Whole30 and Strength Training

[adjk1229]

Hello! I just have some questions for other fellow strength training whole30ers. I strength train about 5 days per week. One of my goals is to become as strong and fit as I can. I don't have any children yet but I want to be in the best shape that I can be before getting pregnant. I also want to maintain it throughout my pregnancy and well into life after. I want to be able to keep up with my kids and hold them for a long time without feeling tired!

For right now, I don't usually do a pre-wo snack  because I literally roll out of bed into my basement which is where I work out. After I work out, I eat breakfast immediately which is usually a casserole that I make ahead of time for the week (eggs, sausage, peppers). I eat a hefty amount of this but am usually hungry by 9:30-10am (I eat breakfast around 6am). I've tried increasing the portion but it doesn't seem to change much (especially during the week before my period, I'm absolutely ravenous all day no matter what I eat). 

My questions are what do you other strength trainers typically do pre and post work out as far as food goes? What does your carb intake look like or do you even pay attention to this? I want to make sure I'm fueling my muscles properly with all the training. Any thoughts would be great! 

[littleg]

Have you tried adding more fat to M1?  Or carbs?  I'd tinker with that and see if it helps.  I routinely eat a casserole for breakfast too (just made one today ).  Its got 16oz bag of spinach, 16oz bag of onions and peppers, 3/4 lb breakfast sausage and 8 eggs.  4 servings.  I *always* add a big blob of either mayo or the hard coconut cream from full fat coconut milk when I eat a piece.  If I'm really hungry I might also add a small baked sweet potato with ghee.  I'd try a few days of extra fat and see if it helps.  Then I'd switch to a few days of extra carbs (try starches - they seem to help with satiety more than fruit for a lot of people I think).  See if either works.  Then try both.  In general though, I do think AM workouts (especially hard ones) just make people hungrier during the day.  If your primary goal is strength gains I'd just not fight the hunger and eat until you are full.  If you are eating mostly veggies, proteins, fats with some good carbs tossed in there I don't think you need to worry about fat gain.  

I used to do CrossFit 4-5 times per week and then switched to more body building type strength training when I got pregnant (which I've kept up for 37 weeks and counting!).  I don't quite roll out of bed and workout - but I'll often work out an hour or two after waking up and I always eat something first.  Whole boiled egg and mayo is my usual - if I have leftover protein around I'd do that sometimes - an ounce or so of meat, a salmon cake, things like that.  And for hard workouts I'd really try to do a post WO snack too - usually a 1/3 to a 1/2 sweet potato and another bite or two of lean meat.  Then I'd eat breakfast.  My workouts are not nearly as tough as they used to be so I usually don't do the post anymore. 

In terms of carb intake, I've never specifically monitored it.  I'm nut uber-competetive so I don't know if tinkering with carb timing/amounts might have had a performance impact if I'd been more careful about eating them.  

PS - I'll let you know if this whole "staying fit through pregnancy" thing helps with labor and recovery - thats been my goal this pregnancy... And I'm hoping that transitioning to a stricter W30 post partum (pipe dream?) helps with speedier recovery (less inflammation, fluid retention and all that good stuff)!

[J9er]

All of @littleg's suggestions are on point. I answered your question about What I do for PWO timing in the other thread, definitely try to get that in. I agree with littleg, tinker with fat and carbs. Everyone is different, it just might need a bit of trial and error on your part.

I don't Do a pre workout snack. I always have sweet potato and chicken for post work out. It's just what's easy for me.

I personally eat my starchy veg for the day (probably a cup worth of sweet potato or squash) at lunch and find this helps my satiety a lot. 

Until you get your amounts figured out you could also try adding in another meal - you eat your breakfast at six and are hungry at 10, that's four hours, there is room for another meal or mini meal here. There really is no reason to be hungry in my opinion, so if you are, eat! You might find you just need the extra meal, or you may also find that once you adjust your portions you can stay full longer. I now can go 5 + hours between meals but it wasn't always this way.

One more thought - how many veggies does your casserole have? I can never pack enough into a casserole - think at least 2 -3 cups of veggies for a meal, would there be that many in your casserole? Maybe have extra on the side? My go to in the morning is roasted veggies or sautéed zucchini, cabbage and onions in duck fat. Cheap, and easy to do in big batches. 

 

[ThyPeace]

>My go to in the morning is roasted veggies or sautéed zucchini, cabbage and onions in duck fat. Cheap, and easy to do in big batches.

DH and I have a similar vegetable situation most mornings. I make big batches of dry-sauteed (meaning cooked in a pan over a relatively low heat without added oil or liquid) onion, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, and cabbage. 8 oz onion, 8 oz mushroom, 12+ oz squash, 16 oz cabbage, salt. The salt is important to get the liquid to release from the vegetables. It cooks for long enough to wilt, cook off some liquid (or I pour it off and drink it; it's delicious), and turn a bit brown. Then I cool it and it's enough for 3 days of breakfast for the two of us.

We normally have scrambled eggs and some kind of protein leftovers with it, plus he has a cup or so of potato and I have 1/2 to 1 grapefruit. I find that the grapefruit satisfies me far more than the potato, while he finds the potato more satisfying. When I was doing a Whole30, I added fat to the vegetables, but found that it didn't help my satiety at all.

Lately, I have been looking at my macro percentages and realizing that one of the very best reasons for the added protein around workouts is just to eat enough protein. I often struggle to get to 100 grams of protein in a day, which my nutritionist really wants me to get to. Adding the post workout protein in the form of a packet of tuna with some mustard and hot sauce is a nice bump in the right direction. If I did it before AND after my workout, I'd probably be right where she wants me to be.

ThyPeace, not a protein-focused person unless reminded. Forcefully.

[adjk1229]

My casserole is this one: http://www.clarkscondensed.com/recipe/paleo-breakfast-casserole/

I make it every Sunday for the entire week. It has sausage, sweet potatoes, coconut milk, red and green peppers and I top it with compliant bacon, so I think I'm hitting all the macros pretty well (I think). One 9x13 dish makes about 6 big slices, I usually have a slice and a half in the morning. I always eat until I'm full. I am currently doing the January whole30 so I'm journaling it this time. I'm going to keep track of my hunger. I'm considering adding another meal in the day because I'm up and eat so early. I seem to max out around 4-5 hours, I can't wait much longer after that before becoming hangry! Thanks for all your thoughts!

[evaq]

Hey @adjk1229 I'm more of an all-round girl when it comes to strength training and fitness. I like to balance lifting, running, climbing and yoga. And for me, I'm usually fine skipping the pre and post WO meal. For my first whole 30, I ate pre and post WO meals but this time around, I skipped them because I didn't feel like I needed a snack. But I think every body will react (and need to be nourished) differently. It totally depends on the signals/cues your body gives you.

FYI, my usual strength training consists of any combination of: bench, deadlift, squat, press, lunges, russian twists, kettle bell swings, wall balls, sled pushing, push ups, TRX pull ups, battle ropes, planks.

[ambert619]

Try adding in or eating more sweet potatoes and or butternut squash.  I also feel that avocados help fill me up, as well as adding in nuts like macadamias or cashews. Sometimes I'll eat a half of a banana before I work out if I'm awake long enough, it's the only thing I can eat before without feeling sick when working out.  

[ThyPeace]

@evaq, I get the lifting, running, and yoga.  What climbing do you do?

 

ThyPeace, envisioning ropes courses or walls or mountains or something...

[evaq]

@ThyPeace LOL. Rock climbing - mostly indoors, but outdoors when possible.

[ThyPeace]

Ahh, thanks, makes more sense.  My daughter loves climbing walls, which she gets to do only occasionally.  I find that I am afraid that the rope will not hold me, so can't get myself to climb higher than about six feet before I give up.  It's great fun watching her, DH, and my youngest stepson, though.  They climb like monkeys!

ThyPeace, does ropes courses when they are available.