Author Topic: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness  (Read 2340 times)

jordanread

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Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« on: December 30, 2017, 05:37:37 PM »
This is the perpetual sister thread for the nutrition and diet aspect of Strength & Fitness (no new one every year). I'm going to try to keep it organized with the first few comments (hence the reason I have them reserved).

While I know there is going to be a lot of back and forth here, I'm going to suggest that when introducing a new idea, to make it a somewhat big comment including resources and references. If not, I'll on occasion try to compile similar comments so I can link to them.

In previous years, I've linked to the Whole30 thread, and suggested that people discuss the nutritional aspects of getting into shape somewhere besides the actual S&F thread. However, that creates a pretty impressive bunch of knowledge that isn't organized very well, so I made this. Even if you don't participate in S&F, if you have experience with particular lifestyle choices as they relate to food, feel free to share them here. Bear in mind that the majority of people reading this will be about strength and fitness, however that looks for them.

Remember, people all make their own decisions regarding how they live, and just because something works for you, don't think it will be automatically implemented for others, especially if you provide nothing besides anecdotal evidence. Don't attack people, and don't feel as if you are being attacked. Let's put all of our knowledge together and do this!!

The current Strength & Fitness thread for 2017 is here.

jordanread

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2017, 05:37:50 PM »
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jordanread

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2017, 05:38:01 PM »
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jordanread

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2017, 05:38:11 PM »
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jordanread

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2017, 05:38:23 PM »
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jordanread

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2017, 05:38:34 PM »
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jordanread

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2017, 05:38:48 PM »
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jordanread

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2017, 05:38:59 PM »
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Thegoblinchief

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2018, 11:18:34 AM »
I’ll post in here. After years of ridiculing low carb diets, I’ve been eating keto for a year now and love it. Still have some weight to lose but overall feel better and much less hungry than I used to be. Being an avid gardener, sometimes store produce just is sad tasting, so I’m bad about veggies/salads in the winter but I love it as a homesteader because keto is a diet you can grow yourself very easily.

jordanread

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2018, 11:32:52 AM »
I’ll post in here. After years of ridiculing low carb diets, I’ve been eating keto for a year now and love it. Still have some weight to lose but overall feel better and much less hungry than I used to be. Being an avid gardener, sometimes store produce just is sad tasting, so I’m bad about veggies/salads in the winter but I love it as a homesteader because keto is a diet you can grow yourself very easily.

HOB, being as you are the first person to post here, would you mind explaining what nutrition track you've gone on, why, and resources you used?

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2018, 11:50:17 AM »
I’ll post in here. After years of ridiculing low carb diets, I’ve been eating keto for a year now and love it. Still have some weight to lose but overall feel better and much less hungry than I used to be. Being an avid gardener, sometimes store produce just is sad tasting, so I’m bad about veggies/salads in the winter but I love it as a homesteader because keto is a diet you can grow yourself very easily.

HOB, being as you are the first person to post here, would you mind explaining what nutrition track you've gone on, why, and resources you used?

The primary principle of keto is keeping carb very, very low. I don’t track but for those who do, 20g or less. The biological idea is to switch your body from using glucose as its primary fuel to FFA (free fatty acids). Anyone who’s done endurance training knows about “the wall” you hit when glycogen runs out, but on keto that’s not an issue. Even someone with sub 5% body fat has thousands of calories on tap if their body is used to burning fat.

The hardest thing to learn with keto is that electrolytes are essential. You have to add a surprising amount of sodium, potassium, and magnesium to your system every day. The reason for this is that the very low insulin levels in your blood on low carb switch your kidneys into a diuretic mode where you are constantly shedding electrolytes, so hydration and salt replenishment is key. I drink coffee, tea, and water all day with a salt and potassium mixture added to it. Magnesium I take via supplement.

Keto is a fascinating diet in that it’s self-reinforcing. Once fat adapted, carbs of any kind make you really sick. It’s also really hard (though not impossible) to over eat, because fat is the primary trigger of satiety for us.

My primary resource for this has been an excellent Facebook group. If anyone is interested, PM me as the admins were overwhelmed by member requests and have made it a secret group to keep it from growing to an unmanageable size.

Prior to keto I did a more conventional diet. I was also very active. Long time MMM members know I was a very avid biker (my former screen name was thegoblinchief). I biked to work in -40, 6” snowstorms, etc. All that activity got me down to 205, but after I quit work to be a full time SAHD my weight slowly crept up to 240. With keto I’m down to 215 even with relatively small amount of activity.

Keto also helps me manage my depression. Blood sugar swings have a big impact on my mood. Since going keto I still struggle from time to time but in general have been more stable.

BiochemicalDJ

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Re: Nutrition for Strength & Fitness
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2018, 02:47:42 PM »
I've been summoned to provide some references and sources with regards to ketogenic dieting and fasting (and why you would do it!)

Primarily, Drs. Domenic D'Agostino, Rhonda Patrick, Thomas Seyfried, and Valter Longo have a lot of papers examining ketosis for a variety of reasons. Jason Fung has recently come out as a voice of fasting/intermittent fasting, which goes hand in hand with ketosis (as when you're burning your own body fat, you're in a 100% fat burning 'diet'- as ketotic as they come.)

For those who dislike journal articles (or who aren't behind the paywall), Tim Ferriss has done at least two podcasts (The Tim Ferriss Show) with Domenic D'Agostino which go over the whys and hows with a more entertaining story behind it. His podcast with Dr. Peter Attia also goes into this in some detail. Tim's book Tools of the Titans also goes a little more into detail regarding fasting and protocols, but that's a very tiny part of a very large book. I believe several people have interviewed Mark Sisson as well, who is more of a fitness personality rather than a doctor or scientist, but I can appreciate how he tends to evaluate data before making his recommendations.

Dr. Peter Attia also discusses ketogenic diets, the whys and the hows, as well as some excellent breakdowns on the science of ketosis and fasting, and discusses it on the Tim Ferriss Show podcasts and others.

For those who care, my primary weight loss driver was the "4 hour body" by Tim Ferriss. Stupid name, excellent book. His Slow-Carb/Cyclical Ketogenic Diet kept me sane over a long period of weight loss (21 months so far) but the tools recommended in it (DEXA scanning, circumference measurements, before and after pics, etc.) were insanely useful. He also lists some references and materials that were useful.

A good book that has a ton of citations while still being an easy read is "Why We Get Fat (and what to do about it)" by Gary Taubes.

« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 03:08:19 PM by BiochemicalDJ »