Exercise is only part of the fitness equation. In this episode we discuss nutrition and how to develop both long-term and short term food plans to reach your goals. We walk through the basics of estimating your calorie burn (with or without electronic aid), converting your weight loss/gain/recomposition goals into calorie goals, and choosing food that makes sense for your needs. Most importantly, we discuss how to nurture your own “BS detector” when it comes to fad diets and extreme changes. Finally, we talk about some of our favorite foods and how they fit into our fitness plans. Note: This is the last of our pre-recorded podcasts. Your next episode of FitSmart will arrive next week and will include listener calls! You can call in your questions, comments, and concerns at 214-296-9229.
Coffee smoothie recipe (as referenced in the 'cast), please?!
Loving this new podcast! I listened to the first 2 while out cycling today, and the 3rd while cleaning my bicycle. Really interesting and useful info for someone like me who heads out cycling without the benefit of a personal trainer. And of course, as with any GWC 'cast, very entertaining as well 
Anyway, question on nutrition (and no I’m not going to phone the voicemail… I um and err so much trying to leave voicemails I gave up years ago)…
Anyway, question on nutrition: I often get up and head straight out to exercise without eating. Is that going to cause my body to burn muscle rather than fat? Should I be having a breakfast of some sort before heading out? If so… do I have to wait until it’s digested before I head out? And how long is that wait? And what sort of thing to eat?
Also loving this new podcast, helping get back in the saddle after my 3 month break (which I will now refer to as my rest period)
Loving this cast! I wanted to say I found it to be very inspiring for Chuck to say he is still stuggling with food issues.
Having been fat my whole life, I don’t think I’ll ever have a normal relationship with food (whatever that is) and I won’t ever see myself as not being fat. There are tons of boards and podcasts out there that deal with weight issues, but the ones I’ve checked out are so frakking treacle-y they just don’t speak to me. Just hearing you lay out the fact and not getting all verklempt is so refreshing.
The other thing that I found interesting is when you said that before you started talking about nutrition with Mitch, you didn’t know much about it. I don’t think you can find a “woman’s” magazine that doesn’t talk about nutrition and dieting to one degree or another. Just an observation.
Again, I’m loving all the new casts. Be careful you don’t burn out!
I also find it inspiring when Chuck talks about his journey. It’s hard for me to relate to really liking to eat the foods that are good for me (as Chuck does now), but I can really relate to struggling with food issues, especially over the past few years of dealing with work related stress.
Thanks, Chuck!
Thanks, guys.
We talk some more about this in the latest FS, out soon. I’ve been reading a book lately that suggest that there’s some scientific reality to those bad habits never really going away, but rather being only overridden by new ones. Totally jives with my experience.
I generally am a healthy eater but sometimes I just HAVE TO EAT processed cheese. Like, it calls to me with a siren song and I can’t go into a grocery store kind of need. I am with you, Chuck. Don’t know if it will ever fully go away… I just manage as best as I can.
I quit smoking 12 years ago, and I only have a craving every blue moon. If it’s like that, I could deal with it. But I think with smoking, if I had one cigarette today, I’d be back to a pack a day in no time. My fear is that I will have to quit ice cream cold turkey and never have it again.
I think we all have this fear!
I’ve recently started a vegan diet with no animal products. I promise that I will do my best not to become a smug bastard.
I’m totally with you. I still fear these things, which threatens to put me into various negative behavior spirals.
As far as ice cream goes, my one vice is the aforementioned “fake ice cream” of which I eat big bowl every night. Not sure if that’s really the best thing in the world for me, but it’s what I got.
I have been doing research on this. What was your motivation? Results?
When I say recently, I mean very recently, as in yesterday I completed my 2nd full day. My motivations are varied a bit. I want the kind of holistic health that comes from eliminating animal products from your diet and because I would really like to reduce the footprint I have on the earth. The meat industry has a huge effect on the environment as well.
[QUOTE=melkorsbane;411876]When I say recently, I mean very recently, as in yesterday I completed my 2nd full day. My motivations are varied a bit. I want the kind of holistic health that comes from eliminating animal products from your diet and because I would really like to reduce the footprint I have on the earth. The meat industry has a huge effect on the environment as well.[/QUOTE
What’s the verdict?
Tangental, but with some relevance – Men’s Health just blogged a rather straightforward, common-sense list of 71 (I didn’t question the number) of dietary and exercise habits to improve fat loss. Unlike a lot of the fad-oriented or often conflicting things this magazine has to say from time to time, this list is actually pretty spot-on, from what I’ve collected over the last couple years. The cayenne pepper thing surprised me, though…
As I mentioned in the podcast, I’ve been sort of an accidental vegetarian of late. I’ve been eating entirely vegetarian for the last two months. Kinda wild.
I’ll admit that I do like the idea of not killing animals to eat – I like animals! – though I’m not sure that’d be enough to drive me. The bottom line for me is that I really like the food, and it makes me feel good.
The trick is that if you plan on going vegetarian you need to be careful to make sure you get a good fat/protein/carb mix. But if you’re logging your food, that’s not a problem. It certainly isn’t for me, in either 20/60/20 or 20/40/40 mode.
I used to think eating vegan meant a diet of broccoli and such. That idea was completely mistaken. There are no end of filling, delicious, fully heated options out there. I’m not vegan, but if I suddenly had to be, I’d be OK with it.
“Chicken isn’t vegan?” — Todd Ingram
Sigh - Right now I keep falling off the wagon…It’s a mental thing no doubt.
I’ve also become an accidental veggie. I still eat meat. I just don’t eat the ton I did before. This is mainly due to the cost of shopping. So curries is usually lentil and veg. Soups - butternut squash or swede.
The good thing, it can just be as tasty.
Those of you in this thread make a great point collectively, which is that there’s so much variety in available food that one is much more likely to “not like” a particular diet because of failing to experiment and make fun food choices than because the food itself is boring or flavorless or uninteresting.
I ate at restaurants for the first time in a long time recently on Audra and my trip to DC this last week, and ended up ordering vegetarian there. Got some great dishes: lentil patties, salad, and bean salad at a Peruvian place and spicy okra/eggplant wot and ground lentils on injira at a sweet Ethiopian place. Super interesting, super flavorful–awesome all round.
I find that applying some creativity and basic cooking skills, I can make lots of awesome stuff that I end up craving and enjoying to fit most any dietary needs I run into in my fitness journey (which varies over time from low to high calorie and various nutrient mixes).