'caught short' on a long run or in a race. Having talked to a lot of runners who have suffered from tummy issues I thought I'd give you some tips in these, 3, blogs.

Many runners, new and old will be starting training for the London Marathon now as the ballot has just been announced recently. Some of you may never have run a marathon and the distance may beginning to feel scary but I'm not here to remove that particular fear, no, my purpose here is to help you have a pleasant race in other ways.

OK, so you body has enough fuel stored (if you've trained and fuelled correctly) for about 90 mins of hard effort. After that you will have to slow down as you access other energy systems to continue. The fastest marathon runners in the world take around 2 hours to complete the distance so your going to need to 'eat' as you run.

You can't realistically stop for a meal and to be honest you wouldn't want to run after that anyway, although I do hear stories of Ironman triathletes who seen to have done exactly that! So what are your options?

• Eating/drinking what is provided by the race organisers
• Taking your own nutrition
• A combination of those two

Whatever you decide to do you must practise this before your event. If you've never tried Lucozade Sport or Powerade how do you know that you will be able to stomach it? And that really gets us back to the point of my blog.

The odd sip or bottle of a sports drink, to try it out, whilst in the gym or on a short run is no substitute for using the product on a long run. Your body may behave and react to it very differently under the stress of the main event. That means, that if you are planning to use the nutrition provided during the run you need to find out what it is so that you can practise. Most race organisers are willing to provide that information in advance and it is often on the race website or information pack, do not be scared to ask. You will also need to know when the product will be provided so you can test if that interval of x miles between stations works for you.

If you have your own ideas about nutrition you must train with that and test it too. As any experienced runner will tell you, 'nothing new on race day'! You do not want to be in a situation where you're running faster just to get to the next Portaloo or where you have to ask a local business or homeowner to let you use their 'facilities'! Believe me, I know, even with tried and tested strategies I've had to resort to these options due to other unforeseen circumstances.

So what are you going to practise with, what are you options there? That will be the subject of Part 2, coming shortly...

Get outside!

Get real

Raining and training...

Roll away...

Fat...mmmmm lovely fat!

The importance of sleep

I messed up today - multiple times, not excuses but a possible reason was lack of sleep..?

Sunday, run day...

Went for a bit of a run after a day in college today.

Running, I find, is very useful to help clear the head and blow the cobwebs away. While I out one of my knees was giving me a little bit of pain so I thought I recount a little story for all of those of you out there who don't run because of knee pain...

Nearly 20 years ago I went to see my GP (a rather portly chap of about 50) as one of my knees was making a clicking noise and was a little bit painful. He said and I quote '...these things happen as you get older...' and '...you'll be alright as long as you don't take up jogging!'

A few months later I was working out at my local 'big box' gym and a trainer came over whilst I was on the leg extension machine (I was not a PT and had not discovered free weights yet!) and had a chat about what he had seen as I was working. He could see that my knee caps were not tracking properly and the noise was bone grinding over bone. From there it was a simple case of changing the angle of the exercise to strengthen one muscle and stretch out another and stop the problem.

You see, GP's whilst being very good at general health and their own extra speciality (if they have chosen one) are not experts at everything and few are focussed on sports medicine. They are more likely to err on the side of caution and get you to stop doing something that may be risky than spend time looking for a root cause.

This is not a criticism of GP's, just a call for people to understand that a second opinion may be useful - one from another professional to support or question the initial advice if this is not they're specialism. Asking for a referral to, say a physiotherapist will not usually be considered as a criticism either except by the most arrogant of practitioner.

Right, back to the story - having now found a treatment for the problem I set about rehabilitating my knees and then took up running. Loads of 5k, 5m, 10k, half marathons and 5 full marathons later I off to Florida in Jan 2015 to run the Dopey challenge! (5k, 10k, Half and Full marathon on 4 consecutive days)

Day - whatever, I've lost count!!

Frustrating day to day, spending a lot of time on trains, no wifi til now and the PC 'bricked' itself via na update last night! Nevermind, Mac's still going!

In view of the fact I've been sitting down a lot here's a stretch I recommend to all of those of you out there who do the same (desk jobs!)

You see, that back pain you've got whilst at work, may not be your back!

Rant time...

You probably think I have no 'passion' given the flat nature of my last few vids. Well I do - I just don't waste it by letting it loose too often!

Enjoy...

Day 10 - who's afraid?

Bin the excuses and get out there!

Real food works too!

Day 9 - My campaign for real food!

Fat Loss programme trial

All this talk about sugar and fat has come out of personal experience and the research I've been doing. Whilst I was reading up on the subject and trying a few things myself I began to put together a programme to do the same for anyone to follow.

The firs trial of this programme starts today. Well for the ladies involved it actually started last night with a little fitness 'test'. The test will be repeated each week of the programme to evidence the improvements in fitness. Weigh-ins/measurements will take place at the end of the trial to compare with the initial measurements taken this week to show improvements there too.

Once the trial group has run and I've checked the results are going in the direction planned then I'll make any alterations necessary before releasing details of the finished plan.

It is designed to be done at home, no need to get to a gym. It uses ordinary foods from the supermarket. The minimal supplements I've included in the trial are easy to get too but I will recommend sources of good quality supplies.

If you're interested in hearing more just email me (michelle.day@inspiring-fitness.co.uk) or msg me on Facebook. You could even be in with chance for a free place if you can suggest a good name for the programme that I subsequently use as I've not got a 'snappy' one thought up yet!

Quick and easy breakfast ideas with protein powder

Right so you're in a hurry and having trouble fitting in breakfast and there are not leftovers from last night!!!

Whilst 'real' fresh food is preferred when you're short of time protein powder can be a good substitute to ensure you get the 'full 'til lunch' ingredient at brekkie.

Try these ideas:
Protein smoothie - add a scoop of the powder to a blender along with fruit, nut butter (if you can eat it) and even cacao nibs. Add almond, rice or your choice of dairy substitute and blend. More liquid can be added if needed.

Protein pancakes - Blend 2 eggs, 2 bananas and a scoop of powder with enough water to make a thick batter. Heat a heavy based saucepan and add a little coconut oil to the pan. Add tablespoons of the batter to the hot oil and cook for about 1 min or until browned on base, flip over and cook on other side for one minute. Don't over cook as they can be dry. Spread with butter or nut butter and enjoy warm or pack for later.

On final point...you can get protein powder in lots of places. Some is whey (milk protein) based, others come from vegan friendly sources. Cheap is not necessarily good - for flavour or quality.

Breakfast: Of chicken, not with a chicken on the box!

Day 6 and it's breakfast time!

Day 7 will feature more breakfast news!!!!

By the power of protein!

OK - so I left you hanging for a day there but here is the blog I promised on Wed...

I've been talking about readily digestible carbs and why you should avoid them but so far I've not given you an alternative way of eating.

So here goes...

Eat less sugar and wheat,

Eat more protein!

Sounds simple doesn't it? It is! Protein will keep you fuller for longer, it digests more slowly and does not cause the spike in insulin as sugars do.

Every meal should contain some of the stuff via eggs, fish or meat. If you're pushed for time you may resort to protein powders but for the most part eat real food - a palm size portion with every meal.

Tomorrow we'll look at the most important meal of the day, breakfast and deal with what is often the biggest issue with most peoples diets.

Bad day? You can still find time to exercise!

Feeling sensitive?

No I don't really care about your feelings, I'm talking about insulin sensitivity.

You know that hormone the prevents you from being poisoned by glucose and stores the excess as fat. What? You didn't read yesterdays blog? Go back now and do it!!! (find it here)

Right then, so if your body becomes insensitive to insulin or 'insulin resistant' your body will produce more and more insulin as it can't use the current levels properly. 

This will lead to more fat storage of ingested glucose (not just sugar itself but the components of the food you eat as it breaks down). It will also prevent the stored fat from escaping which means that you can't use it for fuel, so you get hungry and you eat and it gets stored and it can't escape and you get hungry...

How does this resistance happen? Why do our bodies not just correct the issue? Well it would appear from research I've been reading that it's due to the type of food we're now eating. Our bodies have just not evolved to know how to use it as it's not been around for long enough.

What food you ask...easily digested carbohydrates (like bread and breakfast cereals), the things that many governments have been telling us to focus our diets on for years (based on some faulty research in the 1950's). These foods breakdown too quickly in the body and cause a spike in our insulin production that after many years of eating them can lead to the insensitivity issues.

So, that's the introduction done. Next I'll be talking about what you should eat to lose fat and avoid this problem.

Whats a hormone?

There was some chatter about my blog not being in my 'usual voice' - well we've still got some 'setting the scene' to do before I can let loose on you! However, here's a little taster...

*BAD TASTE JOKE ALERT* - you have been warned so no complaints!

What's a hormone?
The noises you hear from a prostitute when you refuse to pay her!


OK - it was bad I know! So back to business...

Hormone Definition (via google): A regulatory substance produced in an organism and transported in tissue fluids such as blood or sap to stimulate specific cells or tissues into action.

The hormone we want to consider here specifically is, insulin and what it does, before looking at how it might, via the food you eat, be working against your weight loss goals tomorrow.

So what does it do then...

Well, before your first bite of food, if you even begin thinking about food your body will begin to secrete insulin it's getting ready to grab the sugars in what you eat  and store them as fat if they can't immediately be used for energy. 

You see sugar (glucose) in large quantities is actually toxic so the insulin is both protecting you from being poisoned and storing energy for later. Oh and all food is digested into it's basic components so we're not just talking added sugar but all sugars from all food sources.

This is a normal, natural process but when it goes wrong it can stop you losing fat even if you reduce your food intake substantially - like I was saying earlier, that expected in/out relationship with calories may not hold.

Tomorrow we'll look at both what goes wrong and why it might happen...

Gauntlet - throw it down? or run it?

Last week a PT buddy of mine (Hi Rich!) challenged me to blog every day - can't remember if it was for a week or a month but sure he'll remind me!

Srsly Dude, I'm too busy!!! But then I thought, Hey I have all this knowledge I want to share in order to help people and I've been reading a lot about fat loss and the obesity crisis over the last  2 months, so, here goes:


FAT FACT
Remember Dr Atkins? The guy with the high fat diet approach?
He did not die of a heart attack as many people joke - the poor guy died of a head injury after a fall.

FAT FACT
Dr Atkins diet did help many people lose weight but did not increase their heart attack risk markers. Review the research like I've been doing if you don't think it's true. (He's not the only doctor to have done this but most don't shout about their work as it goes against the received wisdom of decades.)

So, ingested fat is not the key cause that people are getting fatter. It's also interesting to note that it's not the level of calories consumed that is necessarily doing it either - the calories in-calories out approach is not working as we believed it should. It would appear that something else is at play rather than simply thermo-dynamics (calories in-out).

The key issue could be down to hormones, specifically insulin and to some degree oestrogen and cortisol. Go and have a little read up on them and we'll 'tall more' tomorrow!

Michelle (fat eating evangelist) Day

Something lac'ing? - the products and methods

Last year I was undertaking a big fitness and weight loss challenge and found that after one particular episode where I did not have any milk (among other items) that I developed a bit of an intolerance to milk or more likely the lactose in the milk.

Although this stopped after a few weeks of pain and discomfort during which we used a substitute in tea and coffee but carried on using milk in cooked food I hatched a plan to try out and report on the dairy substitutes that you can find in many supermarkets and most delis/health food shops.

I popped into my local healthfood store last month and here's what we (hubby and I) did with the products we found.

We tried the following items:

Rice 'milk'
Oat 'milk'
Almond 'milk'
Koko (a coconut based product)
Quinoa 'milk'
Hemp 'milk'

We tried them in:

Glasses - neat that is!
Tea
Coffee
with milkshake syrup
Porridge
Protein powder

Our methods to ensure comparisons could be considered valid were:

Glasses - all clear and cleaned before the test

Tea - all cups identical and tea from same single pot made for the test

Coffee - all cups identical and coffee from same single press made for the test

Milkshake syrup - identical syrup and 'milk' quantities measured into clear, clean glasses

Porridge - identical quantities of oats and 'milk' cooked for same time each in same way (sadly easiest method and one used was microwave)

Protein powder - one scoop of powder and 300ml of 'milk' blended with stick blender


The results of our test follow in the next blog, they will of course be somewhat subjective given that personal tastes will come into this but I hope that you will find them useful nonetheless.

Worst diet 'EVER'???!

This years most dangerous diet?

I had a spray tan for the first time at the end of last year but this blog is not about that, it's about a magazine I began to read whilst I was waiting for my beauty therapist to be ready.

There was a pile of copies of a long running and well know women's magazine in the salon and as I was waiting I noticed a front page headline talking about 'this years most dangerous diet'. I had to read it of course! I'd just started the article when I was called but as it seemed to be talking about my approach to eating I went out and bought a copy the next day.

When I did read the article in full I have to say that I was appalled at the standard of the reporting – although I have no idea of the general standard of this type of magazine article as I don't often read them – they may all be this bad! So, what was so bad about it you ask;

The use of the word diet – this is such a misused word. We use it to mean 'slimming diet' in current speech, which in itself is wrong. We're all on a 'diet', what we eat, whether slimming or not is DIET.

That, however, was not the worst offence that I found just a common problem with the use or misuse of language.

The worst thing to my mind was the approach the 'dieters' used – it appeared that the people on this 'so-called' protein diet were eating almost nothing but protein. They were eating lots of meat and supplementing with protein bars and shakes. This idea seemed to have come from the body-building world where competition participants use these techniques to bulk up just before competition and to reduce body fat – in the last week or two only.

It is not a sustainable approach – any body-builder or person reducing body fat for competition will tell you that. The people who were recounting their problems with the 'diet' commented about mood swings and poor skin tone and sleep patterns. Yep, the athletes that use this approach could tell you that too. They even complained that instead of losing weight that they put it on – of course they did, they were eating extra calories with all those supplements and bars!

So, why do I and others suggest protein with every meal as a way of losing weight then? Well, protein takes longer to digest and as it does not raise your blood sugar too quickly it does not force your body to release a great big dose of insulin in one. It keeps you feeling fuller for longer.

How do you eat protein safely? Firstly you do not just eat protein! Focus your meals around lean proteins and vegetables (especially green ones) and a small amount of fats. By simply avoiding processed and packaged foods you can also reduce your intake of sugary foods - see further blogs on the subject of sugar lower down the front blog page.

Protein can help you control your weight and it certainly is not the most dangerous diet idea - unless you use it in the wrong way.

Walking the walk (part one) - A blog for other PTs out there

Walking the walk (part 1)

So there I was in the middle of the square with a client who was working hard and enjoying the sun, we were both horrified when a trainer from a nearby gym came out on a break and lit up a cigarette.

How could I possibly train clients and encourage health and fitness objectives if I was a smoker?

I really don't think that anyone should.

Smoking is clearly a 'no-no' (to me) but is there anything else we should be thinking about when we're trying to tell others to lead healthy lifestyles?

I think that there is. We, as Personal Trainers, should lead by example. We are our brand and we should show our clients what to aspire to. I'm not saying that all our clients or indeed all of us need to be into power-lifting or fitness modelling or marathon running but that we should at least be physically fit and be eating healthily as an example to others.

What does that mean in practical terms?

You can't tell realistically tell clients to 'eat this, don't eat that' if you go out and stuff your face with pizza and chips every day. You can't tell them to reduce their alcohol intake if you're out sinking 10 pints every other night. You won't be trusted by clients if you turn out to be a hypocrite. However, you don't have to be perfect – we're all human and 'cheat' days are the stuff that allow us and our clients to stick the plan the rest of the time.

This all sound like common sense to you? It does to me to but clearly not to all – remember the PT mentioned in the first paragraph...

I guess what I'm trying to say is, all PT's need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk to be taken seriously and really help clients to achieve their best.