Coach J's Diet and Nutrition Advice

Archive for the ‘Advice’ Category

On behalf of Coach J and the nutrition team, I am extending a big, warm Firebreather Fitness welcome to all the newcomers! We are glad to have you!

First off–Congratulations on choosing a great program and a great facility. You will not find a nicer, more helpful or more inspirational bunch of people than the folks who comprise Firebreather Fitness. Maybe you’ve already noticed a few things: the positive attitude, the camaraderie, the focused intensity, the excellent coaching, the friendly members.

If you are new to Firebreather Fitness, it is quite likely that you are also new to nutrition. From Zone to Primal …. from glucagon to triglycerides … and from chocolate milk to deadlifts, it can all be quite overwhelming–at first. Be patient. Soak it all up like a sponge. And hang it there, because it will all make sense soon enough.

Imagine it’s your first day on college campus. Like any good orientation guide, it is my duty to share some guidance. The following, then, is our obligatory list of Do’s and Don’ts for all our newcomers (and I bet our veteran tribe members can stand a refresher on most of it, too):

Don’t try to out-train a poor diet. Yeah, you are training like crazy, sweating bucketloads and burning tons of calories. But if you keep on eating like crap (like most Americans, sadly), you will become a muscular, fat person. You will fail to thrive. You are here, busting your a$$–so why not go all the way and thrive.

Doattend the Nutrition Seminars and workshops offered periodically by CoachJ and the nutrition team. You will learn tons–and it’s part of what you’ve paid for.

Don’t stay off the wagon. You will stray from the healthy nutrition path. (Just look at my posted meals for the past 24 hrs. - jeesh!) But learn to shorten your slumps. Get back on the wagon—and sooner. Have a cheat meal, not a cheat weekend.

Dotrack your meals. Keep a food journal and write down every single thing you eat. Do it for three weeks (or 13 weeks – can you say, Firebreather Challenge?).  Calculate your calories, protein, carbs and fat grams. This is not easy; it sucks. But you will learn by spotting insights about bad habits, pitfalls and nutritional mistakes. This learning, especially when it’s through self discovery, is what gives you the power to change.

Don’t sit on a question. If you have a question about nutrition (diet, supplementation, recovery, sleep), post it here on the Nutrition site. Or, feel free to ask any member of the nutrition team. We love working with people, we love to teach and we love questions!

Coach Jeremy Mullins – coachj@firebreatherfitness.com

Coach Carla – carla@firebreatherfitness.com

Coach Lis – lisa.lineberg@gmail.com

Tin Man Skip – skip.lineberg@gmail.com

Do come to this site often. And be sure to post your meals (to comments) daily. The more time you spend here, the more you will learn. When you post your meals, you hold yourself accountable for good nutritional health. Others can learn from your sharing of diet. From the opposite side, take a few minutes to see what foods, recovery drinks and supplements others are consuming; when you see something new or odd, ask about it.

That’s all for now, Newbies. Next – it’s off to the campus bookstore … or maybe the blood lab….

This post was a collaborative effort involving CoachJ, Coach Lis and their typist / lackey, Tin Man Skip.

As always, post your meals and questions to “Comments” below.

I saw a commercial today for Kashi Go-Lean cereal.  It was being promoted as breakfast protein that is equivalent to the protein in eggs.  

Hmmmm – the protein in Kashi cereal comes from Textured Soy Protein Concentrate.  Equal to the protein in eggs?  Not quite.  A cup of this cereal has 9 grams of inferior protein, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 12 grams of sugar (equivalent to 3 teaspoons).  And let’s be serious…who eats just one cup of cereal?!  As Firebreathers, we do not consume breakfast cereal (although if I HAD breakfast cereal in my house it would haunt me!!).  But because of the intensity of our training, it is important to examine the protein we consume as it is vital for preservation of all that lean muscle we are building. 

How do you know if the protein you are consuming is of the highest quality? One way is to determine the protein’s biological value (BV). The BV is a measure of a protein’s “usability.” The higher the BV, the greater the proportion of available protein that can be synthesized by the body’s cells. Higher BVs also indicate a greater amount of essential amino acids – those amino acids that the body cannot synthesize or convert on its own and must instead obtain from the diet.

When the BV of foods were first charted – before the invention of protein powders – whole eggs held the spot with the highest BV of 100.  (Therefore, based on the whole egg assigned value of 100, we have an index or a set of  standards by which we can compare the BV of all protein sources, as shown below.)

Biological Value (BV) Table of Protein Food Sources

Whey Protein Isolate = 159
Whey Protein Concentrate = 104
Eggs whole = 100
Eggs white = 88
Chicken / Turkey = 79
Fish = 70
Lean Beef = 69
Cow’s Milk = 60
Unpolished Rice = 59
Brown Rice = 57
Peanuts = 55
Whole Wheat = 49
Soy beans = 47

Where does whey protein come from?

Whey comes from milk protein. 20% of the protein in milk is comprised of whey and the other 80% is made up of casein. Casein is also available as a protein powder, but is less popular due to its lower BV. All whey protein isolates are 90 – 98% pure protein and contain less fat and lactose than concentrates. The whey protein concentrates contain about 70 -85% pure protein. For this reason the isolates are more expensive than the concentrates.

The lesson here: get more of the good protein! If you are not enjoying the gains (or losses) or if your performance has reached a plateau, look at your diet in light of the types of proteins you are consuming.

As always, post your meals and any questions to “Comments.”

This post contributed by Coach Lis.

Here we are …the Firebreather Fitness 12-Week Challenge has begun! The teams are set. The WODs are underway. By now, most have felt the pinch of the skinfold calipers and also the stick of the blood-drawing needle (for blood lab work). Congrats on making the commitment to accept the Challenge and taking those important first steps.

Speaking of steps…on the fitness side, whether you know it or not, the FF coaches have a game plan. They are programming our WODs with an end (an outcome) in mind. Their programming is designed to help us lose fat, while gaining strength and speed. Their toolkit is broad, filled with such assets as Benchmark WODs, SWODs, Girls, Heroes, Tabata drills, AMRAPs, NFT work, sled work and extra running (hill runs no doubt included). The fitness workouts are extremely important. And each of us will decide (or will be advised by our coaches) upon what sort of exercise regimen to follow: 3 days on/ 1 day off, 1 on/ 1 off, etc. The point is that all we have to do is show up and do the WODs.

And maybe that’s what you’ve been doing for the past several months. If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, can you really expect different results? So… how will you and your teammates gain an advantage that will enable you to claim victory in this FF Challenge?

I think the answer is obvious. And I believe that answer is nutrition.

The point is that each of us needs a nutritional game plan.

Journaling and posting your meals is a great first step. It will make a difference in the sense that it will help you see (if you are diligent) what you’re consuming. This enables you (and your coach) to spot trends, such as too many calories, excessive carbs, insufficient protein, too few meals, etc. Each of us has a journal and has promised to log every single thing we eat … for the next 12 weeks. Bravo on that!

But those actions, alone, are not enough. You need a nutritional game plan.

Alright then… what is a nutritional game plan? In short, it consists of a goal, guidelines and an overall strategy.

Will you plan to follow the Zone nutrition plan? Are you prepared to weigh and measure your portions? Do you know how many Zone blocks to consume? If you need help, ask your team captain or a member of the nutrition team (Jeremy, Wally, Carla, Lisa or Skip) for guidance. If the Zone is your guiding strategy, you would be wise to borrow or purchase a copy of The Zone.

Maybe your plan is to go Paleo or Primal for the next 12 weeks. Those are fine alternatives, too. Just be sure you know which foods are allowed. And have a strategy for how many meals to consume per day. Again, if you are serious and committed to victory for your team, go out and get a copy of The Paleo Diet or ThePrimal Blueprint. Or, maybe, the Warrior Diet is a better option for you? Again, consult with your coach.

A few final considerations:

1. Will you allow for a cheat meal or cheat day on your nutritional game plan? Accordingly, does your plan call for you to eat clean 80% of the time…or 90%? Is 100% clean eating for 12 weeks realistic for you?
2. What is the right post-WOD recovery drink for you, based on your nutritional game plan? What should you eat before your WOD—and how far in advance?
3. Do you have a cache of good, reliable recipes… and are you willing and able to cook? If not, then what?
4. Do you have a lunch box/bag and a small cooler… to help you at work, especially when you are traveling?
5. What about fasting? Is it right for you … how often…and for what duration?

We will have more information about all of these important topics in follow-up posts in the days and weeks ahead. But if you have a question—do not wait! Post it to comments, or get in touch with us now.

Coach Lis – lisa.lineberg@bebetter.net

Tin Man Skip – skip.lineberg@gmail.com

Coach Carla – Carla@firebreatherfitness.com

Coach Wally – Wally@firebreatherfitness.com

Coach J – CoachJ@firebreatherfitness.com

This is a short, follow-up post to our previous article on sleep. As noted, sleep is a vital part of any fitness or wellness program. For athletes, it enables your body to repair muscles, triggers the production of human growth hormone and helps to balance the body’s neuro-muscular response system (which affects things like timing and explosiveness). So, in short, sleep is vital to athletic performance.

Let’s hear from those who have been journaling / posting their nightly hours of sleep. What have you observed? Have you noticed any changes in your performance at the box? What about outside the box? Any effects on hunger / eating?

And for those who aren’t posting their sleep (or their daily eating) … what’s holding you back?

The Firebreather coaching staff just posted a new 8-week challenge to all of us. I strongly recommend that in addition to journaling your daily workouts and meals,  you also make one additional journal entry each and every day. Log the number of hours of sleep you got the previous night. Get the most out of your challenge–make it a true learning experience! When it gets right down to it, don’t you really want every advantage you can get to help you (and your team) win?!!!

Contributed by Tin Man Skip

As always, please post your observations, questions, suggestions–and most importantly, your meals–to comments.

My energetic, ambitious wife once introduced me to the following idea:

“I’ll sleep when I die. For now, I’m going to get shit done.”

Some of you are nodding; some are groaning. How many of you have ever come to the box at Firebreather Fitness after a short night…on minimal sleep? What was your workout  that day? I’ll bet your timing was off. I’ll bet your endurance wasn’t what it should have been. I’ll also bet that if you were attempting an Olympic lift, your 1RM wasn’t as high as it should have been.

I confess: I used to come to the box in a sleep-deprived state two to three times a week. Hey, I’m a chronic night-owl (and a parent, business owner, author, blogger, entrepreneur). Like many of you, I wear several hats, and I do some of my best work after 11:30 p.m. For me, I’d stay up late Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday night… catching 4-6 hours of sleep, only to crash at 9:30 on Thursday night. I would chronically head into the weekend “tuckered out” and hoping for a couple of naps. What I’ve learned now is that I was really penalizing myself!

Robb Wolf says that sleep is incredibly important, only exceeded in importance by oxygen and water. He holds sleep as important or slightly more important than food!

The Washington Post hits the nail on the head, in my opinion, about sleep deprivation:

The newest study on obesity, from Columbia University, is just the latest to find that adults who sleep the least appear to be the most likely to gain weight and to become obese.

Other researchers have found that even mild sleep deprivation quickly disrupts normal levels of the recently discovered hormones ghrelin and leptin, which regulate appetite. In addition, studies show sleep-deprived people tend to develop problems regulating their blood sugar, which may put them at increased risk for diabetes.

Physiologic studies suggest that a sleep deficit may put the body into a state of high alert, increasing the production of stress hormones and driving up blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. Moreover, people who are sleep-deprived have elevated levels of substances in the blood that indicate a heightened state of inflammation in the body, which has also recently emerged as a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.

Did you hear that? Sleep deprivation = inflammation and dispruption of proper maintenance of blood sugar = weight gain and disease.

As if that weren’t enough to send you sprinting to the mattress for a solid 8 to 10 hours of sleep, here’s what researchers at Stanford University found with regard to sleep and athletic performance:

The amount of sleep an athlete gets appears to have a large impact on sports performance. Cheri Mah of the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory has been following the sleep patterns and athletic performance of Stanford athletes for years. Her research continues to show that getting more sleep leads to better sports performance for all types of athletes.

One study she authored, published in 2009, followed the Stanford University women’s tennis team for five weeks as they attempted to get 10 hours of sleep each night. Those who increased their sleep time ran faster sprints and hit more accurate tennis shots than while getting their usual amount of sleep. Mah’s research is some of the first to specifically look at the impact of extra hours of sleep on athletic performance and suggests that sleep is a significant factor in achieving peak athletic performance. This is particularly important for collegiate and professional athletes who have full schedules and often travel for games and competitions. Athletes can easily fail to get regular, consistent hours of sleep. This lack of sleep, or “sleep debt,” appears to have a negative effect on sports performance, as well as cognitive function, mood, and reaction time. Much of this can be avoided by making regular sleep as much of a priority for athletes as practicing their sport and eating right.

According to Mah, many of the athletes have set new personal bests and broken long-standing records while participating in these studies. Researchers speculate that deep sleep helps improve athletic performance because this is the time when growth hormone is released. Growth hormone stimulates muscle growth and repair, bone building and fat burning, and helps athletes recover. Studies show that sleep deprivation slows the release of growth hormone. Sleep is also necessary for learning a new skill, so this phase of sleep may be critical for some athletes. The amount of sleep an athlete gets appears to have a large impact on sports performance.

A quick summary:  sleep = growth hormone = muscle repair + recovery + growth!

So get your sleep.  And start logging your sleep here on the CoachJDietRx site–along with posting your meals daily!

Contributed by the Once-Sleep-Deprived Tin Man Skip

We all fall off the wagon once in a while. It is incredibly hard to maintain an elite level of fitness or nutrition all the time. We strive … and we do our best. But hey, we are only human, after all.

Recently, I hit a slump. I want to share the story of this experience with you, in the hope that it provides a learning point. I’m not quite sure how or when the slump began exactly. It was around Memorial Day. I missed a few WODs during a busy time at work with an unusually high level of travel. Plus, with the holiday weekend, I was at several family gatherings with good food, desserts, cold beer, etc. I’ll bet you know the scenario. (Remember the “Trigger Foods” post?) Then, that all rolled into my son’s birthday weekend with more celebrations, cake & ice cream and special meals.

Cut to the chase. After nine days, I had fallen off the nutrition and fitness bandwagon. My meals had devolved from Pale/Primal into a carb-fest. I did not work out for eight days. Oh, and along the way, I got sick. My sleeping pattern went to crap and my energy level plummeted.

After a nine-day slump, I returned to the box for a FF WOD. I have begun to tighten-up my eating. Though I am still not back to where I need to be, I have turned the corner and have begun to “right the ship.”

So what’s the lesson? First, we all hit slumps. They are inevitable. But the good thing is that this slump only lasted 9 days. A couple years ago (pre-Crossfit), my slump would have continued for who knows how many days, weeks or months. Heck, I probably would have continued on my sorry path until I could no longer button my pants comfortably. (I’m not exaggerating.)

Champions (and those who aspire to be one) know how to shorten their slumps. Do you have warning systems that tell you when you’re in a slump? Do you have red-flag warnings that trigger your mind to say, “Hey, snap out of it?” Do you weigh yourself? Do you keep track of your food? Do you journal your workouts?

Post your warning signs and health-maintenance tips and share them with the tribe. And as always, post your meals to comments.

Contributed by Tin Man Skip

Cookies are a common trigger food

For those casual readers who don’t post their food: relax. It’s a holiday weekend. You’re off the hook! So read on, Firebreather.

What are your trigger foods? What food item or snack triggers a dangerous, uncontrollable urge within you?

We all have our trigger foods. Perhaps yours is a chocolate chip cookie. Maybe your trigger foods is a bag of tortilla chips. With Memorial Day weekend upon us, most of us will be faced with trigger food temptations. If you are going to a cookout or a pool party–or heading out on the river for some boating–you’re bound to be tempted. How will you handle it?

Here’s a bit of advice: if you can’t resist the temptation… or if you’ve truly earned a modest splurge… go ahead and indulge. Just be sure to control your portion size. Have a cookie or two; don’t eat a dozen. Have a couple of handfuls of tortilla chips; don’t scarf down the whole bag. Size out your portion and put it on a plate. Then, move away from the trigger-food source. If you’re having a full-fledged cheat meal, go ahead and get it out of your system. But have a cheat meal, instead of a cheat day. You will thank yourself for exerting some control!

Post your trigger foods (and feel free to add a story with it) to comments below.

Contributed by Tin Man Skip (whose trigger foods include cookies and Tostitos)