Latest / Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast / 118. How to Get Your Period Back Without Calorie Counting

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118. How to Get Your Period Back Without Calorie Counting · Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast

0:00
Hey girlies, just a quick reminder before we dive into.
0:02
Today's episode the. Information shared on this
0:04
podcast is intended to be general sports nutrition advice
0:07
and education related. To period recovery for female
0:09
athletes. This is not specific.
0:11
To anyone individual and it may or may not apply to your
0:13
situation. If you are looking for
0:15
personalized guidance, be sure to apply to our RBSN Period
0:18
Recovery Nutrition Coaching program.
0:20
Our four month period recovery program is designed to help you
0:22
sustainably. Get your period back.
0:24
And keep it. You can apply now to get started
0:26
in our program, and we'll leave the link for the program below
0:28
if you're not quite ready for that one-on-one approach.
0:30
That's exactly why we. Created the Period Recovery
0:32
Guide it's designed to support. The girlies working on period.
0:34
Recovery, specifically if you've.
0:36
Lost it due to. Hypothalmic amenorrhea.
0:38
The full. Period recovery guide is finally
0:40
out now and we will leave all of the information for it in the
0:43
podcast show notes. This is.
0:44
The Eat More Carbs podcast. Hello and welcome back.
0:52
This is the Mark Carbs Podcast. It's Jenna here with Riley.
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We are both dietitians and we talk every Thursday about sports
0:58
nutrition for the girlies, specifically how to get your
1:00
period back if you've lost it to HA or hypothalamic amenorrhea.
1:04
On today's episode, we're going to be talking about calorie
1:06
counting, specifically, how to get your period back without
1:10
calorie counting. I'm so excited to talk about
1:13
this. I feel like calorie counting is
1:15
such a controversial topic, especially for our HA Recovery
1:19
Girlies. Before we get into today's
1:20
episode, we're going to do our high and low.
1:22
So sharing just a little bit about our week, the good and the
1:24
part. We wish we've gone a little bit
1:25
differently. And then we are also going to do
1:27
our training update. At the end of.
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Today's episode you're sharing just a little bit about the
1:30
running that we are doing this week.
1:31
So Riley, kick us off high and low.
1:33
What's going on with you this? Week.
1:34
I'm so excited to get into today's episode.
1:36
This is one of the questions that a lot of the girlies have.
1:39
Before we do that, though, I have to kind of share a little
1:42
bit of my low. This was not my low until about
1:44
20 minutes ago because I was really struggling with
1:48
technology to get on to this episode.
1:50
It might have not happened. To give a little short story, I
1:54
was really struggling trying to set up my mic.
1:56
Not the best at technology over here.
1:58
We do nutrition. We're not IT people.
2:00
I couldn't figure out why my microphone wasn't working.
2:02
I literally spent 25 minutes trying to connect it, figure it
2:05
out. And Jenna, you watched me do
2:08
this, but it was muted. The microphone was muted.
2:12
The good news is, is that eventually you figured it out
2:14
and it wasn't like days later when you moved like different
2:18
rooms. We were trying all these
2:19
different things that you found it out.
2:20
So the good news is, is that it only took 25 minutes.
2:23
It didn't take longer. I can't.
2:25
We were like also like so productive this week on like
2:28
planning and we were like, you know what, we're going to be
2:30
ahead of schedule with the podcast and like, we're going to
2:32
do all this stuff. And then I just wasted like 25
2:34
minutes of our time. And as a type 3 anagram, that
2:37
just drives me bananas. I know that's not we're talking
2:40
about today, but I can't, I cannot deal with it.
2:42
I'm stressed. Oh my gosh, it was very funny in
2:44
the moment when you figured out that your microphone was
2:47
actually off. But tell me about your high
2:48
What's the good part of your week?
2:50
So something that I have had on my list for highs that I have
2:54
not been able to share, there is this like kind of community in
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our neighborhood that is all about their gardens.
3:01
It is so cute. A lot of people like have these
3:05
really elaborate gardens and they have like really into it.
3:08
They have people who come out and they like label them and
3:11
like certify them. So people have like butterfly
3:14
certified gardens or like organic certified gardens.
3:16
Like in the front of their house, it's their entire yard.
3:20
And it's not just one person, it's like all throughout the
3:22
neighborhood. Oh my gosh, wait, that's so
3:24
cool. It is.
3:25
Really, really cool. Like we will go for walks and
3:27
like Charlie gets to like look at all the flowers.
3:29
Like I swear that some of these houses like look like an
3:31
Arboretum. It is so random, but I just love
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it. And it's just like so colorful
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and it always puts you in a good mood.
3:38
Wait, that's amazing. Do you have any interest in like
3:40
growing your own garden, seeing all these?
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Like are you finding inspiration?
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Are you guys sticking with some of your like smaller plants if
3:46
you're newer to the Eat More Carbs podcast, Riley and I have
3:48
talked a lot before about how we kill a lot of our indoor plants
3:51
because we're just not the best plant moms.
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If you have tips, please send them our way.
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But like, do you have any interest in doing like more
3:57
outdoor gardening now I go through?
3:58
Phases. If you listen to this podcast,
4:00
you know that I go through phases on things.
4:03
We are doing some like vegetables right now.
4:05
We have some like potted tomatoes and some potted bell
4:07
Peppers because I'm trying to teach Charlie a little bit about
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vegetables. I'm not at the level of these
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people. It's just insane because they
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can even like plant the flowers that are supposed to like cross
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pollinate like next to each other and like there's a whole
4:18
science behind. Oh my gosh, wait, that's so
4:21
intense but so cool. So cool and it's so pretty and
4:24
I'm not like 1 to like notice flowers a lot of the time, but
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like I don't I'm just like so impressed.
4:29
So these people are awesome. Thank you for giving us
4:32
beautifulness in the neighborhood.
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You're gonna need to like take a picture or a video and share it
4:36
because I'm really curious to see some of this now.
4:38
Yeah, it's just kind of like living on the West Coast and
4:40
then like coming back here. There's a lot more like green
4:42
edge and foliage here, at least where we're at.
4:45
So yeah, it's just been kind of like, nice.
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That's my high, my low. I have two highs, 1 Is that over
4:49
the weekend I had another athlete start their period
4:51
actually Friday night which was super super exciting.
4:53
Such a fun way to end my week. My other high is that I found a
4:58
new flavor of Fruit Riot. I've been so excited to talk to
5:01
you about both of these things because your clients are killing
5:04
it right now. I think that's like 3 in the
5:06
last like week and 1/2 that I've gotten their period back.
5:08
Yeah, it is. It's.
5:09
Crazy. I'm so lucky to work with such
5:11
dedicated people, which kind of plays into today's episode,
5:14
talking a little bit about like calorie counting and making sure
5:17
that we're moving in the right direction to get your period
5:19
back, creating the best environment to get your period
5:21
back. But it's all their hard work for
5:22
sure. They're the ones putting in a
5:24
lot of dedicated work and changing their fueling and
5:26
making sure they're being intentional about their fueling.
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So yeah, just super exciting to celebrate those ones with them
5:30
and. You got to celebrate with some
5:32
new fruit, Riot. I need the details to tell me.
5:34
My favorite is still the original grape flavor.
5:36
That's the one that I like the best, but the mango's a close
5:39
second for me. This flavoring on the outside of
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it is such like a almost confusing to the taste buds kind
5:45
of a situation because it's so many different flavors all at
5:47
once. But it's really good and it's
5:49
super refreshing and very tasty. I love fruit Riot, though I know
5:52
some people aren't the biggest fan of like sour fruit.
5:54
Oh it's so good. Just thinking about it, it is
5:56
829 in the morning and I'm like I could go have some right now.
5:58
It sounds so good. So if you see it, grab some.
6:01
I also have seen that they made like frozen cherries but I
6:04
haven't found them yet. I don't know how feel about
6:06
that. OK, tell me why.
6:07
Because I feel like it's just like a different flavor profile,
6:10
Like with the mango and the pineapple and the grapes, I'm
6:12
like getting tropical vibes and I'm not getting tropical vibes
6:15
from a cherry. That's a good point.
6:16
I also don't know how that will be with like a sour.
6:19
Yeah. Don't give me wrong, I'm still
6:20
gonna try. It I'm still gonna try it if I
6:22
see it. With the mango, is it like
6:25
multiple different flavors or is it just mango?
6:27
The fruit is just mango, but then the flavoring on top of it
6:30
is like strawberry and Peach. You know how they make the grape
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one that has like the different flavors?
6:34
I think that's the one you get from Costco, but it's good.
6:36
You get all the good stuff in Phoenix first.
6:38
I know we do. It used to be the other way
6:39
around when I lived in Kansas. If you lived in California
6:41
though, so. It's fine.
6:42
It's fine. It's fine.
6:44
My low is that I found a Gray hair.
6:45
So, Jenna, you know, I know. And then I had to pull it out
6:50
because I just couldn't look at it anymore.
6:51
So I just grabbed tweezers and yanked it out.
6:53
I know that's probably not what you're supposed to do, but I
6:56
didn't want it there anymore. So I guess this is just what
6:58
happens as you get older. Where was it?
7:00
Was it on the scalp or was it like in the front?
7:03
Towards the back of my hair. Really like all the way back
7:06
here. How did you find?
7:07
It I have like a very strong like overhead light in a
7:10
bathroom and I went and I was looking in the mirror and I was
7:12
like what, what is that? And I was like, why is that hair
7:14
so much like brighter than the rest of my hair?
7:16
I have very dark hair, really stood out and and then I grabbed
7:19
some tweezers and pulled it out of my head and I was like
7:21
confirmed that's a Gray hair, you know?
7:22
What the good news about getting older is?
7:25
I don't have to be bullied as much in middle school.
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Well, do we? Want to talk about that offline?
7:31
Maybe. I wasn't going that direction,
7:33
but maybe we need to change the episode today.
7:35
What's the good news? I was.
7:36
Gonna say it's easier to qualify for Boston.
7:39
Oh, my gosh. Wait, that's such a way more
7:41
positive spin than I was going. I was like, does she going?
7:43
Like, you get a senior discount? But that's not until I'm 65.
7:45
Like, I hope I have a couple of years before that happened.
7:48
Oh, man, that's a good point. Yeah, Boston's maybe closer in
7:51
reach, maybe not, because they'll probably just keep
7:53
making it faster and faster. But girl can dream, right?
7:56
A girl can dream. Before we get into some of the
7:58
How to get your period back without calorie counting or
8:00
maybe why recounting doesn't always work to help you get your
8:03
period back, Riley, can you quickly define HALEA and what
8:06
that means? So we're going to use that
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terminology a lot on today's episode.
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So starting off with HA or hypothalamic amenorrhea, and
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this is basically the absence of a normal menstrual cycle.
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A lot of the times with athletes, we see this because of
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L EA or low energy availability. And basically what's happening
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is the energy that is coming in is not going to meet or be
8:30
enough to match or fuel the energy that is going out with
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athletes. They have a much higher output
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makes sense from all of that training.
8:39
And oftentimes there's a mismatch between the amount of
8:42
fuel that's coming in and the amount of energy that is going
8:45
out. This is going to put the body
8:46
and a state of starvation or low energy availability.
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And therefore we're not able to fuel all of the bodily processes
8:53
along with the exercise and training that you're
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participating in. This often leads to down
8:57
regulation of certain bodily processes like the reproductive
9:00
system, and therefore you're going to see a loss of the
9:02
menstrual cycle. Being in a state of low energy
9:05
availability, an easy thought would be, well if I can just
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consume enough energy or enough calories then I should get my
9:11
period back. But why might that not be?
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The case. So it's really easy, I think
9:15
when we think about nutrition to think about calories in versus
9:18
calories out. I feel like this is one of the
9:20
most like basic principles of nutrition that is taught.
9:23
And I don't know if that's something that we necessarily
9:25
agree with at our VSN when we look at a low energy
9:30
availability state like Jenna mentioned, right?
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We have to correct the energy deficit to get into a positive
9:34
energy balance to be able to fuel all the processes that are
9:37
happening in your body, but then also your activity and your
9:41
training. The thought behind calorie
9:44
counting for period recovery, especially from low energy
9:47
availability, is let's count this energy to get into a
9:50
positive energy balance. But unfortunately the body
9:53
doesn't work like that. Why doesn't the body?
9:55
Work like that. Because the body is super
9:57
complex, like we always talk about like we've been able to
10:00
send a man to the moon, but we haven't been able to replicate
10:03
the human body. I think a lot of confusion
10:06
happens in nutrition because we've taken a pretty like simple
10:09
but complex topic and then like try to simplify it with the
10:12
calories in versus calories out equation.
10:14
Why does someone need to be in a positive energy balance in order
10:17
to get their period back when they have Lea?
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Your body doesn't like being in a negative energy balance when
10:22
we don't have enough energy to fuel your body properly.
10:25
This is a huge stressor on the body and like a almost like a
10:29
huge red flag or like warning bell.
10:31
It's like, hey, we don't have enough energy for survival.
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We need to do whatever we can to make sure that survival happens.
10:37
We want to make sure that our heart still beats, that our
10:40
brain still works. And So what we're going to do is
10:42
we're going to start down regulating certain processes to
10:45
make sure that survival happens and that, you know, the vital
10:49
organs are still working. So to get our period back and to
10:52
teach our body that it's safe, we have to start providing it
10:55
with enough energy to fuel all of these body processes along
10:59
with your training. And we also have to kind of
11:02
provide a little bit extra because right now when we look
11:05
at low energy availability and we look at the state that your
11:07
body's in, it's in a little bit of debt, it's a little bit of
11:10
energy debt. So we have to kind of correct
11:12
that deficit or that debt to kind of get us up to being in
11:15
the green so that we can then get into a positive energy
11:18
balance at. RBSN, we really like to say that
11:20
we have to fuel you as a person first, then we have to fuel you
11:23
as an athlete and then we also have to correct any deficiencies
11:26
that might have be going on. So we kind of have to look at
11:28
three different components when we're trying to correct for
11:31
energy deficit or for Lea. When we think about making sure
11:34
that we have enough energy or enough calories in our day,
11:37
counting calories sounds like a really good way to correct an
11:39
energy deficit. Why might that be problematic?
11:42
Or why might that not work for everyone trying to get their
11:45
period back? I think with calorie counting is
11:48
there's so many like destinations, there's so many
11:51
formulas out there, there's so many recommendations, but
11:54
they're all guesses. Like they're all approximations.
11:57
I mean, we were just talking about this offline, but like
11:59
even looking at a food label, like the calories on a food
12:02
label are going to be like rounded numbers.
12:05
And I think what happens is oftentimes athletes are so
12:09
motivated to stick to a certain calorie number and this is
12:13
really like holding them back. I feel like we've had a lot of
12:17
conversations in our period recovery program and a lot of
12:20
the reasons that our girlies don't have their period right
12:24
now is actually because of calorie counting.
12:26
We do see quite a few people that have maybe attempted
12:29
calorie counting in the past and then a apply to the program and
12:32
then they find out that what they thought they were doing
12:34
isn't actually what they were doing.
12:37
Can you explain how that might happen?
12:39
I think it goes back to like everything being an
12:41
approximation. And oftentimes I think a lot of
12:44
athletes are overestimating the amount of fuel that they're
12:47
eating. For example, we just had a
12:48
athlete during our period recovery program who thought she
12:51
was eating 2500 calories a day. She couldn't understand like why
12:55
she was still in an energy deficit and she was just really
12:57
frustrated. But then when we ran her food
13:00
log and we used our tools, she was actually eating like 1700
13:04
calories a day, which is a huge difference than 2500.
13:08
It's very common to underestimate the amount of fuel
13:11
that you are consuming. And I think it's super common
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when we run someone's food log that we also say that they have
13:16
either overestimated the amount that they have consumed or the
13:21
tracking system that they're using has some error embedded in
13:24
it. A lot of like the freebies or
13:26
the free systems that you can use to calculate how many
13:29
calories you might be eating, there's still some error there
13:31
and you can see that, and that's no fault to the system, it's
13:35
just that that error exists. So it can be really difficult
13:38
sometimes to use calorie counting as your only metric for
13:42
making sure that you're in a positive energy balance.
13:44
We've also talked about this on another episode on whether or
13:46
not you need to eat 2800 calories.
13:48
To get your period back. But are we?
13:49
Using the right metric of estimation for what is a
13:52
positive energy balance for you? Yes, I think there's so much
13:57
like generic advice with period recovery.
14:00
There's a lot of like 20, 2500 or 2800 calorie recommendations.
14:04
And yes, that might be a good starting point, but sticking to
14:08
that number and being like almost like obsessing with that
14:11
number might be just doing more harm than good.
14:13
And it honestly is probably not the amount that your body needs
14:16
and it could be holding you back.
14:17
We share a lot of information online about how to make a meal
14:21
that is 600 calories or starting points for fueling if you're
14:24
working towards period recovery. But I think like you just
14:26
mentioned, 25128 hundred, those might be great starting points
14:30
for you, but that's not necessarily what you need in
14:33
order to get your period back. What are some of the tips that
14:36
you have for athletes working towards period recovery to help
14:39
move away from calorie counting to make sure they're still
14:41
getting enough in? Because I feel like that's
14:43
probably one of the biggest fears that we see is people that
14:46
are like, I just don't know if I'm getting enough in.
14:48
Yes. And let me just tell you, we've
14:50
said this before on the podcast and we're going to say it again.
14:53
If you haven't gotten your period back within two months of
14:56
trying to get it back, you need to take a more intensive
14:58
approach. It might not even to be getting
15:00
your period, but are you seeing some of those symptoms that
15:03
we've talked about in other episodes, right?
15:05
Like are you seeing, you know, an increase in energy?
15:07
Are you seeing maybe some cramping, some acne?
15:09
Are you seeing of the presence or change in cervical mucus?
15:12
Are you monitoring labs? Like is your estrogen going up?
15:15
Is your basal body temperature changing?
15:17
If you're not seeing these things after attempting period
15:20
recovery on your own for a couple of months, it means you
15:23
need to take a more intensive approach.
15:25
So I think that's one of the places to start, is kind of like
15:28
monitoring that. Also, as a dietitian who
15:31
specializes in this space, I'm much more worried about you not
15:34
eating enough than you eating too much.
15:36
I think this is a common fear with a lot of athletes as
15:39
they're thinking that they're eating too much food.
15:42
We've said this actually believe Megan on our podcast about
15:45
running the Boston Marathon said more is more when it comes to
15:48
fueling. And I think that's so true,
15:50
especially in the space of period recovery.
15:52
We can see under fueling look several different ways.
15:55
I think that that's one of the problems with calorie counting
15:58
in order to get your period back is that you might have set an
16:01
estimate of what you think your body needs in order to be in a
16:03
positive energy balance. And you might hit that calorie
16:06
goal for the day. But are you consuming that fuel
16:09
at the right time? Is it supporting your needs as
16:12
far as your activity level? Are we consuming the right types
16:16
of fuel? Under fueling can present itself
16:18
in so many ways. And yes, you might be eating
16:20
what is your technical calorie goal in air quotes, but that
16:23
doesn't mean that you're not still under fueling.
16:25
Yes. And to go back to kind of your
16:27
last question, when we look at kind of moving away from calorie
16:30
counting because because that's something that we really help
16:33
our clients do in our period recovery program, we really like
16:36
using the performance plate method.
16:37
So plating the essential nutrients on a plate, we really
16:41
like doing like a base day performance plate, so 1/3 carbs,
16:44
1/3 colored, 1/3 protein with some servings of healthy fats.
16:47
We do a lot of plate teaching within the period recovery
16:50
program. And then Jenna, just like you
16:51
mentioned, right, we are doing a lot of like timing because
16:54
timing is so important. So if you are kind of looking
16:57
from moving away from calorie counting, practicing the
17:00
performance plate method, really trying to optimize your pre and
17:03
post workout nutrition and then making sure that you're eating
17:07
every three to five hours, that would be kind of my first
17:09
recommendation and steps. I think that's such a great tip
17:12
as far as thinking about are we eating every three to five
17:15
hours? I think a lot of times we go a
17:17
lot longer without fueling with a meal or snack than we
17:20
sometimes think we do. And then we try to
17:21
overcompensate at the next meal or snack time.
17:24
So we might be saying to ourselves, oh darn, I missed my
17:27
mid morning snack so I'm just going to have a bigger lunch.
17:29
But maybe we worked out between breakfast and lunch, so we
17:31
didn't have a fueled training session in between then.
17:34
So how can we, you know, incorporate a pre and a post
17:36
snack in that sense? Just like Riley mentioned,
17:39
making sure that you have fuel at the right time and not going
17:42
long periods of time without feeling are great ways to kind
17:44
of start stepping away from calorie counting and start
17:47
incorporating a couple more other practices with your
17:49
fueling to help you reach a positive energy balance.
17:52
Exactly, and as an athlete, your feeling is going to look
17:55
different from friends and family members.
17:57
There's social constructs in place when it comes to eating,
18:00
right? Like breakfast, lunch, dinner.
18:02
Most athletes actually thrive on 4 meals.
18:05
I feel like in our period recovery program, I'm
18:06
recommending 4 meals like all the time because I feel like
18:09
that meal structure works so much better for athletes.
18:12
But sometimes, like you mentioned, Jenna, like we might
18:15
be really trying to stick to certain mealtimes and then
18:19
trying to count calories and compensate and just become so
18:21
complicated. And if we're too rigid in those
18:23
food rolls about like I can only eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner
18:26
at 8:00 AM, twelve PM, 8:00 PM, and I can only eat my snacks 3
18:30
hours beforehand, that gets really complex or that gets
18:33
really difficult to get in enough fuel when you need it if
18:36
we're constantly setting new rules.
18:38
So even though we might be walking away from calorie
18:40
counting, we don't want to replace that with like 2 strict
18:43
rules around fueling. We still want to follow those
18:46
loose guidelines that Riley mentioned about how like it's
18:48
going to change and when you're training or when you need fuel
18:51
is probably going to change on a day-to-day basis.
18:52
So walking away from like tight rolls with fueling and allowing
18:56
that kind of continual fueling to have more energy available
18:59
for your body is super, super important, yes.
19:02
Like you just said, we want to be careful though, with we are
19:06
moving away from calorie counting, just implementing
19:08
rules in different areas of nutrition.
19:10
And I think this kind of goes back to something that we always
19:12
talk about on this podcast. But what's the why behind the
19:15
behavior, right? Like are we just now moving our
19:18
food rule to another food rule, but it's because it's not
19:20
calorie counting, it's OK? Or are we moving away from
19:24
calorie counting with a different intention behind it?
19:27
The why? Behind it.
19:27
Is so crucial. To understand why you're
19:30
changing your OR behavior and kind of having a very honest
19:33
conversation with yourself of IF we're changing one very strict
19:36
rule of calorie counting over to another.
19:38
Type of very strict. Rule around fueling that can be
19:40
almost just as problematic. We want to make sure that your
19:43
body is fueled and in a positive energy balance and in a way that
19:46
supports it the way that it needs to be.
19:48
Exactly. And I do want to say one last
19:50
thing because we do have some athletes in our period recovery
19:54
program who are doing some initial calorie counting.
19:56
Is this something that we broadly recommend and blanket
19:59
recommend for everybody who's? Following period recovery, no.
20:02
But some of our athletes, this approach really works for them
20:05
to make sure that they're fueling enough.
20:07
And that is something that these athletes are doing with a lot of
20:11
accountability and a lot of support.
20:13
Like we were just talking about like there's a strong why behind
20:16
that. And they will eventually move
20:18
away from that. But right now they just need a
20:20
little bit more guidance and accountability.
20:22
And they're again, doing it with a community and a support.
20:25
They're not just randomly finding a calorie amount on the
20:27
Internet and then being married to that number, even though that
20:30
number might not be right for them.
20:31
I think this is such a great point to bring up because period
20:34
recovery is very individualized to the athlete that's going
20:37
through it. And there definitely are
20:38
athletes that we work with that really thrive off of the numbers
20:41
in the beginning because that helps them feel more secure in
20:43
the choices that they're making. And then as they go through the
20:45
program, they gradually work away from that and into other
20:48
methods of making sure they're feeling adequately to support
20:51
their training and to support their period coming back.
20:53
But that doesn't mean that like other systems are off the table
20:55
as far as what we're helping that athlete do in order to get
20:58
them to their goal. Our goal is to help athletes
21:01
create the best environment possible for their period to
21:03
come back, and that's going to look a number of different ways
21:06
depending on the athlete and the type of support that works for
21:09
them. Like you said, we do have this
21:11
framework, but we're are individualizing everything for
21:14
those athletes and that is what's going to work best with
21:17
this period recovery. Journey Any final thoughts about
21:19
calorie counting to get your period back?
21:21
Just be careful with it. I mean you've obviously heard us
21:23
talk for the last 1520 minutes about how we don't really
21:26
support it. And if you do have questions
21:29
about if it is a right for you, then you should definitely reach
21:32
out. And I think it really goes back
21:34
to something that I mentioned earlier.
21:35
But the why, Like what's the why behind the behavior?
21:38
Are you setting your My Fitness Pal to 2800 calories and you are
21:42
sticking to that number no matter what?
21:45
If you go over 1 calorie, right? If you're at 2801, you're
21:48
freaking out. That doesn't really sound like
21:50
the most enjoyable fueling approach and also not the most
21:54
healthy way to go about this. So I think it really goes back
21:57
to the why. It has been so interesting to
21:59
talk about calorie counting to get your period back.
22:01
We are going to provide our training update.
22:03
So sharing just a little bit about the training that we are
22:06
doing to prepare for our upcoming.
22:07
Races Riley, you have. Some exciting running updates.
22:11
You have a race in a couple of days, what's training like this
22:14
week for you? I'm tapering this week.
22:15
I've never been so excited to taper.
22:17
I don't know if I've like ever really done a true taper.
22:20
Like a proper one. A proper one because I always
22:23
was like, nay, I can just keep running.
22:25
Yeah, that's an interesting, an interesting approach, but
22:28
definitely one that is understandable If you're
22:30
struggling through any type of like relationship with exercise,
22:34
your body and food, it can be really challenging to reduce
22:37
training even if you have a really big goal coming up as far
22:40
as like running a race, how are you navigating that?
22:43
Differently this time. I think that.
22:44
I had a lot more structure in my training plan, so I feel much
22:47
more confident. I think about taking a taper
22:50
week. I also understand that like,
22:52
this race for this upcoming weekend is just part of my
22:55
bigger plan and I know that I'm going to have to taper for a
22:57
marathon, so I have to practice some of that stuff now.
23:01
All of it is important to practice.
23:02
I love that we're super excited to hear about how the race goes
23:05
this weekend and hear about like how fueling goes.
23:08
I know that you feel a lot better after your 5K about like
23:11
you're the morning of the race and kind of like race nerves and
23:13
stuff like that. So super.
23:14
Excited to hear how. Everything kind of plays out for
23:16
you. Thanks.
23:17
Maybe we'll do a whole episode on it, so I don't know.
23:19
We'll see, I think we should, But let us know in the comments
23:21
if you want to hear a full recap from Riley's race, even though
23:24
she hasn't quite run it yet. Hopefully I finished this one.
23:26
I didn't ID and after my last one, but again that was a little
23:29
bit of a different situation but fingers crossed.
23:31
Cheering you on all the way from Arizona and I'm sure that all of
23:34
the Eat more carbs girlies are cheering you on too well.
23:36
Thank you. What is your training and like
23:38
activity? Look like this week for the
23:40
first time and I don't know how long.
23:42
I did not run a single time this past week because I am very
23:47
dedicated to making sure that my hamstring feels better so that
23:49
way I can run again. So I stopped doing any running.
23:53
I'm doing only cardiovascular exercise that like does not put
23:57
any strain on my hamstring and I'm working on PT so things look
24:01
very different for me this week and it's very strange not to
24:04
like run anymore. But it was what was most
24:07
important for me because it wasn't healing.
24:09
So that's where I'm at. Jenna, look at us.
24:10
Are we maturing? Yeah, I think so.
24:12
It's my Gray hair. This is why I'm having Gray
24:14
hair, because I'm finally maturing.
24:16
I'm tapering, you're doing PT, you're not running.
24:18
What is happening? Who I.
24:19
Don't know, just it's bananas. Yeah, it's crazy.
24:21
I'm proud of us. I'm proud of us too.
24:24
Go Team. Go team because there definitely
24:25
would have been a time where I trained through injury and you
24:28
trained through a taper, so I love that for us.
24:30
Thank you for listening to today's episode of the More
24:32
Carbs Podcast. If you do have questions for
24:34
Riley and I, please reach out to us.
24:35
You can find us online. You can find Riley on Instagram
24:38
at Easy dot. Sports dot.
24:39
Nutrition and you can find me at Jenna dot Fisher dot nutrition.
24:41
Thanks again for listening. Please make sure you rate,
24:43
subscribe and review. And as always, remember to eat
24:45
more carbs.