Nutrition Advise

Nutrition Advise provided by 

Kokoda Challenge Nutrition Advise for March - June Training Cycle

The timing and types of foods that you eat plays a vital role in your ability to improve your body shape, fitness and recovery.

The foods that you eat are made up of one of three macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats), either alone or combined together.  For example, a slice of bread and a glass of milk each contain carbohydrates, protein and fats.  Conversely, a plain chicken breast only contains fat and protein whislt an orange only contains carbohydrate.

To ensure you get the most out of your Kokoda Challenge training, it is critical that you are addressing your nutritional habits to accompany your workouts. 

The factors to be considered for your energy requirements include your daily activities (intense-labourer, moderate-teacher, sedentary-office worker), body type, fat free mass (how much muscle you have) and of course the intensity, duration and frequency of your training.

CARBOHYDRATES

The quality of your fuel (carbohydrates) will have a direct relationship with your training performance.

Think of your body as a high performance vehicle - it needs premium fuel.  Octane charged foods are our complex carbohydrates and have a low GI rating e.g. oats, sweet potato, legumes, basmati rice.  If I put an ethanol blend of cheaper fuel in my high performance vehicle, I would be asking for an early trip back to the service garage.  Our body is the same and you don't want to clog your injectors (energy system) with junk foods that will give us a sluggish performance e.g fried foods, chocolate, excess dairy, lollies etc.

The Glycemic Index (GI) ranks foods from 0-100 based on the speed at which they raise your blood sugar levels.  It is ideal to maintain a steady blood sugar level for optimum performance.
    
Low GI Foods = Less than 55
e.g Avacado, Asparagus, Spinach, Cherries, Whole Wheat Spagetti, Homemade Banana Bread, Long Grain Rice, Green Peas, Porridge.

          
Medium GI Foods = 55-70
e.g Kiwifruit, Sweet Potato, Popcorn, White Rice, Museli, Raisins

                   

High GI Foods = 70-100
e.g Bagel, Watermelon, Honey, Mashed Potatoes, Rice Cakes, French Fries, Baked Potato, Jelly Beans, Cornflakes

       

More information can be found out about GI Foods from the internet.

PROTEIN

Eating enough protein is essential for all competitors training for the challenge.  After being transported through the blood stream, proteins are generally stored in the muscle cells, as they are required for issue repair, muscle growth and maintaining your metabolic rate.

Protein foods, such as meat, also give you a satisfied feeling which helps stop you from eating excess carbohydrates and fats.  The above benefits, together with the fact that any excess proteins consumed are generally excreted via the kidneys, means most people generally need to increase their protein intake.  To achieve results incorporate lean proteins into every meal. 

Lean proteins include chicken, fish, kangaroo, lamb, steak, egg whites and low fat cottage cheese.

      

FATS

In society we generally have a phobia about eating fats.  Some fats can ultimately help you to burn fat and reduce the risk of disease.  Essential fats help to balance blood sugar levels which prevents hunger pangs and excess carbohydrate intake.  They also help you to manufacture hormones to maintain and grow muscle tissue which is a massive consideration during your hard training sessions.

Good Fats include nuts, salt water fish (salmon, tuna), cooking oils, flaxseed oil and avacado.

WATER

Just as important as a diet consisting of a good balance of Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fat is your level of hydration daily and whilst training.

Dehydration rapidly impacts physical and mental performance.

An athlete who loses just 2 litres of fluid (3% dehydrated) will suffer an 8% reduction in speed and a 10% fall in power.

As a general rule of thum drink 2-3 litres of water to hydrate every day outside of any of the training you are doing.  During training drink wherever possibile throughout the session. 

Re-hydration with appropriate fluids must be made an absolute priority if a person and team are to perform at their best. 

The most effective and practical tool for measuring fluid loss during exercise is a pre and post weighing, ideally this should be done after every training session.

Click here to go to the Vision PT website for some suggested recepies.