@busdriver11 – last spring I did a consultation with a sports nutritionist. I found the information incredibly useful. It differed significantly from the classic weight loss advice one gets through places like Weight Watchers and MyFitnessPal. @MichaelNKat has some good information about nutrition for athletes that he’s generous to provide for free, right here.
Thanks, dmd, I should go through and copy some of the posts here for him.
@busdriver11, there’s a lot of good free info on nutrition on the USDA’s MyPlate website. You need to systematically explore the site a bit because there’s so much there that you can kind of get overwhelmed in trying to find what you really want. I find that the page with articles designed for health and fitness industry professionals is a great concise place to find well organized info on the new 2015 dietary standards. Then there’s the related USDA Supertracker website that provides food and exercise tracking as well as calculating and tracking your macronutrient needs. I personally use MyFitnessPal to set my caloric needs and track my food intake by macronutrients. I find its formula to determine caloric needs to be pretty spot on and it’s food data base is the best of all online trackers I’ve tried. I also like that with the premium version I can track macronutrients by grams.
In this regard, the nutritional needs and planning for athletes really are more demanding than for those just trying to lose or maintain their weight. Athletes need enough carbs to fuel their endeavors and enough protein to repair and rebuild muscle tissue. Once those needs are met, I then backfilll remaining available calories with healthy fats. I find these sites have some very convenient guidelines that shortcuts digging through the scientific literature:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/maki1.htm
http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2016/01/04/carbs-the-training-fuel/
In addition, athletes need to pay attention to nutrition timing in order to optimize performance. Pre-workout or event nutrition, nutrition during long events and post workout or event nutrition each have their own unique needs based both on timing and the type of workout or event.
As to using a trainer to assist in mapping out a nutritional and fitness plan, a trainer can be very helpful but when it comes to nutrition, make sure the trainer respects the limits on scope of practice and does not attempt to prescribe specific meal plans. In addition to meeting in person with a trainer, long distance coaching using Skype, facetime and other media tools can be very effective cost effective. If you want more info about long distance coaching or hoiw to find a local trainer, feel free to PM me.
One other thought. Be careful about relying on online trackers to calculate exercise calorie burn. I’ve yet to find one that is really accurate and one of the biggest mistakes often made is to use estimates of specific exercise calorie burns as a basis to figure out caloric intake needed to lose, gain or maintain weight. Most people end up overeating when they do that!
Finally got over myself and went running this morning, in the cold (36 degrees), at 6:30. I sound like such a wimp compared to all of you running in colder weather and in the dark! Now I just have to wake up earlier (like at 6) to get a run in before work. I’ve got to keep running or the pounds will creep back.
Early morning today - got up at 4 to meet the running crew for 5 miles, then home to quickly rinse off before Pilates. I felt the best I’ve felt in a long time this morning. Pace was good, enjoyed the camaraderie. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with a Fiber One muffin and a little butter and jam. Working a short day today, then I need to pick up my packet for tomorrow and get home and start some meal prep. Looking forward to a long holiday weekend!
Class of 2015 you are not the only one who has trouble getting out to run in the cold. I had to drag myself out on Sunday to do that. I won’t run in the dark either.
Ha – thanks, FallGirl! If I knew you IRL I bet we’d get each other up and out!
I HATE getting up and going out in the cold. I revert to my treadmill too often…
Good but hard run in Santa Fe this morning. Ran with my daughter through the Plaza and over to the River Trail, which is really a concrete path. It felt ok going out, because it was a gradual downhill. Coming back was really hard- all uphill. She was doing a workout assigned by her coach, so was ahead of me for most of it. I had to keep stopping to catch my breath on the way map of the route is a perfect V. 29 degrees with blue, blue sky and snow capped mountains in the background. We saw her husband on our way back. He was at 2 miles and we warned him about the return uphill. He is a run-walker and did ok using his walking breaks. My husband went a different way. He’s in his early days of switching to running from biking for the winter.
Now- breakfast!
^^What an impressive fit family!
Raining here so trying to figure out how to get some exercise in to combat the plentiful food this week. Celebrating a D’s bday today with Lebanese food and not-your-typical-but-delicious cake later. Homemade pumpkin waffles this morning!
3.7 miles on the treadmill at the gym; interesting TED podcast on adaptation. Battled the crowds at the grocery store – fortunately I didn’t have many things on my list. Wrestled pup into the car for her appointment with the groomer. Next up: baking pumpkin gingersnaps!
The kiddo arrived! I am taking a day off taking care of her. The exercise will be cleaning the house! 
Great news, Bunsen!
Thanks, sabaray!!
In other news… If I were a dude, I would be so healthy I could be sent into space. More docs to be seen soon.
I’ve been such a slug lately. It’s gun season so my paths are limited. And the roads are covered with a thin layer of ice. Going down state tomorrow so it should be better and I will at least get some nice long walks in. Mil has been in a mood lately so I might need some loooong walks Lol!
Today we had freezing rain and now it’s snowing. H is on the phone talking about our treadmill that isn’t working
A moody MIL, a broken treadmill, and icy roads - what a trifecta. Hope it is up from there for you, deb!
Today was yoga for the first time in a month. I also went for a run, on my local route the first time in a month, and can report that the low-hanging branch that attacked me has been chopped off. My head is now safe. I had a side cramp for the first bit, thought I would have to end early, but it went away so I did about 6 miles.
Skipping the Turkey Trot tomorrow. The family we usually go with is out of town and the weather looks iffy.
Thank you for the info,@MichaelNKat! Will look at it closely when the partying stops!
Well, I know Portland has a tendency to be a little weird. Rather than do the big Turkey Trot at the zoo–the one where they send out notices for weeks in advance, telling you to carpool or take public transportation because there’s not enough parking for all the people they registered–I’m signed up for the To-furky Trot tomorrow morning that’s much smaller and a lot closer to home. It’s a badly organized fundraiser for “locally-based nonprofits supporting a plant-based lifestyle.” Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up. I mean, Portlandia is kind of a documentary. I say “badly organized” but it’s not really, they have a warm and dry place to wait for the start and to stash your stuff during. They have goodies (bars that are made with chia seed, mostly, and some bananas). They have a nice 5K-ish course through one of my favorite parks, some of it on sidewalks and some on trails. What’s not to love? I was afraid, though, a few years back when I made the mistake of saying I was an omnivore in response to the question “vegan or vegetarian.” If looks could kill, I would have been lying by the side of the path, deeply injured, even though the questioner claimed to be a vegan and respectful of all life. Mostly I say “badly organized” because the course is “ish”–not particularly accurate–and they don’t actually start when they say they will.
That sounds very Portlandish! Enjoy!
Had 28000 steps today with the 6 mile run and walking all over Santa Fe. It was a good day. Lots of food, though!