Reality Shocks
How many times during the recent Beijing Olympics did you hear about Michael Phelps’s shockingly high calorie diet, on the order of 10,000 calories per day? Between casual work conversation, passing references on the radio, or Internet headlines, I am estimating about 238 for me. It was probably one of the most attention-getting stories from the 2008 Olympics. Assuming this staggering calorie number is true, it certainly seems to work for him. His intense training regimen allows him to pull this feat off. Phelps leads a very extraordinary lifestyle, but you probably know someone who trains almost as intensely, too. How many of the intense exercisers that you know consume even one-third of what Phelps does? And, more to the point, how many of them have results like Phelps? Regardless, the fact is that Phelps consumes the number of calories that he needs to fuel his body, given his intense workout regimen.
This example from my personal experience is quite the opposite: I recently heard an acquaintance, physician, and very fit triathlete casually state to a group of people that she is “keeping” (restricting) her calories to 2,000 calories per day, as part of her peak for an upcoming race. In my head, I estimated she’d need 2,000 calories daily to support her basal caloric rate of approximately 1,400 calories a day, minus another 2,500 calories burned via the usual day’s exercise of a 2-hour bike ride and a 1-hour run. That creates an approximate 1,900-calorie deficit for a very lean individual. That’s unhealthy, and doesn’t make sense. However, nobody in her group voiced concern. It is also alarming that she plans to restrict entire categories of food, like carbohydrates, which are especially important for endurance athletes. She expressed dissatisfaction with her race performances, but seems paralyzed by a fear of gaining weight.
These two examples struck me as perfect illustrations of two different approaches to eating as an athlete: consuming what is needed to refuel your body versus allowing fears (of gaining weight) to dictate your food consumption. Even more interestingly, I’m struck by how the public’s perception of these very different approaches is so often skewed. A world-class athlete making headlines for eating appropriately for his activity is considered shocking. Yet a respected physician trained in logic and critical thinking making irrational food choices seems normal. At a healthy body weight, restricting calories below your objective needs makes no sense — but it’s seen as acceptable behavior if you’re an athlete. I appreciated Michael Phelps reminding athletes about our nutritional realities.
Reality speaks
In their never-ending pursuit of those realities, the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada and The American College of Sports Medicine published a joint statement in 2000 entitled Nutrition and Athletic Performance. It states:
“Meeting energy needs is the first nutrition priority for athletes. Achieving energy balance is essential for the maintenance of lean tissue mass, immune and reproductive functions, and optimum athletic performance. Inadequate energy intake relative to energy expenditure compromises performance and the benefits associated with training. With limited energy intake, fat and lean tissue mass will be used by the body for fuel. Loss of muscle results in the loss of strength and endurance.”
You will not find a clearer message from a more respected organization anywhere. The reason you devote grueling hours to training for your sport is to build strength and endurance. Don’t undermine your efforts by doing what the world’s experts explicitly tell us will erode our strength and endurance.
The laws of physics are very clear on this: Calories-in must equal calories-burned to maintain the same weight. If calories-in are less than calories-burned, weight will decrease. If a calorie-restricting athlete has no extra weight to lose, strength and endurance — and ultimately performance — will suffer, as my aforementioned triathlete acquaintance had found. If the athlete is at a healthy weight, matching intake to output is nutritionally superior, as Phelps so masterfully demonstrated at the Olympics.
Real Clarity
If peak performance is the rationale behind the nearly all-day training lifestyle, why do athletes regularly defy science and restrict calories below their factual needs? I think most of us have a pretty good idea why.
Athletes aren’t robots ingesting fuel without emotion. If so, we’d eat exactly what our needs dictated, just as we add fuel to our cars. We are human, and most things we consume contain an emotional element. We connect with food, deriving much more from it than its fuel-filled calories and nutrients alone. That isn’t automatically a bad thing; our task is simply to acknowledge that fact and make appropriate choices with respect to it. That means adjusting your caloric intake around the “non-fuel” calories. That means addressing any and all existing problems behind the food and exercise.
This is far from a complete article on disordered eating, but if it applies to you, choosing to ignore it will hurt you. Discuss your eating habits with your health care provider if you need help.
It can’t be stressed enough that the unrealistically lean body images that are constantly broadcast around our world have basically established norms outside the realm of reality. The damaging effects of this phenomenon shouldn’t be underestimated: Both women and men can spend lifetimes living through the turmoil of disordered eating. Athletic lifestyles have become socially accepted avenues for “over-exercising” or overly strict eating behaviors. Be aware that disordered eating can easily, and often secretly, walk hand-in-hand with sports — endurance sports in particular.
For all of us, we should eat based on what our known caloric needs may be, not based upon fear of weight gain (if you don’t know your caloric needs, talk to a Registered Dietitian). The closer you can get to this goal, the higher your athletic performance potential will be. Again, heed the words of the consensus of experts above. Perhaps a wise starting point would be to honestly assess whether it is performance or thinness that is most important to you. If it is performance, eat as enthusiastically and intelligently as you train. If it is thinness, it may be a signal to slow down a bit and think very carefully about what you’re doing.
Fearless
I love the fact that Phelps’s diet received so much attention. I love the fact that Phelps told the world what he eats. I love the fact that his swimming dominance was so profound. He boldly eats what he is supposed to eat, despite a lifetime of being an icon for an extremely body-conscious sport! He makes very rational decisions to maximize his performance. He doesn’t worry about getting fat. He just wants to be his best, and he’s not afraid to be. How do you like his reward for that?
Here’s to being our fearless best.
Reference:
American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada. Joint Position Statement, Nutrition and Athletic Performance.
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2000, 0195-9131/00/3212-2130/0
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