We all have things we have to do each day and things we want to accomplish. While everyone’s agenda looks a little bit different, movement and recovery are an essential part of a healthy and productive day. And whether you are carrying a fire hose or going out for a jog, what you eat has a lot to do with how well your body can handle the task at hand.
Consider How you Want to Feel
Eating for optimal physical and mental performance is a little bit of a negotiation between the present and the future. Our senses typically steer us in the direction of survival calories - easy to digest, carb-heavy foods that spike blood sugar and likely not serve us in the long run. Many times, these are the default items available to eat. Think sugary breakfast cereal, bagels, crackers and pretzels.
So, instead of relying only on your senses in the present, think about how you want to feel when you’re finished eating. Not only 5 or 10 minutes later when you are cleaning up and moving on to the next task but an hour later, two hours later, the next morning when you go out for a run, the next week when you step on the scale, etc. Really stop and think about it:
Do you want to feel bloated and stuffed or satisfied and energized?
Do you want to spike your blood sugar or fuel for muscles?
Do you want to feel achy and sore or strong and rested?
Do you want the waist of your pants to feel tight or comfortable?
The point I’m getting at here is, sometimes a little discomfort at the outset, when you are making the decision of what to eat will pay off in the long run. That discomfort might mean getting away from the default or spending a bit more time planning or preparing your meal. With these questions in mind, you can start to make choices to feel and fuel for your best performance.
Set the Foundation
We can’t talk about the fun stuff like types of protein and timing unless we first cover a few basics:
Follow our golden fuel rule: eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.
Eat when you're hungry (not bored, stressed or tired) and stop just shy of being full.
Drink enough water to stay hydrated. There are plenty of guidelines in this category but a good rule of thumb is drink enough water to maintain pale, diluted urine. If urine is dark your body can’t spare any water and you need to drink more.
Eating enough and not too much real, mostly plant foods and staying hydrated set the stage for good gut health and ideal body composition. Fiber and water promote regularity, good microbial diversity nourish the lining of the gut to ensure whatever else you are eating is properly digested and absorbed. Eating enough but not too much provides calories for the energy you need today without layering on extra body fat. Adequate calories will also make sure the protein you are consuming is used for muscle maintenance and building rather than for energy.
Step up your Game with Timing
Timing can be a useful tool for improving performance and recovery. Let’s talk about a few timing strategies to implement into your routine:
Time-Restricted Eating and Fasting
We live in a culture of constant eating, you can’t even get your oil changed without coming across a wall of snacks. But spending some time not eating allows your digestive tract to take a rest, recover and better prepare for the next meal.
Research also shows that periods of fasting:
Protect and repair cells
Stimulate fat burning
Reduce appetite
Improve blood sugar and insulin levels
Reduces inflammation
Stimulates immune function
If I were to package fasting up into a fancy supplement bottle with all those claims you’d be the first in line to take it, right? Even better, fasting simplifies your routine and costs nothing. And you don’t have to go whole days without eating to garner the benefits. You can start simply by skipping snacks and keeping your eating within a 12-hour window. If you want to kick it up a notch skip one meal a few days a week.
If you are in a heavy training period you can protect your muscle by adding in a low carbohydrate protein food, for example, a few hard-boiled eggs, a low carb protein shake, or a few scoops of collagen or gelatin.
Timing Protein and Carbs
Timing protein can also enhance movement and recovery. First, you want to spread your protein throughout the day. Ideally, your meal has 20-30g of protein in it. Your body will use larger amounts of protein for energy rather than for muscle maintenance so it's best to spread it out. Then time some protein for just after your workout or labor intensive activity. This will support the repair and growth of your muscles. Within thirty minutes is a good goal but if that's not possible, aim for as soon as possible.
For more endurance type activities like distance running or biking or long labor-intensive shifts, you can also time carbohydrates. Meals should include higher fiber, slow-digesting carbs like sweet potatoes and whole grains. Alternatively, right after, right before, and during your long stretch of work you can include lower fiber, quick digesting carbs like grapes, pineapple and bananas. This will support energy levels during the activity and, on the back end, replenish glycogen in your liver and muscles. Glycogen is your body’s storage form of carbohydrates.
Timing Fluids
Like food, fluids can be timed as well. With your foundation of regular water consumption you can up your game by including electrolyte containing fluids with exercise or work lasting longer than 60 minutes or if the climate is particularly warm.
Electrolytes are minerals that help the body maintain fluid balance. Contrary to popular belief, popular sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade do not have the ideal electrolyte content for hydration - they are designed to be less salty and more sweet for flavor not functionality. Better choices include Liquid IV, Drip Drop, Hoist, and Nooma. Or if you like Gatorade, a liter of G2 with ½ tsp of salt added to it improves its electrolyte profile considerably.
Boost Recovery with Antioxidants
Movement can contribute to oxidative stress within the body. Particularly long and strenuous workouts or shifts. Antioxidants including foods rich in vitamins A, C, E and phytonutrients like lycopene (tomatoes, watermelon), curcumin (turmeric) and beta carotene (orange fruits and vegetables) can help combat the oxidative stress and contribute to the repair of muscle and other tissues.
How can you get more antioxidants? Include plenty of colorful plant foods in your meals. Some of the best sources include:
Berries
Pomegranate
Green tea
Leafy greens
Citrus fruits
Sweet potatoes
Carrots
Dark chocolate
Coffee
Broccoli
Beets
Beans
Red Cabbage
Calm Inflammation with Healthy Fats
Movement creates some wear and tear on your body and can lead to some inflammation. Inflammation is a protective immune response that when left unchecked can actually contribute to the development of injury and disease. Some of the measures I’ve described like eating antioxidant rich plant foods and avoiding overeating are good strategies that combat inflammation. Inclusion of healthy omega 3 fats can also help calm inflammation.
Omega 3’s are found in both plant and animal foods. Plant foods have a precursor to fully formed omega 3’s that our bodies convert into their usable form whereas animal products contain the fully formed and usable version (the animals have essentially done the work already).
Good food sources of omega 3’s include:
Chia seeds
Flax seeds
Walnuts
Wild fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, trout, anchovies, arctic char, sardines to name a few)
Inclusion of wild fatty fish twice a week should provide what you need and/or adding in plant sources most days of the week. It's hard to overdo omega 3’s from food so don’t worry about including too many food sources.
Work, Eat, Tweak, Repeat
Once you’ve established a foundation and added in some performance enhancement strategies it's time to figure out what works for you and what doesn’t. The best research on optimizing human performance has an n of 1. That's another way of saying you are the research subject and each time you try something new it's an experiment that will lead you toward your ideal eating pattern.
Comments