FATS DOMINO, OR THE “GOOD” FATS

Unsaturated fats. These keep blood cholesterol levels low by lowering the bad LDL cholesterol and raising the good HDL cholesterol. These fats occur in vegetable oils, most nuts, olives, avocados and fatty fish like salmon. Whenever possible, substitute saturatedfats with unsaturated fats.

Monounsaturated fats are found largely in vegetable oils, yummy avocados, olives, and most seeds and nuts.

I found my thrill

Polyunsaturated fats occur in sunflower, corn and soybean oils as well as weird stuff like flaxseed and flaxseed oils. Omega-3 fatty acids are perhaps the most popularly known polyunsaturated fat because of their ability to protect you against heart disease. The most common source of Omega-3s is sea fish.

FAT BASTARD, OR THE “BAD” FATS

Dietary cholesterol Of course, high cholesterol in the blood is bad, but foods rich in cholesterol are not inherently bad. The amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream is what is important. But by and large the fats we eat influence bloodstream cholesterol.

Saturated. Since our bodies make all the saturated fats we need, anything else is really more than our bodies need, which is why it is just good sense to limit saturated fats or remove them from your diet completely. Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol, both the “good”high-density cholesterol (HDL) and the “bad” low-density cholesterol (LDL). Saturated fats include high fat dairy products, fatty and processed meats and their skin, lard, palm and coconut oil. Keep these fats low or try to eliminate altogether.

Since saturated fats in our diets come mainly from cows – beef and dairy – try eating lean meats and low-fat or fat-free dairy products.

Trans fatty acids. This is the Beelzebub of fats. It is evil. It is poisonous. It will kill you. It is like eating cigarettes and running with scissors with a Q-Tip in your ear while swimming right after you’ve eaten… cigarettes. But oh how good it tastes.

Trans fats are most popular in restaurants, particularly fast food restaurants because of their usefulness as a kitchen product. You can fry onion rings and French fries all day long with trans fats. And when the health inspector isn’t looking, use it again the next day and the next. Mmmmmmmm.

Trans fats also make celebrity appearances in processed snacks, margarines, shortening, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

This fat is so dangerous because it raises the bad LDL cholesterol while loweringthe good HDL cholesterol, causing arteries to clog, strokes to occur and hearts to attack. Because it so prevalent in the American diet, it is hard to escape and therefore the dietary equivalent to an infectious disease.

The best advice is to avoid trans fats at all costs. So, put down your bacon fat-fried Twinkie and step away from the trough.

Fat as fuel

Let’s review:

1. The body needs lots of energy for marathon training.

2. Food is fuel.

3. Fuel produces energy.

4. Muscles use carbohydrates, fat, and small amounts of proteins for fuel.

The human body never ceases to amaze me. Despite our best efforts to wreck it with fried pickles and beer, the body is an incredibly efficient machine. Endurance training – i.e., marathoning and long runs – helps to condition the body to burn more fat. Specifically, marathon training promotes more efficient fat burning and less reliance on burning carbs by burning glycogen stores more slowly over a longer period of time.

During long runs, the body relies much more on fats than it does on shorter runs. The body does this to prevent glycogen depletion. Think of the body as a hybrid vehicle, burning two forms of energy – in this case carbohydrates and fat. It is a perfect example of energy efficiency.

Running 6 miles or more is great for fat burning because the body seeks to run more efficiently by burning more fat. Naturally, the more long runs you do, the more fat you burn. Not to mention, a responsible diet with acceptable levels of fat, combined with regular calorie burning, which is done daily – or almost daily – during shorter runs, leads to increased fat burning.

The curious exception is fuel used for speed. The faster you run, the more carbs you burn relative to fat. Fats use oxygen less efficiently that carbs, so muscles rely more heavily on carbohydrates than fats when you’re burning rubber.

One should still consume fats wisely. That means consuming meats that are leaner, dairy products lower in fat content, and a responsible diet of fat. What’s “responsible”?The American Heart Association recommends 30% of our calories to come from fat, which is not really that hard to do. In a nutshell, eaters can make great progress by avoiding fried foods and processed snacks.

To shed light on the mystery of fats, it is good to understand what they are and what they do.

FATS

Fats are the nutritional version of the double-edge sword: fats will give you good health, or they will kill you. Lucky for us informed eaters, consumption of fats is not a crap shoot or Russian roulette. Understanding this dietary Gemini will unlock a world of possibility for the marathon runner. Or at the very least, it’ll keep you out of the morgue.

Some benefits of fats are:

• Aids in digestion
• Helps build cells and maintain stable body temperature
• Helps transfer vitamins
• Good for hair, skin, and joints.
• Improves endurance without adverse effects on weight, cholesterol and blood pressure
• Promotes a healthy immune system, especially against the rigors of intense training (conversely, fat deprivation might compromise the immune system during training)
• Limits the release of free radicals – those little boogers that destroy healthy cells
• And last but not least, it is a great source of energy!

Carbs – Going Without

Carbohydrates are the easiest, most accessible form of energy for the body. The other forms – fats and proteins –require more hydration to process, robbing the body necessary fluids for other body functions. Stated simply, if you chose to ignore carbohydrates, you will be protein and fat overloaded, dehydrated, constipated, and annoyingly dyspeptic. Not to mention, you will have less energy to burn.

Outta gas

Because the body craves carbohydrates for intense exercise, going without carbs before a race will cause the runner to move less efficiently and perhaps a little sluggishly. Even a moderate race like a 10-K will cause a carb-depleted body to be tired, lethargic, and irritable.

Illusion of control

A very Taoism versus Confucianism confrontation. Also posted to Tao of Po - Act Two - Finding Your Way page over yonder to your right.. 

Is The Coconut Water Craze All It's Cracked Up To Be?

Interesting story this morning on coconut water -- the new sports drink. Go figure.

I like coconuts.

Sweet Tips! Carbo load 2 to 3 days before a long run and two weeks before the big race, consume complex carbs 2 hours before, and again within 30 minutes of a long race.

I am your destiny!

Carb loading

Everything that is ever learned about dieting and nutrition teaches the young eater that indulgence of any food is a bad thing. Indulgence makes us nauseous; it gives us cramps while swimming; and, most importantly, it causes us to be fat.

Run, you meatball. Run like the wind!

However, as a dashing marathoner, the runner – young and old – will need saddlebags of energy to sustain the 26.2 miles of marathon famine and want. It is then necessary for an eater to prepare for feats of endurance by storing lots of energy: energy in the form of glycogen, which is begat from glucose, which is begat from complex carbohydrates, which is begat from the stuffing of thine face with bagels, cereal, bananas, pasta, and others of the “White” food group (Have you noticed that most everything you eat that is white is a carbohydrate? OK, minus the bacon fat. But you get the point.)

Carb loading throws everything you know about dieting on its ear. It is the process of consuming large amounts of carbs before intense exercise. In our case, it is preparation for the long runs and the race itself.

Oh joy! How I love carb loading! As a pasta-loving Chef Boy-R-Dee raviolio, this part of the training is the stuff of dreams! Uh-oh! Spagetteo!

3 best songs on 3 mile run - June 10, 2012

I'm back in my semi-native hometown of DC for the weekend working on a house that fate is determined to make me keep -- even though I've lived in Louisiana for the last 5 years.

It's a drag, so I ran a few miles this morning to slough of the anxiety of double homeownership in a crappy economy. Best 3 locomotivators today are:

1. Alice Cooper - No More Mr. Nice Guy (Doesn't he look like a head bangin' Henry "The Fonz" Winkler?)



2. Sex Pistols - EMI (I could haul ass to any Sex Pistols tune)




3.  Sid Vicious - My Way (Once again, I'm stuck in the 1970s music)



Punk rock and 1970s music? I need to update my collection.

CARBS

Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy. If food is fuel, carbs are the octane.

Despite the carbs’ bad reputation and society’s faddish tendencies toward protein-only diets, this will be the most important component to your diet. In fact, I believe carbs has gotten a bad rap. While it is indisputable that a high-carbohydrate diet leads to obesity, such a notion assumes (1) a sedentary lifestyle, and (2) an over-indulgence of carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are consumed expressly to be burned. Burning calories and intense exercise requires greater levels of energy. Greater levels of energy require greater consumption of carbohydrates.

If the couch is your high-endurance treadmill, then a diet with fewer carbs is entirely appropriate. Unless the carbs are burned, the body, efficient as it is, will store them (You didn’t know that being a fat ass was a sign of efficiency, did you?)

There are two kinds of carbohydrates:

Simple Carbohydrates are digested quickly and supply the body a quick energy rush. Simple Carbohydrates should NOT be your source of energy. They are good for a cocker spaniel explosion of energy, but these carbs will not sustain you. They are not forbidden to eat, but your foundation of energy should be complex carbohydrates. Examples of simple carbs include honey, white sugar, brown sugar, syrup, fruit juices, milk and yogurt.

Complex Carbohydrates digest slower and release energy over a longer period of time. They also contain nutrients and some fiber. Complex carbohydrates should represent most of your carb consumption. Examples of complex carbs include grains, cereals, fruits, vegetables, beans, breads, brown rice, and potatoes.

When consumed, carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar – or glucose –which is stored as glycogen in the muscles. This is the main source of energy for exercising muscles. It is the energy that is depleted first (followed by fats). After 20 minutes of exercise, the body burns a combination of carbs and fat. Most people don’t exercise long enough to burn significant amounts of fat in a single workout.

The 3-Legged Stool of Marathon Nutrition: Carbohydrates, Fats and Proteins

Uh, I love, etc., etc.

The body gets energy from three sources: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. You should have a balanced blend of the three.

A healthy diet rule of thumb includes:

55-60% of calories come from carbohydrates

25-30% of calories come from fats

15-20% of calories come from proteins

“Dream a Dream and then run out and make it real. That’s what science fiction is all about.” ~ Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury gave a speech at LSU many years ago. Here are some great nuggets of his published in the local news paper Baton Rouge Advocate:

“Whatever you want to do, do it. And the people who say you can’t aren’t your friends. Make list of them. Call them up.

Ray Bradbury suggested that people don’t follow their dreams simply out of fear. He remembered crying one night after high school because he feared he would never be known as a professional. He said, “We’re all afraid. But I don’t do anything I don’t love. I wouldn’t dream of it. You have to be in love."

“… treasure those who provide support in life, ignore those who do not and above all, follow your heart, follow your bliss.”

“Why are we here? We were put here to witness and celebrate this universe. My God, isn’t it incredible. I go home and lie in bed at night thinking about that.”

Ray Bradbury died yesterday. He will be missed.

  

When training for a marathon or other high-endurance sport, it is OK to eat more food because you are depleting your fuel storage. Another way to look at it is if you drive a car faster, it will need fuel more frequently, as it were. Eat more, burn more.

The cornerstone of your diet is the necessary 3 meals a day. Most all people love to snack between meals. My problem is that I get fairly hungry before a meal, so I tend to over eat each meal. My portions are larger and my second servings become thirds. Consequently, I feel food stupid or uncomfortably belt-stretching when it’s time to throw in the towel.

A better choice for big eaters like me is to eat smaller meals more frequently, say, three to five times a day. When you can’t make a meal, keep a meal beverage close by. Supplement meals with mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks of sports bars, fruits, dried fruit, nuts, and juices. These snacks supply the body with added energy and nutrients. And the overall result is a stable flow of energy without all the binging and stuffing.

If food is fuel it is helpful to understand what is on your plate and how it affects your body. Knowing this will allow you to consume more wisely and effectively. Otherwise, you will end up eating hotdogs and sausage instead of energy bars during your training.