FUELING THE BODY FOR PROTECTION & OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

I went along to a great presentation earlier this week about nutrition for getting the most out of you body. I know quite a few of from my facebook page had wanted to come along, but were not local...so I asked if anyone would like me to summarise it to at least give a an overview of the information and the answer was YES so here I go!

The presentation was called "Performance needs Protection" and looked at the blind spots in human performance and sports nutrition. It may sound like it was just for pro athletes, but the information was definitely applicable to anyone who exercises to keep fit, participates regularly in organised activity or even if you are training to reach the peak level of your sport. It was all about making smart choices about the type, timing and quantity of food to eat and how it all plays a role in realising your best.

Here are some of the notes I jotted down that I thought would be of interest...

The framework of a good diet is where it all starts - 

A good base diet:

• Provides adequate nutrients and energy to cope with training & life in general (stress anyone!?)
• Supports optimal recovery - both from training and any other physical stress
• Avoids excessive food related stress - so avoids toxins, chemicals and processed foods

Counteracting your great diet, is your exercise and training - whilst exercise is great for you it also:

• increases macronutrient need of carbohydrates, proteins and fats (higher caloric requirement to sustain performance and lean muscle mass)
• increases micronutrient need of fruits/vegetables providing all essential vitamins/ minerals (key to performance, recovery & protection of all tissues as well as general health)

The pres then looked at the nutritional and physiological blind spots is key to being able to bridge the execution gap in reaching your optimal performance. These blind spots are -

• mitochondrial density vs mitochondrial fragility
• strong immunity vs oxidative stress
• endothelial performance vs reduced inflammation

it's all about choosing the right supplementation that supports a great diet plan, and doesn't cause you harm

You can see from the above image, the difference between macro and micro nutrients. Micronutrients are often the forgotten ones, but they are so important to our health both inside and out. People always worry about how much protein they are getting for rebuilding their muscles or how much (or little) carbs they are getting in regards to glycogen stores; but without having adequate micronutrition, your body is likely to not even be absorbing enough of the macro nutrients on a cellular level. Inside every muscle cell there is a “cellular powerhouse” called the mitochondrion, whose main function is to generate energy. The mitochondria need massive amounts of micronutrients to fuel the muscles, as well as the nerves and heart. If you are even lacking a single micronutrient, your efficiency can be compromised. Starting to see the importance now?

TRANSLATING INTENTIONS TO OUTCOMES

 

What do I mean by translating intentions to outcomes? I mean that gap that occurs after you set an intention to reach a goal but can't seem to quite get there because the gap grows and stretches and your goal seems to get further and further away until you realise you actually might have gone backwards! Gasp! Intentions are important in setting the belief and focus, but making that become reality and as an outcome is where all the real hard work is. I used to call them goals, but the lovely Peta Serras introduced me to the word outcomes, and the concept just clicked in my head.

So my intentions of knuckling down and getting into the best shape of my life and maintaining it has not manifested as an outcome this year. I feel I need to update with my personal fitness journey. My PCOS has side tracked me a little, and I'm not sure how much anyone cares or if this interests you...but I'm blogging it anyway because it is helping me work out my intentions and outcomes in my head. Virtual pen to paper so to speak. Apologies for boring you if it does, but maybe some of you will relate or it might help you work through some things in your head.

DOUBLE NOURISHMENT - A FREE EBOOK & ORGANIC RAW CHOCOLATE RECIPE!

I have to say that has got to be the best sounding blog title I've heard! A free nourishing recipe ebook AND a recipe for raw organic chocolate (also nourishing)?! That's a double whammy if I ever heard one!

Let's start with the chocolate first (priorities!) In case you missed it, we just all survived the chocolate heavy weekend of Easter. I swear I have never seen so many foil wrapped chocolate bunnies and eggs in the fresh fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket before - they seemed to be breeding rapidly. Since going sugar free, I don't like the taste of milk chocolate and only eat at least 70% dark and preferably 85% dark chocolate. I normally choose Green & Blacks organic or Lindt. But my favourite is pure raw organic cacao homemade chocolates which are so much more nourishing for you and so simple to make.