Muscle miles



Muscle miles

So you‘ve cut the fat and upped the complex carbs.

The only problem is you feel worse. Definitely getting less muscle mileage per meal. What’s going on?

Try a calorie count. You may have inadvertently reduced calories when you reduced fat. That’s because one gram of fat contains 9 calories, while one gram of carbohydrates contains only 4 calories.

To avoid this common mistake, take a baseline calorie count before you make dietary changes, then spot check your daily caloric intake.

ENDURANCE SHAKE

In a recent study, cyclists who drank a pre-race beverage consisting of four parts carbohydrates and one part protein cycled 66% farther than when they quaffed an all-carbohydrate sports drink.

Fill a blender with:

1 banana, sliced

1/2 cup orange juice

8 ounces low-fat vanilla yogurt

4 ounces crushed pineapple

2 tablespoons peanut butter

As is, this recipe contains 644 calories, 21.3 g fat, 6 g fiber, 22.4 g protein, 98.9 g carbohydrates.

Tip: To reduce fat content, use low-fat peanut butter. Specialty stores offer peanut butter with fat content as low as 4 g per tablespoon!

Recipe source: Men's Health

Reference:
For a case of CPT II deficiency in which caloric restriction was recognized as a trigger, see: Hostetler K et al. N Engl J Med 1978 298(10):553-7

Related links:
Eat for performance

Cool animation that demonstrates the amount
of energy derived from fats, carbohydrates and protein.

Energy expenditure of various exercises
Detailed charts for calories per pound burned in strength training, running, swimming, team sports, walking and cycling.

Energy Calculator
Sophisticated calculator that can tell you how many calories you should be eating based on your height, weight, and daily activities.

Nutrition Analysis Tool
Another calculator on the same site. This one figures your intake of twenty nutrients, including calories, carbohydrates, and fat.

For more about calorie and energy needs, visit Damage control and Body work.

For specific diet guidelines for CPT II deficiency, visit Divide and conquer. For absorption rates of carbohydrates, visit Sweet talk.

To stay alive, you need about 10 calories per pound of body weight per day. Go figure: An inactive man who weighs 200 pounds needs a minimum of 2,000 calories per day to maintain weight.

If you are active at work and at home--as most people are--you need about 12-15 calories per pound per day. Go figure: An active man who weighs 200 pounds needs 2,400 to 3,000 calories per day to maintain weight.

If you are an athlete, you may burn as many as 20 calories per pound per day. Go figure: An athlete who weighs 200 pounds may need as many as 4,000 calories per day to maintain weight.