NUTRITION ADVICE FOR EXERCISERS

My Earned Runs HOUSE CUP CHALLENGE jar . Taken By PKSenagore October 23, 2017. All rights reserved.

NOT JUST FOR WEIGHT LOSS
SINCE STARTING THE ‘HOUSE CUP’ CHALLENGE* in early October I’ve learned it can be more difficult than I imagined it would be to break my old, bad habits. Like skipping meals, saving meal calories for later snacking or alcoholic beverage consumption, and exercising excessively.  There’s a constant urge to edit the point system I worked out for myself to make it easier. And then there’s the daily urge to cheat on reporting.    
 
The result is my “House Cup” is frequently low on points (dimes), especially after weekends.  My top worst repeat offenses are to skip breakfast, to not drink the glasses of ice water, and sit too long working at the computer.
 
On the positive side, I am much better at consuming more vegetables, eating an afternoon protein snack, and getting all the stretching, foam rolling, and mobility work completed early in the day. Most days, but not all, I DO eat the pre-sleep casein protein snack.
 
In addition, I am much more focused on performing a moderate amount of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) than excessive pure aerobic exercise aimed at improving cardiorespiratory fitness (‘cardio’).  The HIIT workouts are shorter, just over 30-40 minutes (see details below), another benefit.
 
Macaela Mackenzie has suggestions for those hoping to lose weight, but the points she makes in her My FitnessPal.com article "9 Mistakes You're Making on Your Weight Loss Journey" can assist all of us with developing healthy eating habits. Especially those who spend a significant amount of time exercising.   'Mistakes' include:
*Working out more but eating less,
*Obsessively cutting calories, cutting or skimping on meals, cutting specific food groups
*Falling for the “Halo” effect of specific foods
* Using de-toxes as a diet strategy
 
The details of her article are worth reading. Some may find that certain of Mackenzie’s listed ‘mistakes’ help you stay with an overall nutritious eating plan. An occasional de-tox, weekly tough ‘cardio’ workout, cutting out concentrated carbohydrates, for example.  Consider the underlying principle explained for each ‘mistake' before changing your behavior. 
 
RUN HAPPY!

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/9-mistakes-youre-making-weight-loss-journey

*Details of the HOUSE CUP CHALLENGE are on the RESOURCES page and explained in a BLOG post.

NOTE: Sample HIIT
A) “30:20:10” HIIT sessions running, on a stationary bicycle, or elliptical.
5-minute warm-up then 3 repeats of a 7-minute session HIIT and 5-minute cooldown = 31 minutes total.  The 7 minute sessions are comprised of 2 minutes easy effort followed by 5 x 1 minute increasing effort, then 30 second moderate, then 20 seconds high-moderate, and finally 10 seconds, high effort. 
 
B) “3:3” HIIT walking
5-minute warm-up, 5 repeats of a 6-minute HIIT session, and 5-minute cooldown = 40 minutes
(3 minutes moderate effort, then 3 minutes high effort)