Rest and Nutrition

One of the things that I came away with from the Inline Skate Camp in Ottawa is a resolution to try and be better about rest and nutrition, particularly as discussed in the seminar led by Beth.

I generally eat fairly well at home, which I attribute completely to Jen's Vegan influence. It turns out that the few non-Vegan things that I keep around the house are a problem. Specifically Tuna Steaks and canned albacore tuna... essentially they are big fish who eat little fish and there is concern about the mercury levels. If I do eat tuna, I should try to eat chunk light tuna from skipjack.

The other staple of my diet is bagels, which I love to smother in cream cheese... which is essentially all fat. I'll have to think of an alternative type of spread... my second choice would be peanut butter, but I tend to have an allergic reaction to it despite how much I love it (although there is a concern with the fat content there as well.

When I eat outside of home, I tend to go for tasty treats and I am particularly fond of all-you-can-eat places. If I eat out less, I can probably curb those tendancies. Or perhaps try to choose slightly smarter things from the menu. When we were at Mister Sub after practice last week, Mike Murray mentioned that a bit of mustard was preferable to mayonaise for example because mayo was pure fat, even the light mayo. Something to think about since I use light mayo or miracle whip when I have tuna fish sandwiches.

I'm thinking that I should try switching over to Turkey in place of Tuna for sandwiches, although it doesn't keep as well as cans of tuna in the pantry, so I have to make sure that I eat it within a few days.

Carbs are my friend when it comes to endurance sports. Whole grains are better than white flour pasta and breads. Brown Rice is even better. I should try and eat more brown rice. Pasta is mostly water.

I am getting enough fruit these days, and should cut down on the juices which have too much sugar and calories. Smoothies are okay because they use the whole fruit. What I need to increase is vegetables. At least one portion of dark leafy greens a day, and one portion of bright red, yellow or orange veggies a day. I think cherry tomatoes covers this (or does that count as fruit?), although I think carrots would be better. I realize I eat a bowl of gazpatcho every day which has the veggies in it, but I think there is a concern about the salt.

Which brings me to the amount of salt I have in my diet. I'm not sure if it's the physical activity which has my sweating and craving the salts, but I definitely eat too many things like pickles and olives.

I'm doing pretty good with the Omega 3 "good" fatty acids. I eat fish (again I should switch the kind of fish I eat), as well as Yogurt and Soy Milk that is fortified with Omega 3 quite often. I also eat Flax Bagels and Bread, which isn't the ideal since the flax needs to be ground up to be effective in my system. Hopefully there is ground up flax in Flax Bread and Bagels, and not just the seeds on top of it that isn't digestible by the body.

I should eat more beans, although I'm they aren't really my among my favourite foods and I generally don't like the texture of beans. I should chew them thoroughly to avoid gas.

Beth also debunked the myth of female hormone cyto-estrogen in Soy. It is impossible to consume the volume that would be needed in order to have an effect on you. So there is nothing to worry about there.

Portion control is the other thing I have to be mindful of. Binging at meals instead of having reasonable quantities. Portions are actually smaller than I think. Usually the mound of pasta I consume in one sitting for example could easily be halved.

What was interesting for me was the fact that when Beth sees an athlete with a bit of weight around the middle is how much sleep they get at night. I also know that it has to do with eating too much before bedtime when the body goes into hybernation mode. I need to consume most of my calories in the morning to fuel me for the day, a pretty substantial lunch and then less in the evening. Generally I binge after working out or TISC practice in the evening.

Rest is important for recovery and developing those dedicated skating muscles. I know I have a really erratic sleep pattern... sometimes going to bed at the same time as Jen at 10 at night, and other times staying up working until the sun comes up. From the vegetarian seminar we attended a couple of months ago, I learned that the body creates it's "anti-depressant" chemicals around 2:00 in the morning, so I should try to be more consistent with my hours of sleep as well as the amount of sleep I get instead of ping-ponging my sleep duration and schedule constantly.