Here’s how I survived my ultra marathon:

• Carb-load - Carbs are gasoline for the body and you can’t attempt a 50K without putting gas in the tank. I had two cups of whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and some salted steak fries the night before my run.

• Early riser breakfast – I woke at 4 a.m. for a 7 a.m. start and I noshed on a toasted plain bagel with almond butter, a banana, and water.

• Drink early and often – Always run with fluids. Water is OK if you are exercising in cool weather less than an hour, but after that I’d choose a sports beverage. I gulped on 3-4 ounces of the sports drink every 2 miles (20-22 minutes), even if I didn’t feel thirsty. The number one health risk in an ultra marathon is dehydration. You prevent it by drinking from start to finish of your races and training run.

• Eat on the run – I had my last meal at 6 a.m. and crossed the finish line at about 1:30 p.m. That’s a long time to go without any nutrition. This is one of the things that makes ultra distance trail running different than other races, you spend more time at your rest stops and you get bits of food that help you delay fatigue and stay energized. I usually go for what looks appetizing and I favor salty foods over sweet, mainly because my sports drink is so sweet that the salty foods are a happy change.

Not only that, but the longer you engage in outdoor activity and the more you sweat, the more salt you lose. It is common for a heavy sweater to lose 1,000-2,500 milligrams of sodium per hour, and up to 5,000 mg sodium in a hot environment. I had 1/2-1 cup of chicken soup or broth at miles 15, 19, 25, and 28 and I honestly think it boosted me the entire time. The salty broth made me want to keep drinking between stops. I also enjoyed a boiled potato dipped in rock salt at one point along the journey. Other items on my list included cola, pretzels, and frozen oranges. Between rest stops, I chewed on cola flavored Powerbar gummies with 50 milligrams of caffeine (which actually gives a bit of an athletic performance boost).

Non-runners might be reading this and thinking “How can this stuff be good for you? Isn’t it what you are supposed to avoid?” That’s a mistake you don’t want to make if you venture into distance running. It can be very challenging and rewarding, but people who ignore the basics of hydrating and fueling to delay fatigue are the ones who end up with cramping, heat illnesses or the dreaded DNF (did not finish).

I finished the race in 6 hours 29 minutes and placed sixth out of 30 in my age group, and while I was completely happy with those stats, I think I was most impressed with my attitude and energy at every mile. Eight years ago, I worked in information technology, weighed 165 pounds, and even though I was a former aerobics instructor and personal trainer, I was barely active and my nutrition was in the toilet. I never would have guessed that I would one day finish an ultra marathon – something less than 10% of runners (that’s people who already like to run) ever attempt. If I can do it, you can too. Start somewhere. Take one mile at a time. Believe in yourself, even if nobody else does.

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How to Survive an Ultra Marathon

While this isn’t exactly new news, this important study provides a direct reason why these high glycemic foods wreak havoc on the heart and increase risk of heart disease. The researchers showed that after you eat a carb-laden food like a bowl of corn flakes or a Twinkie, your brachial arteries become distended, or swollen, for several hours. While it’s important for the arteries to have a certain amount of elasticity in them, over time, a sudden expansion of the arteries, which follows after noshing on a carb-filled snack, can cause a number of negative health effects, including reduced elasticity, which can cause heart disease or sudden death.

Medical professionals are not only warning against the consumption of high glycemic foods, but the results appear to be even scarier for those who binge on such foods and consume too much of them in one sitting. Their risk of death from a heart attack is greatly increased.

So what does this study mean for you? Doctors are recommending that when you eat carbohydrates, consume those with whole grains like oatmeal, whole grain bread, brown or wild rices and starches like sweet potatoes and legumes. Since these foods contain fiber in addition to a number of other essential nutrients, they result in a slow and steady release of blood sugar and don’t expand the arteries like the culprit “white” foods do. Toss in 30 minutes of physical activity every day and you’re the picture of perfect health!

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High Carb Foods Raise Risk of Heart Disease

So, according to the latest news about which foods are most beneficial after exercising, protein takes the cake. I honestly recommend eating within 15 to 30 minutes of working out and intaking a combination of the two depending on the type and intensity level of the workout.

After weight training, I recommend intaking more protein than carbs and vis-versa with prolonged running. The body needs both after long bouts of exercise to help replenish (carbs), rebuild (protein), and repair (protein) what was lost and broken down.

See Matt’s Top 10 Post-Workout Snacks.

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Protein vs. Carbs: Post Workout Fuel

If you’re an athlete who leans toward strenuous workouts, whether you pound the pavement or fly down black diamond ski slopes, it is time to tweak your recovery, sports nutritionists say.

The long-held belief from the late 1960s encouraging avid exercisers and elite athletes to rehydrate and to reload with carbohydrates is passé. Protein has muscled its way back into popularity.

Studies show that carbohydrates combined with a little protein creates a better muscle refueling and building response, and it reduces cortisol, a hormone that breaks down muscle, says Nancy Clark, an active member of the American Dietetic Association’s sports nutritionists and fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.

See this story at USA Today.

See Matt’s Top 10 Post-Workout Snacks.

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Muscles Want Protein, Not Carbs

1. Remember your fruits and veggies! It’s recommended to consume 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies a day. So take advantage of your lunch to really rack in some servings.

- A salad is an easy way to score big on veggies, with fresh greens, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, or any vegetable you want. You can also add some dried or fresh fruit and you will be feeling good. You’ll be scoring big for your health without having consumed a lot of calories (remember veggies and fruit are very nutrient dense, meaning you get a lot of nutrients and small amount of calories and fat). However, keep in mind to pick an oil-based salad dressing and to remember to lightly pour it on… you don’t want to drown your salad in dressing.

- A veggie sandwich (on whole-grain bread, tortilla, or pita of course!)

- A pasta salad (with whole-wheat/grain pasta) with veggies can go great here, too.

- Pack some fruit. Grapes, an apple, banana, strawberries or whatever you desire. Pre-wash or pre-cut your fruit at home to make it more convenient to eat as a snack or at your lunch break. The more convenient it is the more likely you’ll be to eat it.

2. Remember to include lean sources of protein.

- If you’re staying with the salad or sandwich theme, add some sliced turkey or chicken to it. Remember portion size is important. For you vegetarians, try adding beans (chickpeas/garbanzo beans, kidney beans, etc.) to your salad or wrap/sandwich.

- Don’t forget the nuts! It’s recommended to eat a handful of nuts a day, so why not add them to this nutrient dense salad or sandwich to make it a powerhouse, nutrient dense lunch? Or, simply pack them in a separate bag and enjoy them when you want.

3. Remember your carbs! Don’t shy away from carbs because you need them. Do keep in mind quantity and quality. For quality, you need to choose whole-wheat, whole-grain options (more frequently or most of the time) versus plain white bread or pasta.
4. Drink water! Remember to drink, not only with your meals, but all day long. Water is the best drink for you and it’s guilt-free (zero calories).

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4 Things to Remember When Packing a Lunch

Legumes and lentils are good sources of resistant starch.

You’ve heard it before: Not all carbs are created equal. And never has this been more true than in the new findings surrounding resistant starch, a type of carbohydrate that has produced promising results in helping to promote weight loss, improve digestion and keep insulin levels balanced.

We predict that headlines will soon be abuzz with the benefits of resistant starch, so to keep you a few bites ahead of the weight loss game, here is the skinny on this healthy nutrient.

What is resistant starch?

Resistant starch is a nutrient similar to the sugars, fibers, proteins and fats found in the food we eat. During digestion, all of these nutrients are metabolized and processed and used for our immediate or long-term energy. Resistant starch behaves much like fiber, in that it “resists” being digested and ends up in the large intestine where it is eventually passed. It also has some of the same benefits as fiber, in that it helps to relieve constipation and promote regular digestion.

Where do you find resistant starch?

Resistant starch can be found in lentils, split peas, kidney beans, navy beans, brown rice, barley, oatmeal, corn, potatoes and whole-grain bread and pastas.

Try incorporating these foods into your regular diet, but keep in mind that you get the most benefits when you cook these foods and then eat them when they are cooled.

What is the weight loss connection?

There are few ways that resistant starch may play a role in weight loss. First, resistant starch foods are bulky so they take up more space in your tummy making you feel full sooner. Also, because you don’t absorb them, they bypass your bloodstream and instead travel to your intestines where they are eventually eliminated.

In addition, resistant starch may burn more fat. As it travels through the digestive tract, it becomes fermented and releases a fatty acid called butyrate. Butyrate helps to increase the amount of stored fat and immediately-consumed fat that your body burns for energy. Resistant starch may also have certain properties that suppress hunger, which result in consuming less calories and eventually losing weight.

While science is still hard at work to produce conclusive data that resistant starch is a true weight loss solution for those who are overweight, the research so far has yielded some very important results. Furthermore, since foods that contain resistant starch have so many other healthy qualities, like vitamins, protein and fiber,  we could all benefit from incorporating more of this plant-based nutrient into our diets.

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Is Resistant Starch Nature’s Weight Loss Cure?

In contrast, the consumption of low-glycemic index foods results in lower, but more sustained, increases in blood glucose and lower insulin demands on pancreatic beta-cells. However, this does not necessarily mean that a low-index food is healthier than a high-index food.

How the Glycemic Index was Developed

To determine the glycemic index of a food:

• Volunteers were/are given a test food that provides 50 grams of carbohydrate one day and a control food (white bread or pure glucose) that provides the same amount of carbohydrate on a different day.
• Blood samples are taken prior to eating and at regular intervals after eating over the next several hours.
• The changes in blood sugar/glycemic response is calculated and multiplied by 100 to give a percentage.
• For example, a baked potato has a glycemic index of 76 relative to glucose and 108 relative to white bread. Meaning the blood glucose response to the carbs in a baked potato is 76 percent of the blood glucose response to the same amount of carbs in pure glucose and 108 percent of the blood glucose response to the same amount of carbs in white bread.
• In contrast, cooked brown rice has a glycemic index of 55 relative to glucose and 79 relative to white bread.

(Confusing, I know, but I wanted you to see a little behind how these values are found and therefore how the food is ranked.)

Although this glycemic index does provide us with a benefit of potentially helping lowering an individual’s blood sugar levels, it is very complicated because many factors affect the glycemic value of a specific food (i.e. how it’s prepared, what’s eaten with it, and some foods are unable to establish a glycemic value). For these reasons, the American Diabetes Association has concluded there isn’t enough evidence to recommend the general use of a low glycemic index diet for people with diabetes and there is much controversy as using it as a tool for losing weight.

If you’re interested in learning more about this meal-planning tool, talk to a registered dietitian. She/he can help you make changes in your diet.) The best advice I can give when dealing with carbohydrates, is try to consume mostly whole-grain, whole-wheat options, choose healthy fruits and veggies, and try to eat carbs and protein together to help with blood sugar maintenance.

Learn more in “What Everyone Needs to Know About Carbs.”

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Understanding the Glycemic Index

Benefits of Carbohydrates

• When you eat a carbohydrate, your body breaks it down into a simpler form known as glucose.
• Glucose (for immediate energy) and its storage form glycogen (reserve energy) provide about half of all the energy muscles and other body tissues use (the brain depends 100% on glucose for its energy). The other half of the body’s energy comes from mostly fat.  We now know that carbohydrates aren’t all good or all bad. Some promote health while others, when eaten often and in large quantities, increase the risk for diabetes and heart disease.

Sources of Carbohydrates

• Carbohydrates are found in a wide variety of foods—bread, beans, milk, popcorn, potatoes, cookies, spaghetti, soft drinks, cherry pie, milk, fruit, starchy veggies, and legumes.
• They also come in a variety of forms, most common and abundant forms are sugars, fibers, and starches.
• Carbohydrates were once grouped into two main categories:

1. Simple carbohydrates included sugars such as fruit sugar (fructose), corn or grape sugar (dextrose or glucose), and table sugar (sucrose).
2. Complex carbohydrates included everything made of three or more linked sugars. Complex carbohydrates were thought to be the healthiest to eat, while simple carbohydrates weren’t so great.

Common Misconception of Carbohydrates

• Many people mistakenly think of carbs as “fattening” and avoid them when trying to lose weight. Such a strategy may be helpful if the carbohydrates are simple sugars (soda, candy, etc.), but it is counterproductive if the carbs are complex carbohydrates (whole grains, legumes, etc.).

Click to see a brief list of foods on the Glycemic Index.

The Glycemic Response and the Glycemic Index

• Glycemic response, which is how quickly glucose is absorbed after a person eats, indicates how high the blood glucose rises, and how quickly it returns to normal. The Glycemic Index aims to classify carbohydrates based on how quickly and how high they boost blood sugar compared to pure glucose.
• Slow absorption is desirable, a modest rise in blood glucose, and a smooth return to normal (low glycemic response).
• Fast absorption is less desirable, a surge in blood glucose, and an overreaction that plunges glucose below normal (high glycemic response).
• Different foods have different effects on blood glucose.
• Foods with a high glycemic index, like white bread, cause rapid spikes in blood sugar. Low glycemic foods, like whole oats, are digested more slowly, causing a lower and gentler change in blood sugar.

Which Carbs Should You Eat?

• Choose whole grains and whole-wheat options
  
• Start your day off with whole grains. Hot cereal fan? Try old-fashioned or steel-cut oats.  Like cold cereals more? Look for one that lists whole wheat, whole oats, or other whole grain first on the ingredient list.
• Use whole grain breads for lunch or snacks.
• Try brown rice or even “newer” grains like bulgur, wheat berries, millet, or hulled barley with your dinner.
  
• Pick up some whole wheat pasta. If the whole grain products are too chewy for you, look for those that are made with half whole-wheat flour and half white flour.
• Eat beans. Beans are an excellent source of slowly digested carbohydrates as well as a great source of protein.

Check the label to make sure that whole wheat or another whole grain is the first ingredient listed.

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What Everyone Needs to Know About Carbs