Episode 25: Running for Weight Loss With Emma Andrews

Get my free course for beginner runners: http://www.freerunningcourse.com

For the show notes for this episode, go to http://www.healthynomics.com/25.

In this episode, I talk with Emma Andrews.

Emma is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Plant Based Culinary Professional, and co-founder of Pineapple Collective, an Education Strategy and Content Marketing Agency working with natural health and wellness brands.    Emma specializes in sports nutrition, longevity education, and plant-based cooking.   She has coached athletes from the "everyday" to the "elite", and has spent over 6 years researching and developing her skills as a food coach in Australia and Canada, and working as a plant-based sports nutrition educator hosting workshops all across north America.   If you are a runner and are looking to lose a little weight and become a healthier version of yourself, I think you will get a lot out of this episode.   Some topics we chat about include:

• Common reasons why runners don't lose weight.
• Foods to swap, emphasize or exclude.
• Nutrient timing (and how this affects weight loss).
• Meal and snack ideas.
• Managing cravings and your appetite.
• Food journaling and calorie counting - should you do it?
• How to develop positive body image as a runner.
• Hydration and weight loss.
• and much more!

All of the links mentioned in this episode will be available at: 

www.healthynomics.com/25

Lastly, if you want some help getting started running, sign up to my free email series for beginner runners.   You can sign up at www.freerunningcourse.com   Enjoy!  

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone, this is Mark Kennedy and you're
listening to episode 25 of theHealtheonomics podcast. Today's
episode is all about helping youlose weight from running. And to
help with this, I've invitedEmma Andrews onto the show. Emma
is a registered holisticnutritionist, certified plant
based culinary professional, andthe co founder of The Pineapple
Collective, an educationstrategy and content marketing

(00:22):
agency for working with naturalhealth and wellness brands. Emma
specializes in sports nutrition,longevity, education, and plant
based cooking.
Emma has also been a productdeveloper at an award winning
natural health company andfreelancers in recipe
development and nutritionwriting for the industry and
consumer publications. If you'vejust started out as a runner and
you're looking to lose a littlebit of weight and become a

(00:44):
healthier version of yourself, Ithink you'll get a lot out of
this episode. Some of the topicswe chat about include: Common
reasons why runners don't loseweight Foods to swap, emphasize,
or exclude Nutrition timing andhow this affects weight loss
Meal and snack ideas Managingcravings and appetite Food
journaling, calorie counting,and should you do it how to

(01:06):
develop a positive body image asa runner, hydration and weight
loss, and much much more. Allthe links mentioned in this
episode will be available athealthenomics.com/20five. And if
you wanna get some help gettingstarted running, sign up to my
free email series for beginnerrunners.
You can sign up over atfreerunningcourse.com. Let's get

(01:27):
started. Welcome to theHealthenomics podcast. Boosting
your health and fitness IQ oneepisode at a time. And now your
host, Mark Kennedy.
Alright, Emma. Thanks so muchfor joining us on the
Healthinomics Podcast today.It's great to meet you. I've

(01:48):
been following you on socialmedia, your running updates and
etcetera, and your nutritiontips, so it's finally good to
chat and I'm sure you'll be ableto give a lot of great advice
for our listeners and people whofollow the Healthinomics blog.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, for sure. Thanks for having me on. I'm
excited.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, no worries. So first, why don't we get started?
Just tell us a little bit aboutwho you are, sort of where you
grew up, and where you are now,and what you're up to with
regards to work wise and sort ofrunning wise as well.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Totally. So I usually tell people from the very
beginning that I was born in NewOrleans, if we're gonna take it
right back to the beginning. Andwhy that's relevant is that's
actually where I did my veryfirst marathon about twenty
eight years later. So I thinksometimes we dismiss the
importance of our roots,especially when we think about
running and setting goals, itcan become really important

(02:43):
later in life. So I started inNew Orleans and then moved to
Calgary and spent the betterpart of my youth growing up
there, actually just outside ofCalgary in the foothills.
And that is definitely where mypassion for the outdoors really
began. And I started doing a lotof different sports and
activities as a youth. So I gotinto running by playing soccer

(03:05):
and doing cross country andtrack and field and ultimately,
growing up in a small town, youplay all the sports. And so
learned at a very young age thatrunning was something that I
really loved and a life ofactivity was definitely
something that I wanted topursue. When I moved to Texas to
start my career, I actuallyfound a nutrition college called

(03:26):
the Canadian School of NaturalNutrition.
And that's where I decided toput into practice my passion for
living an active lifestyle, butcombine it with understanding
nutrition and what actuallyfuels an active lifestyle. So I
took that. That was six yearsago that I was taking my
program. Actually during theprogram, we experienced the loss
of my dad to a heart attack. Itwas something that my family

(03:49):
certainly did not see coming.
He was a very active individual,and I think that's where a lot
of my own inspiration came fromas well. And so experiencing
this loss while studyingnutrition and having this
passion for a lifetime ofactivity, it all kind of came
together that my approach tonutrition was really going to be
rooted in longevity. Soeverything that I recommend up
till today and including intothe future will always be based

(04:11):
on foods and supplements andlifestyle practices that set you
up for a lifetime of activityand promote longevity. And so
after graduating, I startedworking in the natural health
sector and working withdifferent brands and
organizations to help witheducation programs to help
deliver the message that wasreally natural health and

(04:33):
wellness Best option forlongevity. And what I realized
as an athlete and practicing alot of these principles that I
was working on in programs andstrategies is that as an
athlete, not just as an everydayindividual, but as an athlete,
natural foods and supplementsare So there's the nutrition
side combined with the passionfor an active lifestyle, and

(04:55):
then the experience working innatural health and wellness that
I've really started to createthese philosophies and
mentalities and approach towardsmy training and toward longevity
as well.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Okay, maybe now you can get into how running plays
an impact in your life rightnow.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
So, I mentioned from a really early age, I got into
sports like soccer and doingtrack and field. So, there was
always kind of underlying loveand appreciation for being
active. But I didn't realizethat I loved running and truly
endurance running until movingout to the West Coast. And I'd
hate to say that it's because ofthe beautiful weather out here

(05:31):
that that's the reason I gotinto running, but it certainly
didn't hurt. So I think, youknow, when we think about all
the different times of yearsthat we can start to be a
runner, January seems to be oneof the biggest, you know, gung
ho times of the year, but it'salso one of the ones that works
the most against us in terms ofclimate.
So if you're thinking aboutstarting running, definitely
encourage starting in thesummer.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
But, yeah, I moved out to the West Coast, and
thankfully, I was living quitenear a very large park. You'll
probably know of it near UBCcalled the Pacific Spirit Park
or the UBC Endowment Lands,they're called out here on the
West Coast. And so it's aprotected park. Yeah. Beautiful.
Hey.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
Tons Yeah. I've run up there a few times and, yeah,
really miss it. I'm jealous.Keep going. Sorry.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yeah. No. You can imagine how much that would make
it easy to get into some of thelonger runs. So I've been
running maybe five to eightkilometers routinely, done a few
10 kilometer races here andthere, but hadn't really
consistently called myself arunner. So I just made a habit
of getting out into the forestfor my daily runs.
And before I knew it, I wasgetting distracted with the

(06:38):
surroundings and getting intolonger and longer training runs.
And then all of a sudden, once Iwas routinely doing 10
kilometers, I thought, why don'tI try my first half marathon?
And I had a colleague at thetime that roped me into it with
her. And so that peer positivepeer pressure definitely helped
motivate me through my firsthalf marathon. And actually,
contextually to what we'retalking about today, That was

(07:00):
one of the first times that Ifelt really strong and really
happy with my body weight aswell.
I realized that just theconsistency of training was
something that my bodycomposition really thrived off
of. And so that did definitelyhelp me to stick with my
training program beyond the halfmarathon. But it was really the
mental benefits that kept megoing even longer than the

(07:22):
shorter term benefits ofphysique improvements. So once I
started to realize that runningcould be a big mental stress
reliever, could be a bigconfidence booster, mood
booster, a great way to workthrough the thoughts of the day.
That's definitely what we whatkept me consistently running.
And so over the past, gosh, sixyears now. So since moving up to
the West Coast, I've graduatedfrom routinely running half

(07:45):
marathons to now doingmarathons. I'm coming up on my
fourth marathon and also nowgetting into trail racing and
trail running too. So I think,you know, you get one foot in
the door and then all of asudden the door is wide open.
And that is definitely my mystory of running is just the
more you dabble into it, themore you realize how much you
love about it, and the more youtry different things.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. One
thing that kind of resonateswith me, and I hear that a lot
from people that follow methrough the podcast, etcetera,
is you you were running for a abit of time before you actually
considered yourself a runner. Doyou know why that is? And I I
think it's quite common.
Like, I think people think thatthey need to be, you know,

(08:28):
racing or enter races to to be arunner, but, love to hear your
thoughts just just on that sortof general comment about, you
know, when you can consideryourself a runner or who's a
runner. What do you what's your,opinion there?

Speaker 2 (08:42):
I love that question actually. And it's funny because
I haven't been asked thatbefore, but as you're asking it,
what's immediately popping intomy mind is if you're a solo
runner, and for many people,when they start running, they
don't think of themselves as agroup runner or I I run-in
partners. I might run just bymyself. And so the only
association that you have with,quote unquote, who a runner is

(09:04):
is more of the mainstreammedia's projection of who a
runner is, so who you might seeon the cover of a magazine or on
a running blog or that kind ofthing. And so for me, it was
when I really started to get outand run with more people.
So even just with friends,getting run clubs together at
work, for example, or joiningrun clubs at different fitness
studios around the city ordifferent retailers around the

(09:25):
city, you really start to seewhat a true runner looks like.
What that is, is a milliondifferent body types. And the
more you get into racing, themore I think you realize that
everyone can run. There isn't aspecific body type. There might
be a body type that's morespecific to an elite athlete,
but that doesn't mean thatanyone can't be a runner just

(09:47):
because they don't have thataesthetic.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, I like your thoughts there. My wife and I
actually, when we were living inEngland, we went to an art
exhibit, and there was this onelittle room, and they were
showing a video of marathonfinishers, and it was on a loop,
but it was over the course oflike thirty minutes or so, and
there was no sound, so you justsat in this little dark room and

(10:10):
watched these people finishing amarathon, and it was And I
hadn't done a marathon at thispoint yet, but it was
fascinating because you see allthese people, different sizes,
shapes, colors, everything, andthey're all out there, and a
marathon hurts a pro just asmuch as it does sort of someone
finishing in five hours, soeveryone's sort of looking rough

(10:33):
near the end. But anyways, itwas just really amazing, and
something my wife and I, like,still talk about it today
whenever we sort of see, youknow, we're at a race or I'm
doing a race or whatever. Just,yeah, really impactful.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
Immersive. Wow.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yeah. Yeah. Was neat. So what would your running oh,
sorry. What would your life belike if someone said you can't
run anymore?
What how would that affect you,sort of your your daily daily
life and and how you sort ofmanage your life, I guess?

Speaker 2 (11:03):
Totally. I guess we've all kind of dealt with
that in some small way, whetherwe've been sidelined by injury
or illness. And so I often thinkabout that actually, especially
if I catch, you know, the commoncold, but it sidelines your
training for a week and yourealize how you start to get
cabin fever and to go a littlestir crazy in your thoughts
because you haven't had thatrelease. So I definitely

(11:24):
personally would have to findsomething that would be
endurance related because Ireally do love and savor my long
runs on the weekends. So I'msure I could find many ways to
be physically active even if Icouldn't physically run.
But I think the endurancecomponent would be the biggest
challenge. So finding somethingthat pushed me beyond my comfort
zone and the regular routines ofexercise into that endurance

(11:45):
zone, just for the mood boostand the mental relief that I get
from that.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yeah, kind of the same. We have two little boys
too, so sometimes that can bestressful and also fun and
rewarding. But sometimes mywife, she can see if I'm getting
a little anxious or stressed andshe's like, You need to go for a
run. I'm like, Yeah, just like adog, go for a run. Yeah, so

Speaker 2 (12:12):
like You always feel better when you come back,
right?

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, exactly. I think that's where, for people
just starting off running,that's when it turns into a
powerful habit. When your lifelike you can't imagine your life
without the running or withoutwhatever activity you choose. So
and, you know, it takes a whileto get up to that. I realize to
everyone.
But for me, I just found it itgot really powerful, and, I

(12:36):
could never see myself notrunning just because of how good
I know I'll feel after a run or,you know, getting through a run.
It's just like part of who I am,I guess part of my identity.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
Totally. Totally. I think it's reminding yourself of
that feeling when there's timesthat your schedule might be
thrown off or you might not beable to train as consistently as
you hope or want or have in thepast. And so just savoring that
moment for when you need thatmotivation again in the future,
whether it's recovering from aninjury or coming back from an
illness or what have you, butsavor that sensation because it

(13:09):
is such a powerful motivator.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Yeah, absolutely. So anyways, today we are going to
focus on weight loss and runningfor weight loss and a little bit
of sort of weight loss ingeneral. You were kind enough to
provide some some topics that wecan go through today. So that
was awesome. Thanks for that.
So why don't we start off fromthe top and some common reasons

(13:36):
why some runners find difficultylosing weight and losing weight
from running specifically.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
So I'll preface this, I put a blast out on social
media to ask some questions, ofcrowdsource some ideas, if you
will, because in my practice asa nutritionist, I often get
similar questions, but it'sreally nice to capture what the
general pulse is. And so all thequestions that we're going to
run through today, I'd like tosay are crowdsourced by my

(14:06):
Vancouver running community. Sowhat? Yeah, whether it's
something I've seen in my ownpersonal practice or other
runners have dealt withthemselves out out there. Yeah,
that should give us some goodgood context.
But the first question there isthe most common, I guess, faux
pas that I see of runners,especially when they're trying
to lose weight, is notemphasizing quality of the foods

(14:28):
that they're eating enough.They're focused so minimally on
calories in versus calories out,which we know fundamentally is
important for weight loss, thatyou've got to expend more
calories than you're taking in.But of those calories we're
taking in, it's really importantto emphasize quality. And by
quality, I really define thatwith whole foods. And the reason

(14:52):
being, the more we start toprocess and refine a food, the
more empty calories that we'regetting.
And so we're not actuallyfueling our body to perform well
as a runner. So it's kind oflike a negative feedback loop.
We're giving ourselves theminimal calories to meet that
minimal calorie goal, but we'renot giving our body the
nutrients it needs that itactually needs to perform well
as a runner, which then, inturn, helps with weight

(15:13):
management. So when we thinkabout real true whole foods,
it's obviously coming back tothings that are in a package
compared to things that arewhole food. But I encourage you
to look one step beyond thateven in reading your
ingredients, because there arepackaged foods that can be made
from whole foods and making surethat they're right quality.
So nothing artificial, nothingsynthetic, nothing that's really

(15:35):
refined or heavily processed.And the connection there to
weight management is that ifwe're eating foods that are
highly refined or there'sartificial additives or a lot of
isolated ingredients when we'rereading the food label, we don't
understand what they are. Thoseare toxins, essentially, in our
body. And so when we eat a lotof these toxins, our body

(15:55):
retains water to try and dilutethose toxins. Often, lot of the
weight gain and bloating can berelated to those toxins in the
diet.
Also, those toxins as well, whenwe're eating them in the body,
they create inflammation. Andthat also leads to excess weight
gain because, again, we'rehanging on to more inflammation
in the muscle tissue, there'sless range of motion, so it

(16:18):
impacts our performance prettydramatically the more of these
types of toxic like foods thatwe eat instead of the real whole
foods.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
That's interesting. I didn't really know that about
the toxin aspect and your body'sretaining more water as a
result, I guess, as a protectivemechanism not to poison itself,
I guess. I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
Exactly. Yeah,

Speaker 1 (16:40):
exactly. Is it a good rule of thumb, you always hear
this, but like when you'relooking at a label, so like if
you don't recognize theingredient, it's got a real sort
of periodic table scientificname, that it's probably not a
natural occurring ingredient inthat typical or in that food?

Speaker 2 (16:59):
So there's some, the only caveat that I would give is
there's some foods that might befortified. Okay. That might have
vitamins and minerals that areadded to a food. So in that
sense, there might be a fewvitamins and minerals that you
might not recognize, likepyridoxine, for example, is a
nutrient. Should be declared onthe label is if it's actually

(17:19):
been fortified.
It should usually be declared asvitamin and mineral blend. Then
it will show those in bracketsas well. So sometimes you can
look at the ingredients that arewithin brackets and identify
that those are sub ingredientsof something overall that's in
the blend, like a vitamin andmineral blend. That would be
okay in that instance.Particularly for runners, not

(17:40):
necessarily everyone needs amultivitamin, but there are some
foods that can be fortified,like almond milk, for example,
with calcium that I would stillrecommend.
So use that caveat with a grainof salt that sometimes the
unrecognizables might actuallybe nutrients,

Speaker 1 (17:54):
but you just might

Speaker 2 (17:55):
not know how to pronounce them yet.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
Excellent. And then going on, so you mentioned like
eating, trying to focus on wholefoods. What are some types of
foods that you should emphasizein in your diet when, you know,
you're trying to lose weight andyou're and you're trying to get
into running, and, you know,maybe foods to eliminate from
your diet and swap them withsomething that's a better

(18:19):
option. What are some of thoseoptions?

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Totally. The one that I find is one of the most
important for runners trying tolose weight is carbohydrates.
And your carbohydrates breakdown into three different
categories. There's starches,there's fibers and there's
sugars. And really sugars is theone that I want to zero in on
because when you're trying tolose weight and manage your
weight, anything that's gotadded sugar should be eliminated

(18:45):
from the diet.
Now, as a runner, you need quickinstant energy often right
before you head out for atraining run, whether it's in
the morning and you're waking upwith maybe only thirty minutes
before your run or it'safternoon runs or evening runs
that you're doing. And you mightneed to have a bit of a snack to
be well fueled for your run. Soideally, we're reaching for
things that are quick, simpleenergy, and that is typically

(19:07):
sugar. So what I'm going torecommend is instead of reaching
for anything that has addedsugar, you're reaching for whole
food based sugars. And so thatwill come exclusively from
fruit.
So managing your sweet toothwith fruit instead of refined
sugars or foods with added sugarand reaching for fruit as your
pre workout option instead ofsomething, again, that's a bit

(19:27):
more refined or sweetened. Soagain, if you're reading
nutrition labels, if there's anenergy bar and you're reading
the package and you see that ithas syrups added in different
types of sugars, whether it's inthe chocolate coating or in the
inside, putting that one backand instead favoring an energy
bar that's made with dates. Sothat's your whole food based
sugar. So that would be one ofthe easiest kind of switches or

(19:49):
swaps or ways to put emphasis ona better food than a not so good
food for weight management.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
Oh, that's great. Is there any particular energy bars
with sort of more natural sugarsthat you'd recommend or that you
like?

Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yeah, I mean, the most widely available one is
going to be Lara Bars. Those aresuper quick, simple ones. You
can find them at a lot ofdifferent retailers. I do
encourage looking for some localoptions too because that's kind
of the neat thing with naturalfoods and health foods is that
your local health food store,you'll likely find bars that
have been produced locally.Here, for example, in Vancouver,

(20:22):
we have a bar called the PrimaBar.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
And they're amazing. Yeah. A lot of great different
flavors, just some variety inthe mix as well compared to the
Larabar as one option. Again,look for some local options. And
then the other one that I wouldrecommend is it's by Vega.
It's called the energy bar. Andthat one is a date based bar as
well too. So usually, it's gonnabe dates that are the base.
Sometimes you'll find thingslike figs or raisins, for

(20:45):
example, but usually it will bedates, which are nature's best
source of energy.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
That's great. And that's good to hear about fruit
as well because sometimes inthis whole sugar thing, you hear
it a lot, don't eat sugar, don'teat sugar, and it trickles down
to even fruit. And it's almostkinda like, hold on. You know,
everyone I thought fruit was ahealthy thing to eat. So what
you're saying is that it is.

(21:10):
It's it's a good form of, sugarsand, and carbs and energy, as
and especially when you'rereplacing it with, you know,
something that's, you know, puresugar, like, I don't know, like
a chocolate bar or a soda pop orsomething.

Speaker 2 (21:24):
Totally. Yeah, exactly. The thing when you
think about good carbs and badcarbs, all good carbs have
fiber, vitamins, and minerals inthem. And so fruit has fiber. It
has a water content to it aswell.
So that's why you're able to eata lot without filling up or
you're able to eat a fair amountof it, but you fill up on on
water as well as the actualfiber there. And then it has

(21:46):
vitamins and minerals too. Sothat's why it's going to be
superior to something like justhoney or maple syrup. For
example, if you're having liketoast and you're spreading maple
syrup on it, maybe trying toastwith a bit of almond butter and
a sliced banana instead.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
That's great. Okay. So moving on, you mentioned
nutrient timing and, and hownutrient timing affects weight
loss. And I'm not familiar withnutrient timing really at all,
so I'll let you, dive into thatand let us know what nutrient
timing is and, how they can useit, to help them with their
weight loss.

Speaker 2 (22:20):
For sure. This is one of probably the most important
principles that I've noticedpersonally has changed my
performance for the better. Thenworking with clients too, it's
one of the pieces that theymight eat all the best foods in
the market and they show metheir diet log and they're
eating all the right foods. Butit's really the timing of when
they've eaten them during theday that can affect both their

(22:42):
performance and then their bodycomposition as well. So just
kind of laying the scene first,and then we can dive into some
of the ways to tweak this basedon weight management goals or
weight loss goals.
When you're looking at yourworkout, you've got essentially
two timing windows before yourrun and two timing windows after
your run. And it depends ifyou're a morning runner or an

(23:02):
evening runner when these timingwindows fall. So the first
timing window is about an hourto two hours before you run. And
if you're a morning runner,you're probably thinking right
now there's no way I'm waking uptwo hours.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
Run. So if you're a morning runner, you can actually
excuse that timing window. Butif you're running, for example,
a longer run on the weekend oryou're running in the evening or
you're going for a noon hourrun, then you would be counting
that one to two hour pre runtiming window.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
The next one is twenty to thirty minutes and
that's right before yourtraining, right before your run.
So if you are waking up in themorning, you do have hopefully
twenty to thirty minutes beforeyou train. You've got your run
itself. Then post run, it's thesame timing window. So pretty
easy to remember.
Post run, you've got twenty tothirty minute window immediately
after your run, and then one totwo hours later.

Speaker 1 (23:52):
So you're saying basically don't eat in between
those periods. So if you don'teat in the first twenty or
thirty minutes after a run, waituntil an hour after your run?

Speaker 2 (24:03):
Well, it'll actually break down those timing windows,
break down the type of nutrientsthat you should reach for in
each of those timing windows tohave the biggest impact on your
performance, but also thebiggest impact on your body
composition too. The first twoin the morning there that one to
two hour window prior torunning, this is a big chance to
load up on nutrients in general.If you're eating that far in

(24:26):
advance from your run, it's lessparticular what type of
nutrients you reach for in termsof proteins, carbohydrates or
fats because you're giving yourbody enough time to digest them
and turn them into usable energybefore you run. So if you know
that you're trying to limitoverall carbohydrates during the
day as part of a weightmanagement goal, you might be

(24:46):
eating more fiber rich things,but a little less of the starchy
carbohydrates, for example. Soin that one to two hour window
prior to a run, you could eat alittle bit more fat and a little
bit more protein.
So it might be a blendedsmoothie, for example, with a
little bit of protein powder,maybe some nut butter in there,
or it might be an apple withalmond butter that you're
dipping in hemp hearts, forexample. So again, you can have

(25:07):
a little bit more fat and alittle bit more protein an hour
to two hours before training,and that should top up top up
your energy levels enough thatyou might not actually need to
reach for something twenty tothirty minutes before you run.
It's going to help keep yourblood sugars much more stable
than if we're just reaching forquick instant sources of energy.
Again, if you can include someof those proteins or fats.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
Twenty to thirty minutes before you run. This is
if you're feeling hungry andpeckish and you know that you're
likely to cut your run short ornot train as hard because you're
feeling hungry. So you mightneed some additional energy or
as we said, if you're waking upreally early in the morning,
that's all that the timingwindow that you've got is that
twenty to thirty minutes. Sothis is where fruit comes in.
And that's why I recommend fruitfor that timing window because

(25:51):
you are getting additionalnutrients, antioxidants,
vitamins, minerals.
And if you're reaching for freshfruit as well, you're getting
enzymes there and enzymes helpwith digestion and they help
with boosting energy levels aswell. So my favorite fruits to
reach for in that timing windowwould be pineapple or papaya.
And both of those foods actuallyhave a lot more enzymes than any

(26:14):
other fruit and theyspecifically help eat away at
inflammation in the body.They're great for runners too if
you're just feeling inflamed ingeneral. Bananas and usually
about a half a banana if you'regoing out for a thirty to forty
five minute run.
You could have a whole banana ifyou're a larger body mass like a
man compared to a woman, forexample. You could have a whole
banana as well. The other optionwould be coconut water. So

(26:37):
liquid calories can be a greatoption in the morning if you
don't want to sit down and eatsomething, but you just want to
have something quick that's bothhydrating and refreshing, but
will provide a little bit ofenergy as well. Unsweetened
coconut water would be a goodoption in that timing window.
And the whole point there ofactually eating something before
you train is so that when you'reactually exercising, you're not

(26:59):
burning and breaking down muscletissue. So if we don't eat
enough before we run and we'rerunning and doing a good
training session, this wouldtypically last longer than
thirty to forty five minutes. Somaybe you're doing a warm up, a
run, a cool down and maybe somecore work at the end. If we're
not consuming adequate caloriesbefore we train, we break down
our muscle tissue. And so thatis to detriment of our body

(27:20):
composition.
We want that muscle tissue tohelp burn more calories at rest
than fat, and it keeps us strongas a runner. So those timing
windows are important to makesure that we fuel our body well
to get the most out of ourworkout and then in turn improve
our body composition.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
That's great. And then so what would the foods be
then after your workout? Whatwould you reach for immediately
right after your workout and anhour after?

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Right after the workout, this is when I
recommend liquid calories. Thisis where it can deviate so
easily for runners. Fast, quick,convenient, ready to drink
options often are laden withsugar. So this is where I really
recommend reading your labels.There's a lot of great fresh
pressed juices out on the marketor pre blended smoothies that
you can buy.

(28:04):
So there are healthy options outthere. But do read your labels
because a lot of things likechocolate milk, for example, has
sweeteners added to it. So justmake sure that it's not added
sugar, that it's naturallyoccurring. And again, that would
come from fruits ideally. So afresh pressed juice or a
smoothie.
If you can make it at home, thisquick time saving tip is make
one big batch of smoothies everyweek and then freeze them into

(28:28):
either mason jars or containersand then take them out each day
so that you've got a freshsmoothie ready, defrosted by the
time you come home from yourrun. It'll save you a ton of
time and blending it up in aliquid form is just way easier
for your body to digest,assimilate, absorb the nutrients
and start the repair process.And when we fuel our body with

(28:48):
carbohydrates right after a run,that blended fruit fruit juice
or blended fruit smoothie isgoing to have a little bit
higher carbohydrates becauseyou're using fruits as the base.
But what you're doing isreplenishing glyc glycogen.
That's the sugars that aremuscles use for activity.
You're replenishing that firstright after your training
session. And then that far thistiming window that I mentioned,

(29:10):
one to two hours later, that'swhere we really want to
emphasize higher protein foods.And that's where the muscle
tissue actually redevelops isthrough protein. But it's not
going to synthesize quite aswell if we didn't replenish
carbohydrates first. So thatfirst time in window, twenty to
thirty minutes, highercarbohydrate, I.
E. In the form of fruit in asmoothie, fresh pressed juice,

(29:32):
that's ideal. And then we canhave a higher protein meal about
an hour to two hours later tobuild muscle most effectively.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
Oh, that's great. That's a lot of information
that, like, AI wasn't familiarwith. And, I mean, you know,
we're gonna go into cravings,next, but, yeah, I mean, after
my run, I'm like, give me a beeror

Speaker 2 (29:52):
Hey. At least it's carbohydrates.

Speaker 1 (29:54):
Yeah. Exactly. Liquid form. So I have a geeky I have a
geeky smoothie question. We havea Vitamix.
So we we do smoothies all thetime, and we give them to our,
two boys, and we, you we throwin spinach and kale and stuff.
We try to keep them, you know,really healthy. But, when you
add bananas, is it true thatthey that the smoothies don't

(30:15):
keep as well throughout the day,or are they changing color? Or
do you know that?

Speaker 2 (30:21):
That's funny. I've never been asked that before,
and I do notice sometimes mysmoothies change color during
the day, I usually add a lot ofberries and other stuff too.
It's turning from a brightvibrant purple to maybe a little
ruddier brown. It could be thebananas that are turning on the
inside, but I'd say leave it inthe freezer if not the fridge.
But you can definitely defrostthem if you put them in the

(30:43):
freezer.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah, don't know.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
I don't know where

Speaker 1 (30:44):
I heard that. My wife was telling me too and we're
like, maybe it's the bananas.Then the big color change, we're
kind of like, oh, is thissmoothie off now? Can we drink
it later?

Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yeah. I'm just thinking it could be oxidizing.
So even if you can try putting alid on top of it, like a little
silicone Mhmm. Lid or somethingon top, see if that helps
because it's probably just theoxidization of anything that's
in there. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
Exactly. Okay. Well, let's go on to cravings and,
yeah, managing cravings andappetite. And the cravings is
huge for me. Like, I've been youknow, I've never really had a
weight problem, but I do likeI'm a carb fiend.
And, especially at night since akid, I've, you know, had this
habit of eating cereal before Igo to bed. And, I go through

(31:28):
stretches where I try not to,and it's so interesting. It's
just like my body's so used toit, I crave that, I guess, and
it's not super bad sugarycereals, but it's a processed
food. I'm sure all cereals youbuy in the box have a lot more
sugar and salt than you think.So anyways, let's talk a little
bit about how people can managetheir cravings and their

(31:50):
appetite.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
Totally. I think when you're not dealing specifically
with your run, so when you'relooking at what you eat before
and after your run,carbohydrates are a lot more of
a focus there. So through therest of the day, it really needs
to be the fats and the proteinsthat we're emphasizing, and
that's what helps our bodyrecover. And a lot of times we
can't satiate that incessantcraving cycle as a runner

(32:13):
because our body is justdemanding calories and energy at
such an increased rate. So fatis really what I come back to
time and time again with runnersif they're trying to manage
cravings for weight loss orthey're just trying to manage
their appetite period so thatthey don't put on weight through
the running cycle because beinglean and light and agile on your
feet is an advantage.
So fats. So what I recommend ishaving a couple of options on

(32:35):
hand because sometimes it mightbe that you want the crunch.
Sometimes it might be that youactually want a sizable portion
of something to sit down and eatlike a bowl of cereal or like a
bag of popcorn, for example. Sohaving a couple of different
options on hand. So I like tohave mixed nuts that'll make up
into trail mix every week sothat you can vary it all the
time.
Avocado, olives, for example,having some protein shakes on

(32:58):
hand as well, too. So otheroptions in the mix than just
carbohydrates. And the more youstart to satiate your body with
nutrient dense calories thatcome from things like whole food
fats, like avocado, like olives,for example, that really does
help to satiate and actuallycurb where the craving is
stemming from in the firstplace. The other thing that I

(33:19):
recommend though, too, is yourbody might just be generally
craving nutrients. So part ofthat craving can come from
hunger, and that can be managedby increasing fat and protein.
But then part of that cravingmight actually come because it's
not getting enough vitamins andminerals, the micronutrients
that are in the diet. So at avery baseline, that person might
want to try a multivitamin, forexample, One that's whole food

(33:42):
based as well too. So do shopfrom a natural grocer. I
definitely recommend that asmuch as possible. But a
multivitamin might cover offsome of those bases that you
might not have realized you weredeficient in, and that's where
some of the craving is stemmingfrom your body's innate signal
saying, consume more food in thechance that you're consuming
more of this nutrient that Ireally need.

(34:03):
One more that I'll mentionspecifically to look for, it's a
mineral called chromium. Andit's actually been linked to
cravings, food cravings as well.And so oftentimes, if someone's
trying to curb a sweet tooth inparticular, supplementing
specifically with chromium ormaking sure that your
multivitamin has chromium listedas one of the nutrients can be

(34:24):
really helpful if you reallyjust can't kick that sweet tooth
habit.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
Sounds like I need a healthy dose of chromium.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
Nuts and seeds, keep eating those. That's a good
source of the diet as well too.But truly, switching some of
those cravings into fats andjust being consistent about it
for a period of time, I thinkyou really will notice your
sweet tooth or that incessantcraving shift.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
And I have heard of people that gain weight when
they start a running program.And my wife and I actually have
a friend, she ran her firstmarathon in London and she ran a
great race, great time, she'sreally happy. But, I think she
put on weights over the courseof all, you know, the four
months of a training program. Sois that common or?

Speaker 2 (35:12):
It's not necessarily common, but it's not unheard of
either. And we spoke about it alittle bit earlier in the
interview as well too, aboutinflammation in the body. And
so, when we're ramping up for amarathon, it's a greater degree
of inflammation and inflammatoryresponse that our body is used
to. And so what it can do duringthose times as a protection

(35:34):
mechanism is hang on to fat,hang on to calories in the body.
It shunts the metabolism alittle bit as a protectionist
mechanism.
So that can definitely be a partof it. One of the things that
I'd recommend if someone'sexperiencing that is really
looking at their recovery. Soare they doing things like
getting massage or acupunctureor having an Epsom salt bath or

(35:55):
foam rolling to help flush outsome of the excess built up
lactic acid and help to reducesome of the inflammation in the
body. And then looking at theirdiet as well. So we might say, I
eat clean.
But if we actually logged for acouple of days what we're
eating, we might see that we doactually eat more refined foods
than we think or more foods andpackages than we think. Shifting

(36:16):
back to a whole food based diet,one that's really rich in fruits
and vegetables, your highlyantioxidant foods, that can also
help to reduce inflammation aswell. And if we need to take it
one step further, specificallyfoods like tart cherry juice and
turmeric and our omega-threefats like hemp hearts, for
example, those superfoods canalso be really helpful to reduce

(36:39):
inflammation. So we might haveto be more specific about some
of those anti inflammatory foodsas well.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
Okay. When you mentioned, Ashley, there, it's a
good segue, about keepingawareness of what you're eating,
and, you know, I found that Itook, kinesiology in university,
and I took a couple nutritionclasses, and we did have to take
a food diary for a week or two.And, yeah, it's eye opening. You
don't really realize what whatyou're putting into your body,

(37:07):
until you write it down and,yeah, it just builds a great
awareness. So is that somethingyou recommend?
And you hear it a lot, you know,people who count calories when
they're trying to lose weight,it's it helps them become
successful at their goal. So isthat something you recommend, is
keeping a journal and countingcalories?

Speaker 2 (37:27):
I recommend it if someone is focused on either
specific performance result orthey're focused on a specific
weight loss goal. So I don'trecommend generally that runners
log every meal or log everycalorie that they're eating, by
all means. So I use itpersonally if I know that I'm
starting to feel really lowenergy. So I might start to

(37:47):
track my foods and see, am Igetting enough iron in my diet,
for example, or am I eatingenough protein in my diet to be
recovering properly from myworkouts? Is that why my legs
feel really fatigued, forexample?
So you might be doing it inreaction to a symptom that your
body's presenting you with, Butyou might also do it for
education purposes as well. Soagain, if you are looking to

(38:08):
lose weight through running andit's not happening or it's
sluggish or you just generallywant to see what you're eating,
then the tool MyFitnessPal isthe one that I recommend.
There's an app and then adesktop version too. But what's
great about it is, a, there's alot of foods already logged into
the system. So even if you'reeating something that comes in a
package, but it is a whole food,you can still scan the UPC, and

(38:31):
it will load all the nutritioninformation for that food right
into the system for you.
And if you know you eatroutinely some of the same meals
and snacks, again, you can logthe recipe for that, and it will
create the nutrition profile forthat meal or snack for you. It
becomes more easy the more youuse it. I'll use that for a
couple of days in a row. Thewhole point of that is just to

(38:53):
see generally how am I doingcompared to how I think I'm
doing. Exactly as you hit on thehead, we think we're doing
better sometimes than weactually are.
It's a great way of getting justa quick accurate picture. Yes,
how many calories am I takingin? But also, am I getting
enough protein? Am I overconsuming sugar, for example? Is
there too much sodium in mydiet?

(39:13):
Is that why I feel puffy all thetime? So those quick snapshots
can be really great tools tohelp you course correct if
you're not seeking the help of aprofessional or if you haven't
learned enough yourself to kindof make those tweaks over time,
which you learn using tools likeMyFitnessPal. Over time, you
definitely get more savvy andcan do it more intuitively.

Speaker 1 (39:32):
That's great. Yeah. I know my mom's had success some
some success with using thatapp. She's not a runner, but,
just helping with weight loss,and, yeah, it really increased
her awareness. So, yeah, I knowit's it's quite popular and, a
good tool if people areinterested.
Now I wanna move on to, another,topic within the weight loss,

(39:54):
and for beginner runnersespecially. In my beginner
runners email series, I I askpeople in the in my first email
what their sort of number onestruggle is with becoming a
runner, and this comes up a lotis, people just being,
embarrassed, and, they feelsilly out there running that
they don't look right. And, and,obviously, someone, in your

(40:17):
Vancouver Kickstarter campaignmentioned it as well, was
developing a positive body imageas a runner. So can you talk a
bit about that and the strugglesand what people can do to help
with that?

Speaker 2 (40:32):
Totally. I think for me, if I'm getting too caught up
in the aesthetic side of thingsis to get out into nature.
That's something that's veryforgiving about trail running
versus road running is thatthere's less eyes on you.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
If you

Speaker 2 (40:47):
feel like that, scrutiny is holding you back
from getting active, thenpicking more natural park spaces
and more natural environmentswhere there isn't as many cars,
for example, or pedestrians thatyou might feel might be,
projecting some of thatjudgment, which is far more in
our head than is in their head.So getting into nature, for
sure. I think having mantrasthat you can use while you're

(41:11):
running is also reallyimportant. So I use this during
racing also, as just having astatement or a phrase or a
saying that's motivational toyou that you repeat. And it's
kind of like a positivereinforcement that you're
repeating to yourself over andover again as a bit of a
meditative component to yourrunning.
And so, could be anything that'spersonally meaningful. It could

(41:31):
be a quote or a saying that'sreally relevant to you. It could
be something someone's told youat some point that you really
want to hold near and dear toyou, but having it positive and
affirmational versus negative.For example, you wouldn't be
saying to yourself, I'm runningto lose weight. As you're
running along, you'd be saying,I'm running to feel good, or I

(41:52):
feel good because I run, orwhatever that affirmational
statement might be.
So having that kind of mantra inthe back of your mind, I think
is really useful. And then theother practice that I would
recommend is keeping a bit of ajournal or a log of how you're
feeling. And that can be areally positive motivator along
the way is, at the beginning ofyour training cycle, if you're

(42:12):
ramping up for your first ten ksor your first half marathon, a
few different parameters likehow you're sleeping, how your
energy is, how your mood is, andhow you feel in your body. And
then again, doing that a monthlater, and then again, a month
later. And I guarantee, ifyou've been consistent with your
running and nourishing your bodywith good foods, you will notice
improvements in some of thosemetrics.

(42:34):
So instead of just focusing onthe numbers on the scale and
getting down about thatpotentially, you might realize,
Oh, geez, I totally have moreenergy than a month ago, or I'm
sleeping better, or my moods aremore balanced, or I just
generally feel better in mybody. Having some of those can
be a really great way to keepthe motivation positive about
what your body's allowing you todo.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Those are great tips. And another one I'd like to ask,
your opinion on is people whofeel like say they're just
starting out running and, youknow, maybe running feels a
little bit awkward to them andthey feel self conscious. What
advice would you have to tosomeone like that?

Speaker 2 (43:12):
I really adopted the run and walk approach. I now am
definitely able to run steadilythrough a marathon, but I think
being realistic about theprogression into running and
that it's okay to take some ofthose approaches where if you
don't feel like you can holdthis perfectly poised and
graceful running posture forthirty minutes, then don't worry

(43:33):
about it. Focus on it for aminute, even if that and build
up from there. So don't put thatpressure on yourselves to look a
certain way for the entireduration of your run. Just take
it in small, bite sized,meaningful amounts.
I often almost I wish that wecould have little numbers
floating above our headssometimes as we run to say, I've
been out here for thirtyminutes, and it's the longest

(43:55):
run I've ever done to date. Justso that as you're running, other
runners could be like, kudos.You're doing awesome. Like,
don't worry about how sweaty youlook right now. You're cranking
it.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
So Yeah. I I felt like that sometimes training for
my marathon and trying to grindout your 30 ks long run near the
end of your training. And a 75year old walking at a brisk pace
is coming up beside you andyou're like, I've been running
for 30 kilometers, I swear.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
I swear, I swear.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
Yeah. But anyways, that's a good point. It's just
it's not, don't compare yourselfto anyone out there because you
don't know someone's been outthere for two minutes, ten
minutes, it doesn't matter. Findwhen I'm in the car or on my
bike or something and I seeanyone running, it's just
motivational to me. I don't carewhat their form looks like.
If their form, if it looks likethey're a new beginner, I'm

(44:48):
motivated even more. I'm like,wow, good on you for being out
there and that's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
Yeah. Totally.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
Let's move on to hydration and how that factors
into, weight loss and, howpeople should be hydrated and
especially even more importantto to help them with their
running as well. I know probablypeople that's a common question
people have is, you know, theythink they should be drinking,
you know, tons and tons ofwater, but, you know, is that
the case or what's the bestmethod to go about for hydration

(45:19):
and weight loss?

Speaker 2 (45:20):
One thing that I recommend to you is spacing your
water intake throughout the day.Oftentimes, cue in our mind, Oh,
I forgot to drink water allmorning. I need to drink water.
And then we might pound a literof water, but our bowels just
can't tolerate those big dumpsof water all at once. So
thinking about spacing it outthroughout the day definitely
helps you set you up forsuccess.

(45:41):
But the big piece with hydrationand our body composition, it
always comes back to me to thepoint about inflammation and
toxins that we've been speakinga little bit about. So the
inflammation that happens in ourbody naturally as a result of
running, we produce somedifferent compounds in the
bloodstream like lactic acid,for example. And if we're not

(46:02):
well hydrated, our blood is moreviscous. So it takes more energy
for our body to move thosetoxins out of the bloodstream
and flush them out of the body.So for us to feel nice and
limber and agile after a workoutreally depends on the amount
fluids that we can take in tohelp flush out some of those
metabolic byproducts like lacticacid.
So fluids are a really importantpart of that recovery, reducing

(46:25):
overall inflammation and helpingyour body to feel optimal and
not retain excess fluid becauseit's trying to dilute some of
those toxins in the body aswell. Toxins or inflammation
that I mentioned too. So thetoxins pieces, we need enough
fluids to help flush that out ifwe've taken them in through the
diet as well. So it's importantto reducing inflammation and to

(46:48):
helping flush toxins out of thebody that we might swell as a
result of having in our body.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
Yeah, that's great. What about coffee? A lot of
people drink coffee and, youknow, you you always hear that
coffee, will dehydrate you, butthen, from, you know, stuff I've
read, research is actually thefact is that actually it doesn't
dehydrate you, and coffee isactually made up of mostly
water, and the caffeine canactually be a performance

(47:17):
enhancer, maybe not for peoplewho are running shorter events,
but certainly in the longerones, and it can help offset
some of the pain you're feeling,especially if you're running a
marathon. So, yeah, what'swhat's the deal with coffee?

Speaker 2 (47:30):
Totally. I recommend thinking about it in terms of
caffeine instead of just coffeeas well because caffeine is
related absolutely toperformance enhancing benefits
both motivationally, but also asyou mentioned in regards to your
pain receptivity or perceptionof pain as well. Personally, I
found that I can't drink a cupof coffee and go for a run, but

(47:51):
I can have a source of caffeineand go for a run. So for anyone
out there, I'd recommend playingaround with different sources of
caffeine. It could be green tea.
It could be yerba mate. It couldbe matcha. It could be coffee.
There's lots of different waysto get that caffeine into our
body. The thing that I recommendis if you are gonna have
straight up black coffee is topair it with a bit of fat or

(48:13):
protein.
So I've started it myselfactually is blending it with
coconut oil, and I would call itthe runners version of a bonk
proof coffee or a bulletproofcoffee is calling it a bonk
proof coffee instead. Soblending it with a little bit of
coconut oil and actually coconutoil. It's a bit of a digression
here, but for runners, coconutoil is a phenomenal source of

(48:35):
energy because it digests reallyquickly like a sugar, like a
fruit based sugar, but it burnsnice and long like a fat. It's
just the consumption isn't asideal as a banana or an apple,
for example. If you're feelinghardcore, you could take coconut
oil off a spoon, but if you'renot, like me, you could blend it
into your coffee.

(48:55):
So that might be something youcould reach for, for example,
like an early morning runsession. You might have coffee
blended with coconut oil, andyou're getting the benefit of
the caffeine, but you're alsogiving your body a little bit of
fat to burn during the run aswell. So that could be a great
way to just kind of boost thebody's performance rather than
take away from it. You getreally jittery, for example,

(49:15):
because there's no fuel incoffee, usually you might get
really jittery that could affectyour performance. Yeah, think
about caffeine more holisticallyand branch out into some other
different sources.
Just see how your body responds.You might find your gut feels a
little bit better, but you stillhave the energy if you use
something like a matcha teainstead of coffee. So just play
around.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
Okay. And you touched a bit on this topic when we
talked about nutrient timing,but, how do you ensure that
you're not losing, muscle andyou're ensuring you're losing
fat when you're, you're startingrunning and you're looking to
lose weight?

Speaker 2 (49:51):
So it comes back to making sure that you're fueling
your body versus going intowhat's called a catabolic state.
So a catabolic state is whenthere's an energy deficit,
you're not consuming enoughcalories and our body starts to
break down muscle tissue andit's releasing amino acids that
are stored in the muscle tissue.And those amino acids can be

(50:11):
absorbed for energy. But we'vedone it at the detriment of our
muscle tissue. And you mightrecall at the beginning, we were
speaking about if we can retainmuscle tissue and build muscle
tissue, it will burn morecalories at rest than
maintaining fats.
We want to protect that muscleas much as possible. Refueling
or sorry, fueling before we runhelps to protect that muscle,

(50:32):
but then also fueling properlyduring our run and fueling
properly after our run. So ifyou're running for longer than
forty five minutes, or I shouldsay longer than sixty minutes,
we do wanna be consuming someadditional fuel. And I recommend
that at around the forty fiveminute mark. And the reason
being is that after sixtyminutes, our body does start to
switch over into a catabolicstate, breaking down the muscle

(50:54):
tissue unless we refuel.
So if we refuel at the fortyfive minute mark, we give our
body a little bit of time todigest. So when it's starting to
click into that catabolic state,we've actually digested the fuel
we've just taken in, and it'snow burning off the fuel you've
taken in versus breaking downour muscle tissue. So that's why
things like gels come into handyfor the endurance events. And it

(51:15):
comes back to our discussionabout reading for quality. So
look at the ingredients of yourgels and make sure that they're
as natural as possible.
Ideally things like dates orfruit based sugars or whole food
sweeteners and some of thoseendurance options.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
Okay. But to reiterate, if you're not running
for more than an hour, you don'tneed any, caloric fuel during
your run. I mean, I guess on ahot humid day, you might want to
bring some some water, but, isthat the case?

Speaker 2 (51:44):
Exactly. Yeah. And that's why those timing windows
before your run are importantbecause you're consuming,
adequate fuel to help sustainyou for your run. So, yeah, it's
more of your endurance athletethat's training for longer than
sixty minutes. They start to getinto the muscle wasting
scenario, and that's what youmight lean out in a negative
way, not muscle that you can usefor training.

(52:05):
You're actually eating up yourmuscle tissue. So again, it's
more for those enduranceathletes that need to be
proactive about consuming fuelto protect that muscle tissue.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
Okay. So what are your top, or your favorite snack
ideas and meals that you liketo, prepare to help you in
running and, just gettingthrough your day to day busy
life, eating, you know,healthily.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
Yeah. For sure. I'm a big big time foodie, so I have
to admit I like playing with amillion different recipes. My
husband sometimes loves itbecause he's like, can't we ever
make, like, something thatworked again? There's a lot of
meals that I really liked.
Let's make them again. Yeah. Icall it the kitchen playground.
I'm always exploring new recipesand having fun in the kitchen.

(52:51):
Some of the ones that I do comeback to time and time again,
particularly for pre run or justreally good hearty, energizing
meals, is oatmeal, but reallymaking it kind of a superfood
oatmeal.
I talked about coconut oil alittle bit ago, and I recommend
trying this. Don't knock it tillyou've tried it, but a spoonful
of coconut oil stirred in withyour oatmeal. It makes it really

(53:14):
creamy and it's a delicioustexture, but it will also help
sustain the energy for your runas well. If you are going for a
longer run on the weekend or ifyou need that bowl of oatmeal to
last through your entire morningof meetings and then you're
going go for a lunchtime run,for example, stirring in coconut
oil can really help to prolongthe energy release and just
makes it a nice hearty meal. Theother thing that I've been

(53:36):
trying with my oatmeal as anupgrade is taking pumpkin pie
mix.
If you can find it just thepumpkin itself, not necessarily
all of the sweetener added in,but adding pumpkin, mashed
pumpkin into your oatmeal aswell too. Then you can add
things like cinnamon and nutmegand make it like a chai spiced
pumpkin oatmeal. That soundsYeah, it can be a really great

(53:58):
way to get extra carbohydratesin before a longer training run.
And that would be something likeif you're running for 10 k, for
example. That would be a greatone to two hours prior meal
idea.
The other one is I love sproutedbread. So if you're eating bread
or gluten, it's by Silver HillsBakery, is the bread company and

(54:19):
it's a sprouted grain bread.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
Is that available just on the West Coast Of Canada
or is it elsewhere?

Speaker 2 (54:25):
That's North America wide actually.

Speaker 1 (54:27):
You'll be

Speaker 2 (54:27):
able to find that pretty readily. There's
definitely other sproutedoptions out there. If you see
another brand and it does saysprouted, the whole point about
that is it makes better netenergy gain for you as the
consumers. When you're eatingit, you get better energy return
from foods that are sprouted. Sosprouted grain bread, and you
can spread coconut oil if youlike, or another nut butter,

(54:49):
like almond butter, and thensliced banana, and sprinkle it
with hemp hearts on top.
So that would be another one ofmy favorite go to meals, easy to
pack and roll with if you'rerunning away from home. Twenty
to thirty minutes prior. So Imentioned things like pineapple,
diced pineapple, or you can takea papaya, slice it in half,

(55:10):
scrape out the seeds, andsprinkle in a little bit of nuts
and seeds into the middleinstead, edible nuts and seeds,
and have like a papaya bowl.Okay. If you're doing that exact
same thing post run, you couldadd a bit of yogurt in there.
I wouldn't recommend yogurtright before you run, but if
that was a recovery meal, youcould add in yogurt for a hearty
source of fat and protein intothat papaya bowl. So like a

(55:31):
granola bowl, but in but in apapaya. And then dates are
another good option for the prerun. So a couple of dried dates
would be a good option orcoconut water before you go out
running. And then after yourrun, favorite ingredients for
the blended smoothie to help yourecover would be a cup of
berries.
So blueberries, strawberries, asource of protein, so either

(55:52):
hemp hearts or a spoonful of nutbutter or a scoop of protein
powder. I really like plantbased protein powders. They're
much, much easier to digestright after you train when your
body's worked so hard. And thena liquid base, so something like
an unsweetened almond milk orcoconut water as the base there.
And then an hour to two hourslater, some of my favorite meals

(56:13):
to reach for would be thingslike a roasted root veggie bowl.
So roasting things like beetsand turnips and squash in the
oven, and then you can top itwith things like a miso gravy,
crumbled tofu or crumbledtempeh. And those are plant
based sources of protein. Or youcan do things like a quinoa stir
fry

Speaker 1 (56:30):
Mhmm.

Speaker 2 (56:30):
And wrap it up in burritos. So like some brown or
black beans and quinoa, stirfried vegetables, wrap it up in
a burrito, or living on the WestCoast, I definitely love sushi.
Getting some of my omega threefish, through sushi as well and
lots of great hearty carbs torecover.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
Oh, yeah. Miss the sushi out there as well. Have to
make a trip out to Vancouver,this summer. Let's do a sushi
run.

Speaker 2 (56:56):
We'll run for sushi.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Alright. Let's, one more
question, then we'll we'll endit.
I wanna be conscious that we'renot taking too much of your time
here, but, juice cleanses anddetox diets and stuff that
that's you hear that, it's it'sall the rage still. Think it's
been happening for probably afew years, but what's your

(57:18):
stance with regards to juicecleanses and detox diets? Are
they a good thing or no? What doyou think there?

Speaker 2 (57:26):
For sure. They can play a role. They certainly have
their time and place. I've triedthem myself actually, the
biggest thing that I findchallenging, particularly with a
juice cleanse, is maintainingthe consistency of your
training. So regardless of whatI say next, if you're going to
do a juice cleanse or some kindof detox diet, really be

(57:47):
realistic about the amount oftraining you think you're going
to get done during that.
So having said that, if you aregoing to do a cleanse or a detox
diet, what I recommend isincorporating some foods with
sustenance. And so if you'redoing, for example, just fresh
pressed juices for a period oftime, having a few meals in the
mix like chia seed pudding, forexample, or a salad just

(58:11):
something that's a bit moresatiating can help you if you
are trying to maintain a bitmore of your physical activity
during the cleanse or the detox,which I think is the biggest
challenge there, people expectto be just as active while doing
a cleanse or detox. If you aretapering back your activity and
still going forwards with it,you don't have to go full
fledged into a juice cleanse toget the benefits of

(58:32):
detoxification. You can stilldetoxify by eating all whole
foods, nothing that's refined.So even refined grains, for
example, it would mean thatyou're cutting out gluten from
your diet, cutting out dairy andcutting out sugar.
So there's ways that you candetoxify just purely through
whole foods. It doesn't have tobe all the way to a juice
cleanse, and that's much moresustainable if you're trying to

(58:54):
keep up with your training. So Ithink just balance it out with
what you need to be doingphysically during that time.

Speaker 1 (59:01):
That's great. One last little fun question. Do you
listen to music or podcastsduring your running, or are you
one of those runners that justlikes to be in your own mind?

Speaker 2 (59:11):
Oh, man. I am dabbling with everything right
now. I used to always be music,all the time music. And then,
lately, I've been switching itup. Part of that, I attribute to
being more in the trails overthe past couple of months
running in the trails of theNorth Shore Of Vancouver is just
from a safety perspective.
You don't have headphones in asoften. So I've started to really

(59:31):
appreciate the sound of mybreath. And there are those
times when your music fails you.And so I know that I need to be
okay running without my music.So occasionally on the Seawall,
I'll go for maybe a kilometer ortwo without my music.
But really, the me the musichelps me when I'm on the
Seawall. So just depends if it'strail or a road.

Speaker 1 (59:50):
Yeah. And I'm the same. I've yeah. I'm definitely
I'd say the last couple years,mostly podcast. But I went
through phase a.
Was all music all the time. Andthen I just one day, was like, I
can't handle it. It was just toomuch. You know, you're trying to
focus on your running. It wasjust too much.
I need my brain needed a breakjust to, like, be in my own
body. So

Speaker 2 (01:00:11):
Inevitably, every marathon, I've popped out my
earphones at some point. Andit's funny because during
training, I never never gotannoyed, but I know what you
speak of. And it's justsometimes your your body is
overstimulated, and it justneeds the quiet. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
Yeah. It's too much. Anyway, so Emma, thank you very
much for for your time and allthis great information you
provided. Where can people learnmore about what you're up to, or
reach out to you on socialmedia? If you're on social
media, what are the the bestplaces?

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
Yeah. For sure. So the best way kind of on a day to
day basis is for sure throughsocial media. I'm quite active
on a number of differentplatforms, so recommend people
can check me out there. It's atemmazing_life, and it's Emma, e
m m a, and the a becomes the ain amazing.
So mamazing_life. And if you'reon your desktop, what is that?

(01:01:04):
Yeah. No. If you're on yourdesktop, you can check out
emamazing.com.
I'm producing some new tools andresources that will be loaded on
that site in the coming months,you can stay tuned there. Or you
can find out a little bit moreabout my work as well through a
site called PineappleCollective.

Speaker 1 (01:01:23):
Yeah, so what is Pineapple Collective?

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
Yeah. I work with natural health and wellness
brands with their educationstrategies. So not just working
one on one with athletes ontheir meal plans, actually
working with the brands thatcreate the products that we love
to use as athletes and generalwellness enthusiasts too. I help
them with their producteducation, different engagement
campaigns that they might do tohelp educate people about what's

(01:01:47):
so great about theiringredients.

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
That's fantastic. So I'll be sure to put links to all
these, your social media outletsand the Pineapple Collective in
the, in the show notes for sureso people can, can follow you
there. And, again, thanks verymuch for your time and good
luck. You've got a couple racescoming up. You you told me

(01:02:11):
before we started the thepodcast episode here.
So all the best in those and,yeah, I hope you you could crush
it and get the goals you'relooking to to achieve.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
Thanks so much, Mark. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
Thank you. Thanks for listening to the Healthinomics
Podcast atwww.healthinomics.com.