super food you can eat eveyday that makes you strong? true or false?

A former L10 gymnast, now coach at my gym is still

amazingly strong (very close to a back lever).

She had a pep talk with one parent, because she always gives her daughter unhealthy stuff as a snack.

After that I had a conversation with her about nutrition and that's what she said:

Since she is 15 (the time when she became a L10) she eats the same almost everyday! Today she is 26.

I asked her what she eats because I found this very interesting, and she gave me a piece of paper where her diet on a regular day is listed, because someone else asked the same as couple of days ago and so she wrote it down and made some copies.

She is not allowed to eat raw veggies or a lot of raw fruit, because she gets stomach ache easily. She claimed that this plan gives a gymnast everything he needs.

Here it is:

My SuperDiet for Health and Fitness!

Breakfast:

1 cup of hot chocolate

1 banana

Lunch:

70gr of brown rice with 2 eggs and 1-2 handfuls of frozen veggie mix (carrots, peas, corn)

Pre Workout:

handful of nuts (variety)

Post Workout:

1 homemade protein shake

(250g low fat curd cheese, some milk, 2 scoops of yoghurt, handful pf oats)

Dinner:

70gr of brown rice with veggie mix, 1 egg, 100gr of fish or chicken

Evening Snack if wanted:

small cup of hot chocolate

NOTE: Sometimes I have ice-cream, a small piece of cake, a coffe, a smoothie etc instead of the nuts!

You can always snack on some fruiz if you would like to!

I would say that Anna (her name) is 5'3'' and about 120lbs. And she looks soo healthy and strong!

Is it really possible that you can be healthy if you eat that everyday?

Is it enough calories and enough of all nutrients?

I have no clue about diet so I would like to know

A cup of hot Chocolate? What? How is that healthy? Does she drink that during summer too when it's hot outside? :S

And btw, it's different for everyone. Apparently she found her own way. You need to experiment and find your own way too.

Edit: but overall, she's eating healthy. There's fish, meat, veggies, brown rice, nuts and eggs in there. So standard stuff.

humans can have between 2-15 copies of the gene that encodes for salivary amylase, the main enzyme that breaks down and metabolizes carbohydrates.  That's why some people can eat carbs like it's their job and not gain a pound, and some people get a belly from looking at rice.  Eventually, her diet is going to catch up with her and not in a good way.  Having her pancreas constantly producing insulin like that is certainly not healthy and even if she looks fine, I'd love to see her bloodwork.  I have a hunch her LDL-P, Cr-p, and blood sugar is probably junk.

I am always surprised when people post what they eat how very few vegetables are listed. 

Damon Amato said:

humans can have between 2-15 copies of the gene that encodes for salivary amylase, the main enzyme that breaks down and metabolizes carbohydrates. That's why some people can eat carbs like it's their job and not gain a pound, and some people get a belly from looking at rice. Eventually, her diet is going to catch up with her and not in a good way. Having her pancreas constantly producing insulin like that is certainly not healthy and even if she looks fine, I'd love to see her bloodwork. I have a hunch her LDL-P, Cr-p, and blood sugar is probably junk.

Thanks dor your reply!

So you think all she eats in crap? Can you give me better options?

When I looked at the plan, I thought it was really healthy?!

Thanks all

for your replies - very interesting.

I thought that this plan is very healthy? Ok, maybe not the hot chocolate...but hey, a small treat everyday is ok if you work out hard!

If you just posted the diet and nothing else, my first question would've been: is this person diabetic?

"Better options" I don't think will make a difference.  I'd need to fully evaluate them and do my entire questionnaire before making any recommendations, other than to stop being addicted to carbs.

How is this super high carb diet and why would you ask if she was a diabetic? Aside from the hot chocolate it is okay. I'd add more vegetables tbh and the hot chocolate isn't that bad like you said a treat is okay especially if training like she was or does.... She is probably eating better than 90% of the world......

Roughly 200g carbs for someone who is 120lb is incredibly high unless she is a high level track athlete or bodybuilder.  If you're comparing that to the USDA recommendations it probably looks fine, but the USDA recommendations have as much science behind them as unicorns.

A lot of it is very individual.  Per my comments above, I'd have to do a full evaluation on her to see how well she actually tolerates carbohydrates, what her blood lipids and inflammation look like, and what her activity level is like.  There is no perfect diet, but there is a perfect diet at a specific time for a specific goal.

ausswe said:

How is this super high carb diet and why would you ask if she was a diabetic? Aside from the hot chocolate it is okay. I'd add more vegetables tbh and the hot chocolate isn't that bad like you said a treat is okay especially if training like she was or does.... She is probably eating better than 90% of the world......

Thanks for your answer. It is high in carbs, but she tumbles a lot and it also has enough protein in it, doesn't it? If I count it together, it is about 80-90g of protein!

And the carbs she eats are good carbs...

I am asking because I also want to eat healthy regularly and I am also that kind of person who doesn't like too greasy or raw foods (give me awful tummy ache and I get gastritis) so I though I could eat similar stuff?

Damon Amato said:

Roughly 200g carbs for someone who is 120lb is incredibly high unless she is a high level track athlete or bodybuilder. If you're comparing that to the USDA recommendations it probably looks fine, but the USDA recommendations have as much science behind them as unicorns.

A lot of it is very individual. Per my comments above, I'd have to do a full evaluation on her to see how well she actually tolerates carbohydrates, what her blood lipids and inflammation look like, and what her activity level is like. There is no perfect diet, but there is a perfect diet at a specific time for a specific goal.

Thanks for your great input!

I also want to change my diet and that's why I ask fit people how they eat. As I said, greasy, Fried and raw stuff gives me gastritis.

I can also eat the same eveyday. I could eat oats all day long, I don't really mind how something tastes, I just want it to be healthy and fill me

up!

Do you habe any recommendations for me?

I am 21, 5'4'', around 120 lbs. I do gymnastics 4 times a week for 3 hours each plus 4 days a week foundation and some

other strength stuff which takes me about 90 minutes.

The rest of the time I spend sitting bc I am

a student

It's not that bad. Actually. Sure it should be more varied and I like meat for breakfast but otherwise ok. I don't think other guys in this forum understand the caloric expenditure of coaching and practicing gymnastics. Most of those carbs are probably being utilized quite effectively. Truth is with exercise we can handle quite a bit of carbs some without even using the insulin pathway.

It seems the low fat diet fad has been replaced with very low carb. It all depends on your needs. If you sit around all day then yea you should limit carbs. If you are tumbling and running after kids and spotting all day then you may want to rethink that stance.

Daniel Burnham said:

It's not that bad. Actually. Sure it should be more varied and I like meat for breakfast but otherwise ok. I don't think other guys in this forum understand the caloric expenditure of coaching and practicing gymnastics. Most of those carbs are probably being utilized quite effectively. Truth is with exercise we can handle quite a bit of carbs some without even using the insulin pathway.

It seems the low fat diet fad has been replaced with very low carb. It all depends on your needs. If you sit around all day then yea you should limit carbs. If you are tumbling and running after kids and spotting all day then you may want to rethink that stance.

Huh, thank you for that! Because I tend to eat a lot of rice, quinoa, bananas and oats!

I tried low carb once (wanted a more visible six-pack) but it was really bad for my skills. I couldn't concentrate anymore, I landes on my head at standing back tucks because I was so dizzy and my tumbling passes were horrible. So never ahain!

I have a quesiton. Is anyone here using protein supplements and other fancy stuff which you buy in stores and all guys who go to fitness drink them. Imo its just waste of money

Daniel Burnham said:

It's not that bad. Actually. Sure it should be more varied and I like meat for breakfast but otherwise ok. I don't think other guys in this forum understand the caloric expenditure of coaching and practicing gymnastics. Most of those carbs are probably being utilized quite effectively. Truth is with exercise we can handle quite a bit of carbs some without even using the insulin pathway.

It seems the low fat diet fad has been replaced with very low carb. It all depends on your needs. If you sit around all day then yea you should limit carbs. If you are tumbling and running after kids and spotting all day then you may want to rethink that stance.

I'm not sure what you mean by using the insulin pathway.  Using carbs as energy has nothing to do with insulin anyway.  Did you mean the non-insulin mediated glucose uptake via GLUT4?  In any case, you're not using up as much energy as you think while coaching/training gymnastics.  Take this study for example.  It was on the Hadza tribe in Africa, the last hunter/gatherer tribe in the world.  The investigators hypothesized that since the men averaged running 9 miles/day while hunting/killing/carrying dead animals, and the women averaged 7 miles/day carrying water to and from rivers, they would clearly have a huge calorie expenditure.  They found that after all this activity, the total energy expenditure of a Hadza tribesman compared to a Westerner who sits in a cubicle 8 hours a day was EXACTLY THE SAME.  Your metabolism slows down when you commence with a ton of physical activity to protect itself for survival in case you don't catch the lion you're trying to kill for food.  Saying you burn 800 or 1,000 calories doing a long workout is just not physiologically correct.

In any case, you're actually spot on with your last paragraph.  It sounds simple enough, but too many people try to either complicate it or oversimplify.

katlinchen said:

Huh, thank you for that! Because I tend to eat a lot of rice, quinoa, bananas and oats!

I tried low carb once (wanted a more visible six-pack) but it was really bad for my skills. I couldn't concentrate anymore, I landes on my head at standing back tucks because I was so dizzy and my tumbling passes were horrible. So never ahain!

That is almost certainly because your body was in the middle of adapting to using fatty acids as energy and you had the common "keto-flu."  Once you get beyond that (usually 4-8 days) your energy actually increases exponentially assuming you stick with a high fat ketogenic diet.

gogy said:

I have a quesiton. Is anyone here using protein supplements and other fancy stuff which you buy in stores and all guys who go to fitness drink them. Imo its just waste of money

Depends on your goals.  While trying to drop body fat, you most certainly would benefit by adding whey protein (a well sourced one) to minimize lean tissue loss.  Otherwise ya, probably not necessary if you good protein from high quality sources (eggs, beef, fish).

Probably not enough for a L10 gymnast IMO at that BW. Quite ok for a 25yo coach.

It's not all that different from your typical bodybuilder diet of chicken with steamed veggies and rice. My old probably ate meals like that 2-3x/day with a plate of eggs and oatmeal every morning. And he likes eating nuts and maybe a protein shake. 

I used to never really eat breakfast or barely anything but a snack but chowed come lunch time when I was much younger.

Damon Amato said:

Your metabolism slows down when you commence with a ton of physical activity to protect itself for survival in case you don't catch the lion you're trying to kill for food.  

I have to contradict this statement.  Perhaps you didn't mean what you said, but the fact that hadza bushmen have the same resting caloric expenditure as we do, does not imply that our metabolism slows down with exercise.  It's quite clearly demonstrated that the opposite is true.  Metabolic cart testing shows clear increases in caloric expenditure during and following exercise.  For the hadza bushmen, walking 9 miles a day is their average day, just like ours is what it is.  Our bodies adjust over time.  If you run 20 miles a day, initially you will burn a ton of calories, then over time less and less as your body gets more efficient and adapted to that exercise.  

Re the original question, i don't feel it is unhealthy, but it is monotonous.  more variety is needed to get all the necessary micronutrients.  For active athletes, especially those not looking to lose weight, more carbs are fine, but they should be healthy carbs, and mixed with a variety of lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, and most notably absent in simple sugars and refined products.  If you eat that way, you will do very well.  

Blairbob said:

Probably not enough for a L10 gymnast IMO at that BW. Quite ok for a 25yo coach.

It's not all that different from your typical bodybuilder diet of chicken with steamed veggies and rice. My old probably ate meals like that 2-3x/day with a plate of eggs and oatmeal every morning. And he likes eating nuts and maybe a protein shake. 

I used to never really eat breakfast or barely anything but a snack but chowed come lunch time when I was much younger.

Do you think I could also eat like that? Of course, if I am invited somewhere or eating in a restaurant I eat other stuff to...but regularly?

I work on Foundation 4 times a week, and go to normal gymnastics about 15 hours a week!

Is it enough? Enough protein? Is it really too much carbs?

MT Nordic said:

I have to contradict this statement.  Perhaps you didn't mean what you said, but the fact that hadza bushmen have the same resting caloric expenditure as we do, does not imply that our metabolism slows down with exercise.  It's quite clearly demonstrated that the opposite is true.  Metabolic cart testing shows clear increases in caloric expenditure during and following exercise.  For the hadza bushmen, walking 9 miles a day is their average day, just like ours is what it is.  Our bodies adjust over time.  If you run 20 miles a day, initially you will burn a ton of calories, then over time less and less as your body gets more efficient and adapted to that exercise.  

 

Re the original question, i don't feel it is unhealthy, but it is monotonous.  more variety is needed to get all the necessary micronutrients.  For active athletes, especially those not looking to lose weight, more carbs are fine, but they should be healthy carbs, and mixed with a variety of lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, and most notably absent in simple sugars and refined products.  If you eat that way, you will do very well.  

Just to be clear, I said total energy expenditure, not resting energy expenditure.  Metabolic cart testing does show an increase during and following exercise, but you forget that it also shows a down regulation in the 4-8 hours after that.  The overall 24 hour energy expenditure doesn't lie.

I have another question to throw in... at my gym we have many really good gymnasts (no L10, but 2 L9s and some L8s) and they don't eat that well.

I see them often during free time and they eat pizza, ice-cream, crisps not just on special occasions!

And they are really strong!!!

We also have "what do bring for dinner"-ideas sheet hung up in our gym.

It says thinks like: jacked potatoes, rice and chicken, pasta, banana, nuts, granola bars...

So I guess if you are not looking for pure Gymnastic Strength Training™ like the Foundation Course does, eating more like "normal" people is

ok?

I'm not sure how to answer this, but I would say that how "normal" people eat is why 70% of the USA is obese.  Plenty of studies show that body composition has very little to do with physical activity except for the highest levels.  Look at how many people run marathons and are 30% body fat+.  

Damon Amato said:

I'm not sure how to answer this, but I would say that how "normal" people eat is why 70% of the USA is obese.  Plenty of studies show that body composition has very little to do with physical activity except for the highest levels.  Look at how many people run marathons and are 30% body fat+.  

Bahahaha. Oh, the sarcasm. I love it. Basically....eat as close to a single ingredient diet that you can. In that the food items you're eating and using for cooking contain...wait for it...a single ingredient. Broccoli contains broccoli and not things like nitrites, phosphates, etc. etc. In addition, eat things that are organic and not sold in containers (so henceforth no chips, sodas, microwaveable pizza bagels, I know I know, sorry). Doing this and your body will be tip-top. Eat healthy fats, and go to sleep satiated while being sure to drink until it's clear (guess what 'it' might be). Doing all this is really all it takes to be healthy without sounding like a bodybuilding snob concerned with things like 'perinutrition', macronutrients and whatever other nonsense they're told to worry about. 

Be happy, enjoy chocolate and wine once in a while, too. Nobody makes it out alive, so a slip-up here and there is expectd.

This is a very weird diet plan. Nothing special about it