Hellos…
We have added a new member to the Body Basics team! Mike Haas has joined us as our newest Fitness Coach. As a recent graduate of the Pima Community College Fitness Professional Certificate Program, Mike is excited to be here working as a Fitness Coach at Body Basics.
Mike is a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). In his studies, Mike has had the opportunity to work with several different populations, ranging from cardiac rehab patients to young, competitive athletes. Mike is a strong believer that communication, commitment, and a positive attitude can turn goals into accomplishments.
Having lived in Tucson since he was nine years old, Mike attended the University of Arizona where he received his B.S. in Business Administration. Prior to getting into the fitness industry, Mike found success in sales and management positions (including owning a small business) by focusing on customer service.
In his free time, Mike enjoys enjoys working out, spending quality family time with his wife Kim, and trying to keep up with his two daughters’ aspiring athletic careers.
…and Goodbyes!
As we say “hello” to one team member, unfortunately, we say “goodbye” to another. Bryon Lichtenhan has left Body Basics to pursue the wild! Currently, Bryon is taking part in a primitive living skills course in Washington State. There he is learning survival skills that include making knives out of antlers and flint, building shelter or teepees, and even tanning hides to make his own clothing. For those of us who know and love Bryon, we know that this is something he has wanted to do for a long time. He will definitely be missed, but we all wish him luck and are looking forward to hearing about his adventures when he eventually returns to Tucson.
Thank you to everyone who pitched in to help buy Bryon some wool clothing that will keep him warm until he has tanned enough hides to make clothing! He is greatly appreciative.
Future Announcements and Events
Body Basics wants you to be a part of our team!
The 10th annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is scheduled for April 6, 2008. We want you to join us! The instructions on how to join our team are as follows…
1) Go to komensaz.org
2) Click on the “Register” box to the right
3) Click on “Register Here”
4) Continue through the registration process
**Remember to click on “join a team and scroll down to select “Body Basics Crew.”**
We look forward to racing with on you April 6th, 2008 for this great cause! Thank you for signing up with us and for helping us reach our goal!
Chris, Kathleen, Mike, and Jenny
Nutrition Corner: Fuel and then Refuel!
As most of the newsletter topics go, we tend to write about subjects that our clients either ask us about or that we notice may need addressing to further ensure success in your health and fitness goals. This issue, we have decided to talk about the importance of energizing fueling prior to and after you workout. In other words, we want you to EAT before and after you exercise for best results, no matter what your goal.
Energize before exercise!
Eating before you exercise is very important. Some of you may have experienced what happens when you workout and have not pre-fueled properly. You may have felt lethargic, lightheaded, dizzy, and even nauseous. These are signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and are a direct result of not consuming enough food prior to your workout. Eating before you exercise will help energize your workout. Nancy Clark, MS, RD states in her Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Third Edition, that there are four main functions of a pre-exercise meal/snack:
1) To help prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) with its symptoms of lightheadedness, needless fatigue, blurred vision, and indecisiveness – all of which can interfere with top performance.
2) To help settle your stomach, absorb some of the gastric juices, and abate hunger.
3) To fuel your muscles, both with food eaten in advance that is stored as glycogen, and with food eaten within an hour of exercise (more on post-fueling later).
4) To pacify your mind with the knowledge that your body is well fueled.
Many people avoid eating before exercise because they believe they will be burning more of their fat stores when on an empty stomach. This is a myth. In reality, no matter what energy stores you are burning, if you have not fueled yourself properly prior to exercise, you will not have the energy to exercise as hard as you could if you had eaten a pre-exercise meal/snack. Therefore, you will be burning less of any stores, no matter if it is carbohydrate, fat, or protein. To truly reduce body fat, at the end of the day, you must have created a caloric deficit. This means arriving to your workout fueled and ready to be a calorie burning machine!
Other people may have concerns that pre-exercise food will cause upset stomach, diarrhea, and sluggish performance. Most likely, these intestinal problems may be caused by too much of the wrong kinds of foods. The best way to test what type of food works well for you prior to exercise is through trial and error.
How to properly fuel before exercise
Deciding on what to eat prior to exercise varies from person to person. Clark says that most people feel good results with 0.5 grams of carbohydrates (2 calories) per pound of body weight one hour before moderately hard exercise. (p. 99) Carbohydrates are certainly a must before exercise because carbohydrates are the primary fuel for our muscles. Here are some of Clark’s pre-exercise guidelines:
• On a daily basis, eat adequate high-carbohydrate meals to fuel and refuel your muscles. Snacks that are eaten within an hour of exercise will keep you from feeling hungry and will help maintain your blood sugar.
• If you will be exercising for 60 to 90 minutes without the ability to refuel during your workout, eat slowly digested carbohydrates such as yogurt, bananas, oatmeal, bean soup, lentils, and apples.
• If you will be exercising for less than an hour, snack on foods that digest easily, are high in carbohydrates, and low in fat such as, bread, English muffins, bagels, crackers, and pasta.
• Limit your intake of high-fat proteins, such as cheese omelets, hamburgers, fried foods because these foods take longer to empty from the stomach.
• Limit sugary foods (soft drinks, candy, sports drinks) because while the “sugar fix” may give you quick energy, you also may experience a drop in blood sugar during your workout that will leave you lightheaded and fatigued. • Allow enough time for your food to digest. Of course, everyone’s body is different, however, the general rule of digestion time is:
—Allow three to four hours for a large meal to digest
—Allow two to three hours for a smaller meal to digest
—Allow one to two hours for a liquid or blended meal to digest
—Allow less than one hour for a small snack to digest
Tips for morning exercisers
If you are a morning exerciser, you may be used to waking up and going straight to your workout. This behavior will have you exercising on fumes. Of course, everyone is different, but nutrition and exercise science tell us that you would most likely perform better if you eat something before you exercise. When you start a workout with low blood sugar, you will fatigue quicker than you would have if you had eaten something.
Deciding what to eat will be up to you and how your body responds. Some people feel great throughout the whole workout with simply a banana or a slice of bread. Some need more, such as a bowl of cereal or oatmeal and a glass of juice. If you are unsure, use the recommendation Clark gives above as a guide, 0.5 carbohydrates (2 calories) per pound of body weight, and see how you feel throughout your workout. For instance, if you weigh 150lbs, you could eat a bowl of cereal (with non-fat or 1% milk) and a handful of blueberries for a total of around 300 calories, most of which are carbohydrates.
Tips for afternoon/evening exercisers
The “secret” to keeping your energy high for your afternoon or evening workouts is to properly fuel your body all day long. This means spacing your meals out every three to four hours and eating a combination of carbs, protein and fat at each meal. Plan to eat a pre-exercise meal/snack within an hour of your session and follow Clark’s recommendation of 0.5 carbohydrates (2 calories) per pound of body weight.
Refueling is the key to recovery!
Just as eating prior to your workout is important, it is equally as important (maybe even more important) to eat after exercise. Refueling after you exercise is the key to recovering from the damage and stress exercise has put on your body. If you have exercised hard and feel stiff, sore, and tired, you may need to reevaluate your post-exercise meal/snack.
It is important that you replenish the nutrients your body lost during exercise. The first and foremost nutrient you should replenish is water. Ideally, you should have been drinking water before and throughout your workout to prevent dehydration. Continue to drink water throughout the day, testing your hydration levels by checking your urine color (if you are adequately hydrated, your urine should be a pale yellow to clear color).
Along with replenishing your water, carbohydrates should be the next important nutrient on your list. The best time to replenish the glycogen (the stored form of carbohydrates our muscles use for energy) used during exercise is within 90 minutes after the completion of your workout session. To do this, it is best to consume a high-carbohydrate meal/snack (about 0.7 grams per pound of body weight) immediately after exercise. Because different types of carbohydrates will affect glycogen replenishment rates, it is a fact that eating simple sugars will result in slightly faster storage during the immediate post-exercise period (about 15 minutes). This is why you may have heard us say that immediately after exercise is the best time to eat that cookie or brownie you have been craving! Of course, we also will always follow with, “everything in moderation.”
Your best bet
The general recommendation for a post-exercise meal/snack is a combination of a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio. While consuming protein does not have much affect on your glycogen replenishment rates, it does in fact aid in the muscle recovery after a workout, especially strength training.
The bottom line is that when you exercise, it is important to remember that you are putting your body through a certain amount of stress. In order for your body to recover properly from that stress, you must give yourself the nutrients you need to assist in the rebuilding and repairing the muscle tissue.
Planning is the key to success!
As with anything you wish to make successful in your life, the key is to have a plan. Planning your pre and post workout meals is no different. In order to succeed and perform to the best of your ability during your workouts, you must fuel before you exercise. Plan to eat a carbohydrate-rich meal/snack at least one hour before exercise. Just as importantly, eating a high-carbohydrate meal/snack after you exercise will help your body recover, give you continued energy throughout the day, and help reduce stiffness and soreness to keep you coming back for more!
Resources: Clark, Nancy, MS, RD, Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook: The #1 nutrition resource for active people, 3rd edition. Sports Medicine Associates, Brookline, MA. 2003.
Healthy Recipe—Coach Jenny’s Protein Fruit Smoothie
Many of you have inquired about the fruit smoothie that Jenny drinks in between clients or after workouts. Some of you have actually been brave enough to try it—and liked it! She has decided to share the “recipe” with all of those who have asked, as well as everyone else who is looking for a great post-workout burst of energy that is sure to help your body recover quickly and efficiently.
Jenny’s Protein Fruit Smoothie
- 1 C. frozen mango chunks
- 1/2 c. frozen blueberries
- 1 C. 100% pure orange juice
- 1/4 c. strawberry Kiefer
- 1 scoop Chocolate Whey Protein Powder (if you need more protein, use 2 scoops)
- 2–3 tsp. flax seed oil (optional)
Blend all the ingredients together (Jenny uses her Magic Bullet) until smooth and to desired consistency.
Nutrition Information (the following values are estimates):
Total Calories: Between 300–450 (depending on the type of fruit or the amount of flaxseed oil or protein powder).
Carbohydrates: 56 grams
Protein: 17.5 grams if one scoop of protein powder is used. 31 grams if two scoops are used.
Fat: 1.5 grams if no flaxseed oil is used. 17.5 grams if 1 TBS of flaxseed oil is used (16 grams from the flax oil)*
*16 grams of fat may seem like a lot, but the quality of fat is high. Flaxseed oil is full of Omega-3 fatty acids and Omega-6 fatty acids (i.e. good fats that are linked to all sorts of health benefits).
Notes on the recipe:
—Jenny gets all of the ingredients at Trader Joe’s except the protein powder, which she gets at Costco.
—Feel free to use any frozen fruit you want. If you would rather use fresh fruit, just add ice to get the frozen consistency.
—If you are looking to reduce some of the calories, omit, or use less of the flaxseed oil and/or use less of the orange juice and add water as needed for consistency. If you need more calories or more protein, include the flaxseed oil, the orange juice and use two scoops of protein powder.
Enjoy!
Client Spotlight
Rick Weiss – March
Rick works HARD! Since starting at BodyBasics in March of 2006 Rick has dedicated his time here to putting out 100% effort. He shows a level of consistency that is to be celebrated and he always comes ready to give his best. More recent Rick has also made some terrific strides in both his nutrition and level of self-driven cardio sessions.
Rick we are all very proud of you for your commitment to being a healthy and vibrant person. Look in the mirror because that fit skier will soon be staring right back at you. Keep up the good work!
Vicki Mulgrew – April
Her level of commitment and desire to give it her all every time she steps into the studio are why Vicki Mulgrew is this month’s sure pick for Client of the Month. Vicki first began her relationship with BodyBasics over 4 years ago when she partnered with a friend under Coach Chris’s watchful eye. Since then she continues to make BodyBasics her home and particularly enjoys the camaraderie and energy that flows every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when Power Lunch is in action.
Vicki, Thank you for your continued dedication to us and to yourself. You are a joy for all of us to coach and we appreciate your level of commitment.
Our Mission
To empower people to realize their innate abilities by providing an environment that nurtures, educates, and inspires.
Keep Up the Great Work!
We are very proud of all of you!
Chris, Jenny, Bryon, and Kathleen
