This study allegedly shows that a low fat diet has no impact on cancer and heart disease rates. Yet when I read through it all, finally it states that the low fat group "reduced the percentage of fat in their diet to 24 percent of daily calories, and by the end of the study their diets had 29 percent of their calories as fat." That is considered "low fat?"
From the USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005: "Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories."
From the Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition by Monique Ryan: "For most athletes, a diet adequate in calories for their training requirements and weight goals should supply about 20 to 25 percent of the total calories from fat." And, "The American Heart Association sets 15 percent as the lower limit for fat intake, because very low fat intakes may not benefit the general population and could cause nutrient deficiencies in some individuals."
Most days, I get 10-15% of my calories from fat, but then there are days (like yesterday), where my body tells me to eat more fat, and so then I indulge. The benchmark I use, though, for my core diet is 15% of calories from fat. Since I am taking in a wide variety of foods (and weird ones, at that--I love chicken liver, sardines, liver sausage and smelly cheeses), and my sports nutrition is highly vitamin-enriched, I don't think I'm missing out on any key nutrients.
About 10 years ago, I began eating a very low fat diet (maybe 10% of calories from fat) in an effort to shed bodyfat. It worked, but the reason it worked was that I also dramatically reduced my carbohydrate intake and increased my protein intake. I was eating maybe 1800 calories per day, lifting 3-4 hours per week and doing maybe 3 hours of cardio per week. I only ate that way for about 6 months, and it taught me that there are a lot of tasty foods that don't contain a lot of fat, and I learned to eat better than I had been. I hadn't been big on fruit before this, so that was a great habit to acquire. Then, in 2001, training for my first Ironman, I was a little less strict on the fat intake, but went nuts on the carbohydrates, and I ended up gaining weight (and plenty of fat!). What did I learn this time? Fat is not necessarily the culprit; total calories are.
Now I still adhere to a low fat diet most of the time to keep my saturated fat intake low (yes, I eat lots of chicken breast, turkey, very lean beef and fish), and I am more careful about the timing of my carbohydrate intake in relation to my training. Since I train twice a day most days, and I follow the modified Paleo diet principles as best I can (starch and sugars only directly before, during or after training, limit processed foods), I can pretty much indulge in carbs all day long, and I do. But the higher glycemic ones come only right before or during training (Power Bars, Gatorade, Ultra Violence), and post training I always do the combination thing of carbs plus lots of protein (generally brown rice with lots of veggies and lean protein).
I think the key for me has been to build a solid aerobic engine, and then I feed the fire continuously. If there was a "Sheila Cam," you would see me eating something right when I wake up (with Kona coffee), then drinking Gatorade, Ultra Violence or a voodoo-concoction in the pool, then eating fruit, maybe some pretzels, maybe a (gasp!) Lean Pocket for my mid-morning snack, lots of water, maybe some Ultra Violence before my second workout, more Gatorade or voodoo mix during the second workout, then Endurox R4 and lunch (typically a Lean Cuisine that has rice in it), and probably something salty like a few Pringles or string cheese for a mid-afternoon snack, and then finally dinner, and maybe later another snack like a 1/2 of a PB&J or Swedish Fish or more fruit.
But no way am I buying into the 25% of my calories from fat. I've got a system that is working for me, and most of the time, I just don't want a lot of fat. I generally don't get cravings for pizza, fried foods, pastries, ice cream or McDonald's very often. When I do get them, I just acknowledge the thought and move on. And moving on reminds me that I have more workouts to do the next day and that if I put crap in my body, those workouts will feel like crap.
But check back with me in 2 months when I'm out doing 5+ hour rides. I'm not talking about going out and "JFR," either. It's steady, Ironman pacing or faster (usually faster). After one of those, Italian beef, pizza, fried chicken or pasta with eggs, bacon and cheese are good ways to get lots of calories. But since I'm used to not eating a lot of food by volume at any one sitting, I am not in any big danger of overdoing it. Remember, though the most important thing you can do on those very long ride days is to try and eat 3 ACTUAL MEALS, which is the very best tip I got from my very first triathlon coach. On those days, typically I awaken at 4:45, eat breakfast plus drink a carbohydrate supplement of about 300 calories (it's important to load up the tank for these things), then I drive maybe an hour (including bike setup, etc.), am riding by 7AM, take in about 250 calories per hour, finish around noon-2PM, depending on how much riding I'm doing. Next meal is technically lunch, and it's huge. I eat as much as I can, to the point of slight discomfort, and then I just lay down, digest and relax. And then I try and make myself eat later before I pass out. The following day I am usually still hungry, since it's likely I didn't replace all the calories I burned the previous day (but be careful on this--some people take in too many calories during training, underestimate their burn rate and then use the long day as a license to pig out), but then it's back to the business of fueling the machine properly.
It can take many years to understand how your body works and calibrate your eating, not just calories, but nutrient breakdown (fats, carbs and protein) that will yield the very best performance that your body can give you. When I look at the Olympians, I think about the tremendous sacrifices they have made in their lives to be able to reach the pinnacle of their sport, and I smile, because even though I am "Joe Average," (or Jane, if you will), I think I understand a little of what they put themselves through and can relate to it. They say that if you want to get ahead in business that one thing you should do is emulate others in higher positions than you are. I think the same is true in sport. When I look at the Olympians, I see dedication, hard work, attention to detail, intense focus, and total unadulterated joy in what they are doing!
Now that's what I call FUN!
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6 comments:
Good comments.
I'd be interested to know what your thoughts on saturated vs. unsaturated fat intake.
I'd also love to know what your fat intake is in absolute terms (# of grams) and how you track it.
As for me, I've reduced my total fat intake from 30% to between 20-25%. To put this is real numbers. I'm eating 2200-2400 cals, roughly 55-60 grams of fat per day, most of which is 'good' fat...foods like avocados, nuts (particularly 100% natural peanut butter), small amts. of olive oil for cooking, etc.
Without eliminating these types of food entirely, I'm having a hard time getting my fat intake under 20%.
How do you do it?
FWIW, since I've started on this diet (in Sept), I reduced body weight from 227.5 to 196 (I'm 6'2") and body fat from 24% to 14%. My target weight is 185.
Thanks for the great post. I was surprised to hear the conclusion of said study and wondered what they considered "low fat." I am in no way close to your training volume, but I found that a true low fat diet makes me feel better. I do not really have a hard time keeping my fat intake low, since I am a vegan and I hardly ever eat nuts - but even in days when I "splurge," my fat intake in nowhere close to the whooping 30% the subjects in the study consumed.
Also, it would be interested to know where those calories came from: are they consuming lots of vegetable, or are they scarfing down Snackwells and Lay's with olestra...
Serious Fun. A lot of people don't get that.
Ever since I read the Paleo Diet, I have modify a bit of that into my diet. So far, that and with good rest, I am not as tired as I train last year.
Would you recommend eating more the day before the long ride?
My personal opinion is that its not about the absence of fat, but what you replace it with. What were the people in the study eating on the "low-fat" diet? Sugar? White pasta? white bread? Frozen dinners? All low-fat but not necessarily good for you!
For jp: I do try and limit my saturated fat intake as much as possible by eating mostly lean protein and very little dairy most days. Our need for dairy is hogwash, IMHO. A recent study (if I can find it I'll URL it) said that most Americans get plenty of calcium from other sources which precludes all the recommended milk drinking. Not to mention milk makes me mucusy. YUK! But for growing kids, it's probably not a bad idea, but hey, skim milk has all the protein and not so much of the fat.
I did a recalc just now on what my "usual" daily diet looks like, and it breaks down to about 20% protein, 16% fat and 64% carbs. If you want to see where that comes from, email me and I'll send you the spreadsheet.
It's a good thing I started eating string cheese once a day, because I was staying more around that 10% of calories from fat, which is probably a little low. But 15% feels just fine to me.
During a day, I might have some string cheese, or I might have a small handful of nuts, and once in a blue moon, I'll eat an entire avocado, if my body is craving fat. Same deal with the porterhouse steak.
I do believe in the "eat anything you like one day out of the week" thing, only I forget to do it more often than not. But in lieu of that, I might eat 1/2 lb. of steak, or have some really high-fat sauce on my pasta, have eggs fried in butter (YUM!) or the ubiquitous PB&J. But these are not common or even weekly indulgences.
So I think my eating pattern is basically quite clean, but as the mood strikes once or maybe even twice a week, I'll add something different that may be high fat.
I also don't eat much bread at all. I just don't crave it, although today after my brick workout it was 1/2 of a Subway club.
When thinking about diet, I think you have to have a long-term view. If you try too hard to have too MUCH variety in a given week, you may be missing the boat. I believe that if your "basic" daily diet is grounded in lean protein, fruits and vegetables, that you are probably getting adequate nutrients, and that when you get yourself finely tuned, your body will tell you what else it needs. And then you can use an out-to-eat occasion to have something you usually don't have at home.
I don't go out to eat very often at all, so I know what I'm making for dinner and what's in it, and this, I think is key to effective weight/body composition management. When I do go out to eat, it's most likely for sushi, and you can't beat that for a ton of great protein, healthy fat and plenty o' carbs.
Cliff--effective fueling entails a few things (buy Monique Ryan's book if you don't already have a good sports nutrition reference):
1. Good, clean, "core" diet (i.e., those calories that comprise your BMR).
2. Replenishment after workouts
3. Restocking glycogen or loading prior to key long workouts
So the short answer is, yes, I DO pay more attention to how much I eat the night before either a long ride (3+ hours is my benchmark) or long run (2 hours is my benchmark, OK I know I'm a freak), since those events tend to do a real number on your glycogen stores. But you always need to be thinking about keeping things in balance; so you don't really want to overdo calories on a day just to get ready for the next day.
What I do instead is on the day of a 2.5+ hour workout, I supplement my breakfast with Ultrafuel or Glycoload. Those are pure-carb drinks that you just slam down about 1-2 hours before your workout. You will go into a temporary "insulin coma" (where you feel like you need to lay down from the influx of sugar, and then insulin into your bloodstream), but that passes quickly, and then 2 hours into your workout you are really glad you took the stuff.
On the morning of an Ironman race, I have about 800 calories in me from my breakfast, Ultrafuel and another bottle of Gatorade to top things off. I do the same for a 1/2 Ironman. For an Olympic distance or shorter tri, I might do a 1/2 serving of Ultrafuel (200 calories), since I won't be as taxed.
I call that fun too.
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