Nutrition Tips For Daytime Desk-Jockeys, Nighttime Couch-Surfers and Elite Athletes
Your food doesn’t know. It doesn’t know that you’re trying to lose weight. Trying to get healthy. Trying to increase your performance.
Really it doesn’t. It is what it is.
Broken down into the three macronutrients, your food is either a Carbohydrate, Protein, or a Fat. Each of these three macronutrients has a different function in your body. You need them all (except maybe the carbs but we can debate that another time). We’ll take the next three Fridays to delve into the waters of nutrition. I’ll cover one macronutrient a week so we can all get a handle on what we’re eating and why.
Carbohydrates are used for energy. That’s it. They help fuel different systems of the body such as your muscles, your brain and other organs. Let me ask you a question. When you fill up your car at the Stop-N-Go, how many of you keep holding down the handle and fill it till gas is overflowing? I didn’t think so. Besides the fact that gas pump handles have some magical “stop pumping gas when the tank is full” technology, that would just be a dumb thing to do, right? Yet many of us fill up our carbohydrate reserves to the brim and then some. That extra 20, 30, 40 pounds you’re holding onto is your body’s elaborate storage system so that all the extra fuel you’re eating doesn’t “spill out on the sidewalk.” Hmm…maybe we should develop some of that technology for the fork?!
When you eat the right type of carbohydrates in the right amount they can be helpful to your body.
Can you name all the carbs here?
Right type- Fruits and vegetables tend to break down slower in your digestive system giving you energy over longer periods. These carbs are also packed with many vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Carbs like breads and sugars, besides having little to no nutritive value, send your blood sugar skyrocketing and then plummeting in a short time period. Afternoon sugar cravings, anyone? Solve this problem with fruits and veggies.
Right amount- Our bodies have a certain amount of energy that we need to fuel during a day. This demand is based largely by the amount of activity we engage in. If you’re training for a marathon or working out for hours at a time, you need more fuel than someone who is only trading daytime desk-jockeying for nighttime couch-surfing. Tailor your carb intake to your fueling needs and you can easily maintain a set weight. Drop below that level and you can effortlessly lose pounds.
Magic numbers- Just so I don’t leave you hanging on this one, here are some general guidelines for carbohydrate fueling that I like from Mark’s Daily Apple:
-If you are at ideal body composition now, 100-150 grams of carbohydrate per day is adequate.
-If you are looking to lose body fat, keeping carbs under 80 grams per day will help immensely in lowering insulin and taking fat out of storage.
-If you are training hard for long periods of time, you should add more carbs (about 100 grams extra per day for every hour of training).
And that’s all I have to say about that. Check back next week when I cover my favorite food group MEAT!
Peace, Love, & EATING (less carbs),
Dr. Chris
About the Author: Dr. Chris owns and operates Biles Family Chiropractic in Waxahachie, TX with his wife Dr. Laura Biles. In his fun time, Dr. Chris operates BFC- Better Functional Conditioning, which is a premier training program comprised of bootcamps and group training that helps individuals realize their fitness potential. BFC is not a weight loss program but people lose weight like crazy. It’s not diet program but people learn how food affects them. BFC is a lifestyle for fitness.
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Good stuff! I really like the analogy of the gas pump to the fork.
My fork was feeding me baked sweet potato as I was reading this article. More good stuff.
So, should I stay at 80 with what we are doing or add more on workout days?
After a cardio intensive day add more.
On strength days keep it low.