ironwings journal *

[ironwings]

The diet gods were out Friday night. My favorite pizza joint was packed so no pizza for me. Maybe that is why I am up at 3am - LOL!

That pizza comment earlier must have made some of you guys curious about my diet. I really never journal specifics on here because I don't want to be a bad example. I use FitDay to track my macros on occasion, particularly if my diet is changing or I add/take away foods. (Although I'm learning about other programs that are much more fun to use - you know us Americans - we need to be entertained!) I am in no way a dieter. Not yet anyway.

Just recently I started working on pre/post workout nutrition. I've always been terrible about it. I'll journal my nutrition occasionally so you can see all my bad habits ;-)

Here are a couple days from this past week (chosen based on a strength day, cardio day, and a Friday to include one of my cheat meals):

*I drink water unless I have noted otherwise

Tuesday
preworkout - 1/2 cup egg beaters, 10g whey protein shake (this was the worst shake I have ever made - too early in the morning I suppose!)
workout - 6g BCAA in 32oz of water mixed with Crystal Light
postworkout - 1/2 cup eggs, 20g whey protein shake with banana
11:00 - 1/3 cup egg beaters, 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes, handful of diced green peppers all wrapped up in a low carb tortilla
2:30 - 5oz low sodium deli turkey, 1/2 slice white cheddar, 1 slice of whole grain bread
7:30 (way too many hours after last meal) - 3/4 chicken breast with marinara sauce

Wednesday - cardio only
after morning cardio - 2 slices whole grain bread toasted - one with peanut butter
11:30 - nice garden salad with vinegrette dressing and bowl of veggie soup (oh my where is my protein??) - unsweet tea
3:00 - apple and 20g whey protein shake
6:30 - 1/3lb Mustard Steak (made with flank steak from needto's cookbook), small side salad and a tsp or so of white cheddar

Friday
after morning cardio - cup of mixed fruit, protein bar
sipped on water with a fiber supplement
1:30 - chicken, green peppers, onions over 1/2 cup brown rice
3:00 - 1/4 cup protein pudding
6:30 - fresh made hamburger with ketchup, side salad with french dressing, and I stole a few homemade potato chips from my son (ok, maybe a handful) - unsweet tea

**note: I've had a cold this week

______________________
I'll continue to post nutrition a couple days a week.

 

[Thandie]

The diet gods were out Friday night. My favorite pizza joint was packed so no pizza for me. Maybe that is why I am up at 3am - LOL!

That pizza comment earlier must have made some of you guys curious about my diet. I really never journal specifics on here because I don't want to be a bad example. I use FitDay to track my macros on occasion, particularly if my diet is changing or I add/take away foods. (Although I'm learning about other programs that are much more fun to use - you know us Americans - we need to be entertained!) I am in no way a dieter. Not yet anyway.

Just recently I started working on pre/post workout nutrition. I've always been terrible about it. I'll journal my nutrition occasionally so you can see all my bad habits ;-)

Here are a couple days from this past week (chosen based on a strength day, cardio day, and a Friday to include one of my cheat meals):

*I drink water unless I have noted otherwise

Tuesday
preworkout - 1/2 cup egg beaters, 10g whey protein shake (this was the worst shake I have ever made - too early in the morning I suppose!)
workout - 6g BCAA in 32oz of water mixed with Crystal Light
postworkout - 1/2 cup eggs, 20g whey protein shake with banana
11:00 - 1/3 cup egg beaters, 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes, handful of diced green peppers all wrapped up in a low carb tortilla
2:30 - 5oz low sodium deli turkey, 1/2 slice white cheddar, 1 slice of whole grain bread
7:30 (way too many hours after last meal) - 3/4 chicken breast with marinara sauce

Wednesday - cardio only
after morning cardio - 2 slices whole grain bread toasted - one with peanut butter
11:30 - nice garden salad with vinegrette dressing and bowl of veggie soup (oh my where is my protein??) - unsweet tea
3:00 - apple and 20g whey protein shake
6:30 - 1/3lb Mustard Steak (made with flank steak from needto's cookbook), small side salad and a tsp or so of white cheddar

Friday
after morning cardio - cup of mixed fruit, protein bar
sipped on water with a fiber supplement
1:30 - chicken, green peppers, onions over 1/2 cup brown rice
3:00 - 1/4 cup protein pudding
6:30 - fresh made hamburger with ketchup, side salad with french dressing, and I stole a few homemade potato chips from my son (ok, maybe a handful) - unsweet tea

**note: I've had a cold this week

______________________
I'll continue to post nutrition a couple days a week.

I'm only going to give you a couple of suggestions since you already said you're not into dieting. I'm sure you'll be ready when you're ready.

If you use a BCAA that tastes good, you wont need to add Chrystal light. I use Xtend BCAA, watermelon flavor and is really good.

Have protein after cardio rather the carbs (especially processed)
A small amout of carbs before cardio and protein after.

Pizza sounds good!!
I always have 1 or 2 small slices of pizza the day of contest. It makes my muscles nice and full. Other then that I haven'thad it for years.

 

[mommalu]

Pizza sounds good!!
I always have 1 or 2 small slices of pizza the day of contest. It makes my muscles nice and full. Other then that I haven'thad it for years.

Now I feel bad that I had the pizza. (years thandie? WOW)
I think I'm really disciplined with my diet, but an occasional treat is nice.
There's a lady at work that brings baked treats 3X/week to share because she LOVES to bake and her hubby does not eat it. My co-workers are amazed how I can always walk right past the goodies and not give in.

 

[ironwings]

I'm only going to give you a couple of suggestions since you already said you're not into dieting. I'm sure you'll be ready when you're ready.

If you use a BCAA that tastes good, you wont need to add Chrystal light. I use Xtend BCAA, watermelon flavor and is really good.

Have protein after cardio rather the carbs (especially processed)
A small amout of carbs before cardio and protein after.

Pizza sounds good!!
I always have 1 or 2 small slices of pizza the day of contest. It makes my muscles nice and full. Other then that I haven'thad it for years.

Thanks for the BCAA tip - I have the worst stuff you could ever imagine! I don't eat anything before my cardio in the morning - if for some reason I need to because my cardio is later in the morning I eat only protein. Although it is contraversial, eating carbs before your cardio in the morning affects your glycogen stores - defeating the purpose of fasted morning cardio. Because typically my carb cut offs are before 6 (sometimes way before 6) I'm glycogen depleted in the morning. However, if you are going to have a high intesity workout or work for an hour or more (like a spin class for ex.) you want a few clean carbs.

Thanks for the tip about carbs after cardio. Why do you recommend this? I find that I can't function through the day without them first thing and that they replenish my glycogen depletion. (I'm physically active all day) However, processed is NOT your best option! Thus my note about "please don't follow my diet" - LOL. A couple months ago I cut carbs by not having them after cardio or at night and I was physically miserable. Onebreath and I thought me to be hyperglocemic. I have found that by adding them back in I am even steven. Thandie - would it be beneficial to have my protein and fat and then carbs seperate an hour later? **note peanut butter on whole grain bread is not typically in my diet!

I am definitely not an example for nutrition if you are trying to get lean. I haven't posted my meals before because I don't want to lead anyone down the wrong path - fortunately I can eat like that and look like my pics in October (actually I was eating much worse then). Genetics and intense training. Could you imagine if I did diet? Well, I did once and looked god aweful. Thandie - keep it coming - I'll continue to post a couple days a week!!

I know as I continue to age my diet will have to get tighter and tigher! Argh...

 

[ironwings]

My last training partner had superior genetics like you IW. She ALWAYS ate but sometimes her diet was TERRIBLE and yet she looked AMAZING!!!

For those of us who know that we can't do that we sorta just accept it and do what we have to do.

But you are correct that as you get older you will have to make adjustments. Or you might not. Every now and then bodies get *lucky like that*. Enjoy the body you got!

As I am aging I am definitely having to change my habits. I would hate to post what my diet was like a year ago And, I know better.

I'm always adjusting depending on how my body reacts. I sure hope to age gracefully just as you vets have!

 

[Thandie]

Now I feel bad that I had the pizza. (years thandie? WOW)
I think I'm really disciplined with my diet, but an occasional treat is nice.
There's a lady at work that brings baked treats 3X/week to share because she LOVES to bake and her hubby does not eat it. My co-workers are amazed how I can always walk right past the goodies and not give in.

I do get treats once in a while, but I always end up having something else more important to me then pizza, since we can't have everything.
I'm also good about not giving in. It never bothers me what other people are having.

 

[Thandie]

Thanks for the BCAA tip - I have the worst stuff you could ever imagine! I don't eat anything before my cardio in the morning - if for some reason I need to because my cardio is later in the morning I eat only protein. Although it is contraversial, eating carbs before your cardio in the morning affects your glycogen stores - defeating the purpose of fasted morning cardio. Because typically my carb cut offs are before 6 (sometimes way before 6) I'm glycogen depleted in the morning. However, if you are going to have a high intesity workout or work for an hour or more (like a spin class for ex.) you want a few clean carbs.

Thanks for the tip about carbs after cardio. Why do you recommend this? I find that I can't function through the day without them first thing and that they replenish my glycogen depletion. (I'm physically active all day) However, processed is NOT your best option! Thus my note about "please don't follow my diet" - LOL. A couple months ago I cut carbs by not having them after cardio or at night and I was physically miserable. Onebreath and I thought me to be hyperglocemic. I have found that by adding them back in I am even steven. Thandie - would it be beneficial to have my protein and fat and then carbs seperate an hour later? **note peanut butter on whole grain bread is not typically in my diet!

I am definitely not an example for nutrition if you are trying to get lean. I haven't posted my meals before because I don't want to lead anyone down the wrong path - fortunately I can eat like that and look like my pics in October (actually I was eating much worse then). Genetics and intense training. Could you imagine if I did diet? Well, I did once and looked god aweful. Thandie - keep it coming - I'll continue to post a couple days a week!!

I know as I continue to age my diet will have to get tighter and tigher! Argh...

I'm guessing the reason why you felt ill from not having carbs after cardio was because you were not getting enough carbs to begin with.

When I was younger I was also able to eat anything I wanted and my body stayed the same. It started changing in my 40's, but things go downhill as we get older. Your metabolism slows down, hormones change, etc..

Cardio and protein and carbs.

As far as fasted cardio - it matters how you execute it. Duration, intensity, pre and post nutrition, etc. In a muscle sparing sense, you want to be getting protein into you, post a fasted cardio session, otherwise you will lose muscle. But having CHO immediately after a cardio session is probably a bit of a waste as you were doing, as that would stop the fat burning process.
Yes - eating protein right after training or cardio stops catabolism, but allows fat burning to continue unabated. As soon as you add carbs, in a continuum sense, you slow down/stop fat usage and even create fat storage. The other side of the coin with carbs is that they ARE the anabolic factor, so after training, you should have some even when dieting.

I'd use very small amounts of carbs and BCAAs before morning cardio; small being 10-15 grams. And, not all cardio has to be in the a.m.; the benefits to that have some cons as well – such as losing muscle as I mentioned. I would never do high-intensity cardio in the morning.

If it’s in the afternoon, depends on the structure of the whole morning, but for 15-20 minutes of higher-intensity cardio, you won't need much food (since you would have had a meal or two already). Blood sugar/liver glycogen alone will keep you from crashing...BUT, I'd have a little something just prior in order to make sure you had that initial burst. If you had normal meals at 6:00 and 9:00, for example, and you were doing cardio at noon; at about 11:30 I'd have about 1/4 c of oats and 2 scoops of BCAAs or a rice cake, 1 tbsp PB and the BCAAs, then do the cardio, then eat a mostly-protein/fibrous vegetable lunch, then the next meal normal. That is, of course, if you're using the cardio as part of weight loss. If you're in the off-season, I'd go ahead and have a normal amount of carbs/starch at lunch but still keep the pre-cardio stuff the same.

I forgot to add. Once you have the protein immediately after cardio, you can have a regular meal containing protein and cho 1 1/2-2 hours later. I usually have it 1 to 1.5 hours later bc I'm very hungry in the morning. I don't feel satisfied till about my 4th meal.

I hope that helps..

 

[mommalu]

I would never do high-intensity cardio in the morning

What if this is the only time you can do it?

 

[Thandie]

What if this is the only time you can do it?

It doesn't have to be high intensity and it doesnt have to be fasted. I usually eat breakfast; lift; do cardio; have protein and have protein with a small salad 1.5 hour later.

If you're lifting and doing cardio at the same time, I hope you're lifting first, then cardio thereafter or you'll burn your energy and muscles before lifting.

 

[mommalu]

If you're lifting and doing cardio at the same time, I hope you're lifting first, then cardio thereafter or you'll burn your energy and muscles before lifting.

Yes, I am lifting first and then 20-30 min of cardio.
Like you said, I wouldn't have enough energy to lift if I did cardio first.