Generally not. When you exercise, you lose some electrolytes via sweat, but you are unlikely to deplete your body’s stores under ordinary circumstances. For example, you can easily replace the 200-600 milligrams of potassium you might lose in an hour of hard training by eating a medium to large banana (450-600 mg potassium). You can also easily replace the 800-1,400 mg sodium lost in two pounds of sweat by enjoying some spaghetti with tomato sauce or some chocolate milk with a bagel and peanut butter. Athletes who do need to worry about replacing electrolytes include those who will be sweating hard for more than three or four hours.

     Keep in mind, most health organizations recommend we reduce our sodium intake, given the average American diet contains more than enough sodium! A high sodium intake leads to high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke...

Sodium in Popular Recovery Foods

            Food                                                             Sodium (mg)

            Pizza, 1/2 of 12 in., DiGiorno cheese             2,490

            Chicken noodle soup, 1 can Campbell's         2,350

            Ramen noodles, Maruchan, 1 packet             1,580

            Spaghetti sauce, 1 cup Ragu                        1,160

            Salt, 1 small packet                                       590

            Pretzels, 1 oz (30 g) Rold Gold thins               560

            Bagel, 1 Thomas' New York style (3.7 oz)        540

            American cheese, 1 slice Kraft                       250

            Cheerios, 1 cup multigrain                              200

            Fruit yogurt, 6 oz (180 ml)                             60-120

            Bread, 1 slice Pepperidge Farm hearty slice    190

            Saltine crackers, 5 (0.5 oz)                            180

            Potato chips, 20 Lay's                                   180

            Gatorade, 8 oz (240 ml)                                 110

            Endurolytes (electrolytes), 1 capsule              100

            Powerade, 8 oz (240 ml)                                  70

            Beer, 12 oz (355 ml) can                                 15

            Coke, 12 oz (355 ml) can                                10

            Orange juice, 8 oz (240 ml)                               5

            Potential loss in a 2 hr workout                 1,000-2,000

For more information about sodium, potassium and electrolytes, see:

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook

Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions

Food Guide for New Runners: Getting It Right From the Start

Deep fat fried chicken is popular with many athletes, but fails to be the healthiest of sports foods. This recipe, from my Sports Nutrition Guidebook, offers a yummy alternative that will get “thumbs up” from even fussy eaters.

The recipe is reprinted with permission from the May/June 1999 issue of Cook’s Illustrated, a cooking magazine that I highly recommend if you want to learn more about the what’s, how’s, and why’s of cooking (www.cooksillustrated.com).

1 box (5 ounces) Melba toast

2 to 4 tablespoons olive or canola oil

2 egg whites or 1 egg

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Optional: 1 tablespoon dijon mustard; salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Set a wire rack in a shallow baking pan. If desired, line the pan with foil for ease with clean-up. Cooking the chicken on a rack allows air to circulate on all sides, resulting in a crisper chicken without turning.

2. Put the Melba toast into a heavy-duty plastic bag, seal, and pound with a rolling pin or other hard object (wine bottle, can, fist). Leave some crumbs the size of small pebbles to add crunchiness.

3. Put the crumbs in a shallow dish and drizzle the oil over them, tossing well to distribute the oil evenly.

4. Beat the egg in a medium bowl. Add optional seasonings as desired.

5. One piece of chicken at a time, coat the chicken with the egg mixture, then place in the crumbs. Sprinkle the crumbs over the flesh and press them in.

6. Gently shake off excess crumbs and place the chicken on the rack.

7. Bake about 40 minutes, or until the coating is a deep brown and the juices run clear when the meat is slit with a knife.

Yield: 4 servings

Nutrition Information: Total calories: 1,200

Calories per serving: 300

Nutrients Grams

Carbohydrate 12

Protein 40

Fat 10

From Cooks Magazine, May/June 1999. www.cooksillustrated.com

Reprinted with permission from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook

“What percent of my calories should come from carbohydrates, protein and fat?” my client asked in his efforts to improve his sports diet and his performance. “Should it be 40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat? Or 65-15-30?” Clearly, he had been reading the popular literature and felt totally confused by the mixed messages.

According to the American Dietetic Association’s Position Stand on Nutrition and Athletic Performance, active people should target a diet with 50 to 65% of calories from carbs, 10 to 35% from protein and 20 to 35% from fat. But the paper goes on to say that percentages are not the best way to calculate a food plan for athletes. Here’s an example why:

• If you are a 150 pound high school soccer player who wants to add muscle and require about 4,000 calories a day to support your traiing and growth, a diet with 10 to 15% of calories from protein would offer 400 to 600 calories of protein or 100 to 150 grams protein. This comes to about 0.65 to 1.0 grams protein per pound. Perfect!

• If you are a light-weight rower who is trying to drop five pounds to make weight and are eating only 1,600 calories a day, 10 to 15% of calories from protein translates into 160 to 240 calories of protein, or 40 to 60 grams protein. (There are 4 calories per gram of protein.). Forty to 60 grams of protein is way too low. Dieting athletes need about 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.5 g pro/kg). The rower who weighs 140 lbs. would need closer to 100 grams protein per day, not 40 to 60.

Instead of fretting about percentages of calories, try this simple concept:

--Choose three different kinds of foods with each meal (such as cereal + milk+ banana or salad + cottage cheese + chick peas)

--Enjoy carbs (fruits, veggies, grains) as the foundation of each meal and protein (meats, dairy, nuts) as the accompaniment.

You'll end up with the right balance of protein and carbs as well as vitamins and minerals.

Eat wisely and well!

Nancy

Dear Nancy,

I’m training for the Boston Marathon as part of a fundraiser for the Leukemia Society. This will be my first marathon, and I’m very nervous; I’m afraid I’ll run out of energy and “hit the wall.” I know I should “carbo-load” before long training runs. Does this simply mean stuffing myself with pasta?

Jessica

Dear Jessica,

Stuffing yourself with pasta the night before your long runs is one way to carbo-load, but there’s another approach to consider as well. Here’s what I recommend for your training runs:

1. Cut back on your running one or two days prior to the long training run. Your muscles can store maximal amounts of glycogen only if they are given non-exercise time to do so.

2. Eat the same tried-and-true carbs you (should) have been eating as a part of your daily training diet. As you know, you can only train at your best if you fuel your muscles daily with a carbohydrate-based diet: cereal for breakfast, sandwiches made with hearty bread for lunch, pasta for dinner.

3. The night before the long run eat well, but do not eat so much you upset your digestive system and wake up feeling like a beached whale.

4. Eat adequately on morning of the long training run. This is your time to practice fueling as you might do before the marathon itself. Figure out if you prefer bagel with peanut butter, oatmeal, energy bars, cereal … this your time to experiment so you learn which foods—and how much of them—settle well and enhance your run.

5. During the long training run, maintain a steady fuel intake by drinking sports drinks, and carrying with you hard candy, twizzlers, sports gels, energy bars, dried pineapple and other forms of easy-to-digest carbohydrates. You should target about 200 to 300 calories per hour, after the first hour of running. Fueling during the event helps prevent you from “hitting the wall” and also replaces the need to stuff yourself the night before.

By practicing your fueling during your long training runs, you’ll be able to learn how to fuel on Marathon day and will have no need to worry about hitting the wall.

With best wishes for miles of smiles,

Nancy

For addtional information:

Food Guide for Marathoners: TIps for Everyday Champions

Many of my clients like to "save calories" by taking a calcium pill instead of drinking milk. While they may think that is a reasonable alternative, I disagree. Yes, a calcium pill does offer a lower calorie alternative to consuming the recommended three (8-ounce) glasses of (soy) milk or yogurt each day, but research indicates milk drinkers tend to be leaner than milk avoiders. That suggests milk is not fattening but rather slimming!

I encourage my clients to embrace milk as a “liquid food” that is satiating and curbs one appetite. That is, milk can be more filling than the same number of calories from soda or juice. Drinking a glass of milk with a meal can fill you up, as opposed to drinking water and then be left hankering for dessert (with far more calories than a glass of milk).

Most of my active female clients reduce weight on 1,800 calories; men on 2,100+ calories. That breaks down to 500 to 600 calories per meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 300 calories for a snack. Enjoying low-fat (soy) milk on cereal, a mid-morning latte and a yogurt for a snack seems a powerful way to spend 300 of those calories and approach the recommended intake of 1,000 milligrams of calcium per for adults 19-50 years; 1,200 mg for adults older than 50 years, and 1,300 mg for kids 9-18 years.

If you are a parent, be a role model and drink (soy) milk at dinner to encourage a calcium-rich intake for your kids. Building strong bones during the ages of 10 to 18 is a wise investment for the future. Milk offers far more than just calcium; it’s a rich source of vitamin D, protein, riboflavin and a host of life-sustaining nutrients. Think twice before trading this wholesome food for an engineered pill.

Nancy

Question: I recently bought a really good bathroom scale and I weigh myself every morning. On days when I think I should have lost weight, the scale says I gained two pounds. This puts me in a really bad mood. What’s going on…?

Answer:

The scale weighs not just changes in fat loss (or fat gain), but also changes in body water and intestinal contents. Hence, your weight can fluctuate one or two pounds daily depending on if you are constipated, have diarrhea, or are bloated pre-menstrually. Do not expect your body to consistently weigh, let’s say, 120 pounds. Allow your weight to vary within a range between 118 and 122 pounds.

Water-weight quickly comes and quickly goes. It is not permanent. It is not body fat. You should not let this normal fluctuation depress your mood for the day.

Many factors affect water-weight. These include:

• hormonal shifts that occur not only premenstrually, but also if you are stressed or over-tired.

• salty foods, such a Chinese dinner or a bag of popcorn.

• hot weather or a hot environment, such as a hot meeting room.

• overeating carbohydrates. When you “carbo-load”, you store about three ounces of water along with every ounce of carbohydrate.

Rather than weigh yourself every morning, I suggest you weigh yourself only once a week--or better yet, not at all! The scale rarely tells you anything you do not already know. If you feel thinner, if your clothes are looser, and if people are even commenting that you look leaner, then you have lost body fat--despite the number on the scale.

Rather than starting each day by weighing yourself, how about starting it by smiling at yourself in the mirror and appreciating your body for all the wonderful things it does to help you live a fulfilling life? That sounds more fruitful to me!

Enjoy the day,

Nancy

“I just have to get rid of this weight quickly. I can’t stand this uncomfortable stuff around my middle” she complained with disgust while grabbing the flesh at her waist.  “I know everyone says to lose weight slowly, but that just won’t work for me... “

My client was clearly uncomfortable with her body and eager to transform her physique. Unfortunately, she failed to recognize that quick weight loss offers only short-term benefits. Quick weight loss inevitably results in long-term fat gain because of the physiology of starvation. That is, when you drastically reduce your food intake, your body’s physiology wants to binge eat to quickly regain all the weight you lost (and likely even more pounds).

As a human, your body requires fuel. The body perceives a strict diet as a famine. When the opportunity to stop the famine presents itself, the drive to eat becomes overwhelming. This overeating has little to do with “will power” and lots of do with the physiological response to extreme hunger.  It’s sort of like how you have to breathe rapidly after having spent too long holding your breath. Your body gasps for air, just as it gasps for food after a “famine.”

Depending on your level of discipline, weight regain might not happen for a week, a few months, or a year, but it will inevitably happen. That’s because crash–dieters learn only how to white-knuckle weight loss, but do not learn how to eat appropriately. Inappropriate eating creates your weight problems.

If having excess body fat is an issue, your goal for 2010 needs to be to learn how to manage the overabundant food supply, manage stress and emotions without overeating; manage to find time to exercise, and manage to get enough sleep. Weight reduction has more to do with management of food, stress, sleep, exercise and emotions than it has to do with food…

Your best bet for learning how to chip away at slow but steady weight loss is to meet with a registered dietitian (RD) who can help you develop the skills you need to lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life. To find a local sports dietitian, use the referral network at www.SCANdpg.org. Alternatively, my Sports Nutrition Guidebook has a strong section on how to lose weight and have energy to exercise.

Here’s to a healthy New Year!

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

http://www.nancyclarkrd.com

PS. Tell me about your quick weight loss efforts -- were they worth it?