Transition to Off Season Eating and Avoid the “Holimonth” Spread

It’s hard to believe the year is almost over. The next couple of months a much anticipated hiatus from “formal” training for many athletes. The traditional off-season for triathlon conveniently coincides with the “HoliMONTHSs”… a term I used to describe the diet busting days late-October thru the New Year. During this time, the decline in physical training combined with cooler weather and early sunset can result in less energy expenditure. Add holiday stress, preparations, commitments and travel and these can lead the most motivated athlete to pull out the excuse cards. Although your body needs a periodic physical and mental break from the rigors of training, if you continue to eat the way you did during the heaviest training periods and are not careful with holiday indulgences, you may have a little more “junk in the trunks” come January 1st.

Some suggestions to keep your weight in check during the offseason include:

Stay active.

This may sound silly, but the simple truth is that some of us will take full advantage of the off-season reduction in activity especially if we don’t have a formal off-season training plan. If you don’t have a “plan”, your goal should be to maintain the frequency of one or more of the disciplines by swimming, biking or running. Workout intensities should be aerobic in nature with at least one longer workout per discipline, per week. If time is limited, then focus on your weakest discipline. Another common-sense suggestion is to make a conscious effort to increase your daily activity levels……park further away from the store, take stairs whenever you can or help your spouse or partner with holiday cleaning. Anything that can get you up off your behind will help keep the weight from being deposited there!

Do a weekly reality check.

A well-deserved break from the intensity of training is justifiable and a small amount of weight gain should be expected (and even desired following your last big race) but you still need to stay aware to avoid piling on the pounds. Weighing yourself at least once a week, at the same time of day, will help keep you honest and tip you off if “calories in” are exceeding “calories out”. Another option If the number on the scale throws you over the edge mentally is try on a pair of jeans you do not wear regularly. If they are fitting snug you cannot blame it on the dryer!

So If your weigh goes up or you need help peeling off your pants it could be a clue you’ve eaten a few too many high-calorie treats or indulged in calorie packed beverages and it’s time to get back on track with reasonable food choices and portions.

Have a plan for the holiday gatherings.

Whether you are attending or hosting a work, family or social function, you can have a good time without excess.

• Be selective. Just because your friends and family think you are a super human high calorie burning endurance machine, gatherings shouldn’t be an acceptable excuse to over-indulge or have your arm twisted to eat things you normally would not. Ask yourself: “Is this how I eat any other time of the year?” Remember, that plate full of turkey, gravy and stuffing doesn’t need to last you until the next holiday. Most grocery stores carry this food year round.

• Unless you’re invitation is to a holiday sit down dinner, you’ll be better off if you eat a healthful meal or snack before you leave home to help curb your appetite. Fresh fruit with cottage cheese, vegetable salads with a little lean protein or even a bowl of shredded wheat can help satisfy the tummy and reduce mindless eating.

• Skip the liquid calories. There is no better way to gain weight this holiday season than to let your guard down regarding holiday drinks. Go for good ole calorie free water, unsweetened green tea or ice water with a splash of juice. If you do opt for some of lively libations, just know 8 oz eggnog packs a 350-calorie punch (better go run 3-4 miles), juice and soda packs 120+ calories and alcoholic beverages start as low as 90 calories for a 12 oz light beer and exceed 175 calories for a 3 oz martini!

• Be the holiday hero. Set a good example to friends and family by bringing or serving tasty holiday fare without all the calories, fat, sugar and guilt. Holidays should be about the company you keep, not the feast you eat. This is a good chance to showcase some of the healthful foods you made during your Ironman preparation. So what if you want to make the classic high fat family fare, at least work to make the recipe “leaner” by substitute one or more high fat ingredients with lower fat alternatives.

• Be portion savvy. Think smaller portions and more selections to satisfy your flavor cravings. Spread the love around the taste buds with tiny tastes as opposed to around the waist with multiple mouthfuls.
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Keep yourself honest……..Write down your food intake.

The most powerful tool you can use to help modify your eating behavior is to document your food intake. It makes you accountable to yourself and gives you a chance to see what you have done and offers the ability to bring balance to your dining selections in the meals that follow.

Off-season weight gain is a side effect of calorie consumption ignorance, combined with the natural decline in physical activity due to less training and daily activities that seem to occur during the colder months. You don’t have to fall victim to the holimonth spread, keep moving and stay committed to healthy fun and festive foods to avoid a “Plumpy New Year” !!!

Here’s to a safe, healthy (and hopefully lean) Holimonth season!

Black Bean Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

The Women's Nutrition Clinic hosted by Outspokin Bicycles to benefit the fundraising efforts for Camp Hopetake had a nice turnout.

Below was the night's most popular dish, the Black Bean Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad.

This fresh healthy salad is high in fiber and rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals. In addition, it is a great recipe for the ladies as it has both iron ( plus vitamin C to help absorption) and calcium, two minerals of great importance for women!

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

1-1.5 cups cooked quinoa

1 can reduced sodium canned black beans- drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon olive oil or flaxseed oil

2 tablespoons reduced sodium teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoons fresh ground or minced ginger

1 tablespoons minced garlic

2-4 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup chopped tomato

1 cup fine shred fresh spinach

½ cup+ seeded/ diced cucumber

½ cup + fine chopped green onion

½ cup+ fresh chopped parsley

½ cup+ fresh fine chop cilantro

Directions:

Cook quinoa according to box directions. You can use regular quinoa or try red quinoa. Recommend chill quinoa prior to proceeding with the remaining recipe.

While quinoa is cooling, prep and chop all produce. Use the minimum amount suggested however you could always add more of you favorite green!

In a small bowl, combine oil, ginger, garlic, lemon juice and reduced sodium teriyaki sauce. You can also increase the amount of lemon, garlic or ginger based on your personal taste.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the quinoa, black beans and all chopped produce. Mix in the liquid and stir well.

Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Prior to service mix again and top with reduced fat crumbled feta cheese.

Note: This recipe was adapted from Far East Tabbouleh from Diabetic Cooking.

Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Black Bean Cake

In my initial blog post I proclaimed I am a lazy dietitian (in the kitchen) which is a very true statement but today I was a bit more motivated.

Why? It’s my husband David’s birthday.

I knew after all he does for me I needed to make him a cake. Dave is a fairly simple guy and you might think that being married to a dietitian (and a sports RD at that!) he would reap the benefits of daily nutritious meals that are a textbook perfect balance of protein, carbohydrates, fats with optimal amounts of vitamins and minerals. The fact is Dave has a very selective palate and unfortunately the choices… well, are not the most wholesome. In his defense, he does try to make better food choices (we have progressed from “Cheesy Poufs” to Blue Tortilla Chips and regular cheese to low fat cheese) but there is plenty of room for improvement. In all relationships, we pick and choose our battles and I am not going to nag him about his diet but rather try to positively influence him even if that means by deception :-)

Dave’s favorite cake is dark chocolate with whipped strawberry icing. Sounds like an odd combination but it indeed is quite tasty. Usually I make good old Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Cake but today I thought I would finally use the recipe I pulled from one of my favorite nutrition magazines, Clean Eating a couple months back.

My interest in the cake recipe came from its main ingredient, black beans! I love black beans and use the low sodium canned beans weekly. Dave on the other hand, I have never seen eat a black bean or any other legume for that matter. Today I decided I was going to sneak them in!

Be forewarned, this recipe is a tad bit time consuming and even a bit messy but its well worth it!

What you need to make this moist and delicious cake is:

8 inch baking dish

Food processor

Non-stick cooking spray

1 oz 70% or greater Dark Chocolate

1.5 cups Reduced/low sodium canned black beans- rinsed and drained

2 Eggs + 1 egg white

2 Tbsp. Extra light olive oil

.25 cup Unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract

.25 cup Unsweetened applesauce

.5 cup Honey

1 tsp Baking powder

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 350 and coat an 8-inch square-baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 2:

Break dark chocolate into small pieces and add 1 tbsp of water to a small glass bowl. Place the small glass bowl in a shallow skillet with water (~ 1 inch deep) and over low heat allow the water to heat the bowl and slowly melt the dark chocolate.

Step 3:

Combine black beans, oil, honey, applesauce & vanilla extract in a food processor and process until creamy smooth. Add cocoa powder, melted chocolate, eggs & baking powder and blend until smooth. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Step 4:

Bake for ~ 30 minutes until the top is dry and the sides pull away from the baking dish. Allow the cake to cool before cutting into squares or shapes of your choice (I used a drink glass to make small circles for Dave’s cake)

The topping possibilities for this cake are only limited by your imagination.

For Dave, I actually used his favorite commerical strawberry icing (hopefully the healthful ingredients in te cake counterbalance this!) and made a mini version of the traditional round cake. I added dark chocolate chips and shaved dark chocolate on top.

Because I love chocolate and LOVE almond butter, I created an almond butter icing using almond butter, a small amount of Smart Balance margarine and confectioner’s sugar. Other toppings that I plan to try are chopped dark cherries with a small amount of nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt and I think I might even splurge and use fresh strawberries and some whipped topping.

I doubt I will invest this much time in the kitchen any time soon but heck when you making something for "your better half" it is always time well spent.

Now I am just hoping Dave does not read this until AFTER he has tried his Black Bean birthday cake ;-)

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Mmmm Macaroni & Cheese

Macaroni & cheese is my all time favorite food. I am ashamed to admit that while studying to be an RD at the University of Florida it was staple in my diet. I think mainly because it was cheap (4 boxes Kraft for 1 buck). Truth be told, I LOVED the taste and texture of the bright orange “cheese” powder that was (is) it’s trademark. Fortunately as my knowledge of nutrition expanded and I wised up on what constitutes healthy eating, the boxed macaroni and cheese was axed from my routine eating plan.

Over the years, I periodically reminisced my meager college days by eating a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese. I tried to make it lower in fat by substituting skim milk for whole milk and cutting the amount of added margarine (used Smart Balance) but I found that something still did not seem right.

In the last few months, I have been craving Mac & Cheese so I was determined to find a more healthful recipe. I wanted one that I could tweak to make it nutrient dense and a positive healthy addition to an active lifestyle.

So with the help of Martha Stewart (I took her recipe and made adjustments) I believe I have managed to come up with a recipe you can feel good about going back for more.

More Mac & Cheese Please!

Ingredients:

16 oz dried elbow pasta (use high fiber pasta or sub non wheat pastas)

1 c Butternut Squash (can use 10 oz frozen package)

½ c Pumpkin (can use canned, this is an optional ingredient)

1 c Low sodium chicken broth/ stock (can sub vegetable stock)

1c nonfat milk (can sub plain soymilk)

½ c Nonfat plain Greek yogurt

½c Part skim ricotta cheese

1c fine shred extra sharp cheddar cheese (3/4 c for recipe and 1/4c on top)

¾ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

Pinch nutmeg (optional)

Pinch or to taste cayenne pepper

Directions:

1) Thaw frozen squash.

2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bring large pot of water to a boil.

3) In a large sauce pan (at least 12 inch diameter x 3 inch deep), combine broth, milk, stock and thawed squash and pumpkin. Using medium heat bring the liquid to a low simmer. Add sea salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper and stir frequently.

4) Add pasta to boiling water and cook to al dente instructions. For wheat pasta about 7-8 minutes. If using rice, corn or quinoa pasta be sure to undercook so it is al dente.

5) After the pasta has been cooked and drained, add to the saucepan and blend in the Greek yogurt, ricotta cheese and cheddar cheeses.

6) Once the mixture is blended, transfer into Pam cooking spray coated casserole dish or tin (at least a 10 inch diameter x 3 inch).

7) Bake covered for 15-20 minutes then remove foil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and additional cheddar cheese if you like and bake for 15-20 minutes more until the top is browned.

Is this going to taste exactly like the old school Mac & cheese you grew up on, well no. BUT it is creamy and tasty enough that you can satisfy your craving for a staple comfort food and feel good about what you are putting into your body.

Please fell free to leave comments on additional tweaks you might add to this “gonna go back for seconds” recipe!

Enjoy!

Welcome

Welcome to the first post of the IronClad Nutrition blog!

This blog will be dedicated to any and all nutrition related topics with a major focus on day to day sports nutrition presented in a format that is informative without the “ho hum” read of many of the more technical scientific blogs or websites.

Having been a Registered Dietitian for going on 20 years, I plan to share some of tips and tricks for body composition adjustment, fueling tactics for workouts, racing and even some of my very own personal favorite foods. You might even see a few tweaked recipes when I am in my Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray mood.

I will admit upfront…….. I am a lazy sports dietitian. What I mean by that is, I like quick, simple foods made with simple ingredients. So if it has more than 6-7 ingredients or requires more than 20 min preparation time it looses my interest. I probably miss out on a lot of great recipes but I, like may other active folks, have overbooked schedules and prefer to use any extra time outside moving my body instead of inside cooking…but hey that’s just me!

So stay tuned. I do have one post that’s “in the oven” and almost ready to be served. It’s one of my all time FAVORITE foods and I am head over heels happy I finally found a recipe that makes this popular comfort food GOOD FOR YOU.

I will give you a hint. It’s creamy and yellow/orange usually very high in calories, fat and refined carbohydrates. Come back soon so you can see what I have cooked up!