| Let's say you have a very busy, activity-filled day | | | | muscles and liver. When we are not well-fueled, these |
| tomorrow. You've got your morning workout at 8, | | | | stores deplete much quicker, leaving us tapped out and |
| hang gliding at noon, mountain climbing at 2pm, and | | | | fatigued. |
| some white river kayaking at 5pm. Oh, and don't forget | | | | It's a lot like a car. Just as you need to fill up your car |
| your east coast swing dancing lesson at 8pm. | | | | with gasoline for it to run, you need to fill yourself up |
| Now that's my kind of day! ;) | | | | with glucose for YOU to run! |
| So what do you do to prepare yourself? | | | | The more glucose we have in our system, the longer |
| Besides making sure you have enough food for the | | | | we can continue to perform (whether that be |
| day, you probably hopefully reserve time to get lots of | | | | performance in an actual sport, or just everyday life |
| restful sleep so you can have energy for the day | | | | activities). And the only way to take in more glucose is |
| ahead. | | | | to EAT! |
| While this is a GREAT idea, it's not the only step you | | | | A Daily Lesson |
| should take to ensure you don't stall out in the middle | | | | Getting enough fuel today for energy tomorrow is |
| of your day. | | | | ESPECIALLY good advice if you are active early in |
| Calories, Calories, Calories | | | | the morning like I am. I usually like to take my dog for a |
| Whenever we talk about getting enough calories, we | | | | walk and then follow it up with my workout, all before |
| usually refer to the day in which we are eating. If there | | | | 10am. I don't have breakfast until right afterward, so it's |
| is a particularly active day coming up, we tend to only | | | | important for me to make sure that I ate well the day |
| think about upping our food intake *for that day*. | | | | before. |
| But look at it this way. We don't sleep well tonight to | | | | And I can always tell when I don't because I so do |
| feel well-rested today, do we? Of course not. We | | | | NOT want to workout! When I do get enough fuel the |
| sleep well tonight to have enough energy tomorrow. | | | | day before, I have MORE than enough energy for my |
| And when we don't, we feel it the next day. | | | | workouts. |
| It's the same with food. | | | | Practicing eating today for energy tomorrow is a good |
| Take a Tip From the Trainers | | | | preventative measure for cravings as well. It is much, |
| I'm sure you've heard of what endurance athletes call | | | | much easier to resist tempting cooked food favorites |
| "carbo-loading." | | | | when you're well-carbed from the day before and on |
| Carbohydrate loading is when an athlete eats a diet | | | | into the current day. In fact, it's even MORE likely that |
| high in carbohydrates for a few days (sometimes | | | | you won't have cravings in the first place! |
| preceded by a period of intense exercise and | | | | And What's the Best Fuel? |
| carbohydrate restriction) before a big event. This helps | | | | Sweet fruit, of course! As I already mentioned, our |
| to maximize the amount of glucose the muscles take | | | | body uses glycogen. What's glycogen? It's nothing |
| in and, therefore, helps the athlete's endurance and | | | | more than long chains of glucose, the simple sugar |
| overall performance. | | | | found in sweet fruit! |
| You see, our bodies use glycogen stored in our | | | | |
