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162. Are You Exercising The Wrong Way In Period Recovery · Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast

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Hey girlies, just a quick reminder before we dive into
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today's episode. The information shared on this
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podcast is intended to be general sports nutrition advice
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and education related to period recovery for female athletes.
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This is not specific to anyone individual and it may or may not
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apply to your situation. If you are looking for
0:15
personalized guidance, be sure to apply to our period recovery
0:18
nutrition coaching program. Our four month period recovery
0:20
program is designed to help you sustainably get your period back
0:23
and keep it. You can apply now to get started
0:25
in our program and we'll leave the link for the program below.
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This is the Eat more Carbs podcast.
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Hello and welcome back. This is the More Carbs podcast.
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We are a team of dietitians and we talk every Thursday about
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sports nutrition for the girlies.
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My name is Jenna and I host this podcast.
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And my name is Riley. You're also see me on this
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podcast. I am the owner and founder of
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Steady State Performance Nutrition.
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We specialize in helping female athletes recover from low energy
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availability and together along with Lily Rhymer, we are team
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Steady State. On today's episode, Riley and I
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are talking about exercise and training during period aid
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recovery. Before we get into today's
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episode, we are going to do our high and low.
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So sharing just a little bit about our week, the good and the
1:05
parts, we wish you gone a little bit differently.
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Riley, can you kick us off what's going on this week?
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Hi everybody, welcome back. I have a high and low this week.
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They both have to do with Charlie.
1:15
They both have to do with my past trip to Disney World.
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So if you didn't listen to the last episode or you haven't been
1:22
following along on Instagram, We took our family trip that we
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take every spring to Disney World this year, which was a
1:29
little bit different the past trips that we've done, but we
1:32
had a really good time. It was really fun to take
1:34
Charlie to the parks and get to experience Disney through her
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eyes. She is only a little over 2, so
1:40
it's not like, you know, she's really understands everything
1:43
that's going on. She hasn't like watched a lot of
1:45
like the movies and things like that, but it was so fun to like
1:49
see her joy and see how much fun that she had.
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So we had a really good trip. I'm so glad that you guys had
1:54
such a good time. It looked like so much fun.
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What was like the best thing that you guys did while you were
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there? Because I know you spent some
2:00
days in the park and then you spent some days just like
2:02
enjoying warm weather and pool time.
2:05
I also am so curious about the food and like the best dining
2:09
experience that you guys had. This is so interesting that you
2:12
bring up the food. So before I do that, I will kind
2:14
of answer your first question. And we did visit 3 parks.
2:18
We did Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios in Epcot.
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Animal Kingdom is also a park. It's actually one of my favorite
2:24
parks, but a lot of the stuff is under construction right now, so
2:27
we didn't feel like it was worth going.
2:29
Also, like the main attractions that were open, Charlie couldn't
2:33
do. So we just didn't feel like this
2:34
time it was right. But we did get like an Airbnb,
2:38
which was great, and then we spaced out our park.
2:40
Day. So we did.
2:41
Park day, pool day, park day, pool day, park day, pool day.
2:44
Which worked out really well for like our family and having a
2:47
young child. So I feel like that worked out
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really well. Related to your food question
2:52
though, I did a horrible job of remembering what I ate, eating
2:56
at the park and then also like documenting what I ate.
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And I was actually on this maybe like later on in the trip.
3:03
But it was so eye opening to me that food wasn't really like a
3:07
priority or something I cared too much about.
3:09
Because I remember the first time I went to Disneyland a long
3:12
time ago, like, you know, 10 years ago when we were in
3:15
California. I remember I was so occupied or
3:18
preoccupied with the food. I remember being stressed out
3:21
all day about like food options and what was going to be
3:24
available and then saving up for like the end of a day because I
3:28
love something. That's Mickey Mouse scene.
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I remember like saving up or stressing about what I was
3:32
eating because I wanted like my mouth shaped dessert item at the
3:36
end of the day. And I was thinking about how
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this trip was so different where like, yes, I like remembered to
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fuel my body, but because I didn't have, you know,
3:45
disordered eating and my body dysmorphia and my exercise
3:48
obsession in my AJ, I like didn't always think about food.
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I just felt like that was a very interesting contrast to when
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I've been in the past. So basically you had a great
3:58
trip and food wasn't at the forefront of your brain the
4:01
whole time. You were able to be more present
4:02
with your family and your daughter and like actually
4:04
experience it. Even though you did maybe have
4:07
some like really fun because I know you guys did like character
4:09
dining and there were some things you were excited about,
4:11
like getting in the park again since it has been a minute since
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you guys have been. But that wasn't something that
4:15
was taking up so much mental energy and like pulling away
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from the experience. Yeah.
4:19
And like, again, like, I made sure to feel my body.
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I had a ton of snacks packed. Like we had some meals planned.
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It just wasn't like something that was always lurking at the
4:27
back of my mind. And I feel like we talked about
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this so often with our period recovery athletes, where once
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you start fueling your body and you heal your relationship with
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food and the process of getting your period back, it just like
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changes your perspective on life.
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Yeah, it's shifting where the mental energy is going.
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Yeah, and that doesn't mean I didn't like enjoy foods.
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I got like some of my favorite coffees.
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And again, like you said, we do like character dining, but it
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was more about, like, going and seeing the characters or hanging
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out with my family than it was about, like, stressing about
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eating certain foods. Also, I can eat these foods
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whenever I want to. I'm an adult, right?
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I have taught me to make my own decisions when it comes to food.
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And I think a lot of the times, like especially in the past, I
5:07
had so many food rolls that I had put on myself.
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It really had taken away from the experience.
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I think that's such a wonderful thing to kind of talk about or
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bring up is the idea that a lot of people kind of save this like
5:18
free for all feeling for vacation, which then causes a
5:22
lot more stress on vacation because they've been like so
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good following all my food rolls that on this vacation, I'm going
5:28
to finally allow myself to fuel the way that I maybe want to
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fuel or makes me feel better. And then they feel a lot of
5:35
stress or maybe even like guilt and shame with doing those
5:38
things too. And then they come back and they
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have even more food rolls that they've created or things like
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that, which can be, we get very unfun way to experience
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vacation. So I'm glad that that's not
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something that you felt impacted your time there at all.
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Yeah. Me too.
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It was just like a really interesting reflection.
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That was a really long high, but I felt like it was an important
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story to share. My low also has to do with us on
6:01
vacation. So like I just shared, right?
6:03
We did like park days and we did pool days on our pool days.
6:07
Charlie like got into her. I don't know if she got into her
6:11
head, but was like craving blueberries, right?
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Like she just kind of goes through phases like kind of like
6:16
happens each day where she like maybe is like really into
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something. It's really rotates with like
6:20
different fruits and vegetables, but she was like really into
6:24
blueberries. So I guess it's a little bit of
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a disgusting story, but I have to share.
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My mother-in-law also listens to the podcast, especially the high
6:32
Lows because we always talk about Charlie, so hopefully she
6:34
gets a laugh out of this one. But basically Charlie was
6:36
inhaling blueberries. Like girl was going to town on
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blueberries. I was like impressed.
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She was going through a big carton of blueberries every
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single day. Like not a small one, like a big
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one. And then she started having blue
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poops. I don't know.
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Which I didn't even know was possible.
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Also the amount of like Bob movements I've seen as a
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dietitian, as a mom, as a dog mom, as a person, bright blue,
6:58
bright blue. I was like, I even though this
7:00
is physically possible because of the amount of blueberries
7:03
that she was eating, I was like, Oh my gosh, do we have toxicity
7:05
right now? It was like bright blue.
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Like I'm not talking like a dark blue.
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I'm talking like a like a bright blue.
7:12
I wanted to take a picture and I was like, I can't share this
7:14
with anybody. I literally I was like, Oh my
7:17
gosh, she has a like blue poop. I'm sorry.
7:21
Sorry, God. Like I've definitely heard about
7:23
that happening when you eat like too many carrots, real like
7:26
orange things, but bright blue. I don't I.
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Freaked me out a little bit, I know.
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And I again, she's like in diapers.
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We're starting party training this week.
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Like, again, I'm not like trying to be super crazy about her, but
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literally bright blue. I was like, did I call a doctor?
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Oh. My gosh, I knew as soon as you
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started talking, you're like, she's inhaling this.
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I was like, something is going to happen as far as these
7:46
blueberries exiting. Which fine, like she's fine
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bright blue. Like I was like, Oh my God, I
7:53
would have literally thought it was food dyed.
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Like she doesn't really don't like really eat food dye.
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And like she hadn't ate anything blue at the parks.
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Like I literally I was like, Oh my God.
8:02
So that's Charlie as bowel habits for everybody.
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She's gonna be like 15 and like, listen to one of these episodes
8:09
one day and be like, Mommy, you roasted me all the time on the
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podcast. But it's out of love.
8:13
It's so funny. So that's what's going on over
8:16
here. And how's your week been?
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Week has been so good. I have so many things I could
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share for highs and lows. I think one of the things that I
8:22
have to share, I'm going to start with Milo.
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I have a client. That I absolutely love.
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And she has had her period for a little while now.
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We've been working together for quite a bit of time.
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She's had multiple cycles. She's doing fantastic.
8:34
She's in her freshman year, she's running collegiately,
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She's setting all sorts of new PRS.
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But we have gotten to a point in which she no longer needs my
8:40
guidance. And saying goodbye to this
8:43
particular client. Oh, I might cry again just
8:45
thinking about it. Like it was such an emotional,
8:47
like goodbye on the call because we've had so many wonderful
8:52
conversations and she's accomplished so much and I'm so
8:54
proud of her. This happens every time saying
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goodbye to a client. I feel like it's that we want
8:59
you to get to that point where we are no longer needed to talk
9:02
to you every. Week or bi weekly or?
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Whatever it is, but it's hard because we have a relationship
9:07
beyond just talking about food. We care so much about the people
9:11
that we work with to the point that it's like it almost feels
9:14
strange to no longer talk to that person as often as we have.
9:17
It's just sad to say goodbye sometimes.
9:20
It's like a good sad though, because you know they're doing
9:23
so well that they're ready to go out on their own.
9:26
We just formed such a tight bond with people and we go through so
9:30
much together. I.
9:31
Completely understand what you're saying and resonate,
9:34
yeah. Yeah, that's such a good way to
9:35
say it. Like it's such a like a happy
9:37
sad. The person that she started as
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and the person that she is now are different people.
9:41
And we should have her on the podcast because I think her
9:43
story is incredible. And I think it would resonate
9:45
with a lot of runners and a lot of female athletes out there.
9:47
But yeah, that's my law. It's just I had to say goodbye
9:49
and I was sad. It's better to say goodbye,
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right? Because she's doing so great
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than her not to be doing great. I always remind myself of that
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too. Yes, I think so.
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My high is kind of silly, I guess, but I got a new planner
10:02
and it is a daily planner. And let me tell you, I am so
10:07
excited about a new planner. I love to have a list.
10:11
I love to have things written out.
10:13
I love to, I always, always, always, if you've ever been on a
10:16
call with me, I take physical notes and I write them down.
10:19
And before I send you like your session summary, I love to have
10:22
things written right now. I love to be able to see them.
10:24
Call me old school, I don't care.
10:25
But I got a new planner. It's a daily planner and it runs
10:28
all the way through next summer. And I am so excited about it.
10:32
The thing is thicker than a dictionary but like I am so
10:36
excited. Let me see.
10:37
I need to see. It I'm so glad you asked because
10:39
it's right here. Look how it's a big.
10:41
Planner. It's gold.
10:42
I love. It, I think it's got some gold,
10:44
yeah, it's got some gold like. It's green, but it's.
10:46
It's green. Do you want to know where I
10:48
found this? Where?
10:50
Walmart I. Love a Walmart moment?
10:52
So not only did I get a new planner, but I found it at
10:54
Walmart, which means your girl got a deal.
10:56
And we know how much I love planning and we know how much I
10:59
love a good deal. So that is my high.
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I love a good deal. I also love this for you.
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I'm just so excited. I have a lot of things coming up
11:06
now. I can put them all in there.
11:08
So organized. The best feeling in today's
11:12
episode I am joined by Riley and we're going to be talking a lot
11:15
about exercise training and how that relates to period recovery
11:19
and HA, we get so many questions about whether or not you can be
11:23
training in period recovery, how to train the right way in period
11:26
recovery. At Steady State Performance
11:28
Nutrition, we are very passionate about keeping
11:30
athletes training as much as possible during the period
11:33
recovery process. Before we get into this episode,
11:35
I do want to say for the health and safety of some athletes,
11:38
they do have to stop training per physician recommendations.
11:41
So not saying if your physician has recommended that you stop
11:43
training that we're all of a sudden giving you the green
11:45
light to go ahead and do that. But we are going to talk about
11:47
whether or not you can train during period recovery, how to
11:51
exercise or train, and maybe the ways that would support recovery
11:54
Today. We're going to be talking about
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all of that good stuff. Is there anything that you want
11:57
to say before we kind of get into some of those questions and
11:59
maybe even some definitions before we start answering some
12:01
of the questions that we commonly get about exercise and
12:04
period recovery? I do want to just reiterate
12:06
everything that you just said and also preface this by saying
12:09
that like the recovery process is so individualized and there's
12:14
not just one way to do this. I feel like a lot of the all in
12:17
girlies right now are really mad at us.
12:19
They're about to give us one star because of this episode.
12:22
And we're not saying that every single athlete should train
12:25
during period recovery. And we're also not saying that
12:29
every athlete shouldn't train because this process is so
12:32
individualized. HA is a medical issue.
12:35
Reds is a medical diagnosis, and there's more than one way to
12:40
treat a medical issue. And I think a lot of athletes
12:44
are scared to get started because of the information that
12:47
they've read on the Internet, maybe on AI, on Reddit, and all
12:51
of the information that says that there's only one way to do
12:53
this, which is not true at all. Like, we're not trying to sell
12:56
you things like obviously we have a period recovery program,
12:58
but like we want you to get your period back.
13:01
And so many athletes are scared to get started because they
13:04
think they have to completely change their life and give up
13:06
exercise and do what they don't want to do in order to be
13:11
healthy. A big theme in today's episode
13:13
is you don't have to stop training, but you have to fuel
13:17
it. And you also have to train the
13:18
right way. And that's what we're going to
13:20
dive into today. Very.
13:21
Glad you brought that up because we definitely are never saying
13:24
that there is only one way or only one right way to work
13:28
through HA recovery and recovering your period.
13:31
There's definitely more than one way to do it and you just have
13:33
to figure out what the right way is for you.
13:36
So thank you for clarifying that before we kind of get into some
13:39
of the questions that we have today.
13:41
Before we do, can you quickly define L, EA and HA?
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So that way, if you're a new to the podcast, we know what we're
13:47
talking about when we use L, EA and HA consistently throughout
13:50
this episode. Yeah, We'll start off with L EA.
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So low energy availability is basically a mismatch between the
13:56
energy that's coming in and the energy that's needed to have
13:59
your body function optimally. And when we talk about athletics
14:03
to fuel athletic performance, so there's like a mismatch.
14:05
What happens is your body just goes into like a negative energy
14:09
balance and has to start shutting different processes in
14:13
the body down because it doesn't have enough fuel or energy to go
14:16
around. One of the most obvious signs of
14:19
this down regulation is going to be a loss of a period because
14:22
one of the first systems that does get down regulated is the
14:25
menstrual cycle. So a lot of the time this low
14:28
energy availability leads to something called hypothalamic
14:31
amenorrhea, which I kind of just defined.
14:34
And basically that's going to be the down regulation from the
14:36
hypothalamus of the reproductive system.
14:39
And therefore you're going to stop ovulating and you're going
14:42
to stop having a menstrual. Cycle.
14:44
When we're thinking about loss of a period or HA, does
14:47
overtraining alone lead to that or can it lead to that?
14:50
It definitely can lead to that. The Endocrine Society put out
14:54
some like hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery guidelines
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and they defined the three biggest causes of HA as stress.
15:02
Stress air quotes, right? What does that mean?
15:04
Weight loss and then over exercise.
15:07
And I do think all three of these are intertwined because a
15:11
lot of at a time, these all have to do with under fueling, right?
15:15
If you're not feeling properly and you're not feeling for your
15:18
training, that results in overtraining and over exercise.
15:21
And that also can result in weight loss as well and results
15:24
in stress because you don't have enough energy going around.
15:26
So it sounds like a lot of the times these individuals who have
15:29
lost their cycle, it's because they have some type of maybe
15:32
high intensity training paired with the under fueling and that
15:36
kind of causes this down regulation of the reproduction
15:40
to system, yes. So what is the right way to
15:43
continue to exercise during period recovery well.
15:45
This is such a good question. I think it looks different for
15:47
everybody and like that's what we're going to say a lot during
15:50
this episode. But I do think that we have to
15:54
take a quality over quantity approach.
15:57
And that's something that we talk about in our period
15:58
recovery program where we need to look at like the why behind
16:03
your training. If you're somebody that is
16:06
training for a college sport, the Olympics, World
16:09
Championships, professional sports, and you have to train in
16:14
order to be financially stable, right?
16:17
Like that's a very important why you need to keep training.
16:21
But you might not be needing to walk 20,000 steps outside of
16:23
training, right? So I think we have to kind of
16:25
break it out and look at the why behind all of your activity.
16:29
So it sounds like it kind of depends on the individual as far
16:32
as like what may be the right way or maybe even the wrong way
16:36
to train in period recovery. I think one of the big reasons
16:39
or maybe something that we could say for the wrong way of
16:41
training for period recovery is for aesthetic purposes.
16:45
So can you maybe talk a little bit about that and maybe look at
16:47
some of the concerns that we see when it comes to training in
16:50
period recovery? Yeah, I think this goes back to
16:52
the why again. So if you're training to be in a
16:55
smaller body or to minimize weight gain, we're not going to
16:58
be getting anywhere, right? Like, is that a good why?
17:02
If you love to train, maybe you're not a college athlete,
17:05
but like you love to go to run club with the girls, or this is
17:08
your mom's social club, or you know it's good for your mental
17:12
health, these are all really good and valid reasons to keep
17:17
training during period recovery. So many athletes are also more
17:20
motivated to fuel when they're still training.
17:23
But if your main purpose for training or over exercising or
17:28
spending two to three hours in the gym every single day is to
17:32
look a certain way to have ABS to minimize the body changes
17:38
that you are working on in period recovery, we're not going
17:41
to progress. And that's also maybe something
17:44
that you need to look at from a do you need to step back from
17:47
exercise? Standpoint, I think it's a
17:48
really important conversation that you have to have when
17:52
thinking about the reason why you want to continue to train
17:55
during your period recovery journey.
17:57
Because if you are doing it in an attempt to reduce or minimize
18:02
the amount of weight restoration that could need to occur for
18:05
your body during this time of recovery, then you're not
18:07
actually working on period recovery.
18:09
And I mean that with as much love as I possibly can give, but
18:13
like, if you're not fully invested in the idea of weight
18:17
restoration is a piece of this puzzle that probably needs to
18:21
occur, then you aren't fully invested in the idea of actually
18:24
changing your fueling in order to recover your cycle.
18:27
You're still attempting to keep your body in a stressed state.
18:31
Because when we're attempting to keep our body in a smaller body
18:34
size that maybe isn't what our body needs, then we're not
18:37
really trying to to work on period recovery.
18:40
We've talked about this before and passed episodes, but there's
18:42
often this idea that you can gain the perfect amount of
18:47
weight to not overshoot your weight, but then just enough to
18:51
get your period back. Oftentimes I feel like athletes
18:54
who are unwilling to change their exercise because of
18:58
esthetic purposes are trying to like, accomplish this perfect
19:02
number, but like, we don't even know what that perfect is.
19:06
Yes, because it depends for every single person going
19:09
through this process because every single person's period
19:11
recovery journey should and will look different.
19:15
That's not to say that during the period recovery process, if
19:18
you are exercising to the point where you're never taking a
19:21
recovery day or you are working out and we are doing everything
19:27
that we're given from a coach plus some on top of that that
19:30
we're doing outside that. We're not going to recommend
19:32
changes to that pattern because we do make sure that all of the
19:36
athletes that we work with are taking one, if not 2 full
19:39
recovery days. Do you mind if finding real
19:42
quick? Like what's a recovery day?
19:43
Yes, recovery days are days that you don't have training.
19:47
A lot of people talk about them as rest days.
19:49
I also think about them as non training days because they're
19:52
not rest days. These are your days for your
19:54
body to recover. And oftentimes I feel like
19:56
people just go man, it's a rest day.
19:59
Like I don't need to eat my three meals, Like I don't need
20:01
to prioritize sleep, like maybe I'll drink the night before.
20:03
And like they're not optimizing that recovery piece.
20:07
And with recovery days, right? These are days for your body to
20:10
recover from. Training also are days that are
20:13
super valuable for helping you get into a positive energy
20:15
balance because you don't have the big stimulus of training,
20:18
but you also don't have to worry as much about timing of your
20:21
nutrients around training so you have more availability to fuel
20:24
with recovery days. I recommend keeping them below
20:27
10,000 steps. I know so many people who are
20:30
like I do Pilates on my recovery day or I do a 60 minute zone to
20:34
workout. I'm like that is not a recovery.
20:37
That is a low impact training day.
20:40
And I want to be super clear that like recovery days are so
20:43
valuable not just for a period recovery, but for athletic
20:47
performance and even athletes who have gotten their period
20:50
back. And now we're doing more sports
20:52
nutrition related stuff with us. Like they're still taking one to
20:55
two recovery days because it's not just about period recovery,
20:58
but it's about like recovery from the training stimulus that
21:01
your body is always under. I think it's so beneficial to
21:04
have more of a definition around like what a true recovery day is
21:07
and what its purpose is because it can be kind of intimidating
21:10
to work in recovery days if that's not something that you're
21:12
used to or not something that's currently part of your training
21:16
plan. When we're thinking about some
21:17
of the additional questions that we get around training and
21:20
around whether or not you can be training during period recovery,
21:23
one of the things that comes up a lot is fitness trackers.
21:25
And then utilizing those to calculate or maybe utilizing the
21:30
amounts that your fitness tracker tells you for a caloric
21:33
standpoint is what your body needs for the day.
21:36
So what are our thoughts on utilizing fitness trackers in
21:39
period recovery? That shit is so inaccurate.
21:41
I just discuss on the podcast, but that is the only way to
21:43
describe it. Yo, it's so bad.
21:46
It uses formulas based off of the formulas.
21:50
It's going to give you a number. And that is another big mistake
21:53
so many athletes focus on when trying to feel their body
21:56
properly. And whether that is in HA
21:58
recovery or maybe something that can lead to the loss of a period
22:02
is being so focused on numbers that don't tell the true story
22:07
and the whole picture because we're so focused on like
22:10
calories per day or protein per day.
22:12
But like what you're doing on a week by week basis or a month by
22:16
month basis is so much more important than what you're doing
22:20
on a 24 hour cycle. This is actually my recovery day
22:24
right now. And if I look at my watch, is my
22:26
output going to be as high as it was when I ran yesterday?
22:30
The answer is no. But my watch is not taking that
22:34
into account. It's not taking into account
22:37
that I ran for an extended period of time yesterday and
22:40
most of my glycogen and is probably gone.
22:43
So today my body is refueling and resynthesizing a lot of
22:47
glycogen. It's helping rehydrate, it's
22:49
helping stimulate and continue with muscle protein synthesis.
22:54
There's all these things that a fitness tracker doesn't take
22:57
into account. I was doing a little bit of
22:59
research about fitness trackers in preparation for this podcast.
23:02
A quick Google search told me that when we're looking at
23:06
fitness trackers, even the top tier fitness trackers, the most
23:10
expensive ones on the market, those can have an error range
23:13
anywhere from 20 to 90% depending on the activity.
23:17
Like so many of the fitness trackers that we utilize
23:20
nowadays, it gives you options for what types of activity you
23:22
might be attempting at that time.
23:25
And so like, that's a pretty drastic change.
23:27
And of course, like, this is a Google search.
23:28
This isn't me looking into the studies.
23:30
I want to be very transparent about that.
23:31
I did not see any of these studies that actually said that.
23:34
But still, I think that just goes to show how like incredibly
23:37
inaccurate or how incredibly like flawed these things can be.
23:41
And yeah, they can be useful or maybe even fun tools to have in
23:45
some capacity, like if you want to know how far you are running.
23:48
They can be fun, but they can also be really harmful if you're
23:51
utilizing those exclusively to help you calculate how much your
23:54
body needs. I saw somebody else say when
23:56
they were talking about fitness trackers and this is not me
23:58
personally, but utilizing a fitness tracker to calculate how
24:02
much you should use or how much you should fuel is like trying
24:05
to manage your bank account or trying to manage your monthly
24:07
budget when your bank statement is 30 to 50% wrong every single
24:11
month. Yes.
24:12
And to reiterate how different these trackers are, is we will
24:17
integrate somebody's fitness tracker into our client platform
24:22
for the period recovery program. And I personally use that more
24:25
so I can understand workouts and steps and different things like
24:27
that. It's so interesting when like
24:30
somebody wears like an Apple Watch and they also have an Aura
24:33
ring and how different those trackers are.
24:36
I feel like it's more common to see like a huge difference
24:38
between Garmin and Aura, but like even stop is different,
24:42
sleep is different. Like they're very very variable
24:46
even when they're on the same person.
24:48
Yes. And if your watch or your aura
24:51
ring or whatever fitness tracker you utilize says that you
24:54
burned, let's say for example, 800 calories in a workout, but
24:58
you actually burned like over 1000 calories and you fuel based
25:02
on that number each day, you're accidentally digging yourself
25:06
into a massive caloric deficit over the long term like Riley
25:10
mentioned before. Because yes, maybe in a single
25:13
day that's only three to 400 calories, which that's still a
25:16
lot. But if we're talking about like
25:17
over a month's time that you are under feeling with that every
25:21
single day, that's a huge. Deficit and I understand because
25:25
especially like high level athletes, they want to see data,
25:28
right? Especially with like I think
25:29
about runners or any type of, you know, I mean, honestly, all
25:33
sports now are so data-driven and having a calorie count,
25:36
wearing a watch, wearing some sort of trackable device
25:39
provides additional data. But we just have to really take
25:43
the numbers, at least the calorie numbers, with a grain of
25:45
salt. Yes.
25:46
What are some signs that you might be under fueling?
25:49
If you have been utilizing your fitness tracker to kind of help
25:53
calculate how much your body might need in a day, like what
25:55
might be be noticing if we still have a period but we could be
25:58
under fueling, what would that look like?
25:59
I think one of the most obvious signs, except for a period is
26:03
the recovery piece. Oftentimes, like a lot of
26:06
athletes will feel sluggish during workouts or have poor
26:09
energy during workouts. But is that related to under
26:11
fueling? I mean, yes, but sometimes we
26:14
don't always associate with that or sometimes we don't realize
26:17
that we have low energy. And that is something that I
26:19
feel like every single one of our athletes talks about is like
26:22
they didn't realize how bad they felt before until they start
26:24
fueling properly and get this energy.
26:26
But I do think something that is pretty obvious is that recovery
26:30
piece. How are you recovering?
26:32
How are you able to replicate workouts quickly?
26:36
Like did you train yesterday and now you have to take a rest day
26:39
or your legs super sluggish today?
26:42
I feel like the recovery thing is huge.
26:44
And if you are a fitness tracker person, like looking at your
26:46
resting heart rate, looking at your HIV, which again, those
26:49
both have error too. But if you don't feel super in
26:52
tune with your body and you want to look at data, looking at the
26:55
recovery pieces on your device as well.
26:57
How can you avoid under fueling for training or how can we
27:02
improve our fueling to make sure that it's supportive of our
27:05
training to maybe exercise in what we might consider more of
27:08
the right way quote, UN quote when we're thinking about
27:11
wanting to continue to train in period recovery.
27:13
Everybody is worried about overfueling, but so many
27:16
athletes should be more worried about underfueling.
27:18
Thinking about more is more. So like, how can you add more to
27:21
your breakfast, more to lunch, more to dinner, more during
27:25
training? I have kind of a rule.
27:27
If you're training more than 60 minutes, you need to eat
27:28
something during training. And I even think about when when
27:31
I was a club athlete in high school, like I never ate during
27:34
training and I should have been eating during training.
27:37
And I think just really focusing and being more scared of under
27:41
fueling versus over fueling is a good mindset to have.
27:44
I love that idea that like we should be more fearful of under
27:48
fueling because the negative side effects that can come along
27:50
with under fueling are so much scarier than anything that could
27:54
potentially be associated with maybe over fueling in my
27:57
opinion. I do think to add on to that
27:59
too, there's so many ranges out there and looking at the range
28:03
of carbohydrates or energy calories for your sport and not
28:09
going at the lowest number, a very common recommendation is to
28:13
have like. 30 to 60. Grams of carbohydrates per hour
28:16
and everybody's out here trying to do 30 grams of carbs.
28:19
Y'all need to be closer to 60 grams of carbs.
28:22
So looking at when you have recommendations that you see
28:25
online, how can you push those? How can you be at the top of the
28:28
range versus being at the lower end of the range?
28:31
I am so glad you brought this up because I feel like this is
28:33
something that we see with so many athletes when they're
28:36
looking at a range that they've been given for a goal or
28:40
something like that, along with fueling, is that more often than
28:43
not, they are aiming for the lowest possible point of that
28:46
range instead of aiming for anywhere above that.
28:49
If you're an athlete and you've been given the opportunity to,
28:52
you know, let's say you're going to run between 4:00 and 6:00
28:55
that day, you're going to run six of them.
28:57
And we should be applying that same thought process of like
29:00
pushing towards the upper end of that goal to our fueling too,
29:04
because we are constantly as athletes, as high achievers,
29:07
like wanting to push. And so we should push our
29:10
feeling the same way. Yeah.
29:11
It's just so interesting that we're so willing to push our
29:13
training, but we're not willing to push our fueling.
29:16
Yes. Why do you think that is?
29:17
I don't know, but I'm just thinking, you have so many of my
29:19
athletes right now who are like, I just got called out so hard.
29:22
I think it just goes back to like the demonization of food,
29:25
right? Where we always are thinking
29:26
about how can we consume the most in our society but the
29:30
least amount of energy, energy, right?
29:32
And I think it just goes back to that, that glorification that,
29:35
you know, people are just trying to, I don't know why it's so
29:39
cool to eat less in our society. I don't either.
29:41
It's become and this is not a What Drives us Bananas episode.
29:44
And we've probably talked about this on What Drives us Bananas
29:47
episode about how it's just so frustrating to see people brag
29:52
essentially about what they're able to accomplish from an
29:54
athletic standpoint off of so little fuel.
29:57
And like, just imagine what you could accomplish if you had at a
30:01
quit fueling to share a story. About an athlete and I again, I
30:05
know this is not a what drives us bananas, but I think it's
30:07
just so relevant to this conversation.
30:09
She was sitting with a bunch of her classmates.
30:12
They were going around and some of them are athletes too.
30:15
And they were going around and like talking about how ha ha ha,
30:18
like laughing. Oh, I didn't eat breakfast.
30:20
And she felt like super othered because they were all like
30:24
laughing. Oh, I didn't eat breakfast.
30:26
That's so silly. Like acting like that was cool.
30:28
And she was like, I couldn't be like, I had breakfast.
30:31
I actually had four meals yesterday.
30:33
It's not cool to fuel your body properly, but like it's OK if
30:37
you don't eat. It's haha.
30:39
I didn't eat breakfast. Go on your athlete for eating
30:41
breakfast, first of all. But yeah, that's so true.
30:43
Especially when you're on a team and you're constantly surrounded
30:46
by other people, like talking about their underfueling habits.
30:50
It can be hard to change your own.
30:51
It can be. I just, we need to make like
30:53
feeling your body cool again. Like that's that's the campaign
30:56
for 2026. Yes, and do so by eating more
30:58
carbs. Yes, carbs are cool.
31:00
It is actually really interesting to see though.
31:02
And again, I know we're tangenting, but it is really
31:05
cool to see like the transformation of somebody who
31:08
was scared to eat carbohydrates, but like now was trying to eat
31:11
as many carbohydrates as possible because like that's
31:14
cool for her now. And even for him now, like for
31:17
all athletes that swap to like, how can I eat more?
31:21
How can I fuel more? How can I recover better?
31:24
It's really fun to see. Yeah.
31:26
It's like that switch between being truly performance driven
31:29
versus being only somewhat performance driven and maybe a
31:32
little aesthetic driven. Because I think a lot of times
31:34
our fear of carbohydrates comes from a fear about what they're
31:37
going to potentially do to our body from a looks perspective.
31:41
But once you're able to start utilizing your fuel and view it
31:45
as performance benefits, it becomes so different.
31:49
And that just circles back to, you know, what we've been
31:51
talking about for most of this episode is it's always the why
31:54
behind things, right? And it's like, is this
31:56
performance or is this aesthetic driven?
31:58
Is there some sort of subconscious aesthetic desire
32:02
and are we actually sabotaging our recovery and then also our
32:05
performance because of that? Yes, if you do have questions
32:09
for Riley and I about training, about exercising during period
32:12
recovery, please reach out to us.
32:14
You can always find us online. You can find Riley at Riley dot
32:17
Beatty dot nutrition and you can find me at Jenna dot Fischer dot
32:20
nutrition. Thank you so much for listening
32:22
to this episode of the More Carbs podcast.
32:24
Please make sure you rate, subscribe and review.
32:26
And as always, remember to eat more carbs.