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The hands have it

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Demonstration of streamlined arms in swimming push and glide

I'm onto something using hand shape from swimming to relate to portion sizes of carbohydrates, protein and fat in swimming nutrition.

This can start with the hand on the face to create the cupped hand for the 'catch', and the cupped hand for grains, pastas, and bread. And then use the flat hand shown here for a portion of protein, such as fish, chicken, an egg or nuts.

Before moving onto the clenched fist for fruit & veggies and a thumb for fat. 

All part of a sports nutrition course I am developing for my swimming club. 

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Sports Nutrition

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3 images relating to ballet dancers' health, nutrition and physiotherapy

Though the Food Programme interview ballet dancers, nutritionists and physios at the Royal Ballet the lesson I took from the programme would apply to any age group athlete who needs to treat their body as a 'temple'. Uploaded to Planet eStream I cut two versions of the original transmission for relevance and length. I particularly liked the way food was referred to as a 'fuel' and how particular dietary habits were for the ballet dancers who had to cope with the rigours of training and multiple gruelling performances.


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Lunch at 4:30pm

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The idea is that you leave 5 hours between meals during the day and 12 hours overnight. I just forget to have my lunch. I was 'pooliside' half an hour before the National Squad turned up. Perhaps I should have waited until they had arrived in order to run through some tips on nutrition.

This is  no longer a diet: I lost 6 kg from 1st to 31st August eating like this - low to no carbs, no sugar at all, and plenty of veggies.

Changing behaviour takes a great deal of effort by someone.

In this instance it was my wife and a year of reading up on gut microbes. Then she has taken time off work and decided that I would be her 'proof of the pudding' to use the wrong expression. I have cheated now and again: a few bears, packets of crisps.

And then has been running. Supposedly a couch to 5k, but getting a run in during the working week is proving difficult.

Monday: at 6:30am I can't do that too often

Wednesday I can get one in 4:30 to 5:30 before swimmers.

 

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New blog post

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Sunday, 10 Mar 2013, 00:10

DSC06405.JPG

Fig.1 Baked veggies - assorted everything and oodles of spices and seasoning.

This looks pretier than my flabby belly, but going from 90kg to 84kg in the last 12 months could be my most valuable legacy of the Open University.

Let me explain.

This is year two of a postgraduate degree in open and distance education (MAODE). Finding appealing the jobs ad at the bottom of our VLE (this) for someone to do social media for the Open University Business School (I blog a lot, I do social media, I've been active online since ... the mid 1990s I suppose, with a blog since 1999). Anyway, they say yes and then I think 'oops'.

'Oops' finds me staying with a lovely family in Milton Keynes during the week.

A home. And Mum who is a neutrionist (also works at the OU)

She is much more than this, the 'good life' writ large with a garden that is a small holding. It isn't just food, it is a way of life.

The sceptic at some stage shares a medical crisis - cholesterol at 7.7 and the prospect of a lifetime popping a pill (Statins).

She says 'no'.

My wife (medical market research - she knows her pills) also says 'no'.

The answer is a radical change in diet.

I run with it. No question. Just go with it.

Out comes red meat (most of the time), all dairy and other suprising things. I ditch what I thought was a healthy bowl of muesli every morning with soya milk for plain porridge as the truth was the calories in the fruit muesli were huge.

So vegan for breakfast, vegetarian for lunch ... and to start with, perhaps a piece of chicken (no skin) more likely fish in the evening. I have rice milk in coffee. I very rarely touch cheese. Some of my favourite things are totally out - like duck sad like cassoulet.

A year on fish as the dish - helped by the fish landed fresh every day at Newhaven.

We're inb Lewes, East Sussex. I shop for the week and freeze cod, turbot, skate wings, mackeral et al.

A year on I return to the doctor for a blood test - Cholesterol 6.6.

Still too high, but achieved without a pill. My weight is down from 14 stone something to 13 stone something.

A teen vegetarian daughter is benefiting from a father's new found love for cooking all things veggie. My wife too has shed many pounds too. Our son gets the meat budget.

I'll graduate next year, but what may matter more is better health and a less indulgent view of food.

And I solve a life-time medical problem.

I am allergic to white flour.

Periods of nausea and asthma attacks

Six years ago the NHS had me at the top of the list to see a nutrionist then pulled the plug.

 

Permalink 3 comments (latest comment by Jonathan Vernon, Sunday, 18 Nov 2012, 06:02)
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