We had an amazing weekend in Chicago for the Healthy Living Summit! I can’t believe it’s over so quickly. What a whirlwind!
My panel yesterday on “The Ups and Downs of Blogging” went great — major thanks to those of you who came and participated and to my awesome panelists Sana, Andrea, Heather, and Julie! The recorded session will be available soon and I’ll be sure to post a link. 🙂
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HLS Weekend Highlights:
Making new friends and reconnecting with old ones at the Open Sky sponsored cocktail party on Friday night:
Above, I’m with Dorry, Nichole, Gracie, and Katy. Love these girls!
Below — with Megan aka MegaNerd! Heart.
They even had a photo booth! Amaaaaazing.
In the left photo strip, I’m with my awesome HLS roomies Gracie, Ali, and Katy, plus Megan. And on the right hamming it up with Caitlin and Gena (my new love — so great meeting you!).
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Another highlight: seeing my girl Heather (pictured below) and watching her give a presentation on Sports Nutrition with the lovely Rebecca, who lives in DC and was my plane ride buddy this weekend!
Sports Nutrition Session Overview:
Three Goals of Sports Nutrition:
- Provide energy for the workout
- Prevent dehydration
- Optimize recovery (muscle repair, glycogen repletion, prevent injury)
Pre-Workout Fuel:
- Have a meal or snack 1 to 2 hours before workout
- Aim for something high in carbs, moderate in protein, and lower in fat (harder to digest)
- Good options: fresh/dried/frozen fruit, lower fiber carbs (easier to digest), oatmeal, peanut butter & crackers, etc.
- Avoid too much juice, dairy, fat, or fiber — may cause GI issues
- Drink water or sports drink 15 minutes before (and during) exercise
- Aim for 1 cup of water/sports drink before exercise
- Have 2 to 4 oz of fluids every 20 mins during the workout
- Have a meal or snack within one hour of exercise
During Workout Hydration:
- For a workout under 30 minutes, just water is fine
- Over 30 mins, you will need to replace electrolytes and carb stores (and minerals)
- Over 2 hours = endurance sports drinks (more electrolytes, same carbs)
- Pick sports drinks and avoid flavored waters, fruit juice, soda (acidic, high in sugar, low in electrolytes and nutrients)
- Fuel BEFORE you feel tired — less than 75 mins = adequate body stores
During Workout Fuel:
- For a 60 to 75 min workout, you will need between 100 and 250 calories
- For over 75 minutes — take 1 to 2.5 sports gels, or 14-60 oz of sports drink per hour
- Options: gels, GUs, Bars, candy, honey/agave — sugar is what you need! Do what works for YOU.
Post-Workout Fuel:
- Focus on a mix of carbs and protein (ideal ratio is 4 g carbs to 1 g protein)
- Good options: smoothies, drinkable yogurts, thick crust pizza, boiled salted potatoes, fruit, bagels
- Chocolate milk is a great option — it has the perfect carb to protein ratio!
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More highlights:
An amazing lunch featuring quinoa salad, roasted veggies, chickpea salad, and more!
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A great session led by Chandra on strength training — did you know that 1 lb. of muscle burns 6 calories per hour, while 1 lb. of fat only burns 2 calories per hour? Be sure to strength train at least 2x per week — aim for a moderate weight and do more reps and less sets to increase strength and endurance (vs. lower reps, more sets, and heavier weight for muscle building!).
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Being matching fANNEtastic t-shirt buddies with Gracie:
“I Take Pictures of my Food”! (Shirt available in my shop!)
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An amazing core fusion yoga session last night at Exhale Spa — soooo relaxing and some much needed stretching (plus SWEAT — it was hard!).
(Sporting my fave feta shirt, heh!)
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A delicious dinner last night at the vegan restaurant Karyn’s on Green, organized by Angela of Oh She Glows (who is SO sweet in person!).
Epic beet salad:
And these “chicken drums” — made from tofu! — with sweet potato hash, sauteed spinach, and BBQ sauce (my fave!). Deeeelish.
This was actually surprisingly chicken-like in texture — very juicy!
Hi Tina! 🙂
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A great and super sweaty group run this a.m. — we did 6 miles in about 53 minutes with beautiful scenery!
Yep, I “Will Run for Bacon” — will you? 🙂 (Shirt also available in my shop!)
Yay for running buddies 🙂 Theodora, Tina, fun new friend Hillary, and me!
And last but not least — visiting the famous Chicago bean today with Heather, Rebecca, and new friends Dorry and Danielle!
Heh. Big reflective things are fun.
And with that — HLS is over. I’m sad and I miss all my blogging friends (both new and old) already!
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I’m now back in D.C. and gearing up for the busiest couple weeks ever. Here’s what’s on tap:
- Tomorrow: Pack my entire room, then pack the UHaul
- Tuesday: Drive 5 hours to Chapel Hill, unpack UHaul
- Wednesday: Madly continue to unpack
- Thursday: UNC general orientation
- Friday morning: Fly to New York for a wedding
- Sunday night: Return to Chapel Hill
- Monday: Public Health school orientation
- Tuesday: Classes start.
Gah. Help! (If you’re new to the blog — I’m moving to North Carolina to start my Masters of Public Health in Nutrition at UNC-Chapel Hill! To read all about my journey back to school after years of cubicle jobs, check out this post.)
Ta-ta, friends! Blogging may be a bit sporadic this week, but please check back to see how the move is going. 🙂 NC or bust!
