Thursday 20 June 2019

Challenge Melbourne 2019


Sunday April 14, 2019. 
Swim 1.9km (turned out to be 2.1km according to my GPS watch) – 36:47 
Transition 1 – 2:10 
Bike 90km – 2:21:16 
Transition 2 – 2:21 
Run 21.1km – 1:28:32 
Overall – 4:31:07 

The previous time I competed at Challenge Melbourne, in 2015, it was held at Brighton. On that occasion I described it as my best ever performance as I set a personal best 90km bike split and felt really good on the run where I stormed home during the last few kms. 

The event is now held up the road in St. Kilda and, once again, I am calling this my best ever performance. I set a new personal best 90km bike split and felt the best I ever have on the half marathon run leg. Also, I felt great in the swim as I was relaxed throughout and relatively fresh coming out of the water. 

Why is this my best performance? 

My personal best time for a half ironman distance race is 4 hours 25 minutes, from Ironman 70.3 Shepparton, 2013, which has very similar course characteristics to Challenge Melbourne being very flat. Even though I didn’t go as fast at this race, I felt better across each discipline and I know the only reason I didn’t go faster is because I had trained only a small amount leading up to the race. In particular, it was the fact I had only spent about four and a half months training specifically after starting in November from scratch. This meant I had to progress my training carefully to ensure I did not over-train and create too much fatigue without adequate recovery. 

In those four and a half months, the most amount of time I spent swimming, riding and running in any single week was six hours. This is significantly less than the amount I was doing before that personal best time in 2013. In fact, it is about half. In addition to that training, I performed DNS (Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilisation) exercises nearly every day for between 15 minutes up to an hour. This made a huge difference to my success because I was training my body to move and breath more efficiently. 

To have gone this fast and feel this good after such low volume in training is astounding. There is no question that makes it my best performance to date and it fills me with confidence for the future. I anticipate my next race to be Challenge Shepparton, in November, which is another half ironman on a flat course. I'm very excited to implement a similar but longer training build up to that race and see what I can do. 

THE SWIM 

I almost missed the start of my swim wave. I literally walked into the start area as the horn sounded. I was a bit late getting on my wetsuit and I didn't do any specific warming up but I had done enough moving around not to be cold. However, I did do some short bursts of backstroke and breaststroke during the first few hundred metres to help loosen the shoulders up. From that point on, I was consistent and comfortable. I had done a few practice swims in my wetsuit in the two weeks before the race which made a big difference. I came out of the water feeling as fresh as I ever have in a half ironman. 

THE BIKE 

I decided to wear my road bike shoes instead of my triathlon specific bike shoes. This meant taking longer in transition to run with my shoes to the bike mount line and stop to put them on and do up the ratchets. It was the right decision because my tri shoes are a bit old and don't fit as well. The better fit allows me to produce and maintain more power on the pedals. 
As soon as I was pushing on the pedals I knew my legs were feeling good. It was just a question of whether I could hold my power for 90km. 

It was 3 laps of 30km and I went through the first lap at just under 40km/h average. I was really happy with the first lap as I still felt strong starting the second and I now had several other riders of similar standard around me which helped me to keep pushing. 

After the 45km turnaround at Black Rock my pace started to drop slightly but I maintained the same perceived effort and still averaged about 39km/h for the second lap. 

On the third lap I made sure I stayed focused on technique, being relaxed and comfortable in my aero position and maintaining my speed despite the building fatigue. My legs stayed strong, my body felt good and I completed the 90km ride with an average speed above 38km/h. 

THE RUN 

I was pleasantly surprised how I felt starting the run. My legs were ready to run as soon as I left transition and I averaged about 4:10min/km for the first 6km. The next few kms were slower because I was feeling my right VMO (Vastus Medialis Obliquus - one of the quadriceps muscles) start twitching like it was about to cramp. For about 3 kms I shortened my stride and tried to run as fast as I could without it actually cramping. At around the 9km mark, the twitching subsided and it never bothered me again. Just to be sure, I took a mouthful of Pickle Juice at the halfway point. Pickle Juice was the naming sponsor of the race and it is a strong electrolyte drink, designed specifically to reduce and prevent cramps (although, there is some conjecture whether electrolytes are truly the answer to cramps), that tastes like pickles. It's not as bad as you might think. 

Throughout the run, I took water and coke at the aid stations and this worked well, particularly because it wasn't very hot and I didn't feel the need to consume a lot of fluid. 
I was able to keep a very consistent pace for the entire run finishing with an average pace of around 4:15min/km. It wasn't so much the pace of my run that I was happy with. It was how strong I felt for the 21km after putting in a fast bike leg and my new and improved run technique never faulted. 

MY RUN TECHNIQUE

I have applied some of the theories of renowned triathlon coach, Brett Sutton, to improve my running. Specifically, to improve my running during a half ironman. This is an important distinction because running a half marathon (21.1km) after swimming 1.9km and riding 90km creates much different circumstances for the body to operate in as opposed to running a half marathon on its own. 

The changes I have implemented are; slightly shorten my stride, reduce impact on the ground, increase my leg turnover (cadence), keep my hips forward, relax arm carry and drive arms back with each swing to allow better body rotation and improve overall posture by extending through the crown of my head.

Less impact on the ground is created by having less vertical knee lift or drive and less foot lift to the back during extension. This contributes to reducing overall vertical impact on the ground which may reduce the accumulation of fatigue as there is less force to absorb from each step. In addition, the use of my arm swing is essential for efficient rotation of the body, having a relaxed upper body and assisting with maintaining rhythm in conjunction with my higher cadence.

Each of these measures contributed to my ability to maintain a more consistent pace throughout the run as fatigue seemed to accumulate less quickly than in past races. Of course, pacing and nutrition are important too but the biggest factor to this success was technique.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The next events I plan to race are:-
  • Melbourne Half Marathon - October 13.
  • Yarrawonga Olympic distance - October 19.
  • Challenge Shepparton - Half Ironman - November 10.
  • Ironman 70.3 Geelong - Half Ironman - February 23.
My main goals will be to challenge for the top placings in my age group at each of the triathlons and to gain a qualifying slot for the 2020 Ironman 70.3 World Championships, to be held in New Zealand, at the Geelong race.

My build up to these events will be all about consistency. After performing so well off such little training I know, I don't need to do much more to improve further. All I need is to perform consistent work over an extended period with small and appropriate periodical increases/changes to my training stimulus while maintaining a holistic approach to training and recovery. Also, a couple of occasional blocks of several days where I perform a much larger amount of training, followed by adequate recovery, to boost overall fitness.

I am very excited about the possibilities for the upcoming events and I look forward to telling you more about it as I work towards the season.

Cheers,

Lincoln.

Wednesday 10 April 2019

Ironman 70.3 Geelong


In short, it was a good day and a relief to finally get back to half ironman racing. It was perfect weather conditions and I put in a consistent performance that I think was reflective of the way I prepared for the event in a short amount of time.

Swim 1.9km – 33:56
T1 – 04:03
Bike 90.1km – 2:38:57
T2 – 03:44
Run 21.1km – 1:37:59
Total – 4:58:37

Pre-race

I felt good in the few hours pre-race. I had some scrambled eggs and rice for breakfast about 2 and a half hours before start time and a short black coffee as well. I was one of the first few to show up at the race site eager to set up in transition to allow as much time as possible to warm up. I got an awesome car park too.

I had my mate, Dallas, keeping me company, which was terrific. He also put me up for the night. He has done several half ironman races before but like me it hadn’t been since Ballarat in December 2016. Even the day before the race he was wishing he was competing. Being around the race and feeling the pre-race vibe only made him want it more. The whole atmosphere around a triathlon event, especially a well organised and supported one like Geelong, is quite invigorating.

I spent about 30 minutes doing a variety of DNS (see my previous blog) exercises as my warm up before getting in my wetsuit and heading down to the swim start. The swim start was changed from mass wave starts for each age category to a rolling start. This was due to the presence of sea urchins having taken up residence close to shore off Eastern Beach so the organisers made a special chute with rubber mats lining the sea bed for us to enter the water. This chute was very narrow so, to ensure fairness for each athlete’s race, we filed in gradually and our individual race time only started just as we entered the water.

The Swim

As with all of my training leading up to this event, my swimming had been limited. I had focused on technique as much as possible during training without doing much volume. My longest swim session had only been 2km and the swim in the race is 1.9km but my focus was on engraining more quality technique into my swimming ability.

My aim for the swim was to put in a consistent effort where I didn’t feel I was exerting myself greatly but was not losing a lot of ground. However, it didn’t take long for the fatigue to set in through my shoulders. After the first few hundred metres I set myself little targets such as swim freestyle to the next marker buoy and then have a brief breaststroke break. The breaststroke helped to relieve the fatigue slightly and I mostly achieved my objective for the opening leg of the race. Clearly, the lack of volume in my swim training was the biggest limiting factor to why I didn’t go faster or why I couldn’t maintain my freestyle the entire way but I wasn’t unhappy with the start.

The Bike

I didn’t rush through transition because I knew if I did it would unnecessarily spike my heart rate and waste energy that could be used elsewhere. As I did for the entire race, I tried to keep my heart rate and breathing under control. It didn’t help that my heart rate monitor wasn’t synching to my watch or bike computer for almost the whole race. However, I have developed a good understanding of my perceived effort over my ten years of triathlon as I didn’t train with a heart rate monitor or bike cadence (RPM) until about two years ago. Once onto the bike I focused on trying to remain as comfortable as possible in my aero position while maintaining a consistent turnover of approximately 85 RPM.

There are two significant uphill sections on the course at Geelong during each of the two 45km laps. Initially, you go uphill from Eastern Beach, shortly after mounting the bike, for approximately 300 metres and repeat this when you start the second lap. Then, at approximately 22km, there is a steeper section, also of approximately 300 metres in length, which is repeated at around the 67km mark of the 90km bike leg. Each time I completed these uphill sections I controlled my effort carefully. In my three previous participations of this event, I pushed hard on these uphill sections but without having as much training behind me for this race I knew that approach would not serve me well.

As I started the second lap I was feeling quite tight through my hips and lower back. This was a concern and I thought it may last for the remainder of the ride. Fortunately, it subsided by about the 60km mark and I was able to continue my consistent effort through to the end. My second lap was only a few minutes slower than the first which was pleasing.

The Run

Once again, I didn’t rush through transition and I needed a toilet stop too which indicated I had either taken in too much fluid during the bike leg or I hadn’t absorbed it very well. This will be something I carefully assess before my next half ironman race at Challenge Melbourne on April 14.
I felt really good as I began the run. I didn’t struggle too much to get my legs moving and I was maintaining about a 4:20min/km pace for the first 6km. From that point on, my average pace slowed gradually and some of my latter kilometers were up towards 5:00min/km. However, I just tried to keep moving as consistently as possible, maintain technique and take in sufficient fluid and sugar. In fact, I walked a number of aid stations to ensure I didn’t miss taking in enough as it was heating up quickly.
I was able to find a bit more spring in my step as I went through the last 2 – 3 km and cruised down the finish chute to enjoy crossing the finish line. There was a sense of relief as well as satisfaction and a feeling of ‘I’m back’.

Nutrition

Up until approximately 18 months ago, I followed a very low carbohydrate, high fat lifestyle which included a lot of intermittent fasting. This included racing with fat sources as my race nutritional intake and not taking in many calories overall during long races. This had some benefits for me but, ultimately, I found it wasn’t conducive for achieving my best performance.

In the past 18 months my nutrition approach has evolved further aimed at helping my training and race performances. I now consume a relatively even balance of carbohydrates, protein and fats and time the consumption of certain types of foods around training sessions. 

However, compared to the general dietary advice, which I generally disagree with, I have a lower intake of carbohydrate and higher consumption of fat. I still do occasional fasted training sessions and intermittent fasting to ensure I maintain my fat adaptation but I also train my body to use carbohydrates efficiently for race day too.
I have returned to using sugar based energy gels during races and some longer, high intensity training sessions. However, this is still lower than what I was consuming during races and training 4 – 5 years ago. During the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championships, in Canada, I consumed eight gels and a can of ‘V’ during a 2 hour 26 minute bike leg and then a couple more gels and some coke during the run. About 1400 calories in total because I thought that’s what I needed to perform.

Compare that to this race where I had six gels in 2 hours 38 minutes on the bike and sipped a combination of water, electrolytes and coke during the run. Probably only 800 calories in total. My energy from nutrition was never an issue.

I will always be aware of how I eat and evolve to get the best out of myself but I am confident I am on a good thing with my current approach as I look towards next summer and a return to challenging for the top spots in my age group.

What’s Next?

I will be racing the half ironman distance at Challenge Melbourne on April 14. I have had some great swim and run training building for this event but I haven’t done as much as I would have liked on the bike. However, I am excited to race again and finish the season on a high. This will be followed by a couple of weeks of recovery.

Cheers,

Lincoln.

Thursday 14 February 2019

The Comeback


It’s been over two years since my last half ironman event, in December 2016, and it was a month before that when I realised my body was a mess. I got myself to the finish line in that race, but it was an ugly experience. I was in big trouble. 

On February 17, I will return to half ironman (swim 1.9km, ride 90km, run 21.1km) racing at the Ironman 70.3 Geelong event with a new perspective on training, movement and health. The 18 months up to April 2018 saw me try and fail to improve my body through mainstream, conventional treatment. It wasn’t until I gave adequate time to an alternative approach, and properly understood it, that I was able to see it change my body for the better. It took me a long time to find what would ultimately be my saviour but once I found it, I was changed for good and now I see it as something that would benefit just about anyone. 

Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilisation (DNS). 

During 2016, and probably the several years leading up to then, I trained my body into a twisted state. My body had developed a wide range of bad compensation patterns and imbalances. I now know, this was a result of not having an appropriate protocol in my training for maintaining and improving my mobility, muscular balance and movement patterns. 

Developed by The Prague School of Rehabilitation, in Prague, Czech Republic, DNS is based on the progression of an infant as they learn to move, control their limbs and body, roll, crawl, stand and walk.  

When we are born, we are programmed to progress through these milestones without assistance. All we need is plenty of time spent on the ground and we figure it out.  
I have had the added benefit of watching my second child go through this progression over the past nine months. While I have been re-learning to move my body, he is doing it naturally. This has helped me immensely having him lead by example. 

Ultimately, I am re-training my body to move in the correct way, establish greater neurological connection between body and brain and maintain these movement patterns forever. I have only scratched the surface of DNS but I have seen outstanding improvement in a relatively short time so I know it will be something that will be key to continuing to improve my athletic ability for years to come. 

The Diaphragm. 

The first thing I had to learn again was how to breathe. Seems simple but how many people understand the integral role of the diaphragm in breathing? I certainly didn’t. I only thought of my lungs and chest cavity and had no idea that it is the diaphragm which contracts to effectively draw the air into the lungs. 

One of the most prominent issues I had at the height of my physical dysfunction was having extraordinarily tight abdominal muscles. For so long I had been over using my abs to try and stabilise my body, particularly while I was swimming. I was under the false impression that I needed to remain tight through my abs in order to maintain alignment and allow my limbs to produce more force, whether it be in swimming, cycling, running or any other exercise. However, I didn’t know this was greatly restricting my movement overall and contributing to other parts of my body over-compensating and under-performing.  

The other integral role that the diaphragm plays is through creating intra-abdominal (internal) pressure or IAP. The best way to understand this is to practice ‘belly breathing.’ While sitting or lying down, as you breathe in, try and breathe deep into your belly (abdominal cavity). Essentially, your ribs shouldn’t need to move or expand much. Your diaphragm should be able to expand down into your belly to draw air into the lungs. This expands the abdominal cavity and creates IAP which provides stability for your abdominal region. This occurs most noticeably in babies. 

Also, you can create IAP by expanding your belly and trying to fill your abdominal cavity with pressure. Practice breathing in and out of your belly while holding this pressure. Do this the next time you are attempting a standard abdominal strength exercise instead of trying to tense and contract your abs.

That big belly look on babies is a lot to do with IAP. They don’t need their superficial abdominal muscles to contract in order to have a stable core region. Using IAP to stabilise the abdominal area doesn’t restrict your movement like when you tense your abdominal muscles. Instead, it still allows for freedom of movement and rotation around the axis of your spine which is critical to having good movement patterns.

There is so much to learn in this DNS space and I will endeavour to tell you more about my experience and progress with it in the future. To view some videos of a wide variety of DNS movements, please see the YouTube channel of Mark McGrath at 5D Movement. He is an expert in the field based in Melbourne.

Race Preparation

As I write this, it is just a few days out from the race. I am excited and feeling healthy. Being healthy at the start line is one of my main goals for this return to half ironman racing. In past years, I would not reach the event in a good physical state. I would do all the necessary hard work but not recover from it effectively so that I could put it to good use during the race. This resulted many times in suffering through the last half of the race physically, but more so, mentally as I wasn’t achieving what I expected.

Previously, I would believe it was essential to put in 10 – 15 hours of training per week across swimming, riding and running to have any chance of being competitive. Anything else, such as strength and conditioning or extra recovery protocols, was an afterthought and never prioritised. I practically never did a recovery session and if I did, it was never done at a low enough intensity to actually be considered recovery.

In comparison, over the past three months preparing for this event, I have not exceeded 7 hours of weekly training across swim, bike and run. I have done a lot of those hours at a very low intensity, a small portion at very high intensity and a smaller portion at half ironman race effort.

In conjunction with this training, I have performed anywhere from 3 – 7 hours per week of DNS. The great thing about DNS is I can do it almost anywhere, anytime, so it almost doesn’t factor in as extra time spent training. I might do multiple small portions throughout the day while at work or at home. I try to do some before most training sessions to activate my body and I will do at least half an hour of DNS as my warm up for this race.

Expectations

Ultimately, the race will tell me if my preparation has been effective. I am not expecting a personal best time because I have only prepared for three months but I believe I am in as good a shape as I would have been for most of my previous half ironman races. I believe this because I have traded over-training and excessive fatigue with possible under-training and feeling healthy.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I feel great all day and go as fast as I’ve ever gone. My personal best for the half ironman distance is 4 hours 25 minutes from Ironman 70.3 Shepparton, in November 2013. My personal best on the Geelong course from three attempts is 4 hours 42 minutes, 3 years ago. Alternatively, I wouldn’t be surprised if I finish in 4 hours 45 minutes and feel good the whole way. It’s likely, mainly due to the low run training miles, that I will find it difficult to maintain a strong pace throughout the entire half marathon but time will tell.

I haven’t done anywhere near as much swim, bike and run training in the lead up to this event as I did for those. Now, I am moving more freely and I feel more relaxed while doing them as opposed to using brute force to try and go fast. It is a liberating feeling as I realise how much more efficient I can be and how much better I can feel all of the time instead of a cloud of fatigue following me around.

Regardless of my finishing time or position on Sunday, I have come a long way in the past two and a half years to get to this race. I have learned some invaluable lessons and have a very bright outlook on what I can achieve in the future.

It’s going to be a good day, no matter what.

Tuesday 28 February 2017

If In Doubt, Just Eat Vegetables.

“Do what is best for your body and mind by only eating the best quality food and you will enjoy a lifetime of possibilities and if in doubt, just eat vegetables.”

The above paragraph is the last sentence from my post on September 13, 2016, and I feel it raises many important points. I would like to elaborate on each part of that quote in the hope I can further encourage and inspire you all to remove more, and preferably all, of the processed food and drink which you may currently consume. Then, replace those things with real, nutrient dense foods.
If there is one particular type of food which would be ideal to replace those processed foods with, it would be vegetables. This would result in a dramatic reduction in your consumption of inflammatory foods. Instead, you would get a terrific influx of essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids and fibre.

Inflammation is at the core of almost every chronic and degenerative disease or illness that there is. Anything from heart disease to Alzheimer’s disease to arthritis is caused by long term inflammation commonly due to the consumption of highly inflammatory, westernised diets. In contrast, they can all be prevented, managed, treated or even cured with the consumption of anti-inflammatory, nutrient dense real foods.

The power is in your hands (and stomach) to have the greatest chance at life long health, simply by choosing the right foods. Alternatively, choosing the wrong foods gives you a much higher chance at very poor health and greatly increased risk of having chronic diseases, poorer quality of life and likely premature death.

“Do what is best for your body and mind”

This is specific to doing what is best from a nutritional standpoint. I believe, the food you put into your body is the single most influential action you control that directly affects the health of your body and mind. What’s “best for your body and mind” is eating real, natural foods and not eating processed foods. Those foods that are best include vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, fish, eggs and some meat. The quality of those foods is just as important and I will elaborate on that further down.

Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that if you are having a healthy dish at one of your main meals each day that it’s not so bad that you have eaten poorer quality, processed foods at other times. I have heard that justification from so many different people, particularly when I was a Personal Trainer. However, if you are eating lower quality food you won’t be as healthy as you could or should be. Yes, one healthy meal a day is better than none but please don’t let that justify eating bad, processed foods on a regular basis.

Every time you choose processed foods over real food you have a negative impact on your health as all poor food choices can have a cumulative effect over your lifetime. That’s why the resulting common illnesses are referred to as ‘lifestyle diseases’ such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease (both alcohol and non-alcohol related), and many more.

One of the negative impacts of processed foods is to your gut bacteria whereby the processed foods can actually feed the bad bacteria and make them stronger. This can result in a suppressed immune system, among other things, as this bacterium is the driving force of your immune defense mechanisms. Alternatively, real foods, particularly from vegetables and fruit, feed your good gut bacteria, which strengthen your immune system to fight off the bad bugs, particularly those which cause colds and flues.

For the long term health of both body and mind it is absolutely essential to choose real foods. Every day that you don’t, I’m afraid, is likely bringing chronic health problems and increased risk of premature death significantly closer. None of us want that to ever occur. Our loved ones don’t want it to happen to us and likewise, we don’t want it to happen to them.

Improve your mind

It is incredible how much positive change your mind will experience just from removing processed foods and replacing them with quality, nutrient dense foods. Here are just some of the many benefits your mind could experience:-
Ø  Your mind will become clearer and more alert (without stimulants) making it much easier to get going every day and stay alert as the day wears on.
Ø  If you suffer headaches and/or migraines they will likely disappear or occur far less often.
Ø  Other cognitive functions such as memory could improve significantly and you will feel you are able to perform all manner of tasks with greater clarity of mind.
Ø  Symptoms of mental illness, such as depression and anxiety, may reduce substantially.
Ø  Your risk of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, etc. reduces significantly.

Improve your body

Making the change to a dietary intake of all natural, nutrient dense, unprocessed foods will have an unbelievably positive impact on your body. Here is just a small sample of the benefits:
Ø  Your appetite will become far better regulated meaning you may not feel the need to eat as often as you probably do when consuming processed foods.  
Ø  You won’t be eating the array of addictive substances that are found in processed foods meaning you may have fewer cravings.
Ø  Your body will learn to burn body fat for energy more efficiently allowing for a sustained stream of reliable energy production in between meals and overnight. This is a natural process of the body which can easily be blocked by processed foods, particularly those high in refined sugars and carbohydrates.
Ø  Your weight will take care of itself. Eating natural, unprocessed food allows your body to find a healthy weight and maintain it. This is a result of the above three points whereby your body will have a greater ability to indicate to you when it needs food and when it doesn’t which helps you to not overeat.
Ø  Quality of sleep will be enhanced greatly, providing you with more energy in general. You will find it easier to fall asleep, your body will rest more deeply while asleep and it will be easier to wake up and jump out of bed. On the occasions when you aren’t able to get as much sleep as you normally would you will have less negative effects than you would usually. Consuming real, unprocessed food enables your body to produce quality, longer lasting energy which is particularly useful for shift workers, like me.
Ø  Your digestive system will feel and function better than ever before. By removing the inflammatory processed foods and increasing real, unprocessed foods, especially vegetables, you provide your digestive system with the tools it needs to do what it is supposed to. This includes a vast reduction in gas and bloating, constipation may disappear completely and bowel movements will be much more regular and won’t be a struggle or painful. I can honestly say it was a great relief when I began to experience these improvements in my digestive system.
Ø  Ladies – your period could improve dramatically with greater consistency of duration without being longer than it’s supposed to, consistency of frequency, improved symptoms of PMS and even less painful. Quite simply, if your body as a whole is not functioning at its best, your period will very likely not be what it should. Also, you may feel that certain types of treat foods help during these times but they are actually making it worse. Inflammation is a big factor in the pain associated with your period so consuming lots of natural anti-inflammatory foods can be significantly helpful. Over the course of your menstruating life, with continued poor nutritional intake, your period will probably get progressively worse and harder to manage.
Ø  Reproductive organs will function better. Eating inflammatory, processed foods has a significant negative effect on your level of fertility as well as how long into life you will remain adequately fertile in order to procreate. Eating inflammatory food puts men at much greater risk of erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer, low sperm count and weaker sperm. Whereas women are at higher risk of PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), ovarian cancer, cervical cancer and a lower chance of conception.
Ø  DNA – in addition to the previous point on reproduction, your DNA is negatively affected by poor nutrition. This means the DNA you pass on to your children is negatively affected too which can make them more likely to contract an illness or disease. When someone refers to their poor health or weight issues as being ‘in their genes’ this can be accurate but it’s not inevitable. Unhealthy diet and lifestyle susceptibility can be passed on to your descendants but it can all be improved or changed by consuming the right foods. If you have a family history of illness, disease, weight issues or just unhealthy diet and lifestyle practices, it’s up to you to break that cycle so you and the future generations of your family will benefit. If you have immediate or extended family who are in poor health and also have unhealthy diets and lifestyles, take the time to understand what you can do to avoid the same fate because, ultimately, you are the master of your own health.
Ø  You will enhance your body’s cancer fighting properties as well as your cancer preventative capacity. Eating the wrong food means you are many times more likely to get a cancer diagnosis in your lifetime in some form compared to if you eat real, unprocessed, natural foods. Everyone will likely have cancerous cells in their body at some point in their life but it’s the ability of your immune system to recognise these mutant cells and deal with them that will determine whether they cause you a problem or not. To give your immune system the best chance at doing this, you must eat the right foods.

The benefits of eating real food over poorer quality, processed food seems to be endless and I implore you to see it for yourself by making the change to only consuming the best quality, nutrient dense, real food. You won’t regret it, especially after just a couple of weeks when you will already notice wonderful positive changes.

“Only eating the best quality food”

When I say ‘quality’, it can mean two things. First, it means choosing the most nutrient dense foods which will supply you with the goodness that you need. Second, ‘quality’ also means other specific decisions you can make about the quality of individual foods, ie: choosing organic vegetables over conventional vegetables whenever possible.

Vegetables

The most important thing is to choose the right types of foods and vegetables are at the top of the list. Vegetables should be consumed liberally on a daily basis, especially colourful non-starchy vegetables. Try and leave the starchy vegetables (ie: potatoes) for rare or special occasions because the non-starchy vegetables provide much greater nutrients. This will ensure consumption of a high amount of crucial vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids and fibre that will do wonders for your immune and digestive systems as well as many other important bodily functions. Source organic vegetables whenever possible from local stores, farm gates or farmer’s markets. You will get better quality produce while reducing your exposure to some nasty things that may have been used in the growth of non-organic produce, such as pesticides.

I believe, in terms of quantity of overall food consumption, vegetables should make up at least 50-60% of your daily food intake which could equate to around 7 – 10 servings a day. The recommended five serves per day is good, but 7 – 10 is even better. You could achieve this by having approximately three quarters of your plate consisting of vegetables at least two meals per day which might look something like the following:-
Ø  Mixed salad of lettuce, kale, carrot, capsicum and cucumber to accompany your hard boiled eggs for lunch; and,
Ø  Broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini and pumpkin to go with your salmon for dinner.
Of course, vegetables are most welcome at breakfast as well.
Those vegetables could be prepared in a variety of ways and flavours further enhanced by serving with various homemade dressings, gravy or herbs and spices, if desired.

Fruit

Fruit is another very important food. Similar to vegetables they contain vital nutrients – vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre – but, they generally contain much more carbohydrate/sugar compared to non-starchy vegetables. Therefore, it is best to consume in small amounts. Again, choose organic whenever possible. I suggest about 10-20% of daily food intake to be fruits which would equate to approximately 2 – 3 servings, ie: one apple and one cup of berries.

The remaining 20-30% of food intake should be a combination of nuts, seeds, broths, eggs, fish, meat, other fat sources, such as coconut oil, and a range of herbs and spices. This would cover essential fat and protein intake comfortably.

Nuts and Seeds

Raw nuts and seeds pack a lot into a small package. Just a handful or two a day will be a wonderful addition to compliment a large consumption of vegetables and some fruit. Try to consume a range of different nuts such as almonds, macadamias, cashews, walnuts, Brazil nuts and hazelnuts. Most of these nuts are a great source of mono-unsaturated fats, as well as minerals like magnesium, calcium and potassium. Choose organic when possible and stick to the raw, unsalted variety. If purchasing roasted nuts, make sure they are dry roasted because most roasted nuts have been done so in dangerous vegetable oils high in polyunsaturated omega-6 fats.

Also, there are a wide variety of seeds to choose from including, sunflower seeds, pepitas, chia seeds, flaxseed, and more. You can consume nuts and seeds in their whole form, crush them to add to other foods or even put them in your smoothie.

Herbs and Spices

Herbs and spices are amazingly versatile and many of them provide anti-inflammatory benefits while adding beautiful flavours to food. If you don’t generally love the taste of vegetables, herbs and spices could make all the difference. There are so many including, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, chilies, ground chili, dry chili flakes, cinnamon, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley, coriander and these are just a few that I use on a regular basis. The list of herbs and spices you could use is very long so please explore those possibilities.

Fish

Wild caught fish is most beneficial as a source of protein and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats. Omega-3 fats are known as ‘essential fats’ because our body cannot make them on its own. An important choice to make when purchasing fish is only choosing wild or ocean caught fish instead of farmed fish. Wild fish feed on the ocean diet they were meant to which provides the nutrients in their bodies that we benefit from eating. Farmed fish are not fed the same and it can often result in them having far less anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats and far more pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats, which is a bad thing.

Red Meat

Beef and lamb should come from cattle and sheep that have been fully raised in fresh pastures where they can graze all day. They weren’t meant to eat the various grains which are commonly used to fatten them up quicker for sale and slaughter. Similar to fish, feeding cows and sheep the wrong food results in their meat containing bad things including elevated levels of pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats. Try to find a local farmer or supplier of pure grass-fed meat and organic if possible. Do a Google search in your local area or try your nearest farmer’s market. This will help support local small business and your local community.

Meat and organs from properly raised cattle and sheep will provide you with quality saturated fats that are very necessary for a wide variety of reasons in our body. Saturated fat has had a tough history but we need to embrace it when it comes from the right sources. It should only have a bad rap when it comes from poorly raised animals. It is very important for our cellular integrity and function and when from the best quality sources and in appropriate amounts it plays a vital role in the regulation of blood cholesterol levels which contributes to anti-inflammatory processes and joint health.

Pork

Pigs should also have full access to fresh pastures where they can forage for bugs, worms, bulbs and other plants along with being fed a range of vegetables and some fruit. Wild pigs will eat other small animals and birds as well but, generally, pigs are plant based eaters. Sourcing local pork products that are truly free-range and fed correctly will be best.

Chicken and Eggs

Chickens should have as much access to fresh pastures as possible where they can feed on worms, seeds, bulbs and bugs. They may have additional plant based feed such as vegetables but not processed commercial feed. They should have lots of room to roam and spread their wings while having access to water and shelter to take cover when they want to and lay eggs.

When you see ‘free-range’ on the carton at the supermarket and information such as ‘access to pastures’, ‘10,000 birds per hectare’ or ‘1 bird per square metre’, understand that this is nothing compared to what they truly need. Unfortunately, the term ‘free-range’ has been taken advantage of. These factors make a huge difference to the nutritional quality of their meat as better conditions produce less stressed birds. Also, the nutrients in their eggs are heavily affected by their diet and a fully pasture raised chicken will produce eggs with much greater nutrients. Look around because there are plenty of small producers out there that will provide eggs that are better than the ones you mostly find in the supermarket.

Dairy

I have almost completely eliminated dairy from my diet. I don’t consider it to be a staple food anymore and it may be completely unnecessary for human consumption. Over the past 6 months or so I’ve stopped having milk in my tea or coffee, rarely having cheese and almost never having cream or yoghurt. Instead, I eat more vegetables. Consuming a large portion of vegetables, particularly leafy greens, as well as a variety of nuts and even sardines will provide substantial calcium in its best form for human consumption.

There are increasing statistical suggestions that populations with the highest dairy intake from cow’s milk have the greatest occurrence of bone injuries or fractures, particularly in the elderly but increasingly so in younger people, and related issues.

When it comes to having good bone structure, there is so much more involved than consuming calcium so don’t think that having a large glass of milk a day is taking care of it. You need quality nutrients of various kinds to support musclo-skeletal integrity. This means a range of natural, nutrient dense foods, as well as adequate, yet appropriate, unprotected exposure to the sun and some weight bearing exercise is important for maintaining bone health.

Beans and Legumes

Beans and legumes such as black beans, white beans, chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, etc. are something I have been looking into and trialing over the past 6 months or so. They are a plant based protein source, as well as being another source of carbohydrate, which makes them a popular staple food for vegans and vegetarians. They are quite high in fibre too which can help offset some of the carbohydrate content by slowing down the absorption rate. Most of them go really well with various herbs and spices too.

So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed what I have found and I haven’t found them to cause digestive stress as many people may fear. The main point being that preparing the beans or legumes well can make them easier to digest. This usually means soaking them for an extended period if using dry beans or legumes as opposed to canned varieties which are already soaked. Also, cooking them well will make them even easier to digest.

My current preferences to preparing beans or legumes are roast chickpeas whereby I get organic canned chickpeas, mix them with some spices and roast them for about half an hour until they have a crispy outside. I enjoy adding these to salad. Also, organic canned black beans I will simmer in water for an hour or two before adding spices. I enjoy these with salad or mixed through some stir fried vegetables.

Other Considerations

I don’t recommend anything with wheat, barley or rye because of their gluten content. In particular, wheat has been hybridised over many decades to have much higher gluten content than that of the wheat which was grown centuries ago. In addition, many bread loaves you find on the supermarket shelf have added gluten on top of the gluten already in the wheat flour which can make them more addictive as well as further damaging to our digestive systems.

Oats do technically contain gluten because they have a prolamin protein called Avenin. Wheat, barley and rye also contain a prolamin protein, each with a different name but all under the banner of gluten. Wheat – gliadin, barley – hordein and rye – secalin. However, avenin has a slightly different amino acid profile to the others making it potentially easier to digest.

Some studies have shown as many as 1 in 5 celiac disease sufferers are able to digest oats without complication but the studies are varied with some having indicated only 1% of celiac sufferers can handle them. Many people are gluten intolerant without having celiac disease, I believe I am one of them, whereby I do suffer digestive discomfort and related issues from the ingestion of the above mentioned grains. However, some of them may also find oats to not cause them issue. I have recently re-introduced oats into my diet in small amounts and have not noticed any ill-effects.

Another addition I have made is quinoa. I haven’t particularly enjoyed its somewhat nutty flavour in the past so I haven’t used it a great deal previously but I decided to try it in different ways as it is a nutritious, gluten free grain. It is a mildly dense carbohydrate while being a good source of fibre, protein, various B-vitamins and minerals. My current favourite use for it is in a porridge with some oats, chia seeds, ground flaxseed, coconut cream, cacao powder, cinnamon, vanilla, banana and water. It ends up being quite a thick consistency and the choc-banana-coconut flavour is delicious. Then, I like to add a handful of nuts and berries on top. It is a relatively higher carbohydrate dish but my overall eating each day is far more based around low carbohydrate vegetables and healthy fats.

How to choose what’s best

Choosing the best foods is not that easy based on all of the conflicting information we get through mainstream media, as well as advertising from food and beverage companies. These big companies throw millions of dollars into marketing their unhealthy products with a spin that is designed to deceive you into thinking they are not that bad for you.

Also, these companies fund a substantial amount of the nutritional research that is conducted around the world which, in many cases, somehow defies logic and produces favourable outcomes for their products. This is a disgraceful conflict of interest and, despite declarations that this funding does not influence research outcomes, it is strange how often the published results show in their favour. If study results don’t favour them, the study might only get published in obscure places, articles about the results may only mention the parts of the study which were favourable or the company may pull their future funding. In addition, they are often financial partners or supporters of nutritional information agencies such as the Dietitians Association of Australia and Diabetes Australia just to name a couple.

When you sit back and think about which foods you always see advertised in various media forms, you realise that it’s basically all processed food. You almost never see any fresh fruits or vegetables being marketed. That’s because we don’t need to be convinced that fruits and vegetables are good for us. From time-to-time you see ads for bananas or avocados and even for meat such as pork and lamb, but they are rare and they’re designed to produce increase consumption of those items for the benefit of the producers as opposed to deceiving us about health benefits that may or may not exist. In contrast, processed foods survive on their advertisements persuading us that we want or need to eat them and/or they are good for us. They saturate our media in order to distract us from what we should be having.

Don’t take the advice of big food and beverage companies. They’re in the business of making millions of dollars, not to make us healthy. Likewise, be wary of the advice distributed by many agencies and organisations who are supposed to be providing the best nutritional advice. If they are funded by companies from the processed food and beverage industry, you may need to question their ethics and quality of their advice and perhaps look elsewhere.

Do your own research by looking into individuals who have committed themselves to finding and promoting nutritional information that is backed by the best possible scientific evidence. There are plenty of those people out there, many of whom are medical professionals, who have gone against the mainstream to find what really works. Often, it has come from wanting to find what will really work for treating their patients and achieving long term health. Not surprisingly, when they began treating their patients with nutritional intervention, they found their greatest ever results.

Many of these people are doctors with a range of specialties who have studied medicine so they have an intimate understanding of the body and what food does to it. They are not out there to make money for major corporations. Instead, they simply want to see the people of the world become healthier to live more fulfilling lives, reduce strain on health care systems and be around longer for their families.

There are many other people out there who are trying to get this important information to as many people as possible by doing their own research and writing terrific books or articles where they back up their findings with the scientific research. Great examples of this are David Gillespie, who wrote ‘Sweet Poison’ and a range of follow up books. Nina Teicholz, investigative journalist who wrote ‘The Big Fat Surprise’ and Chef Pete Evans of My Kitchen Rules fame and his promotion of Paleo eating through his program ‘The Paleo Way’ and the associated range of books. Pete also has the YouTube channel and TV series of the same name.

“You will enjoy a lifetime of possibilities”

I mentioned above a few of the many benefits you could experience just from eating the right foods. However, one simple point is that eating the most nutritious foods all of the time will give you the best chance to live a long and healthy life. This will give you the opportunity to do just about anything without being limited by poor health, like so many people are.

We are not supposed to live with illness and disease. Our modern world and modern diets have caused the rise in chronic illnesses which means so many people spend much of their elder years being greatly restricted in what they can do. Don’t let that happen to you. Give your body the best food so it can give you the best life possible where you can still be able to chase after your great-grandchildren or go on holidays anywhere in the world, no matter what your age.

“If in doubt, just eat vegetables”

You don’t have to eat meat, fish, eggs or animal products often. Especially, not as often as or as much as we are lead to believe. However, when you do, make it the best quality you can source. Therefore, if you are not able to source those items with the right quality or you have any doubts about them, just eat vegetables. Vegetables are the most important food item and eating more of them is a good thing.

I prioritise getting at least two large serves of vegetables every day. I aim to have plenty of leafy green vegetables amongst them and a variety of colours for the rest. Very large salads are a favourite go to option for me as they are so quick and easy to prepare. Just chop up a range of raw vegetables, add some cooked ones if you like, top with fresh avocado, a good squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of olive oil and perhaps a protein source. It doesn’t take long to prepare and it can be made in bulk to last for a few days in the fridge.

My favourite salad combination at the moment is:-
Ø  Baby spinach leaves.
Ø  Cos lettuce roughly chopped.
Ø  Red capsicum diced.
Ø  Carrot diced.
Ø  Mushrooms roughly chopped.
Ø  Cucumber diced.
Ø  Avocado.
Ø  Small chunks of sweet potato and pumpkin which have been roasted in coconut oil, salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin and cayenne pepper.
Ø  Lemon juice.
Ø  Dash of olive oil.
Ø  I will then add things like roasted chickpeas, whatever kind of meat I have available which might be left over from another meal, a tin of sardines or some eggs. Sometimes I don’t even add anything else and just enjoy all of those beautiful vegetables.

If in doubt, just eat vegetables. Make them a priority and your body will respond positively.

My purpose

Everyone may have a different feeling while reading this blog. Some will appreciate the detail so they can use it when they’re next shopping for food. Some may feel a little confused because it might contradict what they previously thought was right. Some may feel overwhelmed by the amount of content and not be sure what to focus on. Also, some may feel offended or frustrated because it is pointing out or reminding them that they have not been eating well and they feel bad for it.

In no way do I want to upset, confuse or frustrate anyone. The purpose of providing this information is to assist you. I feel there is no point in telling people ‘everything in moderation’ because that is a very broad statement which allows anyone to apply their own interpretation of what ‘moderation’ is. Likewise, I focus on providing quality nutritional information because I don’t think it is a good thing for anyone to think that as long as you exercise you can eat whatever you like or not eat as well as you could. Eating the right food is essential for everyone, regardless of activity level and bodyweight and I firmly believe that if I can provide information to help people know what is best, based on my research and practices, then it might make the process of improving someone’s lifestyle a whole lot easier.

That’s why I say, ‘if in doubt, just eat vegetables,’ because by taking that one step to vastly increase your consumption of fresh vegetables you can easily springboard yourself into improving other areas of food and/or lifestyle.

I am continually looking for the best possible nutritional practices in order to pass on this information to you in a straight forward way through my blog or conversations. Along with looking to achieve my best possible health and body composition through following the best nutrition practices, my goal is to help as many people as possible to lead a fulfilling life by achieving optimal health. That includes work colleagues, acquaintances in sport, friends, family and anyone else who takes the time to read my blog or chat with me about it.

There is no doubt that everyone’s life will be better when in a proper healthy state compared to being in poor health. Illness causes much stress for the sufferer, as well as those close to them just as much. Your best chance at having great health and prevention of illness will only be achieved with the best diet and lifestyle practices. Also, being your healthiest is of utmost importance to your closest family and friends. Not only will you feel better when you eat right but those people most important to you will feel better knowing you are healthy.

References

All of my views and opinions are formed from my own research using the following resources:-
Ø  ‘Sweet Poison’ by David Gillespie.
Ø  ‘Big Fat Lies’ by David Gillespie.
Ø  ‘Toxic Oils’ by David Gillespie.
Ø  ‘Eat Real Food’ by David Gillespie.
Ø  ‘Challenging Beliefs: Memoirs of a career’ by Professor Tim Noakes and several presentations of his which I have viewed on YouTube.
Ø  ‘The Big Fat Surprise’ by Nina Teicholz.
Ø  ‘Grain Brain’ by Dr. David Perlmutter.
Ø  ‘Wheat Belly’ by Dr. William Davis.
Ø  ‘The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance’ by Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney MD.
Ø  Various YouTube videos, interviews, publications and presentations from other specialists such as Professor Grant Schofield from the University of Auckland. Scientific author Gary Taubes. Dr Gary Fettke of the Nutrition for Life Centre in Launceston, Tasmania. Doctor and author Stephen Phinney MD, and various others.
Ø  ‘That Sugar Film’ directed by and starring Australian actor Damon Gameau.
Ø  Dr. Jason Fung’s website intensivedietarymanagement.com which has a combination of videos and blog posts detailing his scientific research and highly successful treatment of his patients through dietary intervention.
Ø  The most recent addition to my research portfolio comes from a not for profit organisation called nutritionfacts.org. This organisation is founded and presented by Dr. Michael Gregor who works with a team of about 20 researchers to produce highly informative short videos across a large range of nutrition topics. They present all of their videos on the website and their YouTube channel.

Essentially, the site advocates a completely plant based, vegan diet because this is what all of their research is showing them to be the best and healthiest way to eat. The most compelling thing about the way in which they present is the huge amount of research which goes into every video. You can get an idea of their thorough approach by watching this video explaining how the organisation goes about producing the conclusive content.

There are no advertisements or connections with companies so it is reassuring to know they are not producing this to satisfy the interests of any financial partner. Instead, it is a ‘labour of love’ in tribute to Dr. Gregor’s Grandmother who turned her health around, in her 60’s, with a plant based diet despite being told there was nothing that could be done for her. She was lead to believe that her life was essentially over thanks to heart disease and related issues but when she looked for an alternative approach to healthcare she found food to be the best medicine. Specifically, an all plant-based diet was her savour and you can hear about that story in this video of how NutritionFacts.org got started.



Cheers,


Lincoln.