Reduce Your Body Fat to Improve your Speed & Endurance

It isn’t a secret that there is an optimum strength to weight ratio when it comes to going fast on a motorcycle; however, getting to your ideal race weight (percentage of lean muscle & body fat) where you have both strength & endurance is the key to your success.  Most racers when they attempt to lose body fat end up tearing down muscle for energy which results in a lighter number on the scale, but a significant reduction in overall body strength, along with reduced levels of speed & endurance on the track.

In my opinion, when it comes to losing body fat long term, you must first stabilize your blood sugar levels and satisfy your appetite.  There are only two things that satisfy appetite: fat and protein.  As I have outlined in previous articles, protein plays a significant role with building new muscle and supporting your immune system.  Fat plays a major role in vitamin & mineral regulation, protection of internal organs, etc.

Below is a Clean Eating Challenge that I believe is a great tool to implement every three months throughout the year.  This Clean Eating Challenge is designed to help stabilize your blood sugar levels with real food & determine your sensitivities associated with carbohydrates (a medical symptom referred to as carbohydrate intolerant-CI).

Coach Robb’s Clean Eating Challenge

CI is a common problem in many populations and the diseases associated with this condition are reaching epidemic proportions.  This challenge, created by Dr. Maffetone, helps you identify if you experience common symptoms of CI including: sleepiness after meals, intestinal bloating, increased body fat, fatigue and others.  Here is an outline of the various stages associated with CI:

Early stages of CI include elusive problems associated with blood-sugar handling, such as fatigue, intestinal bloating and loss of concentration.

Middle stages include a more serious conditions including hypertension, elevations of LDL, lowering of HDL, elevated triglycerides, excess body fat and often obesity.

Long term CI manifests itself as various diseases, including diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Final stages include a condition referred to as Metabolic Syndrome.  This stage is  includes disorders such as: hyperinsulinemia, Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity, Polycystic ovary, Stroke, Breast Cancer, Coronary Heart Disease, High Blood Cholesterol and Triglycerides.

Please note, CI is an individual one, affecting different people in different ways.  The key to avoiding disease is to be aware of CI in its earliest stage and to make the appropriate diet and lifestyle changes.  The following are some common complaints that occur immediately after eating a meal or for others remain a constant symptom or feeling.

STEP ONE
Prior to beginning this challenge, evaluate if you experience any of the following (check the box if applicable so that you can reference if the symptom(s) still persist after completing the two week Clean Eating Challenge):

Physical Fatigue:
Overall feeling of fatigue; morning through lunch or even all day.

Mental Fatigue:
Inability to concentrate; loss of creativity, poor memory, poor grades, various forms of “learning disabilities”.
This is more pronounced immediately after a meal or if a meal is delayed or missed.

Blood Sugar Handling Issues:
Fluctuations in blood sugar are normal during the day, but are amplified if meals are not eaten on a regular schedule.
Feeling jittery, agitated and/or moody (symptoms that immediately subside once food is consumed).
Craving for simple sugars, chocolate or caffeine; bouts of dizziness.

Intestinal Bloating:
Suffer from excessive gas; antacids or other remedies are not successful in dealing with the gas levels.
Gas tends to be worse later in the day and into the night.

Sleepiness:
Feel sleepy immediately after meals containing carbohydrates, particularly a pasta meal or a meal that contains bread, potatoes or dessert.

Increased fat storages & weight:
For most individuals, too much weight is too much fat.  In males, abdominal fat is more evident and in females it is more prominent in the upper body, upper thighs and in the face.

Increased triglycerides:
High triglycerides are not only found in overweight individuals.  Individuals with high triglycerides are the direct result of carbohydrates from the diet being converted by insulin into fat.

High Blood Pressure:   
Most individuals dealing with hypertension produce too much insulin and as a result are carbohydrate intolerant. For some, sodium sensitivity is common and eating too much sodium causes water retention along with elevated blood pressure.

Depression:
Because carbohydrate adversely affect the levels of neurotransmitters made in the brain, feelings of depression and/or sleepiness can result. Sugar has been promoted as if it is a stimulate, but in actuality, has the opposite effect.

Addiction:
Individuals who are addicted to alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes or other drugs often have many of the above mentioned symptoms.

STEP TWO
Send me your email and I will send you a copy of my MotoE Body Measurement Spreadsheet.  When you receive the file, double click on the attachment and print. You will want to capture these numbers prior to completing the Clean Eating Challenge. Click here to watch a video on how to correctly capture your body measurements for accuracy.

STEP THREE
Purge (throw away – don’t give it to anyone, they don’t need it either!) your cabinets and refrigerator of the following:
– Breads, rolls, pasta, pancakes, cereal, muffins, chips, crackers and rice cakes
– Sweets and products that contain sugar such as ketchup, honey, etc. (read the labels to ensure there is no sugar)
– Fruit juice
– Processed meats that contain sugar
– Fat Free, Skim & 2% Milk, half and half
– Fat Free or Low Fat Yogurt & Ice Cream
– Energy Bars and Energy Drinks that contain fructose
– All soda, including diet
– Alcohol, except dry wines

STEP FOUR
Time to go shopping to stock up with what you will need to get this challenge under way!

Few considerations:
Note: don’t consume anything on this list without prior approval from your doctor-NO EXCEPTIONS!
– Plan ahead so that you are never without sufficient food
– Avoid becoming hungry – unlimited amounts of food are available to you, eat every 2 hours
– Don’t focus on the volume of food you are consuming – just eat
– Take the time to chew your food completely – this will aid in the digestion and absorption of your food
– Consume enough vegetables (at least 6 servings per day) to maintain fiber intake (and avoid constipation)
– Drink cold filtered water at a rate of .5 ounces per pound of body weight
For Example: 150 pounds x .5 ounces = 75 ounces per day

Food you can eat in unlimited amounts:
– Real food smoothies
– Steamed or raw vegetables (avoid white potatoes and corn) – organic ideally
– Fresh fruit – organic ideally
– Nuts and seeds – organic and free of any oils and salt
– Almond butter – organic ideally
– Extra virgin olive oil
– Balsamic Vinegar
– Whole fat mayonnaise
– Whole eggs
– Non American yellow cheese – look for hard cheeses like Swiss, Provolone, etc.
– Meats (beef, turkey, chicken, lamb, etc.) – free range and sugar free (read the label here!)
– Fresh Fish (cold water Atlantic) – salmon, sardines, albacore white tuna (nothing out of a can)
– Fresh Shellfish
– Tofu
– Mustard (as long as there isn’t any sugar added)

Helpful Suggestions:
Eggs
– Omelets: any combination of vegetables, meats and cheeses
– Scrambled with guacamole, sour cream and salsa
– Scrambled with a scoop of ricotta or cottage cheese and tomato sauce
– Boiled or poached with spinach or asparagus

Salads
– Chef-leaf lettuce, meats, cheese, eggs
– Spinach-with bacon & eggs
– Caesar-romaine lettuce, eggs & parmesan cheese
– Any salad with chicken, tuna, shrimp or other meat and/or cheese

Salad Dressings
– Extra-virgin olive oil & vinegar with sea salt and spices
– Creamy-heavy cream, mayonnaise, garlic and spices

Fish and Meats
– Pot roast cooked with onions, carrots and celery
– Roasted chicken
– Chili made with fresh meat, and a variety of vegetables such as diced onions, celery, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and spices
– Steak and eggs
– Fish (not fried) with any variety of steamed vegetables
– Tuna melt on a bed of broccoli or asparagus

Snacks
– Celery stuffed with nut butter or cream cheese
– Guacamole with vegetable sticks for dipping
– Hard boiled eggs

Supplementation
Whey Protein
Fish Oil
Branched Chain Amino Acids

STEP FOUR
Time to eat and train!  As mentioned above, eat every two hours (even if you are not hungry).  During the next two weeks, keep all of your workouts aerobic, which means eliminating any and all weight lifting (it is anaerobic by nature) and any strenuous workouts (above Heart Rate Zone #2).

What to expect during the first week:

1. If you have been eating lots of sweets or other carbohydrates, you may experience cravings for sugar for the first few days.
2. You may experience a headache associated with withdraws – strive to use manual massage & stretches to relax the muscles in the neck and upper shoulders.
3. You may find yourself falling off of the program, not because you intend to, but rather due to the realization that processed foods are everywhere.  If you eat something that is not “approved” you need to start over and this is ok!

STEP FIVE
Stay consistent with both your food and aerobic training.  Maintain a food intake log along with a detailed training log, specifically mental clarity, energy levels, average and max heart rate with each workout.

Over the next two weeks you will capture a better snap shot of your eating and how it reflects on your health, wellness & performance.  Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or need anything clarified.

-Coach Robb