This week, we’re featuring nutrition coaching client Christian White! Christian originally
came to Coach Kate with the goal of losing weight to compete in his first half- marathon, and was hesitant when Kate recommended he increase his food consumption rather than restrict. Regardless, he trusted the process and has now successfully completed not one, but two half-marathons, with another taking place this Sunday, November 5 th ! Christian’s transformation from chronic dieter to fueling for performance is inspiring, and we wish him the best of luck in this weekend’s race!

1. What did you want from coaching?
I was hoping to find a long-term sustainable approach to eating. Specifically, a plan that would work for me throughout the year and was not something I cycled through.

2. How were you feeling about nutrition prior to coaching?
Prior to nutrition coaching, I was skeptical. I assumed that this would be another app-oriented, calorie counting, food-weighing methodology. In the past these approaches gave me only short- term benefits, then I would get tired of the logging and tracking and slide back to old habits.

3. What had you tried in the past?
In the past I tried many different nutrition plans such as keto, lower calorie intake and tracking using MyFitnessPal. However, the “aha” moment with Kate was when I realized I needed to be consuming for performance and not weight loss. I made the incorrect assumption that I needed to remove the fun foods and restrict calories to reach my fitness goals, when in fact I needed to bring moderation to the fun foods and significantly increase the volume of healthier foods. It was initially difficult for me to grasp the idea that reaching my goals could be done by increasing my consumption.

4. Why did you decide to work with Coach Kate?
I decided to work with Kate out of curiosity to start. When she told me I was not going to be weighing food, calorie counting or using some detailed tracking system, I felt that her approach was sustainable. Sustainable was not something I was used to.

5. How would you describe your sessions?
Kate’s approach was not abrupt. It was quite subtle. It did not require me to totally remove certain foods or only eat at home. She zeroed in very quickly on where my diet was lacking and we focused primarily on adding foods as opposed to taking away food, which is what I was used to.

6. What are some successes you’ve had from nutrition coaching? How do they make
you feel?
The three most significant successes I have from Kate’s nutrition coaching are weight loss, performance recovery and focus. The most interesting part of my weight loss is that I have been eating more food volume now than I was before. My meals are larger, and I snack, multiple times per day, which I was previously not doing. Prior, my recovery from longer distance runs or high intensity training sessions would take me many days to recover. My recovery days are 1-2 days max now. My overall energy levels have improved also.

This weekend our powerlifting team, and GWA coach Nathan, will compete in the 2023 BCPA Fall Classic powerlifting meet. With that, we thought it would be appropriate to talk about how to handle your nutrition on competition day. Powerlifter or not, you may glean a few useful nuggets of information here that may apply to your respective sport.

 

When it comes to putting in a good performance on the platform, whether it’s your first meet or your fifth meet, preparation is paramount. This means trusting the hard work you’ve put in leading up to meet day, having your paperwork ready to go and, most importantly, having food, snacks and drinks planned out. For this particular post, we’re going to keep things as basic as possible. As such, we won’t be discussing water cuts, or fasting. With that being said, here are some simple, general guidelines for having a successful meet day with regards to your nutrition and hydration:

 

1. Eat a well balanced breakfast. Prioritize protein and carbohydrates, stick to foods that you would normally eat.

2. Keep water on hand, all day. It’s easy to get caught up in competition shenanigans and forget to drink. STAY HYDRATED.

3. Now is not the time to experiment with new foods. This includes supplements, new protein snacks etc. Stick with foods that you know your body can digest well.

4. It’s a long and exhausting day, steadily sipping on Gatorade, Powerade, or Pedialyte can go a long way.

5. Plan a lunch that is an APPROPRIATE size. Do not use this as an excuse to overload on food. At this point, it will be more of a hindrance than a help.

6. Snack on simple carbohydrates in between meals. The most opportune times will be between lifts, in most cases. Don’t over-do it or you may experience a heavy crash later.

7. Only eat to your comfort level. If you feel bloated or over-stuffed, it will impact your performance. 

8. Your meet day nutrition should not look too drastically different from your regular training day nutrition. 

At GWA, it has never been our main objective to sell dramatic body transformations, quick fixes, and crash diets. Instead, we are proud to offer services that promote sustainable, healthy habits, and nutrition coaching is no exception.

Working with one of our nutrition coaches can be drastically different from what you may have experienced with other nutritionists, because we choose to focus on your health rather than your weight. This means we respect the diversity of body sizes out there and believe they are all entitled to health at any size, and that dieting may not always be the right answer.

This is not to say you will not learn how to eat more nutritiously—you will still be held accountable to ensuring you consume appropriate servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, a variety of different proteins, and healthy fats. However, you will also be given permission to explore why you might moralize some foods, learn how to eat without guilt, tune into your hunger and fullness to stop mindless eating, and accept that sometimes we eat for nourishment and other times we eat for pleasure.

If you’re tired of failing diets and weight cycling, struggle with your body image, or have a complicated relationship with food, consider booking a free nutrition assessment with us to learn more!

Among many other things, Thanksgiving weekend is often associated with behaviours like “over-eating”, being “lazy”, and a variety of other actions that are deemed “unhealthy”. We’d like to challenge that ethos, and offer up a slightly different sentiment. At the very least, it’s a time to be thankful for the food available to you, whatever that looks like. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to give yourself the permission to enjoy a meal with your loved ones, without restrictions, or consuming to the point of discomfort. If you remove the “rules” going in, you’ll likely be less inclined to consume more than normal just because you can. With that being said, it’s one day out of 365, and one meal out of many in a year. Here are three ways you can get the most enjoyment out of your Thanksgiving dinner:

 

1. Enjoy the dessert, drink the drinks.

First things first, give yourself a break. If you’re already telling yourself that you’re going to skip dessert or say no to a glass of wine, there’s a good chance you’re setting yourself up for failure. That’s not to say you have to eat dessert or drink if you don’t want to. Rather than putting boundaries on a meal that you’d rather enjoy, try telling yourself you will make the decision when the opportunity is presented to you. This can help take away the element of surprise and reduce impulsive decisions. Moreover, you’re not making any grand promises to yourself that you might not keep, and feel guilty about later.

 

2. Eat the vegetables & stay hydrated

If you can guarantee one thing about Thanksgiving, it’s vegetables. Nobody really likes them, but we know there are a lot of benefits to eating them. The great thing about vegetables is that they’re hard to “overeat”, not to mention they are loaded with nutrients. Two perfectly valid excuses to fill your plate with vegetables first, and fill in the gaps with everything else. Combine this with keeping a glass of water handy, and your meal will be much more satiating and easier to digest.

 

3. Go for a morning walk

Lastly, there’s the post dinner crash. You’ve enjoyed your meal, you’ve socialised and entertained, now you’re exhausted and it’s time to wind down. If you have a tendency to feel like you need to work off a big meal, going for a stroll before the festivities begin can go a long way. Get ahead of the rushing errands and dinner preparations, and take a short walk in the morning. This starts your day off with a win, and gives you even more time later to slow down and savour the time with your loved ones.

 

Remember, there are no rules here. It’s one day, one meal, and there is no moral value attached to how you choose to enjoy it.

Stress & Food

 

Stress is both an appetite killer and booster:

• When we are facing immediate, acute stress, our bodies release epinephrine (adrenaline) to prepare for fight or flight. Hunger and digestion are moved down the list of priorities as blood flow is prioritized away from our digestive tracts to muscle tissue, and appetite is suppressed.
• With longer periods of chronic stress, however, appetites are increased. This is in part due to the release of another stress hormone, cortisol, which regulates your body’s stress response and can increase cravings for foods high in fat and/or sugar. In addition to this, we are also taught from birth that food is comfort—when you cried, you got a bottle and felt better. While coping with food is often vilified, it is a natural, normal response.

So how can we support our nutritional needs when stressed? Firstly, attempt to get to the source of the problem by addressing your stressors and diminishing them. What is the root cause of your stress? What problems are within your sphere of control to address and which things are not and can be dismissed? What do you need to cope and truly feel better? Is it exercise, meditation, social support, asking for help, something else?

Secondly, what we put in or don’t put in our bodies is also going to affect our stress. Whether you’re too stressed to eat or you’re overeating, you can try these tips:

• Practice self-compassion by reassuring yourself this period is temporary and you’re doing the best you can. You don’t need more stress by worrying about all the food you’re eating/not eating.
• If you’re not hungry, try to still stick to your regular eating schedule (or even switch to smaller, more frequent meals) and attempt to eat something in a calm space. While whole foods will be more nourishing and energizing, eat whatever is appetizing; some food is better than no food at all. Smoothies, juice, soup, and milk are also great options if you’re feeling too nauseous to eat, and soft, bland foods like rice, lean meats, legumes, tofu, and spinach may be gentler on an upset stomach.
• If you’re overeating when stressed, what can you do to distract before reaching for food? This could include things like going for a walk, stretching, doing mobility work, colouring, painting, journaling, knitting; preferably something more active than passive like watching TV (and thinking about how nice it would be to eat a bag of chips while doing it). If you decide to seek comfort through food, ensure it is a conscious decision and give yourself unconditional permission to eat without guilt afterwards. Lastly, ensure you’re still eating a minimum of three balanced meals to remain nourished and satiated.
• Finally, dial in the basics: get 7-9 hours of sleep, drink plenty of water, prioritize a variety of nutrient dense foods, and participate in gentle, joyful movement.

Pre & Post-Workout Nutrition – How important is it?

 

You’ve been making great progress in the gym, you’re crushing your workouts, and you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of each session. You might be curious about the best way to fuel and refuel your body before and after a tough workout, but is it really that important? Well, it depends. Since most of us are not competitive, high-level athletes or training several hours of the day, we’ll keep things simple.

 

Pre-workout:

Let’s start with pre-workout nutrition, since many people tend to put a little thought into this and wind up more confused than anything. A pre-workout meal or snack may have a small, positive impact on your performance. There are, however, some caveats. 

1. When did you last eat? Whatever time of day you typically train, if it’s only been 1-2 hours since your last meal and your energy is good, you likely won’t glean much from a dedicated pre-workout snack. A sports drink would be more than sufficient, if you need it. On the flip side, if you skipped breakfast at 7am and start your workout close to noon, consider a small snack before exercise. This will help keep your blood sugar regulated and help prevent energy crashes, light-headedness, or headaches.
2. How soon are you working out? A general rule of thumb is, the less time you have until your workout, the smaller the snack should be. This is better for digestion, and will mitigate the discomfort of your body trying to digest food while exercising.
3. How long/intense is your workout? Keeping the last question in mind, consider whether the duration or intensity of your workout actually calls for additional energy intake. Typical strength workouts around 45-60 minutes will likely not see any extra benefit. Longer duration workouts can benefit from a small pick-me-up before or during.

Post-workout:

Post-workout nutrition is more straightforward than it may initially seem. You might have heard of something called “the anabolic window”, which is the idea that your body has a finite amount of time to optimize post-workout recovery. While there is an element of truth to this, it’s definitely not as finite as some would have you believe. 

 

After your workout, when you and your muscles are hungry for fuel, blood flow is increased to deliver nutrients more efficiently for up to an hour, so it is theorized that this is the best time to recover. In reality, it’s not that clear cut and there is lacking evidence to indicate when exactly post-workout meals are best. For most people, waiting until your next meal is just fine, and post-workout meal timing isn’t a crucial component to your diet or fitness success. However, being somewhat diligent with your nutrient intake between workouts can promote better recovery from one training session to the next.

As far as balancing your next meal post-workout, prioritize carbohydrates and protein. Working out requires your body to extract from its glycogen stores (glucose stored in the muscles) for energy, and the fastest way to replenish these stores post-workout are with carbohydrates. Along with the glucose, your muscles will draw in water and other nutrients (such as protein) that can improve your recovery. Pairing carbohydrates with protein helps the body absorb more of the amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) to repair the typical, minor wear and tear on the muscles that occurs during training.

 

Conclusion:

With all that being said, keep in mind that for most people your calorie and macronutrient intake over the course of the day, and week, is far more impactful to your fitness goals than specific pre or post-workout meals. If you need help finding balance with your nutrition and adequately fuelling your workouts and recovery, fill out the form below to book your FREE nutrition consultation with Kate today!

 

Eat the Rules with Summer Innanen – #274: Body Image Series: Where our Body Images Comes From

@summerinnanen

Finding your Freedom with Food – Healing Relationship with Food and Body Image, Fitness (Untangling Nuance of Disordered v Healthy Approaches), Health at Every Size, Motivational Interviewing and More, with Jonny Landels

@jonnylandels

Diet Culture Rebel – The Body Image Pep Talk You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know You Needed with Kenzie Brenna

@diet.culture.rebel & @kenziebrenna

 

Book your complimentary, comprehensive nutrition assessment today. Fill out the form below, or email kate@groundworkathletics.ca to get started!

Protein Staples to Build Meals

Prioritising protein in your meals is one of the best things you can do for a stable diet. For some, it can be a little challenging to come up with ideas to build meals around a protein source. This week, we’re keeping things real simple as Coach Mitch provides a few of his staple protein sources and his favourite meals to build around them. Please note that every person has different energy requirements, so serving sizes will vary between people.

 

–  Greek Yogurt

1. Breakfast Parfait – Greek yogurt (1-2 servings), frozen blueberries for volume and flavour, heaped teaspoon of peanut butter, heaped teaspoon of raspberry jam, quarter cup of Pumpkin Seed & Flax granola. Granola can be swapped for any other granola or cereal of your choice. Makes for a delicious, protein dense start to the day!
2. Oreo Pudding Dessert – 1 serving of greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon sugar free chocolate Jell-O Pudding mix, 3-4 Oreo Thins crushed/broken. Light and tasty dessert after dinner, or a mid-day snack!

– Ground Turkey

1. Tacos – Ground turkey, sweet corn, black beans, salt, pepper and taco seasoning (feel free to make your own seasoning, I’m lazy). Lightly brown the ground turkey, add corn and black beans, season and simmer until cooked. Serve on soft or hardshell tortillas of your choosing. I like to serve with some form side salad – usually a large handful of broccoli slaw seasoned with salt and pepper, mixed with salsa. This helps to increase the volume of my meal without adding lots of calories.
2. Turkey Burger – Pretty straightforward. Season the ground turkey to your preference, ball up your burgers, flatten them and gently fry until cooked. Personally, I like to serve on a sourdough or brioche bun. Dress with your preferred condiments, and serve with a side salad. Leaner than ground beef, turkey burgers can make a great alternative for those who prefer to allocate calories elsewhere, such as dessert!

– Chicken Thighs

1. Sandwiches – A staple dinner of mine because it’s delicious, and extremely easy. Season chicken thighs with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a little paprika. Fry chicken thighs until cooked, then set aside to rest for a few minutes. Serve on lightly toasted sourdough bread dressed with arugula, balsamic vinegar and a dash of dijon mustard. Pair with a homemade quinoa salad, or buy one from Costco for convenience, no shame here.
2. Rice bowl – Boil your desired serving of rice, season chicken thighs with your choice of seasoning. Fry chicken thighs until cooked, set them aside to rest, then cut into small pieces. Keep the leftover flavours in the pan. In the same pan, lightly toss some broccoli slaw and season the same as your chicken. Throw it all into a bowl and mix together. The beauty of this meal is every component is scaleable, and it’s easy to cook for multiple people.

These recipes are not written as vegan or plant forward, but each of these meals can easily be replicated with meat-free alternatives such as: tofu, tempeh, chickpeas/legumes, lentils, and more! Keep in mind, the best diet is one you can stick to for the long term. Something that is sustainable for you, built around foods you enjoy. If your day to day eating, meal structure, or nutritional knowledge is something you’re looking to improve, email kate@groundworkathletics.ca to book your FREE Nutrition Assessment today!

 

 

Electrolytes are minerals, primarily calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, phosphate, and chloride, that conduct electrical charges in the body when mixed with water. Thanks to these minerals, our bodies can regulate the balance of hydration and blood pH levels, fire nerves, and contract muscles, but we are constantly losing electrolytes through sweat and waste products. Before reaching for a Gatorade or Nuun tablet, consider:

 

– Are you engaging in vigorous physical activity for longer than 60 minutes?

– Are you in a very hot environment?

– Are you consistently drinking 2-3L of water every day?

– Do you regularly eat a variety of nutrient dense foods?

 

Most moderately active people can maintain their electrolyte levels through regular hydration and a balanced diet, but if you’re exercising intensely in a hot environment for more than an hour, you may want to incorporate additional supplementation, whether that’s through an electrolyte tablet/drink or homemade beverage that might contain things like coconut water, fruit juice, salt, and/or ginger.

As always, the best way to obtain electrolytes (as well as other vitamins and minerals) is through food rather than supplements, such as:

– Calcium: dairy, salmon, spinach, kale

– Chloride: celery, lettuce, olives, tomatoes, table salt

– Magnesium: nuts, seeds, broccoli, spinach, salmon, legumes

– Phosphate: eggs, fish, legumes, nuts, seeds

– Potassium: leafy greens, potatoes, fruit, legumes

– Sodium: table sat, eggs, meat/seafood, pickles/fermented food, cottage cheese