Thank you Girls Gone Strong for letting me share my thoughts on fueling the vegetarian endurance athlete.
As a 22-year vegetarian and 9x Ironman finisher, I had so much to say on this topic so we decided to make it a two part series and finish with a Q&A on the Girls Gone Strong Facebook page!
Q&A
Q: On Tuesday, in this
article you
gave some guidelines for
protein, carb, and fat requirements for female endurance athletes. Do the
numbers look different for women who mostly strength train, and whose goals are
strength-based? If
so, how do they differ?
A: Thanks for asking ! The main focus of fueling an endurance athlete is ensuring that glycogen
stores are not the limited as we want to keep our bodies energized for the long
haul. I am a firm believer that endurance athletes need a healthy amount of fat
in the diet to stay satisfied and healthy as well as protein for
recovery/repair but the carbohydrates would be on the greater range for
endurance athletes compared to strength-focused athletes. There is also a
timing issue because endurance athletes need to consider how digestion affects
the gut so I encourage athletes to focus on more low fiber energy dense foods
around workouts which should be low in fat/protein and fiber. Example, whereas
a strength athlete may be fine with eggs and oatmeal before a workout, an
endurance athlete may find this too hard on the gut before a long run so she
may opt for cream of wheat with a little nut butter and maple syrup.
Q: If you would like to
transition to eating more vegetarian meals what would you consider the core
staples that can be used to make quick healthy meals and build the right
nutrition behaviors for early adopters? Sorry, I know I am not a girl but I
know you are the best at building strong healthy bodies!
A: Thanks for the question! Whenever transitioning to a more plant strong diet we want to
make sure a good solid foundation is in place. So if the diet is already rich
in fruits, veggies, grains/starches and healthy fats then the modification to
take place would be swapping out animal protein for plant strong protein. For
example, if a standard lunch is a salad with a chicken wrap we could replace
the chicken with any plant protein (ex. beans, lentils, edamame, tofu, tempeh)
as an easy swap. If a standard lunch is just a chicken wrap, then my suggestion
would be to get this meal more plant strong by adding some type of veggie
component to this meal (salad or stir fry or raw veg) as a starter and then
once that habit is in place, swap out the protein option.
Q: For a female athlete
(or family) who is looking at having protein strong plant based meals. What
would you suggest as an appropriate equivalent of protein in non animal protein
sources
A; In reference to the guidelines in the article (~1.3-1.8g/kg body
weight of protein per day) this would be a nice starting point for total
protein. I recommend to break up protein consumption per meal, around 20-30g is
a nice range. 1 ounce of animal protein = ~7g of protein as a guideline so to
swap out 4 ounces of chicken (28g of protein) this would look like 1/2 cup
lentils, 1/2 cup peas and 1/2 cup cooked tempeh for around 29g of plant strong
protein.
Q: A question we get a
lot is whether or not endurance athletes need to strength train? Is it an
important part of their overall program? Where
does it fit in? How often? What kinds? Does it ever take priority over
endurance training? How
does this differ between in-season, post-season, off-season, and pre-season?
A: I actually went into
this in great detail at the The Women's Fitness Summit because I
think many endurance athletes do not understand the importance of strength
training OR they don't make time for it. I am a firm believer that strength
training needs to be part of an endurance athletes training plan but it must be
periodized with the season plan. For my athletes/myself, I emphasize foundation
building first to work on good motor patterns and mobility. Pretty much
breaking down sport-specific movements and refining the movements. We take
about 6-8 weeks in this phase while the cardio is focused more on strength (ex.
using bands/buoys and paddles in the pool, heavy gear and climbing sets on the
bike and slow form focused running with a few pick ups at the end of the
workout). The next phase I transition my athletes to is more complex and
dynamic training. Plyometrics should come to mind. Whereas the intensity and
volume of the cardio training will increase a bit, the body is in a good place
to accept this added stress. The goal for cardio is to keep the hard workouts
hard and easy workouts easy and to plug in the dynamic strength movements that
will yield favorable results to swim, bike run fitness. We call this the build
phase and this will take us to the peaking phase of the season for the first
key race of the year. Around 4-6 weeks before this race, the frequency of the
strength increases but it is still good to keep the body primed for power in
the gym once a week and then the other cardio workouts take priority as the
focus is race specific workouts. There is always a continued focus on glute,
hip and core/lower back strength to ensure that this is never a limiter. The #1
goal of strength training for endurance athletes is that the strength should
make the athlete better at the sport she is training for. So strength training
should not be designed to get an athlete strong just to be strong but to be
strong, fast and powerful at her sport.
A great book for
triathletes to better understand a quality approach to training alongside
focusing on the strength and recovery component is from Matt Dixon with
Purplepatch fitness - The Well Built Triathlete.
Q: I'm more of a paleo
eater now, but my doctor suggested vegetarian for my PMS/PMDD symptoms. Have
you seen any evidence to support this or would high protein be better?
Thanks for asking
Katrina Skurka Howard - I personally do not advocate a specific diet for athletes
as I strive to encourage variety and balance in the diet and no food rules. But
when it comes to PMS symptoms, it is important that female athletes understand
how their menstrual cycle is affected (or may affect) training and fueling.
Stacy Sims discussing this topic in great detail but to help manage these
symptoms, I don't feel a specific diet will alleviate these issues but instead
to focus on your own individual needs. You may want to start with a lab test to
see your vitamin D and ferritin levels which can affect PMS symptoms if
inadequate or deficient. For women who are not on the pill or other
contraceptive and have a natural menstrual cycle, metabolism will be affected
by the different phases (follicular and luteal) but I personally am opposed to
any restrictive style of eating that eliminates major food groups. I hope this
helps a little. I feel you on the symptoms, I have had my menstrual cycle
naturally for the past 7 years every month so I am no stranger to these
symptoms
This is a fantastic reference from Stacy Sims.
Q: As a female endurance
athlete how would you suggest balancing the nutritional needs of sport with the
desire to lose weight?
A: This is always a tough question because we want the body to be in a
healthy place to tolerate the demands of training but we do not want to
underfuel in an effort to lose weight. I think there are many approaches to
this but it certainly can be done in a healthy way and depends on where the
individual is with her relationship with food and the body. I think the focus
needs to be on supporting the workout as many athletes underfuel around the
workouts and end up overeating later in the day. As an athlete, making the
effort to understand how to eat before, during and after workouts will help
take training to the next level. I think another common issue is athletes
undereating during the day which affects metabolism. Skipping snacks, not
enough adequate carbs, skimping on calories/fat, etc. We need to eat enough to
support the demands of training so planning out the day before it happens can
be an easy way to see what the day will look like in the most balanced way
possible with healthy and satisfying meals and snacks. Lastly, the evenings can
be a time of overinduging or overeating so I encourage athletes to not beat
themselves up if this happens in the evening but to identify any triggers
during the day that may be tweaked to ensure a good balanced dinner in the
evening and an early bedtime without excessive snacking. If all of this takes
place and an athlete still finds it hard to lose weight, then additional
modifications can be made in training to make sure that the workout routine is
not too stressful for the body.