Are You Eating Enough?

December 1999 - January 2000

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Patricia Chuey MSc, RD

From my work as a nutritionist with a particular interest in sport over the past decade, the single biggest nutritional issue I see with athletes is just plain not eating enough. Sure I see more complex issues related to body composition and deficiencies, but even still, under fueling remains a grave concern.

Although I have worked with paddlers in the past, to verify the relevance of this caloric shortfall issue I contacted Corrina Kennedy, a recently retired Olympic kayaker and 1995 K2 200-metre World Champion. Corrina concurred that due to the energy required to train and compete at her level, the biggest concern was eating enough. Although she ate according to her appetite for the most part, she also used her weight as a guide. 'If my weight was dropping, I knew I needed more food. I often ate to satisfy my appetite and then some just to ensure there were no shortfalls'.

But how can this caloric shortfall issue even be a concern? We live in a society with abundant access to food. You may even be thinking, 'but I eat all the time'. Whether it be for athletes training at a high level or simply enjoying paddling for recreation, the body is fueled by the food taken in. The most obvious signs of a fuel shortage are low energy, reductions in strength and an inability to keep on weight.

Along with a deficit of total calories often comes an insufficient dose of protein and fat. This is largely due to a busy person's nature of grazing on the run. Note that nothing is wrong with eating every 3 hours throughout the day. In fact, it's recommended. However, most people graze on easy to eat, portable, carbohydrate items. This may include crackers, energy bars, cookies, fruit, vegetables, real juices, muffins, bagels or sandwiches. Sounding familiar? It is far less common to graze on a chicken leg, a chunk of tofu or even nuts—all of which provide protein and fat. Signs of a fat deficit include: dry, itchy, scaly skin and being more prone to rashes. Low energy, reduced immunity, more colds and flus and even more hair loss are also warning signs. A final clue that fat may be lacking is feeling cold all the time. This is of particular concern when paddling in cooler weather. A protein deficiency can usually be associated with being hungry every 1 to 2 hours, craving sweets and more severe concerns like anemia due to a low intake of iron.

So, how do you know if you're eating enough to sustain your energy and take in the quota of nutrients you need daily? First, it may help to estimate roughly how many calories you require per day. For an average 30-60 year old person, use the following equation to get a baseline calorie level. Note, however, that these equations simply provide ballpark figures:

For men = 11.6 x your weight in kilograms + 879.

For women = 8.7 x your weight in kilograms + 829. •

Then, add 220-350 calories per hour for heavy exercise, 170-240 for moderate and 110-160 calories per hour for light exercise. This should work out to roughly 2000-2500 calories for an active woman and 3000-3500 for an active male.

Even if you consistently eat the minimum number of servings recommended in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, you would only ingest about 1200 - 1500 calories. These minimums are 5 servings a day of grain products such as bread, cereal, pasta, rice, etc., a total of 5 vegetables and fruits combined, 2 milk servings (or suitable alternatives such as fortified soymilk) and 2 to 3 meat or alternative servings. A serving can be estimated as roughly 4 ounces or the size of a tennis ball.

To check your intake, consider recording what you eat for 2 or 3 days. Roughly divvy the foods up into groups to see how many servings you are getting from each group. If you are nowhere near these minimums, seriously assess how you might begin improving the situation. My suggestions to remedy any shortfalls include:

*** Within 2 hours of waking, eat a balanced breakfast consisting of both carbohydrate and protein foods. An easier way to address this is by including at least 3 of the 4 food groups. Cereal and milk are only 2 groups! Try a boiled egg, 1 or 2 pieces of whole grain toast and a fruit salad. A faster option may be a 1/2 cup of soft tofu whirled in the blender with 1 banana and 1 cup of orange juice to make a shake. Drink this with an energy bar for a really portable breakfast.

*** During the day, allow no more than 3 to 4 hours to pass without eating. Include quality snacks. The most logical snacks are the food groups most likely missing in your main meals. That is, if you always eat toast and cereal at breakfast, bread at lunch and rice or pasta for dinner, make the snacks items like fruit, vegetables, yogurt, nuts or combinations of such. Corrina Kennedy carried fruit and arrowroot cookies at all times.

*** Carry food with you at all times. Keep non-perishable dried fruit, nuts or energy bars in your backpack, briefcase or glove compartment.

*** Stay well hydrated by drinking water with all meals and snacks.

*** Maximize recovery after workouts by eating at least 50 grams of carbohydrate food within the first 30-60 minutes of heavy exercise. Fifty grams of carbohydrate could be supplied by a sport drink, 2 bananas, 8 to 10 crackers or a cup of yogurt. Corrina said this was an absolute saviour for her to keep energy up over the course of a week of heavy training. She said she always had a carbohydrate beverage and fruit within 15 minutes of finishing a workout.

*** And finally, just because you need a lot of calories, doesn't mean it's open season on the junk. Here again, Corrina's advice was to eat at home as much as possible, trying to keep things wholesome and natural. When I asked her, she stated she still indulged in the occasional treat or even alcoholic beverage. 'I never became obsessed, but I stayed aware of what I was eating.' Corrina added a final comment that she didn't come across any vegetarians at the level she was at. 'Due to the level of calories needed, it would have taken an extreme amount of beans to keep it up.' Although many successful athletes are vegetarian, the level of planning to have exclusively plant-based food items accessible can take much more effort than for those eating more of a mixed diet.

Remember that food represents the logs that keep the fire of your metabolism going. If you keep the fire sufficiently stoked, you will feel energized and stay warm on the cool days on the water. Dehydration can also severely affect body temperature. So aim to keep a water bottle on the go at all times.

Patricia Chuey is a registered dietitian and sport nutritionist with Eating for Energy in Vancouver, BC. She can be seen every Tuesday on BCTV's Noon News. Her book, 'The 101 Most Asked Nutrition Questions' (360 pages, 1999) is available in stores or contact her at 604-739-3290.
Her website is: www.eatingforenergy.com