Any hard core athletes here? question for you...

Hello ~ I am trying to research nutritional needs of the athlete and then comparing what we as rny'ers need. I have found some very interesting stuff on anabolic (muscle growth/repair) versus catabolic (muscle broken down) and the need for carbohydrates and timing of meals. All very interesting stuff.

I found this great website  http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pierce34.htm that gives the timing and needs of the body after intense workouts. the thing that concerns me is the carbohydrate intake I need after an intense workout. It suggests that I take in 37 g based on 162 weight along with protein to maximize glycogen restores...It suggests simple carbs like juice...well, I haven't had juice and don't want to dump so...HELP please

My question is this ~ How do you as a serious hard core athlete (running, lifting weights, etc) fuel your bodies to maximize muscle developement AND stay compliant while losing/maintaining your weight? 

Any and all comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks :)

everyone is different in what they can and can't tolerate.
I can drink juice, hell I can eat a candy bar if I wanted to.  I have had to on a long ride before, but two of them would make me dump.  The sports beans from jellybelly work great for me too, never had a problem with them.

It's kind of a trial and error thing.  If it is purely post exercise, some of the things I use are
chocolate milk, cliff bars, bananas, peanut butter, cheese, beef jerkey.

Try eating some at home where you can be close to a restroom or your bed if you need it.  Then start sampling them when you workout or at the gym where you are not too far away from support if you need it.  Finally if it is all good then I'd try it on a long run or something like that.

If it is during workout I tend to stick to the energy gels like G.U.  I mix them down in water so it's not so concentrated.  I find that some of them upset my stomach and some don't.  Mixing them down eliminates that.  I also use Infinit it is a customizable sports nutrition drink,  You can tell them what you want in it and they make the drink for you in powder form. 

You will see lots of info on 3:1 vs 4:1 ratios of carbs vs. protein.  I think a lot of those are written by or sponsored by manufacturers of different products, so I would consider that with a grain of salt when you read them.

Thank you so much for posting...great suggestions too!! I'll check 'em out :)

People typically Dump on refined sugars... If you buy 100% juices, they are not sweetened with added or refined sugars, so you should be OK. What do you define as a  "Hardcore Athlete"? You cannot build muscle and Lose weight at the same time (Mainly because muscle weighs 2 Xs the weight of fat)... You can build muscle and burn or lose fat, but your weight might not decrease and may actually increase. YOU need to define your goals. When you start talking about Carbohydrate absorption, timing, loading anabolic / catabolic people are usually talking about Bulking and usually do this in Cycles. Bulk, rest, shred... repeat. A typical bulk is 6-10 weeks, a recovery rest is typically 2-3 weeks, and shred 4-7 weeks....

What are you training for? If you are excercising for an hour a day, and not trying to gain mass, I dont think you need to worry so much about the things you talked about above... I would just be sure to focus on your protein intake, good carbohydrates, and good recovery meals. Keep it simple in the beginning... Best of luck...

I am a bit ambitious in my goals. My goal is to have cut arms, legs, and nicely toned body and enhance performance while running. I have always wanted to be a “cut" and lean sexy momma…lol Sorry, couldn’t help it…lol      As of today, I can run 5K in under 40 min which is amazing since I could not run AT ALL just 4 months ago prior to surgery. I would like to continue to train and move into ½ marathons, marathons, etc. build a toned sculpted body... I am 4 months post op and have been actively exercising since the week after surgery increasing intensity as I “healed" week by week. So after 6 weeks, I hit it hard. I strength train 3 days a week and do cardio (elliptical and/or running) 6 days a week most of the time splitting workout sessions (part on lunch break and other part in evening). To body sculpt as a female, I would imagine that I would not necessarily “bulk" up but would need to watch nutritional intake to maximize strengthening and sculpting. Right now here is what I usually have daily if I have a lunch workout session:

B – protein shake (26g)
S – cottage cheese & ½ fruit
S – protein shake (26g) pre-workout drink 30 min before workout
S – protein shake (26g) post-workout drink 30 min after workout
L - chicken, tuna, etc with veggies
S – cheese stick and fruit
D – chicken, tuna, etc with veggies (maybe 1tblspn of complex carbs…ww pasta, etc)
S – protein shake (26g) 30-60 min before bedtime

What are your thoughts on the menu above? If I don’t workout in the afternoon, then I switch the post workout shake and put it after lunch time. Thanks for the info on the juice as well…did not know that and it seems like a nice option.

It sounds like you are talking about endurance athletics - what with marathons and all -- which means a lot of the bodybuilding advice doesn't apply. If you keep up the running, you can lean out and then you'll see your muscle definition without having to do anything special to look cut. (Look at my arm pictures in my profile to get an idea of what I'm talking about.)

Here are some rules of thumb for nutrition for an endurance athlete:

****ating before a workout -- you don't want to eat too close to working out but you don't want to start a workout on fumes either. i can eat right up until I bike (and eat on the bike) but I can't run without gastric distress if I eat right before. Swimming i**** or miss -- I can eat somethings right before but others sit in my stomach like lead.

You have to experiment to see how much and what sorts of things you can eat before what types of exercise. In general, you don't want to be eating somewhere between 30 min and 2 hours before.

(2) Post workout you want to eat something within 30-60 min of working out that has a mixture of carbs and protein. Some studies say 4:1 carbs to protein and some say 3:1 but no one has constructed a study to find out what the optimal ratio is so I just eat what I'm in the mood for. It doesn't have to be a big snack either. Something 150-200 calories is fine.

(3) During a workout:
(a) if the workout is an hour or less, you just need water
(b) if the workout is 1-2 hours, then you need to replace carbs and electrolytes
(c) over 2 hours and you need to also replace protein (and a little fat wouldn't hurt either)

However, during exercise, your body can't process as many calories as it can burn. How many you can burn varies, but it's often around 200-400. (It's 200 for me.) If you consume more than that, it just dumps to your intestines and can cause gastric distress. If you are burning more than that, you need to eat more before and after the workout to make up for it.

Also, most of the people I know with RnY can eat simple carbs while exercising and not dump even if that same food would make them dump if eaten outside of exercise. So that will help a lot.

What I did while losing was to keep to my surgeon's guidelines but, as I increased the intensity and length of my workouts, I increased my protein and that would cause my calories (and carbs) to go up a bit. So eventually I was eating more than the standard plan. But I was eating no where near what a lot of people thought I should be.

So I started out at about 450 calories per day on liquids and gradually made my way up to about 750 a day and 80 g of protein. I stayed there for a while while I was doing about 5 workouts a week. When I started moving up from there, I started aiming for 100 g of protein a day. That got me up to 900 calories a day and my carbs went over the recommended 40 g a day to 45 g as well.

When I got up to 8-9 workouts a week and 10 hours, I went up to 120 g of protein a day and that got me up to 1999-1200 calories and 65 g of carbs. I was at my first goal by then though (a normal BMI).

When I got closer to my goal, I jumped up to 1600 calories -- I was training for a HIM by then -- and then I started adding 100-200 calories a day for 2-4 weeks and seeing if my weight loss would stop.

At that activity level, it turns out I need 1900-2000 calories a day or 1500-1700 net calories a day. Clearly, with that kind of calorie consumption, I'm not going to be limiting myself to 65 g of carbs!

I try to keep my carbs under 200, around 175, if I can but on days when I do something REALLY long -- like a 4 hour bike ride -- that's just not practical and my carbs have been as high as 300 g with no real issues. It's different if you are drinking a sports drink on the bike or while running than if you are eating a brownie with dinner. The former fuels my body appropriately while the later gives me cravings for more and more junk food.

Obviously, the exact numbers are going to vary for you. I'm including all this detail so you can get a picture of how it works while you experiment with what works for you.

Awesome stuff Mac!!! Thank you thank you ~ this is what I needed along with the other posters advice. I knew you guys would be able to help a gal out! 

You all inspire me so much to keep pushing forward!!