Pre-workout Food

After vacation last week, I'm clearly in need of getting back on the healthy eating wagon! Totally worth it, though : )

I went to boot camp last Friday after we got back, and it was terrible. I woke up late and didn't have time to eat a good breakfast beforehand-just a granola bar in the car. Dear readers: don't be as dumb as me. I bonked hard. Usually the workout is tough. I'm sweating, sometimes a little light headed, and I'm breathing hard struggling to finish the exercises. Friday was just...wrong. Vision going black, sweating yet freezing cold, nauseous. I had to sit with my head b/t my legs for most of it b/c I was so dizzy. I'm super prone to head rushes (orthostatic hypotension: that dizziness, blurry vision that occurs sometimes if you stand up too quickly and your blood pressure falls.) I get these alllllll the time. It felt like that the entire time. Usually he is checking in with us, making sure we are ok and helps get us through the last reps or dig deeper. He looked at me and just said are you ok? Me: blank look, shaking my head. Him: dude. you look awful. go sit down.


 So today's topic is Eating Before Exercise!

Before boot camp I usually eat a piece of bread with some peanut butter, or a banana with yogurt, or something like that. A bit of quick carbs with a little protein. I can't eat too much or I feel like I will throw up. I am not much of a morning person, so I have to make myself eat something. If you exercise late in the day it isn't so much of a concern.


Some people advocate working out on an empty stomach. The theory behind this is that without glucose, your body has to start using fat for fuel. A fun little process called glycolysis. This is an unusual and inefficient process-so usually it slows you down quite a bit. The argument is that if you continually exercise and your body has to go into glycolysis 1) who doesn't want to burn fat? and 2) your body becomes more efficient at it eventually won't slow you down as much. That is also a very quick and dirty explanation of how low carb diets work.


I admit that I don't know enough about this topic and haven't read much research on it. Bad dietitian, bad! Instead I thought I would ask you lovely people.

--Do you workout on an empty stomach if you work out in the morning? Do you think it makes a difference? 

--Do you have a pre-workout snack? What is it? 

--Do you have an opinion on running/working out with a bit of glucose/glycogen depletion?


And as a survey note to my tens of readers: do you read posts like this that are kind of wordy and a tiny bit more educational? I would like this blog to be somewhat informative, but I don't really know how much people want to actually read ; ) So weigh in and tell me!

More pictures in which I am drinking

Enjoying a nice Pinot at Happy Hour somewhere on the Harbor. Then we went to play mini golf! Because we are the two nerdiest nerds who ever nerded, 

Also, I'm surprisingly good at mini golf. It doesn't really make any sense. 

After mini golf we wandered around and eventually ate somewhere lackluster. Oh well. At least it was pretty. 

Michael decided to take pictures of me while we waited for our food. 

I got tired of it after awhile. 

(Also pictured: HUMIDITY)

Here is the secret to enjoying a touristy beach area: GO EARLY. We ate dinner each night at like 5-5:30 (sadly, no senior citizen discounts were granted.) First, everyone is still at the beach. Second, HAPPY HOUR. If you go after 6 there is at least an hour wait. 

 

We went to McGuire's which was having 2 for 1 special. I mean, obviously I had to get two margaritas, right? That's just math. 

Ate some delicious mahi mahi and the world's most baconiest baked potato.

So yes, I may have gained 2-3 lbs in Florida. WORTH IT.

Very short beach recap

We ate a lot. Drank a lot. Sat on the beach.

The end!

Here are a few pics. We took zero of us together, so it is mostly pictures of me drinking to be honest.

Beach! As you can see there was a bit of seaweed. Y'all seaweed freaks me out. I just can't stand it touching me. 

Oh my gosh you guys. We went to a restaurant on the harbor to kill some time before we could get into the condo. But, it had to be somewhere dog friendly b/c we took our puppies with us. Yes, we are those people. I love taking them with us on vacation. I researched and found a place that would let us sit outside with them. They even brought out doggy bowls and treats!

So we are there, just going to have a late lunch and waste some time. Our waiter takes our order and as he is leaving just lets it drop that, oh by the way, we have bottomless champagne FOR $7 for the next two hours. SOLD. I'm pretty sure that sitting in the sun, on the water, with my husband and dogs, drinking bottomless champagne is my very own personal heaven. I want to live there forever. 

After refilling my glass for the eleventh time I say "oh, why don't you just leave the bottle and save yourself a trip!" 

AND HE DID

IT WAS AMAZING

Unsurprisingly, I had to take a little nap when we got to our condo. The restaurant clearly underestimated my ability to get as much as possible for very little money.

Up next: more pictures of me drinking things!

Best dietitian ever!

Food Plate

The big news in the nutrition world is the changing of the Food Pyramid to the Choose My Plate model. It is all over social media with everyone weighing in on it. So of course, I'm jumping on that bandwagon.

 

Pretty! 

The Good

-Easy to understand.

-Practical-gives visual representation of portions

-Half is fruit/veggies

-I actually like that it is labeled "protein" vs "meat" for people who are vegetarian/vegan

The Bad

-Where are the fats and sugars? Especially the healthy un/mono-saturated ones? The guidelines don't really differentiate b/t healthy fats and unhealthy fats.

-Lean protein? Low fat dairy? this is addressed in the guidelines, but not the plate icon.

-I think the serving sizes is ambiguous.

-I wish it addressed what NOT to eat more.

-It doesn't emphasize whole grains. And I think most people are counting cakes/cookies/chips as grains. 

-Do we need that much dairy? Calcium-yes. But you can get calcium from other sources. Should dairy count as a protein? 

Overall, it isn't bad. It is a start. I don't think this new icon will have a huge impact on the way people eat though, unfortunately. I wish I knew what would motivate everyone to make better choices. Right now, our nutrition as a country is so broken that even just getting people to eat like this plate, with its flaws, would make a huge impact. While I think it could be better, it is going to be a process of baby steps to fix our nation's health. It is aimed at the people with the vastly unhealthy lives, not regular people who have a basic understanding of nutrition. I thought most nutrition info was common sense and well known to all. That is not the case.

I just wish there was an answer. Bad nutrition seems so cyclical to me. Parents don't make healthy choices for themselves or the child. The child grows up eating processed, fatty foods and both gains a taste for these foods and a jacked up metabolism. The child becomes a parent and teaches their child the same thing. Somewhere, somehow we have to break that cycle. I don't think a new icon is going to change most peoples' eating patterns.

My school nutrition rotations were spent in Birmingham Public Schools-this is a very poor (financially-80-90% were on free/reduced lunches) school system populated by largely African American kids. It is the definition of an urban setting where kids aren't necessarily safe playing outside; kids live in an area with fewer parks and sidewalks; they are living in a food desert where the produce selection is terrible; and they honestly have not been exposed to nutrition knowledge or many nutritious foods-and those foods seem weird. School lunches are always under fire for being over processed, fries count as veggies, the meats aren't lean, too much pizza, etc. And this is true. But, when we served new salads with more and better veggies-the kids won't eat it. They have to have a certain number of veggies on their plate; they can't refuse them. When we tried different, non-starch veggies-the kids won't eat them. They would rather eat nothing and throw food away than eat some of these more nutritious items. So, yes, we should revamp school lunches, but if they aren't getting a healthy message at home it doesn't seem like it would make much of an impact. Not to even touch on how little money schools have for these meals.

As a dietitian, one of our major goals is to motivate people to make a change in their diet. Whether that is a gluten free, or a renal , or just a basic healthy diet, our job is to convince the patient to eat that way. It seems easy, but it is actually one of the most challenging aspects of this job. You would think telling someone "You are diabetic. Your blood sugar is 679. If you keep eating like you have been, you are going to be really sick and then die. The end." would be motivating, but apparently not based on the frequency of return patients. Many of my patients just thought diabetes/heart disease/early death were just inevitable. All their friends and family have died youngish from complications. That is just what happens in a person's life. They don't think they can change, or that the change would be worth it. I'm very interested in what that spark is, that convinces someone to buy into what you are saying and motivate themselves to do it.  How can I change your motivation from extrinsic (I have to do this b/c my MD/RD is making me) to intrinsic (I have to do this so that I can be healthy and watch my kids grow up.) What can we do? What can we say? What can we use to convince someone that they *have* to make changes? Dietitians do our best, but I have left patients' rooms knowing they aren't going to do anything I say.

So I'm glad there is a new, hopefully easy to interpret graphic. Will it change anything? We will have to see. I don't think the disconnect is that people don't know what to eat. They just would rather not eat the healthy foods. But, we have to start somewhere. And we have to start now. 

What are your thoughts? Love it or hate the plate? If you have made a change in your eating, what was your motivating factor? How did you move from contemplation to action? What do you think needs to be done to correct the terrifying health path we are currently on? 

Happy Dietitian Day!

Yeah, that's right. I have my own day ; )

I've got some great questions and I am looking forward to writing about the topics. Feel free to submit anything else...really at any time. I had a friend with an emergency this week, so it may be a few days on the questions. But it will happen!

Plus I want to talk about: 1) how awesome I'm getting at 30DS. And obvs how shredded I am after doing it 13 times (yes, I'm averaging like every other day. 60 Day Shred is more my speed.) I can feel I am getting a bit more muscle/strength in my arms and legs. 2) how I'm able to run faster and for longer than I have in a veeeeery long time. Basically, I'm amazing and an exercise machine. I'm pretty much Jillian Michaels' body double.

It is almost Dietitian Day

March 9th is National Dietitian Day!

From ADA: Registered Dietitian Day was created by the American Dietetic Association to increase the awareness of registered dietitians as the indispensable providers of food and nutrition services and to recognize RDs for their commitment to helping people enjoy healthy lives. Registered Dietitian Day and National Nutrition Month® promote ADA and RDs to the public and the media as the most valuable and credible source of timely, scientifically-based food and nutrition information.

So I thought we could do an Ask an RD Day here. Ask me anything and I will try to answer. Nutrition recommendations, research, questions about your intake, etc. Anything you want! If I don't know, I'll research it. You can leave me a comment or email me at confessionsofadietitian@gmail.com. I'll post answers this week! 

I'm so Fancy

Recruiters should totally try to buy our affections through steak, because it works. The dinner last night actually turned out to be pretty fun-it was a big group of people from our home state who all live here. The head recruiter was from my hometown! Older than I am, but he went to the same elementary, jr. high, and high school I did. It did make me homesick, though.

The dinner itself was amazing. Started with a great salad-Honey Roasted Pears, Dried Cranberries, Watercress, Shaved Onions, Sugared Walnuts, Stilton Cheese in a Shallot Rasberry Balsamic Vinaigrette. I love salads that are mostly fruit.

I had the filet-top right (not my pictures). It was so, so good. Buttermilk Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes, Cabernet Smoked Onions and Black Pepper Demi-Glace. I could've eaten two it was so good. Dessert was either peanut butter pie (which I made my husband order so I could taste!) or butterscotch creme brulee. I never order or eat creme brulee, but this one was unbelievably good. All of the residents were joking around about only getting to eat at restaurants like this when work pays for it.

Oh dear. I just looked at the brunch menu and now must have this: Banana Foster Shortstack-Buttermilk Pancakes layered with Roasted Bananas in a Traditional Foster's Sauce with Crumbled Pralines, Onion Braised Andouille & Chantilly Cream. How amazing does that sound? It would be worth the 847 miles I would have to run to work it off. I really am promoting health, wellness, and proper nutrition here aren't I?

It actually ended up being really fun. Our table had an interesting conversation about obesity/childhood health/public policy. We had 3 M.D.s, one R.D. (me), one pharmacist, and one guy with a MBA/MPA so it was a good conversation. My thoughts on public health and nutrition have really changed since moving here and actually being in situations rather than just reading about them or theorizing...but that is maybe a post for another day!