To those who offered help, thanks for the great advice. Before a good workout (bike, weights, swim...whatever) I'd always have a light breakfast with a few carbs and then proceed to do my thing for a couple hours, or a few hours even. During the exercise I didn't eat and I just imagined my body was shifting into higher fat-burn mode.
Well....during the last few workouts I've deliberately been putting in a few carbs/protein. As example:
Today I did 40 minutes on the elliptical, then the tail-end 35 minutes of a spinning class and then I swam 64 laps in the indoor Olympic pool (2 miles). Prior to all this I ate a bit more for breakfast and after the spinning class I drank 1/3 of my drink...then after 20 laps in the pool another 1/3 and when I hit 40 laps the last 1/3.
My drink:
1/2 cup water
1 cup lite soy-milk
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
1 cup mixed fruit juices (banana, orange, apple, berry)
BIG DIFFERENCE in my performance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was cranking on the elliptical....sweating & putting-out...but not feeling the strain. In the spinning class I was sweating ridiculous, but again...the energy was totally there. The biggest surprise was in the pool: I can usually turn-out about 7-10 laps before mellowing into a slow long-haul pace (LIIS- Low Intensity Steady State). This time I kept a fairly brisk pace the entire time. I didn't feel like I was running on a flat tire....I was pulling myself through the water with a strong clip...really nice. I'd call it Mid-Intensity with intervals of High-Intensity to mix it up...the energy was totally there!
So check this out...my pool lap-counter tally's my speed, laps and calories (based on age, gender, height, weight, etc). Normally I'd burn about 975 calories doing 2 miles...but this time the same distance took just over 1,200 calories...all based on moving quicker/harder through the water.
I wouldn't necessarily say that extra calories consumed by the drink was offset in greater caloric consumption during my exercise, but at least a fair portion of it was. From what I've read and learned here, the calories taken-in will actually help increase fat-oxidation through the workout.
Either way, I'm going to give it a few weeks of adding calories during my longer workouts...I'm optimistic I'll see better results. I usually follow-up all my endurance exercises with a protein shake with a banana blended in...but I'm going to look into some kind of recovery drink to add to this as well.
In hindsight, I think it was a mistake for me to avoid taking in calories with the notion that less "in" always equals better fat-burning results. As the saying goes "fat burns in a carbohydrate flame" and I certainly feel the increased performace output is worth the calories, especially when we also factor-in the EPOC and other benefits working out at a higher range of intensity. I was friggin' lapping people today and when I took breaks, I could feel the water getting warm around my body...someone was gonna slap an Mercury, Evinrude or Johnson label on my forehead!
Thanks for all the advice!
Well....during the last few workouts I've deliberately been putting in a few carbs/protein. As example:
Today I did 40 minutes on the elliptical, then the tail-end 35 minutes of a spinning class and then I swam 64 laps in the indoor Olympic pool (2 miles). Prior to all this I ate a bit more for breakfast and after the spinning class I drank 1/3 of my drink...then after 20 laps in the pool another 1/3 and when I hit 40 laps the last 1/3.
My drink:
1/2 cup water
1 cup lite soy-milk
2 scoops chocolate protein powder
1 cup mixed fruit juices (banana, orange, apple, berry)
BIG DIFFERENCE in my performance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was cranking on the elliptical....sweating & putting-out...but not feeling the strain. In the spinning class I was sweating ridiculous, but again...the energy was totally there. The biggest surprise was in the pool: I can usually turn-out about 7-10 laps before mellowing into a slow long-haul pace (LIIS- Low Intensity Steady State). This time I kept a fairly brisk pace the entire time. I didn't feel like I was running on a flat tire....I was pulling myself through the water with a strong clip...really nice. I'd call it Mid-Intensity with intervals of High-Intensity to mix it up...the energy was totally there!
So check this out...my pool lap-counter tally's my speed, laps and calories (based on age, gender, height, weight, etc). Normally I'd burn about 975 calories doing 2 miles...but this time the same distance took just over 1,200 calories...all based on moving quicker/harder through the water.
I wouldn't necessarily say that extra calories consumed by the drink was offset in greater caloric consumption during my exercise, but at least a fair portion of it was. From what I've read and learned here, the calories taken-in will actually help increase fat-oxidation through the workout.
Either way, I'm going to give it a few weeks of adding calories during my longer workouts...I'm optimistic I'll see better results. I usually follow-up all my endurance exercises with a protein shake with a banana blended in...but I'm going to look into some kind of recovery drink to add to this as well.
In hindsight, I think it was a mistake for me to avoid taking in calories with the notion that less "in" always equals better fat-burning results. As the saying goes "fat burns in a carbohydrate flame" and I certainly feel the increased performace output is worth the calories, especially when we also factor-in the EPOC and other benefits working out at a higher range of intensity. I was friggin' lapping people today and when I took breaks, I could feel the water getting warm around my body...someone was gonna slap an Mercury, Evinrude or Johnson label on my forehead!
Thanks for all the advice!
