Issue #35 - Ottawa Outdoors Magazine

With an average temperature of minus 10, not including wind chill, January is frosty. The good news, according to Wayne Askew, a nutrition professor at the University of Utah, is that winter shivering can help you burn extra calories. Chattering teeth is a sign that your body is working harder to stay warm. The added weight of those extra clothes you pile on can burn off more. Turn down the thermostat and your body will work a bit harder indoors too.

Craving high-calorie foods? You may need more sleep. The Mayo Clinic says adults should get between seven and nine hours a night, and when you don’t, your body looks for a caloric hit to get it through. This can make you eat more (and more bad stuff) than if you were well-rested. And if you’re up longer, you’re more apt to eat, adding more calories than you probably need. Athletes know you can’t perform without regular good sleep. Get to bed.

Eat them. You need them. The Dietitians of Canada – a bunch of professionals; they know these things – say cutting carbs might help drop some weight in the short term, but you’ll miss out on the nutritional benefits of whole grains, fruit, starchy vegetables, and legumes. Stick to Canada’s Food Guide and frankly, you can’t go wrong. And if you’re working out a lot, you need the fuel that carbs give. How much is enough depends on intensity of exercise.

For the average person, two to three grams of carbs per body pound ought to do the trick. So a 130-pound person should take in between 260 and 300 grams per day. If that same person is an endurance athlete, increase consumption to three to four grams per pound, or 390-520 grams of carbs per day. Don’t be afraid. Go on. Eat them.

Getting a little thicker because you’re not training as hard as usual? Don’t fret. Athleticism (like life) happens in cycles. The need for bodily fuel and the output of bodily energy change. Healthy weight ranges and optimal racing weight are two entirely different things for athletes. Taking it easy and letting your body rest from intense training is a good thing. Crank it back up, and once again you will be a lean, mean, fast machine.