Category: Performance

Posted on by

Staying Hydrated

Staying hydrated – it’s important. Water supports many roles in human health and performance, including regulation of body temperature, delivery of nutrients to cells, organ function, lubrication of joints and ligaments, and mitigating infection. Hypohydration (result of dehydration), or hyperhydration (excessive rehydration), can lead to performance impairment. At the extremes, it poses a significant risk to health and life. Through proper replenishment of fluids, euhydration (body water balance) contributes to optimum performance.

Human water and water loss

The human body is 60-70% water. Fat tissue stores about 10% water, while muscle tissue is about 70% water. Given that a high proportion of our total weight is attributable to water, it’s intuitive that hydration status can play a meaningful role in day-to-day fluctuations in body weight. Excluding activity, adults lose anywhere from about 30 to 100 oz. water/day (~ 1 to 3 L) in the process of dehydration. About 60% is lost through urine, 35% through evaporation from the respiratory tract and sweat, and about another 5% in poo.

The impact of dehydration on performance

Appropriate fluid intake to limit dehydration is the single most effective way to maintain exercise capacity during training. Depending on physical and environmental factors, an additional 15 to over 170 oz. (~ 0.5 to 5L) of water per hour can be lost through sweat during exercise. Replenishment of water during a variety of activities demonstrates improved physiological function [1] and time to exhaustion [2]. Failure to replace water has demonstrated significant consequences to performance and risks health issues.

Blood flow to exercising muscles is reduced during dehydration. This reduction in blood flow leads to impaired performance. Even at only a 2% loss of body water, endurance and strength-power capacity begins to substantially diminish. Beyond 3% bodyweight loss starts to impose significant health risk. The amount of liquid required to maintain favorable water balance is variable between individuals, but often necessitates drinking before thirst begins. During exercise, most people do not typically get thirsty until they have already lost a meaningful amount of fluid through sweat. Generally, thirst is a lagging indicator of hydration status.

Rehydration

Rehydration and maintenance of body water balance is achieved by consumption of drinks AND foods. Approximately 50% of water is recovered by drinking water and 30% by drinking other fluids. About 20% from food. While we don’t think too much about eating water, many whole foods are loaded with it. Most fresh fruits and vegetables are over 90% water by weight, egg and cooked potato is >70% water. Seafood, meats, poultry, cooked rice, are 60-65% water. Processed foods have lower water content, for example bread (35-40%), cake (15-30%), and biscuits and crackers (1-5%). Therefore, individuals with a diet comprising a higher percentage of processed foods.

Rehydration can be accomplished with drinks other than water. Check out this information about the Beverage Hydration Index.  

How do I know if I’m hydrated?

Thirst alone may not be the best indicator. A multi-factor approach such as the WUT (Weight-Urine-Thirst) self-assessment method can provide a better picture of likelihood of hypohydration for athletes. If you have two or more of these markers, it’s likely you are hypohydrated, and highly likely if you have all three.

WEIGHT

Day to day body weight losses in excess of 1.1% may be an indication of hypohydration (assuming free access to food and drink) . Weigh yourself first thing in the morning every day. For example, a 1.1% loss would be 1.65 lb. for a 150 lb. individual. Take this information into context with thirst and urine characteristics.

URINE (Volume and Color)

Urination is more frequent when body water is high, and less when body water is low. Therefore, if water loss is high due to sweating from exercise, less urine may be produced even if fluid intake is increased. Further, reduced urine production results in darker color and is somewhat indicative of hydration status. Use a urine assessment chart like the one below (and remember that the toilet contains water, which will dilute the color). A reduction in urine frequency with darkening of color may be an indication of hypohydration along with weight and thirst as indicators.

THIRST

Thirst can be a lagging indicator of hydration status; even if you aren’t thirsty, you may still be hypohydrated. If you are thirsty, take this information into context with change in weight and urine characteristics.

Habits to stay hydrated

1. Have a glass of water when you wake up in the morning

2. Eating contributes to hydration. Nearly all veggies and fruits are more than 90% water – keep up with these in your diet to support hydration!

3. Rule of thumb for general water intake per day = 1/2 bodyweight in ounces or more depending on your physiology, general activity and environment.

4. If you’re behind on water intake before training, 15-20 oz. in the two hours leading up, and another 5-10 oz. 20 minutes before.

5. During training – replace fluids based on your sweat rate. A typical replacement range is 17-70 oz. (0.5 – 2L) per hour of fluid. If training longer than an hour it might be a good idea to drink back some sweat (electrolytes) plus carbohydrate if warranted. Read about electrolytes and how to calculate sweat rate here.

Hope you found this post informative! Reach out anytime with questions.

Ready to start?

Get started with nutrition coaching

Let’s work together

1. Nassis GP, Geladas ND. Effect of water ingestion on cardiovascular and thermal responses to prolonged cycling and running in humans: a comparison. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Dec;88(3):227-34.

2. Samuel N. Cheuvront & Robert W. Kenefick (2016) Am I Drinking Enough? Yes, No, and Maybe, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 35:2, 185-192

Instagram: @kmcgrath.phd Facebook: @1modusenergy

Posted on by

Popular Diets: Considerations for Athletes

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently issued a scientific statement evaluating popular diets against current recommendations for diets promoting cardiometabolic health. This review explores which diets may be better for long-term sustainability and how popular diets overlap with nutritional considerations for athletes.

Research Reviewed: Popular Dietary Patterns: Alignment With American Heart Association 2021 Dietary Guidance: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Why did the AHA prepare this statement?

Diet types have different levels of flexibility based on rules or recommendations. While flexibility is important, vague rules can also lead to misunderstandings or unintended food choices that may work counter to long-term health goals. For example, certain popular diets may fall outside of certain macronutrient distribution ranges and/or exclude major food groups. Popular media, and even some clinicians, misunderstand the evidence base of dietary patterns promoting cardiometabolic health. The goal of the statement is to compare popular diets to evidence-based AHA Dietary Guidance and provide clarity regarding the implementation of these diets.

What are the 2021 AHA Dietary Guidelines?

Refreshed every five years based on scientific reviews of available evidence, the AHA Dietary Guidelines associated with good cardiometabolic health and prevention of disease are based on ten criteria. AHA established these guidelines considering diets require flexibility based on individual, social, and cultural preferences in order to support healthy behaviors.

Popular diets AHA Guidelines

Popular diets defined and scored vs. the AHA Guidelines

The researchers conducted a review of publicly available literature regarding diet trends, including randomized control trials and descriptions from health organizations. They excluded diets designed to manage non-cardiometabolic diseases, short-term diets, and commercial diets with unclear definitions. After these exclusions, the researchers established the defining features of each remaining diet type.

Ten dietary patterns emerged based on similarities in macronutrient profiles, emphasized food groups, and restricted food groups.

Each of the diets was scored using a points system against the AHA guidelines, where a score of 1 point per guideline was given if the diet matched the guidance, 0.75 points if it mostly matched, 0.5 points if it partially matched, and 0 points if the diet was contrary. The subject matter experts discussed their scores to achieve consensus. A normalized score of 100 indicates perfect alignment.

Only criteria 2-9 were scored. Criteria 1 (maintain a healthy weight by adjusting energy intake and expenditure) is not directly attributable to a specific diet. Weight loss, maintenance, or weight gain can be achieved through any diet type by adjusting calorie energy intake. The authors note, “Low energy-dense foods such as vegetables and fruits are associated with greater satiety, and some evidence suggests that higher intakes of fiber and protein promote satiety. Energy balance may also be influenced by dietary restraint: Highly restrictive diets can support short-term energy restriction and weight loss, but have been associated with higher food cravings and attrition over time, although that may be modulated by individual characteristics. In addition, food availability and exposure to highly palatable, often ultra-processed foods may affect energy balance.”

What were the results?

DASH, Mediterranean, Pescatarian, and Ovo/Lacto Vegetarian diets had highest alignment with the AHA Guidelines.

Low-fat diets (<30% of calories from fat) and Vegan diets were mostly in alignment with the AHA Guidelines.

Very low-fat diets (<10% of calories from fat) and low carbohydrate diets (30-40% of calories from carbohydrate) had some partial alignment with the AHA guidlines.

Paleo and very-low carbohydrate diets (<10% of calories from carbohydrate) were poorly aligned with the AHA Guidelines.

DASH earned the top score. This dietary pattern was developed upon AHA recommendations.

Analysis

Considering health-promoting diet and long-term sustainability

I’ve plotted the AHA scores versus the number of food groups eliminated. Assuming no necessary dietary restrictions, the elimination of food groups or foods may make long-term adherence to a particular diet more challenging. In the short term, some find that diets with more food restrictions can be beneficial for their goals by reducing the number of daily decisions about food. However, these restrictions can be challenging to adhere to in the long term, considering the social, mental, and emotional aspects of food beyond simply “fueling the body”.

Diets that align best with the AHA Guidelines (DASH, Mediterranean, Pescatarian) also tend to have fewer food restrictions. Low fat (20-30%) and low carb (30-40%) diets also offer higher flexibility, although low-carb diets show lower alignment with AHA recommendations.

Due to the exclusion of meats, poultry, seafood, eggs/dairy, ovo/lacto vegetarians and vegan diets have more food restrictions, but still score well along AHA recommendations. Very low-fat diets are also almost necessarily vegan diets in order to achieve <10% of calories from fat, with additional elimination of nuts, oils, and seeds.

Paleo and very low-carb diets have poor alignment with heart-healthy diet guidelines and also tend to have more restrictions.

What to consider as an athlete

The AHA heart-healthy diet recommendations were created to promote good health and prevent disease at the general population level. They don’t take into account inter-individual variability within a group, nor the specific dietary needs of athletic populations.

I’ve prepared a summary of AHA alignments and areas requiring more attention by athletes. Diets scoring higher for promoting cardiometabolic health can also be strongly aligned with the needs of athletes towards performance improvement and other beneficial training adaptations.

Take Home Points

  • Not all popular dietary patterns are well aligned with diets supporting long-term cardiometabolic health.
  • Dietary patterns that support the goal of improving athletic performance can strongly overlap with dietary patterns that support cardiometabolic health. Diet patterns that are misaligned with supporting cardiometabolic health also have more potential shortcomings for athlete health and performance.
  • When choosing a diet, think about what you can stick to long-term. It may be helpful to implement a diet that enables diversity/less restrictive food choices.

Feel overwhelming? If you need help navigating the nutritional landscape for your specific athletic needs, please contact me.

Posted on by

HDT Throwdown Review and Tips

About the Event

HDT Throwdown Review and Tips

The Throwdown is 14-16 hour overnight endurance event, with competitive and non-competitive options. It’s an absolute blast – if you have the opportunity to do one, do it! You will complete a series of workouts designed to test muscular, cardiovascular, and mental endurance. You will also be completing team-based challenges. A review of HDT Throwdown and nutrition tips to help you thrive:

The Throwdown competitive option has a ruck and sandbag weight standard, and you must perform all workouts as prescribed. For non-competitive, you select your sandbag and ruck weight, you can do the exercises within any workout in any order, and you can modify exercises to meet your needs. Bryan ensures you keep proper form for all exercises (which gets more challenging as you become exhausted).

The flow of the event is systematic and planned. As to be expected, the workouts are high volume. However, there is no sense of random exercise for exercise sake. The time between evolutions is intended for recovery – to position you to test the effectiveness of your training and push yourself to the limit. Therefore, the event is an excellent way to benchmark performance and identify areas for improvement. At times, your abilities as team leader will be tested and then evaluated through a peer review process.

Despite the competitive nature of the event, the is a positive team atmosphere. you will support and cheer each other on as you go. It was incredibly motivating to see people do things they didn’t think they could do (and I loved the thrill of chasing people ahead of me in workouts).

Nutrition Tips

The design of the Throwdown confers you a MASSIVE advantage when it comes to maintaining performance because: 1) there are rest periods 2) you are free to drink and eat whenever you want, and 3) you are not confined to the space available in your ruck.

If you’re a member of the HDT Nutrition, I’ve previously shared an understanding of energy systems with in the context of exercise and endurance events. Having now experienced a Throwdown firsthand, my descriptor of the event is undulating, high to moderate intensity aerobic exercise coupled with less frequent low intensity movement. Therefore, supplying your body steadily with readily digested and absorbed carbohydrate is the priority to maintain muscle force production.

If you want to learn how to optimize your nutrition for your goals, come join us in HDT Nutrition.

CHECK OUT HDT NUTRITION

Fluids. Drink carbohydrate throughout the event. Sipping an electrolyte + carbohydrate beverage such as Tailwind, Skratch, or Gatorade (20-60g /hr. likely a good range for most folks) during or between workouts as well as water will help maintain hydration and restore glycogen. These products are convenient, but there’s nothing special about them. An less expensive option is to add dextrose (glucose) to water with table salt, which is what I did during the event. Plain dextrose is less sweet than sugar which helps it stay more palatable if consuming over a long period of time.

Foods. When you decide it’s time to eat solids, stick with easy to digest carbohydrates. A little bit of protein may help too if you find that that carbs are creating some gastrointestinal upset. Generally, it’s a good idea to minimize fiber intake, and avoid high fat and/or greasy foods. Here are a few ideas:

Consistency. Considering you have the luxury of drinking and eating whenever you want, do your best to be consistent with fluid and food intake, versus going long stretches of time. Sipping fluids every few minutes is preferable to chugging periodically to help your body absorb water and nutrients – no sense dumping a bunch of fluid quickly, most of it will likely come sailing out instead of helping you stay hydrated. Likewise, you are better off eating a little bit every break versus waiting several hours then consuming a large volume of food. When you body is prioritizing blood flow to digest food, that means blood flow is NOT being prioritized to your muscles.

While this is general best practice advice, nutrition is personal so it’s important to experiment and explore.

Hope this HDT Throwdown Review and Tips was helpful! To find an HDT event in your area, click here.

Questions, or interested in nutrition coaching? Contact me.

For more info, follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

I am an Amazon Affiliate and earn on qualifying purchases. This helps keep the website ad and pop-up free.

Posted on by

Make Your Own Endurance Fuel

Contact me if you’re looking for a personalized nutrition strategy. Get the most out of training and recovery for your event.

Make your own endurance fuel at ~3x lower cost, with a wide possibility of flavors and customizations. That’s cash towards your next race or investment into training, nutrition, and gear!

Endurance fueling – practice makes perfect

Single and multi-stage endurance events result in sizeable losses to energy stores, water, and electrolytes. Your endurance fuel should offset these losses and mitigate fatigue from dehydration and lower availability of fuel to contracting muscles. Experimentation and practice of fluid and food intake in training is important to quantify your appropriate level of carbohydrate and salt intake for events.

The risk of developing gastrointestinal (GI) distress increases twofold for those not accustomed to fluid and food ingestion during exercise,[1] and >30% of athletes exhibit one or more GI symptoms during exhaustive endurance events. [2] It’s likely attributable to a combination of maldigestion and malabsorption of nutrients, changes in transit time of nutrients through the gut, and improper fluid and nutrient intake. Experimentation and continued practice can be the difference between an all-time best and a DNF/DOR. Use training time wisely to understand what works/doesn’t work for you. Consider that your gut may not behave the same at hour one versus hour eight or more.

A good liquid endurance fuel will:

  • Replace water. As little as 2% decrease in body water can impair performance [3], and insufficient fluid replacement may increase the frequency of GI symptoms.[4] Replacement rate can vary considerably based on climate, exertion, body composition, and other factors, but a good base is in the 0.45-0.75 L/h range for extended submaximal efforts.[5]
  • Replace salt. Electrolyte replacement depends primarily on sweat rate, dietary practices, acute consumption, and genetics.
  • Attenuate energy deficit (provide calories).
  • Be near isotonic. Fluid should have similar concentration of solutes as blood plasma (275-295 mOsm/kg). Drinking a fluid with similar osmotic pressure as body fluids supports body water-electrolyte balance.
  • Encourage drinking. Should be tasty enough to make you want to sip. Sipping frequently is better than periodic gulping to maximize fluid and nutrient uptake.

Endurance fuel components and taste

Summary of ingredients of popular endurance fuels and the taste they impart:

Making your own endurance fuel

Endurance Fuel

Weighing the powders: to precisely weigh out powders, you’ll need a digital scale that can measure to the tenths of grams to make individual servings. I find it’s more practical to prepare in larger batches (in which case you can use a food scale to the hundredths). After mixing, place in a large mason jar, shake well and store for later use.

  • Electrolytes: Sweating rate and electrolyte concentration in sweat is variable based on physiology, intensity of exercise, and environment. The below table summarizes the main components of sweat on a per liter basis. For the recipe, I selected moderate levels. This endurance fuel, similar to popular products on the market includes major and minor electrolytes, with sodium and chloride the most important. If you’re getting sufficient potassium, calcium, and magnesium from your diet, adding them to your electrolyte is unlikely to provide benefit.
  • Carbohydrate (CHO): Glucose, or combinations of glucose + fructose, and sucrose rapidly replace muscle glycogen and maintain blood glucose required for muscle contraction, and support water absorption.[1,7] A good base for long submaximal efforts is 30-50g/hr,[5] supplementing with carbohydrates from food or gels as appropriate. For high intensity efforts, pushing upwards of 100g/hr is possible (with gut training and use of multiple transportable carbohydrates). [6] The recipe uses 70g/L of glucose (resulting in an intake rate of 35g-50g CHO/hr with my estimate total fluid intake rate).
  • Caffeine: Caffeine is an established ergogenic aid for sustained endurance exercise, primarily by reducing perception of pain [8,9], enhancing cognitive performance, [10] and increasing time to fatigue in skeletal muscle contraction.[11] Addition of caffeine is entirely optional; a moderate “topping off” dosage for multi-hour events is in the 70-125mg/hr range, with a pre-dosage of 3-6mg/kg BW 30-90 min before event start. Many prefer to supplement with caffeine separately using gels or other means.
  • Flavorings: This recipe is fairly tart using 2g of citric acid per liter; adjust this amount up or down to your preference. To change the flavor, Nature’s Flavors powders come in a brilliant variety. For the recipe, I used 2g apple powder which in combination with the citric acid provides a sour apple flavor, much like a Jolly Rancher candy.

Composition and cost comparison

After extensive personal testing on multi-hour training runs in both hot/arid and hot/humid climates and a elevation trail 50K on a hot day, here’s the final comparison. I was still happy drinking it until I finished just under 7 hours later.

If you’re training extensively, you’ll easily save several hundred dollars per year on fuel by making your own. Have fun and reach out anytime if you have questions!

Make your own endurance fuel at ~3x lower cost, with a wide possibility of flavors and customizations. That’s cash towards your next race or investment into training, nutrition, and gear!

[1] de Oliveira, E.P.; Burini, R.C.; Jeukendrup, A., Gastrointestinal complaints during exercise: prevalence, etiology, and nutritional recommendations, Sports Med. 44, S79-85, (2014).

[2] Romijn, J. A.; Coyle, E. F.; et al., Regulation of endogenous fat and carbohydrate metabolism in relation to exercise intensity. American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism, 265, E380–E391, (1993).

[3] Jeukendrup, A.; Gleeson, M., Henry. Sports Nutrition, Human Kinetics; 2nd edition (2009).

[4] Smith, J.W.; Bello, M.L.; Ffion, G., A Case-Series Observation of Sweat Rate Variability in Endurance-Trained Athletes, Nutrients, 13, 1807, (2021).

[5] Tiller, N.B.; Roberts, J.D.; et al., International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: nutritional considerations for single-stage ultra-marathon training and racing, J Int Soc Sports Nutr., 16(1), 50, (2019).

[6] Trommelen, J.; Fuchs, C.J.; et al., Fructose and Sucrose Intake Increase Exogenous  Carbohydrate Oxidation during Exercise, Nutrients, 9(2), 167, (2017).

[7] Giso, C.V.; Summers, R.W.; Schedl, H.P.; Bleiler, T.L., Intestinal water absorption from select carbohydrate solutions in humans. J. Appl. Physiol. 73, 2142, (1992).

[8] Laurent. D.; Schneider, K.E.; Prusaczyk, W.K.; et al., Effects of caffeine on muscle glycogen utilization and the neuroendocrine axis during exercise. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 85, 2170, (2000).

[9] Grossman, A; Sutton, J.R., Endorphins: What are they? How are they measured? What is their role in exercise?, Med Sci Sports Exerc, 17 ,74, (1985).

[10] Ivy, J.L.; Costill, D.L.; et al., Influence of caffeine and carbohydrate feedings on endurance performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 11, 6, (1979).

[11] Kalmar, J.M.; Cafarelli, E. Effects of caffeine on neuromuscular function. J Appl Physiol, 87, 801, (1999).

[12] Vitale, K; Getzin, A., Nutrition and Supplement Update for the Endurance Athlete: Review and Recommendations. Nutrients, 11(6), 1289, (2019).

Disclosure: I’m a a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This help support keeping my website ad-free.

Posted on by

Breaking a Fat Loss Plateau

It’s frustrating to be consistent with nutrition, make amazing weight loss progress, but then for no reason hit a wall. Many give up when the scale stops moving. A fat loss plateau is disheartening.

You may be a bit relieved to hear that you’re not alone. A fat loss plateau – two or more weeks where the scale doesn’t move – is almost EXPECTED during a dieting phase. The good news is there are fundamental reasons why it happens, and there are methods to break through.

Need a plan and support to improve your physique, strength and energy? Contact me to explore options.

Why We Plateau

Human metabolism is dynamic and adaptive to changes in energy intake. Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) aka “calories out” decreases in response to a sustained reduction in calorie intake. Two adaptations are primarily responsible:

  • Reduction in basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is the energy we expend to breathe, move blood through our bodies, maintain organ function…basically to keep us alive. In a sustained calorie deficit, BMR slows down as we lose weight – the body is adapting to the calorie deficit. You don’t have much control over BMR.
  • Reduction in non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).  Whether you are aware of it or not, in a sustained calorie deficit you will expend less energy throughout the day – sitting for a bit longer than normal, less fidgeting, etc.

The body is driven to maintain balance. Therefore, when we place our bodies in an energy deficit through consumption of fewer calories (energy in < energy out), there are regulatory drivers that act to restore neutrality. For example, reductions in energy intake influences the rate of release of certain hormones. Ghrelin hormone is upregulated in an energy deficit, promoting increased feelings of hunger. Satiety hormone leptin is downregulated (due to shrinking size of fat cells and fatty acid mobilization). Further, “stress” hormone cortisol increases which can lead to reduced energy expenditure, and insulin sensitivity of fat cells increases (easier to assimilate glucose and store fat).

Calories in and calories out are not independent variables – they are influenced by one another. Energy intake level impacts energy expenditure level. Fat loss is not just a matter of calorie counting, NOR can we simply blame our hormones.

As you diet and lose weight, what was once calorie deficit becomes maintenance calorie level through metabolic adaptation. Therefore, it’s expected at some point there would be a fat loss plateau. To again achieve an energy deficit, energy intake and expenditure require adjustment.

We also need to consider that downward scale movement may not be the best indicator of fat loss. If you have recently initiated resistance training, are noticing your measurements change and/or you look different in photos, you may be building muscle while losing fat. In this case, the scale is not directly providing fat loss feedback.

Overcoming the Fat Loss Plateau

Before considering adjustments, perform an audit of current dietary compliance. There’s no need to reduce nutrients if energy intake is actually higher than the calories you are accounting for.

Dietary Compliance Audit

  • “Extras”.  Assess use of condiments and sauces – these can add 100’s of calories per day.
  • Nibbles. Are you doing fly-bys of the fridge, and “just” having bites? It’s easy to lose sight of these unaccounted-for bites, but this accumulation of small amounts of additional calories throughout the day may take you out of a calorie deficit. Utilize mindfulness – all food consumed on a plate sitting down, with minimal distraction. Personally, I’m still working on this habit!
  • Variability in dining out portions. Restaurant portion size and nutrition information is not tightly controlled. It may vary significantly depending on who is preparing your food. If you are eating out frequently and the cook is regularly overserving on portions, this could also be adding 100’s of additional calories per day or week
  • Tracker inputs. Food entries in programs such as MyFitnessPal are user-generated, and potentially have errors. To be safe, double check your inputs against the nutrition information on the products you use. The USDA database is also an excellent source of nutrition information.
  • Food Measurement – there’s a tradeoff between accuracy and practicality in “eyeballing” portions, using measuring cups (volume), and weighing food. If you feel that your portions may be off, consider weighing food for a period to make sure portions are accurate.

If the scale hasn’t budged for about 2 weeks and you’ve passed your audit, it’s time to consider adjusting your plan. We don’t want to do anything extreme or non-sustainable. Rather, make small changes to energy intake and expenditure.

Adjusting Energy Intake and Expenditure

  • Small reduction in energy intake: reduce your calories in small steps versus large jumps  – 50 to 100 calories/day is a good place to start. Wait a week or so between each step before deciding on further adjustment. You may find that in order to reduce calories it will require swapping out some higher calorie density foods for lower calorie dense foods to feel full.
  • Increase daily movement (increase NEAT): it’s not sustainable to continually increase exercise to offset metabolic adaptation. You can’t out-exercise your diet. Rather, consider a few easy NEAT habits! Assuming you are sleeping 8h per day and training 1 hour per day, that leaves more than 60% of your waking hours to get in a bit more movement! Some examples of NEAT are walking when you’re talking on the phone, parking further away while out shopping, going for a dog walk, cleaning the house, and of course doing a quick happy dance for no reason. You may find that this extra movement helps your mood and overall energy stability throughout the day as well.

Final Thoughts on the Fat Loss Plateau

If you are experiencing significant fatigue and stress, gym performance has crashed, have negative changes in sleeping, or are noticing unhealthy feelings about food, a plateau may be a sign to take a break. By shifting into maintenance, you’ll provide yourself with breathing room to enjoy more flexible eating. This has physical and psychological benefit. It’s perfectly acceptable to hit the pause button on fat loss and focus on stability. Likewise, if you’ve been dieting strictly for an extended period of time, consider taking a couple of months in energy maintenance before proceeding with further fat loss.

Posted on by

Short Sleep and Weight Gain

Short Sleep and Weight Gain
Impact of Sleep Loss

We’ve all felt how short sleep can impair our ability to think, feel, and perform our best. A night of bad sleep happens from time to time – lethargy, fogginess, and/or irritability are all but impossible to shake. Fortunately, with a good night of sleep we’re usually as good as new.

In contrast, chronic shortened sleep presents more insidious issues. One out of every three adults in the US gets less than the recommended 7 hours per night.[1] Further, per the National Sleep Foundation, 35% of polled individuals report sleep quality as “poor” or “only fair”.[2]

Drivers of Short Sleep and Weight/Fat Gain

Data demonstrates a linkage between shortened sleep and increased risk of developing obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and mental distress. Decreased sleep duration and quality is associated with increased body weight and body fat. Epidemiological evidence supports the role of inadequate sleep contributing to the high prevalence of obesity (in children and adults).

The drivers behind short sleep and weight gain, increased fat mass, and potential loss of muscle/lean mass are highly interconnected.

Short Sleep and Weight Gain
Short Sleep and Weight Gain

1. Increased hunger and reduced satiety

Sleep, food, activity, and stress directs our body to release or throttle back certain hormones. In turn, these hormonal signals can influence our behaviors. Leptin and ghrelin are two hormones that contribute to our regulation of food intake. Leptin aka the “satiety hormone” is released by our fat cells and communicates our energy status to the brain. Levels increase as we eat and become full – telling the central command center “all good – we have energy”. Generally, leptin levels are lowest in the morning and build throughout the day as we consume food. They peak into the evening. Lower leptin levels are associated with decreased satiety from food and drive to increase energy intake. Ghrelin, a.k.a. the “hunger hormone”, is released by stomach cells to stimulate our appetite. Levels rise when are hungry, and fall when we are full.

Depending on the nature of sleep debt, leptin levels may fall and ghrelin levels may rise. Our bodies are signaling our brain for extra calories, and those calories are likely coming from additional fat and/or carbohydrates.

A randomized crossover study examined appetite regulation after 2 nights of 4 h in bed and after 2 nights of 10 h in bed. Leptin levels decreased by 18% after the short nights relative to the long nights in bed. Ghrelin increased by 28% increase after the short nights relative to the long nights. Participants filled out questionnaires on hunger and appetite, indicating a 24% increase in hunger and a 23% increase in global appetite after the 4-hour nights versus the 10-hour nights. Appetite for high carbohydrate nutrients was the most affected with a 32% increase.[3]

Another study demonstrated a correlation between shortened sleep and increased energy intake, and particularly fat intake.[4] In a group of middle-aged men and women, the study controlled dietary intake for 3 days, followed by 2 days of free eating during 5 nights of 4 h time in bed compared with 9 h time in bed. Energy intake increased by about 300 kcal/day in the 4h sleep condition, with notable increase in dietary fat intake, suggesting a preference toward high fat foods under conditions of sleep deprivation.

Catch-up sleep does not appear to be an effective strategy. We don’t re-set our calorie intake back to baseline levels even if we can get multiple nights of extended sleep.  

In an 18 day laboratory study,  participants were placed in a varying sleep-restricted/recovery group (varying numbers of sleep restricted days (4 h of time in bed) and recovery days (12 h time in bed) or a control group (allowed 10 h time in bed every night). Regardless of the ratio of sleep restricted to recovery days, all participants that had some days of sleep restriction had increased daily intake, on average, in excess of 500 kcal/day versus the control group.[5] In short, weekend catch up sleep is unlikely to lead to reduced calorie intake if intake levels were elevated during short sleep periods.

2. More hours awake + access to tasty food + increased reward response = increased calorie intake (likely from extra snacking)

Although it may seem obvious, reduced sleep means that there are more waking hours available to eat.

One study conducted over 14 days compared a group of men and women who either had 8.5 or 5.5 h time in bed, with both groups able to freely eat meals and snack foods as they desired. During the 5.5 h condition, participants consumed significantly more snacks after dinner (with no change in meal intake between groups), and chose snacks were higher in carbohydrate content.[6]

Considering some studies report no significant changes in ghrelin and leptin levels with reduced sleep, hedonic factors may contribute to increased weight gain and adiposity. The impact of short sleep duration on stress response and reward-seeking behavior can be powerful, and stronger in certain individuals than in others.

A key region in the brain frontal cortex plays a strong role in our perception of representations of food. Higher activation of this brain region has been found in obese compared with normal-weight test subjects when anticipating food[7] indicating that the reward we get from food is enhanced in obesity.

A similar response is found in normal-weight individuals after one night of total sleep deprivation, indicating prolonged wakefulness leads to greater reward response in anticipation of food.  Sleep deprivation is also associated with lower scores in stress management skills which may tie directly to increased consumption of palatable foods. Specifically, reduced impulse control and difficulty to delay gratification.

3. Energy mismatch problem: increased calorie intake is higher than additional energy expenditure in shortened sleep

Chronic partial sleep deprivation leads to feelings of fatigue and slowness,[8] so you may expect that total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) decreases with less sleep. However, TDEE is slightly higher with shortened sleep.

Findings show that, compared to 8h per night baseline sleep, energy expenditure increased by ∼7% during the first 24h of sleep deprivation, and then decreased by 5% upon resumption of normal sleep. During the night, energy expenditure increased by ∼32% during sleep deprivation, and then decreased approximately 4% during recovery sleep.[9]  

The reality is that although we are expending more energy by sleeping less, this increase is small. Missing one complete night of sleep provides an additional “burn” of about 130 Calories, and this would be far less for shortened sleep versus total sleep loss. If we are snacking an additional 300-500 Calories in excess due to prolonged wakefulness coupled with only needing minimal additional calories, it’s easy to see how the calorie surplus adds up day after day resulting in fat accrual.

4. Higher % weight gain from fat (or loss of less fat when dieting)

Increased levels of evening cortisol and reduced growth hormone secretion may prompt the body to store more fat at the expense of muscle and other tissues for energy during shortened sleep.

Cortisol, our “stress response” hormone is controlled by circadian rhythmicity. The 24-hour profile of cortisol is characterized by an early morning maximum, declining levels throughout the daytime, a period of minimal levels in the evening and first part of the night, and an sharp circadian rise in later part of the night.  With shortened sleep, the body maintains higher levels of cortisol later in the day, at a point where we should we winding down and readying ourselves for sleep. Even two nights of sleep restriction (4 h compared with 10 h in bed) in normal or moderately overweight men was associated with a 21% evening cortisol elevation. Heightened cortisol makes our body tissues less sensitive to insulin[10] prompting the body to store more fat and utilize other fuel sources (muscle!) for energy. It is established that those on a diet will lose less fat and more muscle as a percent of total weight lost when sleep is restricted. [11]

I hope this summary provided you some insights on the importance of sleep! In addition to nutrition, sleep is an area we examine closely in 1:1 coaching. There are a number of tactical tools we implement to ensure you are maximizing your results. We endeavor to give you as much energy as possible and mitigate the risk of fat gain and muscle loss.

A few ideas to help with sleep:

– Enable “night mode” on your phone to reduce blue light exposure. Set the timing from sunset to sunrise. If you are watching TV or on a laptop, consider wearing blue blocker glasses.

– Cease consuming food ~2h before bed (unless you have circumstances that require later eating).

– Solidify a nighttime calming ritual, starting about 1h before bed. For example – electronics off, brush teeth, breathing exercises, reading a book.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html

[2] Knutson, K.L; Phelan, J.; et al., The National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep Health Index, Sleep Health, 3(4), 234, 2017.

[3] Spiegel K., Sleep curtailment in healthy young men is associated with decreased leptin levels, elevated ghrelin levels and increased hunger and appetite. Ann Intern Med. 141, 846–850, 2004.

[4] St-Onge M-P, Roberts AL, Chen J, et al., Short sleep duration increases energy intakes but does not change energy expenditure in normal weight individuals. Am J Clin Nutr. 94(2), 410-416, 2011.

[5] Spaeth, A.M.; Goel, N.; et al., Caloric and Macronutrient Intake and Meal Timing Responses to Repeated Sleep Restriction Exposures Separated by Varying Intervening Recovery Nights in Healthy Adults, Nutrients, 12, 2694, 2020.

[6] Nedeltcheva A.V.; Kilkus, J.M.; et al., Sleep curtailment is accompanied by increased intake of calories from snacks. Am J Clin Nutr., 89(1), 126-133, 2009.

[7] Martin L.E.; Holsen, L.M.; et al.,  Neural mechanisms associated with food motivation in obese and healthy weight adults. Obesity (Silver Spring), 18, 254 –260, 2010.

[8] Dinges D.F.; Pack, F.; et al., Cumulative sleepiness, mood disturbance, and psychomotor vigilance performance decrements during a week of sleep restricted to 4–5 hours per night. Sleep, 20, 267–77, 1997.

[9] Jung, C.M.; Melanson, E.L.; et al., Energy expenditure during sleep, sleep deprivation and sleep following sleep deprivation in adult humans., J Physiol.,589 (Pt 1), 235-244, 2011.

[10] Donga, E.; van Dijk, M.; et al., A single night of partial sleep deprivation induces insulin resistance in multiple metabolic pathways in healthy subjects., J Clin Endocrinol Metab., 95(6), 2963-2968, 2010.

[11] Nedeltcheva, A.V.; Kilkus, JM.; et al., Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity, Ann Intern Med., 153(7),  435–441, 2010.

Posted on by

When Should I Eat?

When should I eat

One of the most common questions I get asked is “When should I eat?“ It’s not as critical as you think, most of the time.

You’ve likely seen the eye-grabbing headlines streaming across your news feeds – “Why Food Experts Say Eat a Huge Breakfast to Lose Weight”, “Skip Breakfast to Lose Weight”, “Late Night Meals Make You Fat”, and “Stop Counting Calories, it’s the Clock that Counts”.

It’s confusing and may be tempting to treat these headlines as dogma. In reality, we have a great deal of flexibility regarding when we eat for desired results, and it is counterproductive to expend a disproportionately large amount of effort to hit some perceived perfect meal timing (versus prioritizing other variables). For healthy training adults who are seeking to improve energy, performance, and improve body composition, there are several primary factors to control in nutrition strategy. These are total daily energy intake, macronutrients (ensuring positive daily protein balance), and food selection. It is important to assess these factor as it relates to your goals, and this should be set before exploring nutrient timing. With that established, here are a few practical takeaways regarding meal timing and frequency based on current research and observational studies.  

Seek consistent timing and distribution of meals every day. Yes, this includes weekends! [1]

Irregular eating patterns have an impact on the signaling in our central and peripheral circadian clocks; erratic eating patterns may result in reduction in basal metabolic rate, [2] reduced food thermogenesis (change in metabolic rate that occurs after a meal), and impaired glucose tolerance [3]. These factors are likely drivers for the association between irregular eating pattern, higher body mass index, and unfavorable cardiometabolic health. [4]

In terms of protein intake and body composition and muscle synthesis, there is likely a benefit to more frequent meals (4-5 per day) versus less frequent.

However, this impact appears minimal.[5] So, it’s probably beneficial to distribute your protein-based meals evenly throughout the day, but not at the expense of your ability to adhere to your program and overall satisfaction. For lean muscle mass retention and growth, it’s a good idea to eat high quality protein and rapidly digestible carbohydrate after a training session. This does not mean you need to chug a protein shake immediately after your last set – the anabolic window for muscle protein synthesis is wide. If you don’t have a protein snack or shake available after a workout, have a meal containing whole protein and carbohydrate within 2 hours of your training session.

Related to weight loss, there may be benefits to consuming a larger fraction of calories earlier in the day.

Some studies have indicated that consuming a greater proportion of nutrients earlier in the day is beneficial. This supports increased total daily energy expenditure and improved glucose response. [6,7,8] This does not mean wake up and immediately have a huge breakfast. Rather, try to eat more of your calories before mid-afternoon. There are strong caveats here for training individuals. For example, if you train in the evenings your muscles will be in a better position to dispose glucose from your bloodstream, whereas eating later in the day will not have as much of an impact. This is because as there is improved glycemic response post-exercise, regardless of time of day. [9]

Assuming you are eating the same number of calories per day, intermittent fasting appears to yield similar weight loss results as general calorie reduction [10,11].

Comparing diets of equal calories, there appears to be no benefit to intermittent fasting for more rapid weight loss versus eating in a more conventional time window. That said, many people have successfully lost weight with intermittent fasting versus general dieting because they eat fewer calories per day. So if weight loss is your goal, it may be worth experimenting with decreasing the time window in which you eat food as it may help you consume fewer calories per day.

With these takeaways, first and foremost is to consider what is practical and sustainable for you. This enables higher adherence, satisfaction from food, and optimizes energy and performance on a personal level. An ideal plan on paper is worthless if it is impossible to follow day in and day out. I strongly encourage everyone to experiment with meal timing and frequency in consideration of both short- and long-term goals.

Need some help establishing a nutrition strategy specific to YOUR goals? Contact me.

References:

[1] Zeron-Rugerio, M.F, Hernaez, A., et al. Eating Jet Lag: A Marker of the Variability in Meal Timing and Its Association with Body Mass Index. Nutrients 11, 2980 (2019).

[2] Farschi, H.R., Taylor, M.A., Macdonald, I.A. Beneficial Metabolic Effects of Regular Meal Frequency on Dietary thermogenesis, Insulin Sensitivity, and Fasting Lipid Profiles in Healthy Obese Women. Am J Clin Nutr 81, 16 (2005).

[3] Farschi, H.R., Taylor, M.A., Macdonald, I.A. Decreased Thermic Effect of Food after an Irregular Compared with Regular Meal Pattern in Healthy Lean Women. Int J Obes, 28, 653 (2004).

[4] St-Onge, M-P, Ard, J., et al. Meal Timing and Frequency: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. Circulation 135, e96 (2017).

[5] Schoenfeld, B.J., Aragon, A.A.; Krieger, J.W. Effects of Meal Frequency on Weight Loss and Body Composition: A Meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews 73, 69, (2015).

[6] Shaw, E., Leung, G.K.W, at al. The Impact of Time of Day on Energy Expenditure: Implication for Long Term Energy Balance. Nutrients 11, 2383 (2009).

[7] Takahashi, M.; Ozaki, M., et al. Effects of Meal Timing on Postprandial Glucose Metabolism and Blood Metabolites in Healthy Adults. Nutrients 10, 1763 (2018).

[8] Xiao, Q., Garaulet, M., Scheer, F.A.J.L., Meal Timing and Obesity: Interactions with Macronutrient Intake and Chronotype. Int J Obes 43, 1701 (2019).

[9] Aqeel, M., Forster, A., et al. The Effect of Timing of Exercise and Eating on Postprandial Response in Adults: A systematic review. Nutrients 12, 221 (2000).

[10] Hedland, M.L., Clifton, P.M., Keogh, J.B., Impact of Intermittent vs. Continuous Energy Restriction on Weight and Cardiometabolic Factors: a 12 Month Follow Up. Int J Obes – in press, 2020.

[11] Rynders, C.A., Thomas, E.A., et al. Effectiveness of Intermittent Fasting and Time-restricted Feeding Compared to Continuous Energy Restriction for Weight Loss. Nutrients 11, 2442 (2019).