<p>30 mins of snow shoveling this morning. Counts as crosstraining because the mounds everywhere here are so tall you have to do arm lifts to get the snow thrown anywhere!!! It’s a freakin winter disaster here!!!</p>
<p>ohio, you are amazingly fast!</p>
<p>I’m taking the week off from running, and then I’ll start my plan for the next race. Idad, that’s a timely post for me! I’ve been working on lhr training, and changing my eating so as not to be such a sugar burner. My main goal is to be able to run a half marathon without any walk breaks and without feeling like I’m going to pass out!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I suspect that all snow shoe tumbles are amusing. I know all of mine are. It’s so easy to just be walking along and step on the other shoe and … boom. I fell over once just standing in deep snow and was twisted in such a way that it wasn’t at all clear I was going to be able o get back up. Imagine the embarrassment: “I’ve fallen and can’t get up!”.</p>
<p>The sandwich “thing” is the biggest problem I’ve encountered whe force to deal with fast food.options. Sometimes I just eat it. Fortunately, more places (Panera, Chopt, etc.) are starting to sell half-decent salad bowls. They are to one of my real salads as a BigMac is to a hamburger, but at least its a decent option compared to subs or burgers or tacos.</p>
<p>IDad, for a different take on the fat vs carb question::</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.gssiweb.org/Article/sse-59-fat-metabolism-during-exercise-new-concepts”>http://www.gssiweb.org/Article/sse-59-fat-metabolism-during-exercise-new-concepts</a></p>
<p>Citing a Phinny study:</p>
<p>“ELIMINATING CARBOHYDRATE FROM THE DIET OF ENDURANCE-TRAINED PEOPLE
Recognizing that even small amounts of dietary carbohydrate might influence fat metabolism, a study was performed by Phinney et al. (1983) during which they fed endurance-trained men a high-fat diet containing almost no carbohydrate, i.e., less than 20 g/d for 4 wk. This diet reduced the concentration of muscle glycogen by one-half, and it markedly increased fat oxidation during exercise at moderate intensities of 62-64% VO2max. However, the diet did not increase the length of time that exercise could be maintained, despite the fact that fat oxidation was increased. Furthermore, these subjects were not capable of exercising at higher intensities. Even with this extreme diet, it seems clear that fat oxidation cannot be increased sufficiently to fully replace muscle glycogen as a source of energy for intense exercise. Furthermore, high fat intake is a risk factor for cardiovascular and other diseases.”</p>
<p>Water PT exercises, water aerobics class and one hour weight training with trainer. </p>
<p>Due to the snow we got during the night, only two other ladies showed up for water class this morning; thought I’d get a really good workout, but they (the other two ladies and the instructor) mostly used it for a yakking session, and the instructor didn’t switch up our moves very much. Ugh… so frustrated by this class. </p>
<p>4 mile treadmill run @ 9:49 pace. 27 degrees when I got back to the car. Bright and sunny outside, you’d never know.</p>
<p>This is as close as I get to a day off, I guess. 2 miles outside this morning. 33 degrees and gloomy/windy. That was the bright spot of the weather day. I hate to complain since the northerners are having it so much worse, but today just going out to pick up lunch was about as cold as I’ve felt all winter. It was 30, damp, snow flurries and windy. One of my fingers turned white just from having my glove off for a few minutes to deal with my food (food truck). I was planning to run 4 this morning, but I heard the wind outside and I just couldn’t face it. Can’t do it after work, so 2 miles it is!</p>
<p>It’s all relative wherever you are - if it’s cold to you, it’s cold! If snow is not the norm and you get 2 inches it’s crazy! Ok to have all our weather woes - wherever you are. :)</p>
<p>MKat:</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. Good read. I was disappointed that the Gatorade Institute writer didn’t provide a study link to back up this statement:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t believe there has ever been a study that shows that. Not one. Ever. The last nail in that coffin (so to speak) was the billion dollar Women’s Health Initiative Study, which was supposed to, at long last. support that theory.</p>
<p><a href=“Low-Fat Diet Not a Cure-All | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health”>http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/low-fat/</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>BTW, Attia started eating lo carb for health reasons. At age 40, he was getting noticeably fat despite exercising four to five hours a day (long-distance swimmer) and had three of the five markers for insulin resistance. With a strong family history of heart disease, he was concerned.</p>
<hr>
<p>My frustration with all of this stuff is that the lo-carb researchers are completely focused on extreme lo carb ketogenic diets. (20 to 50 g per day). I think a more interesting (at least to me) topic would be studying more realistic diets (100 g per day)</p>
<p>40 minutes of snow shovelling for me. I must not have been shovelling hard enough as my max heart rate was just 75% of my max – yes, I’m a geek, I wore my heart rate monitor… :)</p>
<p>I’ve figured out that part of my problem with snow shoveling is that I always dressed too warm. It’s more like hiking or running in the need to way under dress.</p>
<p>I’m trying to figure out what day to go snow shoeing. It’s looking like the snow will continue late enough tonight that I would have to break trail tomorrow. No thanks. So I guess it’s looking like Friday or Saturday…</p>
<hr>
<p>Second night of the Beef Braccaoli I made the other day. Yuum. This was to die for and super-healthy.</p>
<p>IDad, I believe the quote concerning fat was from the Phinny study that was cited. Of course, the fact that my link was to an article published by the “Gatoraide Institute” should immediately cause any reader to be mindful of potential bias but, none-the-less, the article had scientific underpinnings to its conclusions.</p>
<p>I think part of what makes this whole subject confusing - and intriguing - is that most of the studies out there deal with extremes in both directions. You also can’t compare outcomes in studies based on unfit, low activity level, overweight individuals with those involving athletes. There is also no clear definition of “low fat” or “low carbohydrate” and most of the studies deal with extremes in both directions.There’s not even any agreement on what constitutes high intensity exercise. Heart rate, % VO2 max, duration of 1 hour, 2, 6. The studies are all over the place.</p>
<p>My take is that balance is the key. You need fats in your diet and you need carbohydrates. Overloading one and eliminating the other I don’t think makes sense. As I stated in one of my earlier posts, some people confuse carbo loading with carbo gluttony. At the end of the day, I trust my own experience over the “new study of the day”. I’ve ridden hard for long miles, I’ve ridden relaxed. I’ve focused on carbs for ride nutrition and I’ve done rides where my ride nutrition was cashews and pistachios (and forget about any nutritional science there, it was just yummy). The bottom line is that I know from experience that my body needs carbs when the tank is running on empty and I’m riding hard. Eating a pack of Cliff Blocks (simple sugars and electrolytes) can be the difference between having energy for those last 10-15 miles and I know that if I was just relying on nuts, I would bonk much earlier in the intense ride.</p>
<p>This discussion was triggered by my response to Sabaray who was concerned about cutting carbs and if I remember correctly, there was an undercurrent to her post that she was concerned that carbs are “bad”. In my view, carbs are not bad, the are part of a sound nutritional plan. Like anything else, if you go overboard in quantity and you eat carbs to the exclusion of other foods, you will have bad outcomes. But the same applies to fats and proteins. Balance, that’s the key.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what the purpose or your diet is - if you’re eating for athletic performance, then I suspect you will be eating differently than the vast majority of the population. MNK, I love carbs. Specifically, bread and donuts. I also ate a lot of fruit. But not until I drastically reduced (fruit) or eliminated (donuts) those items from my diet did I have any meaningful weight loss that has stayed off. Now if I am going to have bread, it’s a small piece of cranberry walnut wheat with real butter. I do notice a real difference in running when I haven’t eaten much or limited carbs. I just don’t like a lot of meat - and I do like a lot of pasta. </p>
<p>D tried the “keto” diet. It lasted a month. She did lose weight, but it was not sustainable for her in the long run. The extreme high fat content was simply not palatable. She also questioned whether it was the magic “keto” combination or the low calorie intake that caused the weight loss. </p>
<p>Ice this morning so didn’t get up and get to the gym. Terrible day at work. Horrible cold. But I got to the gym and ran 5.2 miles after work. Time for some Niquil. Or something. What has the lowest sugar content? 
</p>
<p>Sabaray, I love carbs too. Everyday I need to be mindful of my food allocation “budget”. I think part of the problem many people have is that they really don’t monitor what they eat and end up eating much differently than they perceive. That’s why it’s so important to keep a food log in some form. I use weight watchers solely to keep accountable for quantity and then rely on my own sense of food allocation to regulate nutritional content. </p>
<p>My wife has done the Dukan Diet which I would never do. She has had success with it but is not an athlete. She also modifies it after 2 weeks to include some carbs. My son, who is a gym rat and competes at a national level in Brazillian Ju-jitsu, follows a slightly modified Paleo Diet that works well for him. Thats a nutrition plan that makes more sense to me because it includes loads of fruits and veggies that provide carbs. </p>
<p>MKAT:</p>
<p>I really only run across really hard core zealots that advocate extreme low carb ketogenic diets – Steve Phinney being one. Even the Atkins Diet plan suggests that kind of carb restriction only as an initial intervention with most people starting at (or ramping up to) a range of 80 to 100 grams of carbs a day. That’s a level that allow essentially unlimited consumption of fresh veggies (I am a living example… the amount of salad and broccoli I eat is breathtaking).</p>
<hr>
<p>High carb day for me. Starchy Lima beans for my side at dinner:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>IDad, have you seen the book The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain, who wrote the original Paleo Diet, and Joel Friel, who is one of the more well known elite level coaches for cyclists and triathletes? You might find it right up your alley. I’m just starting to read it but it just might be the best treatise on the relationship between fats and carbohydrates and training for endurance athletes that’s written in understandable plain English but with a scientific basis.</p>
<p>The zealots are certainly out there which is why I found the Phinney quote interesting. It certainly contrasts with other things he has said. It’s also why I would like to burn every copy of the Dukan Diet I could get my hands on.</p>
<p>I’m familiar with Cordain, but not that book specifically.</p>
<p>I think Phinney is a serious, throughtful guy. It’s just that, as a low carb pioneer, he was doing his research against a backdrop of a widespred belief that a ketogenic diet would kill you. So, he’s been determned to disprove that. He’s also been personally ketogenic for decades.</p>
<p>I have no problem with that. I just think that it s very, very hard to cut carb consumption that low. For me, it would require cutting back on fresh veggies.</p>
<p>Attia (and Sisson) are both of the belief that there is a continuum of benefits as you progressively lower your carb intake and that there is no magical benefit to taking it all the way to ketogenic (for most people).</p>
<p>In other words, if you cut from 300 grams a day to 200, you’ll probably see some benefit. If you cut to 100, probably a little more benefit. Below that, maybe incremental benefits.</p>
<p>I find it frustrating, purely from a personal interest standpoint, that the only people doing rigourous low carb research are testing ultra-low ketogenic diets. Some of it is just practicality. It’s hard to do good nutrition research for very long because it’s insanely expensive if you have to feed them controlled meals. So, using the most extreme diets is the only way to get observable differences without testing lots of people over a long time.</p>
<p>What are the best and cheapest heart rate monitors?</p>
<p>Polar is certainly one of the most popular with several different model lines differentiated between different sports and level of athlete. You can get plain vanilla monitors that just give you heart rate without target zones up through very sophisticated ones for runners and cyclists. And many of their models use coded transmitters to reduce the chance of cross talk and interference. Also, because Polar is the industry standard, many aerobic exercise machines you find in fitness facilities will link with the Polar transmitter strap to display hr when you are on the machine. That being said, most sport specific electronics/watch/computer companies now include models with hr rate functions but often their transmitters use proprietary protocols that may not interface with anyone else’s hr products.</p>
<p>Here’s some more info. The Polar FT1 is their least expensive general fitness model with a list price of $70. It can be found online for $45.</p>
<p>An interesting alternative is Polar’s H6 Bluetooth based HR transmitter strap that can interface with fitness apps running on many of Apple’s IOS mobile devices and on some of Samsung’s Android phones. There are also other companies that make Bluetooth HR straps that are Apple compatible. Your local Apple store should have a wall full of Bluetooth based fitness devices that interface with apps running on Apple mobile devices. The HR straps are also about $70 and can be found for about $60 online.</p>
<p>The indoor cycling trainer I use interfaces with my IPhone and an IPhone app using Bluetooth. I have a HR strap from the same company that gives me HR on the same app. The Bluetooth technology has created a huge bloom in the devices and fitness apps that are out there.</p>
<p>I think the Polar Bluetooth strap displayed on a smart phone is a good option.</p>
<p>In the Polar line, I would spend $55 and get the FT4:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Heart-Monitor-Orange-Black/dp/B005LUS222/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1391698454&sr=1-2”>http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Heart-Monitor-Orange-Black/dp/B005LUS222/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1391698454&sr=1-2</a></p>
<p>It’s the cheapest Polar that allows you to enter your own personal max heart rate and display your heart rate either in beats per minute or as a % of your max heart rate. I find that the percentage is a much easier way to glance at the watch when I’m panting like a dog/sweating like a pig than trying to remember how many beats per minute is where compared to my max. </p>
<p>If you want a cheaper option, this Timex also displays both BPM and % for $40. This uses a Polar-compatible analog signal, so the heart rate will display on any treadmill designed to pick up a Polar heart rate.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Timex-Full-Size-Personal-Trainer-Monitor/dp/B005CP8Z3C/ref=sr_1_8?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1391698454&sr=1-8”>http://www.amazon.com/Timex-Full-Size-Personal-Trainer-Monitor/dp/B005CP8Z3C/ref=sr_1_8?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1391698454&sr=1-8</a></p>
<p>The main difference will be that the Polar comes with a “soft strap”. The Timex has a larger piece of plastic on the front of the strap before the elastic starts.</p>