Practical approach to Nutrition with Cara Kasdorf of Blue Print Nutrition

In this episode, Chad sits down with Cara Kasdorft of Blue Print Nutrition to discuss the often-confusing world of nutrition and Cara provides practical tips and strategies for making healthier choices in your daily life. Cara and Chad discuss simple and practical strategies for "Corporate Athletes" to make their daily workouts more beneficial, how to mitigate short-term nutrition tactics and build long-term strategies for better health. 

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Transcript

Chad [0:06 - 0:35]
Welcome to living the good Life podcast, episode 63 I'm your host Chad Mueller and today I get to sit down and talk nutrition with Cara Kasdorf, how are you?

Cara [0:35 - 0:38]
I'm good. Thanks for having me on the show.

Chad [0:38 - 1:34]
Good, thank you. Yes, I know you have had a number of conversations with some of the L. P. Community um more on the endurance side I guess and um this podcast, I guess our community and the podcast is is beyond just the community locally obviously um but I always loved the talk nutrition, we've had a few nutrition topics in the past few years, so super excited to kind of dig deep into the kind of nutrition, what your thoughts are on nutrition, how you feel like it plays a role with our sleep and energy and overall health and you know the four pillars that we keep talking about, the living that fit like podcasts, so super excited, awesome, awesome. Um so yeah, I guess yeah, let's just jump in um maybe you can give a little bit of background about yourself, how you got to where you are now um and sort of where it's sort of your passion for nutrition came from. Yeah,

Cara [1:34 - 3:56]
for sure. Um so I am a registered dietician and sports nutritionist, I'm a co owner of a company called blueprint nutrition, so we're based in waterloo, but we do work with athletes and clients across Canada. I've been a dietitian for a number of years, I think it's something like 16 years now, so it's been a while um But I guess my interest in nutrition first came from um I was, you know, a high school athlete very interested in, you know, I was I was a runner, so very interested kind of endurance sports um and just really noticing that connection between nutrition and how we perform and how we feel and that was always something that was very apparent and interesting to me. So I decided to study nutrition in university, so I'm actually from Winnipeg originally, so I went to the University of Manitoba to do my undergrad degree in human nutritional sciences um and then I moved here to actually to wealth, to do my master's degree at the University of wealth um and did my internship to become a dietician. Um So yeah, that was kind of my, my journey towards becoming a dietitian, but I decided to specialize in sport nutrition because I did have that interest as an athlete myself uh and you know, during kind of during the traditional undergraduate degree and master's degree, we don't get a lot of training and sports nutrition specifically. So um I realized very quickly after running my first marathon in university that nutrition plays a critical role um and it is almost, you know, it's a whole area of nutrition um that's very specialized and actually very different from a lot of the things we were learning in school, which was more related to nutrition for different disease states and and that sort of thing. So I did a lot of extra professional development and and you know, studied the area of sport nutrition. Um I had a lot of great mentors that were sport nutritionists um and that kind of helped me develop my skills earlier on in my career. Um And so I've always had a private practice in the area of sport nutrition and it's something I really enjoy and and something I really feel passionate about and you know, working with athletes that are motivated and excited about what they're doing is always super fun and something that I really enjoy.

Chad [3:57 - 4:02]
No, that's great. And so how long have you been part of the sort of the endurance community yourself?

Cara [4:03 - 5:17]
Yes, yeah, so I've been a runner for, I mean, as long as I can remember pretty much, but yeah, I ran my first marathon when I was in my early 20's. Um and it was a complete disaster, I did not fuel properly, as I said, I didn't have a huge knowledge in sport nutrition when I first started studying nutrition. Um but then since then I've run, you know, many marathons and you know done boston marathon in Chicago marathon and some of those bigger marathons, um so I've been part of that community, you know, both in in Winnipeg when I lived there and then here in Southern Ontario as well. Um so it's been, yeah, it's been great to be, you know, to be an athlete myself. So kind of understanding from that personal standpoint, what it can take to do all the training and kind of the toll it takes on the body, but then also professionally kind of understanding the science behind it and you know, kind of what the, you know, what the recommendations are and how to kind of fuse those two together because we know what we should be doing is one thing, but then actually implementing it is that is a completely different thing, right? So um it's good to kind of understand that practical application of the guidelines.

Chad [5:18 - 5:39]
Yeah, no, that's no, that's great. And like, would you would you say that there's a big difference between endurance athletes and sports nutrition versus uh like a professional hockey player and how they approach sports nutrition? Yeah, yeah,

Cara [5:39 - 6:54]
yeah, there are definitely differences. And so in my practice I do I do work with a lot of endurance athletes just because nutrition is such a huge piece of what what we do, but I do also work with other sports as well. So, you know, you mentioned hockey's I work with a lot of like NHL players, I've worked with an NHL player as well and so in terms of what um what we do with the sport nutrition is going to be different depending on the goals. And so even for, you know, some of the kind of corporate athletes um that's going to look different than um an endurance athlete because we're using different fuel systems were maybe have different goals in terms of you know, increasing muscle mass or increasing strength or speed or you know, whatever that might be. Um and then looking at which nutrients we need to prioritize and also looking at so that the macronutrients, carbs, proteins and fats will look different, nutrient timing will look different, how we feel, workouts will look different and then if we, you know, look at kind of a supplement protocol, then that will look different as well. So it is quite um you know, kind of the basic principles are going to be similar, but there are lots of variations in terms of how we actually implement that.

Chad [6:55 - 7:39]
Mhm. Yeah, and you mentioned corporate athletes and we're gonna definitely jump into that topic um But I one of the just like when we talk about performance, nutrition and sport nutrition, when it comes to high level athletes, you know, their uh their careers are sort of an aspect of their life, right? Like it's usually younger, you're younger, your peak, would you also say that sport nutrition, performance nutrition however you label it can be sort of a an approach to sort of just nutrition throughout your life or would you say you sort of switch that off and sort of pivot a little bit to a more balanced, maybe a bit more of a easier or less regimen and nutrition.

Cara [7:39 - 9:23]
Yeah, Yeah, I really like the term performance nutrition because it applies to, you know, your performance in your sport, but also just performance in life, right? And I think that's always the important thing is like your sport or your workout, that's one aspect of your life and if you are kind of, you know, not an elite athlete, but maybe just a regular person, you know, working out or training for a marathon or triathlon or whatever, you know, you still have work and family and other interests and all of these things and so if you're not able to perform in those aspects of your life, then there's gonna be a huge problem, right? And so, um, yeah, I think, you know, nutrition um will look different for someone who's like, you know, an elite athlete, like when I was working with the NHL player, getting ready for training camp, like obviously, like there's a lot riding on, enjoying, like that's their career versus someone who is going to the gym four or five days a week, that's gonna look completely different, but in both cases, you know, the approach to fueling, I think is actually similar because um I, I think it's, you know, we want to have something, we want to have a nutrition plan that's realistic and sustainable and that it doesn't feel like you're always going on a diet and off a diet, right? You want it to be part of your life and you want it to work with your life. So whether that's your a high, you know, how high level elite athlete or whether you're, you know, kind of just going to the gym, I'm not just going to them, but you're going to the gym several times a week and doing your thing. Um, you need to find strategies to make your nutrition plan work for your life, otherwise it's, it's just, it's not gonna work in the long term.

Chad [9:24 - 10:19]
No, it makes sense, That makes sense. Um, and yeah, like, so obviously we want to talk about sort of labels, the corporate athlete or the weekend warrior, you know, working out 3 to 5 times a week for about an hour a day and that they're living a fairly active lifestyle. They're balancing their trying to balance fitness and nutrition and, and work and families and activities and all that sort of stuff, but like, it is one of the things we talked about a lot and we hear about community, I think just in society, you know, it's a struggle to balance all those things, especially as we, for some reason keep getting busier and busier and oftentimes nutrition is the hot topic that sort of takes a big hit, right? Um and so I think that's one of the areas that we really interested to get your take on and so maybe right off the bat, like what is sort of one of the biggest mistakes or sort of challenges that you see sort of most people making with your nutrition in that context?

Cara [10:20 - 12:41]
I mean, I think it's a couple of things, you know, I think for most people, especially people that are health conscious that go to the gym several times a week, that are working out that kind of live that active lifestyle, they know what they're supposed to be doing, right. Like we all have a sense of like, okay, I, you know, I know I'm supposed to eat more vegetables and fruit and fiber and protein and all that good stuff. Um but the implementation of it can be challenging and I think a lot of people get stuck in kind of that all or nothing thinking where it's like, I'm gonna, you know, eat really clean for, you know, for the starting on monday and you know, be 100% and do like three hours of meal prep on sunday and like get ready for the week and then it's just not sustainable and kind of falls apart and then it's like the weekend, it's like this free for all right because you're like just like, you know, tired and like happy you made it to the weekend and it's like, okay, I get to like order food and have wine and then it's just like, so it's that inconsistency, right? And that thinking, you know, it's great when you're in the all mentality where it's like you're all in and going 100% but it's not sustainable and so that inconsistency throughout the week and the month will lead to um just not making any progress on your goals because if you're if you're doing something 100% you know, four days of the week and then you're not doing it at all three days of the week, that's actually a big chunk of the week that you're not doing anything, right? Um So we really have to look at what's gonna be consistent, what's gonna be, what's that gray area, right? Where it's like, it's in between all or nothing because that's where most of our life will actually happen. So what can we do? Um You know, in terms of like meal prep, right? Like so what is like what our little five minute, 10 minute things that we can do that will set us up for success during the week, right? What can we do? You know whether it's even just like Cutting up some veggies in 10 minutes and putting them at eye level in the fridge, right? Like simple, simple stuff that will like set you up for success and that's really what we're looking at is those strategies. So I would say the biggest mistake that people make is just the black and white thinking around it. Um and and you know, we'll get into kind of some of the other things around carbs and protein and stuff like that, but um but I think that mindset is the first thing that's gonna be a huge challenge to any kind of success.

Chad [12:42 - 13:34]
Why do you think that is, is it, is it just the, there's so many different types of messaging we get from society. Like how did we get to this point where like, you know, you can be an elite athlete at a younger age and be so determined and so regimented with pretty much anything right in university, like your schedule, your your fitness program, your nutrition, it's all very regimented and then all of a sudden you turn the page and then it it becomes like so much more open and it's so much harder for us to balance that. Like I always, I always wonder like how did this, how did we get here where we we struggle so much with nutrition in itself? I know there's obviously when we say struggling also relative here, but um do you have any thoughts on like why it's such a challenge for most people?

Cara [13:34 - 14:54]
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, there's so many different factors that go into it, I think life gets really busy and like we have so many other things to prioritize often um that it's like, you know, especially once you have, you know, kids and careers and all of that and stuff where it's like, you know, there are things that you like things that you have to do and you don't have all the time and energy necessarily to put into planning nutrition and meal prepping and all that kind of stuff, but I think it is also that there's so much messaging out there around what we should and shouldn't do and, you know, a lot of the clients that I work with feel a lot of, you know, I feel a lot of like guilt and anxiety and stress around food and so any time those things come up, um sometimes it's just like, I don't even want to think about this, right? Like I don't even want to like put energy into this because it brings up so many negative emotions, so that can definitely part of it too. And I think, you know, our society is kind of hard wired to be like, kind of that black and white thinking where it's like this new diet plan or this new, you know, whatever plan and then we feel like we always have to be doing that thing versus, you know, finding kind of like a personalized strategy that works for us in our family, like that's ultimately what will bring you success in terms of nutrition

Chad [14:55 - 15:17]
Yeah, I can't yeah, I can't agree more with that, I think it's like one of those things where it's like it takes so long to learn good nutrition practices and have a healthy relationship with food, like it's it's crazy how it's such a vital part of our life and how many people actually just have a difficulty with just like the topic of nutrition or food. I'm sure there'll be a lot of people listening to this that just don't want to listen to it because it's like yet another person talking about nutrition

Cara [15:17 - 15:19]
and it's

Chad [15:19 - 15:56]
like it's pretty crazy like in my experience, like it's taken uh it's taken me a long time to like I've tried different things, I've I've done this sort of macro accounting and that sort of work for me. Um But yeah, I would have to say, even in in my sort of finished journey, like it took a few years to get to a sort of quote unquote balanced nutrition player where I I don't have to feel guilty I can eat, you know, I can I can have a glass of wine or drink on the weekend for a little bit or have this dessert here, but I don't feel like I can't do it, but I know that I shouldn't do too much of it so that I have a balance right?

Cara [15:56 - 17:12]
Yeah. And I think it's about I always talk to people about prioritizing nutrients versus restricting nutrients, right restricting foods and and you know, we can get more into that too. But I think any time you have that restriction mindset or again kind of black and white thinking I mean it's human nature to want to rebel against that, right? And so it just makes it harder, it's like this like you know this this war going on internally around, like I don't I don't want to have that, but I I know I shouldn't but I do want it and that whole thing. So if we can instead look at it as like in order to meet my goals, this is what I'm gonna prioritize. Um And then like you said, I can still have the dessert, I can still have a glass of wine. It's not gonna make or break me, it's not like, oh I have to just start from scratch on monday. We know those things if we're doing them once a week, once a month whatever, it's not gonna have a huge impact on our overall goals and diet and health, right? It's the stuff that we're doing friday saturday and sunday all day that are gonna have the impact on our goals, right? So once you can make that shift and understand what nutrients and what foods you have to prioritize for what your goals are then sometimes that can really make all the difference in terms of how you feel about food.

Chad [17:13 - 17:37]
Mhm. No, for sure. Let's let's jump into that right right now. Like how do you, like you're talking about prioritizing micronutrients, like how do you look at that sort of like how do you sort of like you said you help your your thought process and how you sort of teach nutrition or or talk about nutrition is very practical. So how do you sort of go about doing that?

Cara [17:37 - 22:52]
Yeah. So that's a great question. So you know oftentimes and and first of all like you know, everyone again is different. Right? So even when we talk about macronutrients, we talk about calories. Um all of that is such an individualized thing. And so that's why when I work with clients it's never like a one time session because we can't really make progress in one time of meeting you because I can't tell you just based on height, weight and age, how much you should be eating and you know, macronutrients and stuff because it's actually much more complex than that. So of course we have formulas and different guidelines and things to kind of help us decide okay as a starting point, let's try this. Um But then we look at other things as well, right, there are so many metrics that we can look at um in terms of success, right? So it might be looking at changes in body composition whether that's mean tissue or fat mass. It might be looking at recovery from workouts, sleep energy levels, mood. Um blood work. Um You know even things like cravings and hunger throughout the day and those sorts of things, right? So there's so many different outcomes that we look at to see if you're eating the right amount for your body because it's so different from person to person. Um So it's it's you know, it's hard to say like yes, you need X amount of carbs and X amount of protein. But I really start by talking about okay, depending on what your goals are, right? Like for the average person who probably wants to, you know, get stronger and leaner, you know, we might be looking at, okay, you know, we want to prioritize things like protein um fiber, you know, fruits and vegetables, that sort of thing. So for example, um just working with a client this week. And so one of the concerns that he had was that, you know, he was working out at lunch and then kind of feeling like grazing and snacking throughout the afternoon and evening, right? Super common. Like this happens to a lot of people um and you know, he's reaching for granola bars, crackers, like the easy stuff, right? Because those types of foods are convenient, like just rip open a package and dig in and you're good to go. Um But again, and not that we want to say you can never have a granola bar like that it's fine to have some granola bars, but is that gonna be the best thing to eat for your goals, right? So if you're working out, he was having a good post workout meal. But then we're looking at, okay, let's prioritize protein and fiber in the afternoon if you're feeling hungry, right? So we talked about what that might look like in terms of a snack in the afternoon. And then I always say if you're still feeling hungry after that have a granola bar, right? Like you don't want to have that restriction mentality. So you can still have that. Most people, if they have a good, you know, 15 20 g protein snack with some fiber in it, you're not gonna necessarily feel hungry for something after that, right? But you know, and sometimes just that mental feeling of like, okay, I still have the option of having the granola bar if I really want to write. But it's kind of thinking through those things. The other thing too, is looking at kind of hunger levels throughout the day because that's such a key thing, right? And I always tell people like, like what I often talk about with clients is that there are really like four types of hunger or for reasons why we eat, right? One of them is like that physical hunger one is kind of maybe for emotional reasons whether we're tired or bored or upset or whatever, it might be one is out of habit, right? Like if we always have a snack while we're watching tv or whatever it is. And then the fourth one is because something tastes good, right? It's just like, oh, you just want to eat that chocolate or whatever it is. So if we can kind of, first of all determine the reason why we're eating. Um that can be helpful to determine like strategies to help with that. But then also looking at hunger, like if we truly have a physiological hunger or craving, um that can be a clue that maybe we're not eating enough earlier on in the day, right? So if someone tells me, I always feel like grazing throughout the afternoon or in the evening or have cravings for food in the evening, um That to me is actually more of a, let's figure out the physiological piece of that before we talk about like strategies for cravings, right? Because it could just be a matter of eating more at the beginning of the day and you start to feel satisfied later on in the day and you've kind of solved that problem, right? But I find a lot of times people are kind of scared to eat more during the day because they think they'll just end up eating all day long and still have that big snack in the evening and they're worried about things like weight gain. Um So, so it can be helpful to have someone like myself kind of coach, you know, coach them through that and try different strategies for that. Um But it is, you know, it can be a little bit a little bit nuanced in terms of like, okay, why am I actually having those cravings? Like is it true hunger or is it something else? Or is it a habit I've developed? And you know, a lot of the work that I do is also like kind of just habit based change where we're looking at practicing and developing new habits around food.

Chad [22:53 - 23:51]
So yeah, so that's one of the big things I learned um for them, so I usually work out in the morning and a lot of, a lot of our community probably works in the morning or at least the first part of the day. Um And even like today is a good example, like today I worked out at five a.m. Which isn't always the case, I worked out that early, but come 11 o'clock I was really, really hungry. Um and I didn't think I ate enough at breakfast. Um And so I as soon as I know that I'm a little bit hungry later in the day, I'm like, oh shoot, I didn't eat enough this morning, so you know, keep an eye on that for tomorrow and make sure that I'm, you know, getting a bit more around the workout because I definitely feel that for sure, being sort of an ecto morph in a really tall person and fairly lean. Um I sort of under eat I guess in most cases because I probably burned a lot. I got a high metabolism and so I noticed right away when in the afternoon I'm feeling hungry and then like shoot I did not eat enough this morning.

Cara [23:51 - 25:12]
Yeah totally. And that can be and that's great too. Like you know like reflect on that and then make that change right? Like that's what what nutrition is is it's I think sometimes people feel maybe guilty or feel like oh I'm hungry. Like I should just ignore that. Like I you know, I don't want to overeat. But if you can actually use that as data, right? And okay I'm hungry. So what does that mean? Like hunger is a sign that your body is giving you that you need more calories. Like that's what hunger is. So if you keep ignoring that um you're actually ignoring your body's Q. And you're that in turn will have a cascade of effects in terms of metabolism, slowing down digestion, slowing down hormone production, slowing down. Um So ignoring that especially long term is gonna be really detrimental to to anything you're trying to achieve. Um So instead of feeling like I have to ignore this hunger because I just had breakfast, you know, thinking, okay why am I hungry? Like maybe I didn't eat enough this morning, you know tomorrow I'm going to eat more and see if I feel less hungry in the morning or less hungry at lunch. So yeah I think that's a great point Like that is a huge a huge kind of feedback mechanism that our body gives us and if we ignore that um that's where a lot of problems can come from.

Chad [25:13 - 26:29]
Mhm. It's interesting how like you your approach to nutrition is very specialized and I love how you're talking about blood work and all those different things, because, you know, like we're going back to what we're saying before messaging is always like, you know, X amount of protein X amount of carbs ex pats or, you know, they try to simplify it were saying, you know, it's a handful of protein and a fistful of X. Um and I imagine that works sort of to a general population, but I I do think when we talk about sort of a corporate athlete that's that's been consistently joining or consistently going to the gym, maybe there's frustrations because they're not seeing the results, but they're, you know, they love the gym, that's their one hour a day where they can uh you know, get their workout and sweat, get strong, but then it's like the rest of the day is sort of obviously leading them not to get the results right? So like what's in like let's talk about like sort of let's call it like workout nutrition like pre post what's an easy way that you approach sort of nutrition around, you know, the time of fitness. I know the endurance athletes is one thing, but like more from a Yeah,

Cara [26:29 - 26:59]
for sure. So, I think that's a great question because I think a lot of times the athletes that are going, you know, going to the gym hour a day, 345 times a week. They don't necessarily think of themselves as athletes sometimes, right? Like, they're like, well, I go to the gym, but I, you know, like, I'll often get that, like, someone will, you know, want to work with me and say, but I'm not a real athlete. And to me, it's like, well, you are, you're you're moving your body intentionally and you are working out like, to me that as an athlete, so you want to fuel

Chad [27:00 - 27:02]
the majority. Exactly,

Cara [27:02 - 29:20]
exactly. So you want to fuel your body like an athlete, like, change that mentality, right? Like, what do you want to get out of your body? Fuel your body for the work that it's doing that is so, so important. And so yes, it will look different than the endurance athlete who's on their bike for three hours and then running for an hour, right? Like, that's gonna look different, but we don't doesn't mean that we just ignore it altogether. Right? And so a lot of, kind of, the more recreational athletes that I work with, they might get up early, do their workout before work, because that's the only time they have and they enjoy that morning workout, but they may not eat anything before the workout, Right? And like fasted workouts are a thing, there a specific strategy that some athletes use in training for certain muscle adaptations, but it's not something that is generally a good idea um especially for women. So women can really, their hormones can really take a big hit from doing fasted workouts. And so I usually recommend, you know as a first thing, like let's get something in before your workout um and it just helps to kind of balance out those stress hormones first thing in the morning because when you work out especially like a high intensity or heavy lifting, like that is stress to the body, right? And so if or when we wake up in the morning our body is all already kind of in that like you know high stress, like some of those stress hormones are a little bit higher. So we want to give our body a little bit of something so that we're not just like piling more and more stress on edge, right? Like that's um so having a small snack before a workout can be helpful and it can actually help with increasing lean tissue as well. So it can be um you know, it can be something really small, like a piece of fruit or something like that. It can be it can be like some branch chain amino acids. Those can be helpful if you're doing like a fasted workout to have those before or during the workout. Um So it doesn't have to be anything big, but it does have to be something especially for female athletes um because oftentimes that's where we start to see shifts um in hormones which can can then kind of translate into changes in metabolism, increased cravings, you know, appetite is not being regulated all of those sorts of things. So that would be kind of pre workout and post workout, you know,

Chad [29:20 - 29:33]
saying for pre workout to keep it simple. Do you care so much as like if it's it's mainly fats, proteins or carbs?

Cara [29:33 - 30:27]
So I would say, I mean ideally kind of you want to think about it as like a little bit of ideally you want a little bit of carbon, a little bit of protein. Um But again, something is better than nothing because I know if you're working out at five in the morning, you probably don't feel like having something big, right? Like you're not getting up at four am, like have your pre workout meal and you don't need to write. So that's where having something like, you know, a little bit of protein powder mixed in with some water and a banana, you know, could be a great, just like kind of quick thing before you have your do your workout in the morning, Sometimes liquid is easier to tolerate them solid if you're about to do a more like high intensity type of workout. Um So that's why something like a, you know a mix like a protein powder or it doesn't have to be a full scoop. It could be half a scoop mixed in with some liquid Can be helpful.

Chad [30:28 - 30:41]
Okay and would you suggest um if you were working out for an hour whether it was a high intensity workout or a crossfit workout or strength workout for the corporate athlete, would you recommend any sort of intra workout fuel?

Cara [30:41 - 31:07]
So not necessarily. So you know water is fine for an hour workout. Um If you are like let's say again like if you're doing like more of more of a fasted workout if you don't have time to grab anything beforehand than adding some B. C. A. S to your water. Could be a helpful thing to add in there for to have during the workout. So that would be one thing that could potentially be helpful.

Chad [31:08 - 31:22]
Okay. That's it. It's funny how you you saying saying faster workout because I feel like most people probably aren't even looking at like they're actually actually literally wanting to do faster because I feel like it's more like a convenient thing where they just wake up

Cara [31:22 - 31:24]
totally

Chad [31:24 - 31:28]
and they're like I'm not I'm just working out. Exactly.

Cara [31:28 - 32:08]
And that's the thing right? It's like again like if you're more of a recreational athlete you're like well what's the big deal I'm waking up and going to do my workout like a big deal. But but you have to give your body what it means, right? If you're doing that 3-5 times a week, like that can start to have some serious impacts on body composition and metabolism and all of those sorts of things. Um so if you do like, some people find they can't eat, like they just can't, they don't feel hungry or they don't want to eat something before workout. So start small, right? Start with something like, like I said, maybe liquid or something really small and just get your body used to it, but it will make a big difference. It does.

Chad [32:09 - 32:36]
No, for sure. For sure. And I know that there's a lot of conversations about like high glycemic, like sugar based or some sort of, you know, a lot of the recovery drinks have some sort of dextrose or glucose or whatever. And I know that endurance athletes have that when it comes to, you know, like is it I don't want to necessarily sponsor the idea, but like, that sort of high sugar based sort of snack before or after. Is that something that is okay

Cara [32:37 - 32:39]
hmm. Or

Chad [32:39 - 32:44]
does it lead into bad sort of things in the end? Yeah.

Cara [32:44 - 34:43]
Well, you know, that's a great question. I think um I think it is okay for sure and I know a lot of the recovery, like some of the recovery blends will have like, kind of more of that kind of glucose type of sugar as well as the protein? I think for the the athlete that's working out for an hour or 3-5 times a week, you don't necessarily have to have that. Um It's different when with endurance athletes you know you're always kind of working to um kind of recover those glycogen stores because glycogen is always being depleted. So glycogen is carbohydrate stores in the liver and muscle. And so that's where you want those high glycemic carves to kind of like that's a really quick way to refuel and top up the glycogen stores again for your next workout. Whereas for the athlete that's that's working out for an hour 3 to 5 times a week, you actually you know in that our our you deplete your glycogen stores may be right but you actually have 24 hours at least until your next workout to get those refueled, right? So it's not as critical to have like high glycemic index right after the workout. Um but that being said, having some carbohydrate can be helpful because it can help um with muscle recovery and just recovery in general. So I think it is you know important to have a source of carbohydrate with a good you know 30g at least a protein I would say for most people um after the workout to start that muscle recovery. But it's so I guess your to your question, it's not like it has to be the high glycemic stuff if you have a recovery blend that has you know some glucose in it and or has some some form of high glycemic index sugar and has some protein. It's not gonna make or break anything, like you're not gonna get diabetes from that, right? Um But you know, you could also have some oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder in it.

Chad [34:43 - 35:20]
And then from a timing perspective, you know, you know, you're working out from six AM to seven AM finished at seven a.m. Do you? Is there this sort of anabolic window? Is this the thing, is it like, is it immediate, is it like a half hour an hour later? Like what is I know there's obviously people will say, well I gotta get in the shower, get on the road and I'm going to work or something that I want to get the kids. So like what is your sort of um prescription or thoughts on how to best time the sort of post workout food meal?

Cara [35:20 - 36:59]
Yeah, so there's not really as much of an anabolic window as we once thought, like we used to be like 15 minutes after you must have something, right? And more recent research has really shown that it's like a 24 hour kind of thing afterwards, What's most important is that you're having, you know, kind of good, you know, good hits of protein throughout that 24 hour period, you know, ideally every 3 to 4 hours um and that will really optimize muscle recovery. Um But again, to keep things kind of maybe more straightforward, I usually tell people have your recovery meal or snack within 30 to 60 minutes of finishing your workout because yeah, there's not that window, but you're right. Like once you okay now I've done my workout, I go home, I shower, I get the kids ready, I get ready for work, I leave like it could be two hours, right? Like you're just missing, You know, you're you're missing a window of opportunity to get refueling right? Like the sooner the better because then you're gonna have more opportunities to refuel. So if you can get something in within 30-60 minutes that has that. You know, usually I recommend depending on the person, anyone where from 20 to 40 g of protein. Um And then a little, you know some carbohydrate doesn't have to be a full breakfast meal, but it can be something quick. Um And then you can have your breakfast once you get to work or whatever it is. Um But just to kind of start that process as soon as possible, especially, you know, as athletes get a little bit older in their forties and fifties um muscle recovery is huge, right? Like that is protein is so important. So if you can start that refueling process as soon as possible, like that's just gonna be a benefit.

Chad [37:01 - 38:28]
Okay, makes sense. Um Maybe this might be fun. Maybe you can, I'll toss out my my workout routine and you can grade me or give me tips. Um So let's let's take today for example, five am workout. I I take a little bit of bio still sort of high performance fortunate to drink during the workout. And then I also bring a scoop of vegan sort of protein powder and that's what I sort of drink throughout the workout slash end of the workout. Um And then I had like it was like four dates this morning when I woke up, I had four dates today was a sort of a high intensity sort of aerobic sort of sweaty workout for an hour. And then after that um Finish the protein shake. So I also, I didn't like about an hour and 20 minutes of work and then came home had um let's say two eggs and a bunch of egg whites mixed with some peppers and mushrooms, some green juice, which is just like a home remedy of like spinach in a blender um with some apple cider vinegar and then a scoop and a half of oatmeal with a little bit of natural peanut butter cheese seeds, flax seeds, fruit and a little maple syrup on top. I a lot of food. Probably more than most people

Cara [38:28 - 38:33]
do. No that's great, but

Chad [38:33 - 38:35]
am I am I taking the boxes and I'm putting on the spot.

Cara [38:35 - 39:40]
Yeah no totally I was taking, I was writing things down here. Okay, so yeah, definitely, like, okay, so that's a great example. So four dates beforehand. Okay, good carbs right before the workout, which is what we want. Um And dates are a great example because it's like quick write wake up, have your dates get out the door. Um then you had your protein during which is which is right, like a protein powder. Um You know, some people might find that it's a little heavy during a workout but it's very individualized. Right? And so you are definitely um getting, you know, getting a good source of protein there an hour and 20 minute workout. Then afterwards you have the eggs with the egg whites, which I love because you want to get the protein from the eggs. The egg yolk does have a lot of good important nutrients, but you know, to get enough protein, you're not gonna have like six eggs, right? So then adding egg whites can be helpful. The green juice, the oatmeal for the carbs seeds, which is a great source of fiber and lots of different micronutrients, fruit, peanut butter. Yeah. You're hitting all. You're ticking all the boxes.

Chad [39:40 - 39:58]
I've always like, I've always wondered I've had this conversation with Michelle and a few other people about like how much fat that I intake because of the peanut butter because of the cheese seeds and flax seeds and eggs. It seems like maybe a little bit too much fat. And so there was a time period where I didn't put the peanut butter in reluctantly, but it's made its way back in cause I'm like no, I just, it just tastes

Cara [39:59 - 41:20]
totally totally and this is where you know, again you have to kind of figure out what's gonna work best for you, right? Cause and and the other thing too is fat helps with satiety too. So you might take the peanut butter around and be like, oh no, I'm actually hungry or like an hour later. Right? So you have to kind of figure out what will work best for you. But yeah, with with, you know, a lot of the endurance athletes I work with because you know, for a lot of the season, carbohydrates are the priority. And so sometimes fat can compete with that when they're adding things like a lot of peanut butter and seeds and stuff like that. So in those cases we often have to, like I always say prioritize carbs, right? So if your carbon take is too low on your fat intake is too high, then we maybe have to shift that by taking out the peanut butter and adding some extra oats or fruit or something like that. Right? So sometimes we will do those shifts in kind of macro nutrient balance. Um but yeah, it's, you know, fat is one of those things that some people do a bit better with a higher, you know, slightly higher fat intake and we certainly don't want to go too low in fat because we know that has all kinds of negative repercussions in terms of hormone health and stuff like that, so it is, yeah, it's that balance and everyone, everyone's different, some people do well with a higher carb diet and some people do well with a lower carb diet, so you have to look at kind of all the different pieces of, you know, all those different outcomes that I looked at to figure out what's gonna be best.

Chad [41:21 - 41:53]
That makes sense. And so yeah, that all happened before, like, let's say 7 30 ish. Yeah, probably. So then on a rest day, when I wake up, let's say maybe I wake up at 6 30 or something like that, am I approaching that, that seems like a lot of food, um am I gonna, should I um you know, do the two eggs, a bunch of egg whites and then have that nice heaping amazing bowl of oatmeal with fruit and maple syrup and peanut butter and seeds, or should I be sort of thinking about it in a slightly different way.

Cara [41:54 - 43:32]
So, you know, I always say on resting is your intake naturally usually goes down a bit because you're not doing pre during or post workout nutrition right? And so naturally that part is cut out anyway, so then if you kind of follow your usual meals and snacks throughout the day and adjusting based on hunger and fullness levels and things like that. Um Usually you're kind of hitting the right spot for how much you should be eating. Um Now sometimes on recovery days we might actually feel a bit hungrier because after a you know harder workout, sometimes our appetite is a bit suppressed so we don't feel as hungry and then the next day it's almost like trying to catch up right? So we might feel like why am I really hungry today? I didn't work out today. Um But it could be a bit of catch up from the day before and so you want to again pay attention to that. Your body is saying it needs some extra nutrients for recovery so then maybe adding a bit more protein to your meals. Could be helpful in that case. Um But yeah, I would say you know if that meal is still um you know, you feel satisfied after that you don't feel like it's too much, you're not too full then that would be fine for a rest because you're not having the dates, the protein scoop of protein powder during the workout. You know, you're not having some of those other things. So naturally that kind of decreases. Um And then yeah, focusing more on, you know the high fiber and the um you know lots of color, like lots of fruits and vegetables and things like that on rest days can be helpful and like the protein piece to for recovery um kind of prioritizing those things and and kind of assessing how you feel with that amount of

Chad [43:32 - 44:06]
food makes sense. Makes sense. Cool. That's great. Um So like I guess the topic of protein um I know that it's often I'm sure in your experience it's a pretty big topic. I know that especially with women uh Actually no I guess it's not fair like protein and carbs probably have the same sort of rap because like oftentimes right there everyone thinks carbs will make them fat or fat will make them fat and protein will make them like bulky,

Cara [44:06 - 44:07]
right?

Chad [44:07 - 44:20]
Um And I know that I would assume and maybe this is a question for you like are we under the I guess we're a very carb heavy society and very low protein.

Cara [44:21 - 47:50]
Yeah I mean we are and we're not like so with carbs it's kind of this funny thing like some people are very scared of carbs and want to avoid them at all costs. And then but then most of like I mentioned the granola bar on the cracker example right? Most of our convenience like quick foods are very high carb refined types of foods. So it's kind of this like love hate relationship like yeah we do eat a lot of them but also we don't like them and we try to avoid them, right? So um So it's finding and you know just like like no one nutrients will make you gain weight right? Like it's it's looking at the balance and you know, the excess of everything. So um So it's not fair to say like oh yeah, carbohydrates will make you gain weight like that's just not true. Um And the same is true with protein. Like if you eat too much protein, you'll gain weight too right? Like you have to look at like the whole picture of the diet. Um And so with cards, yeah, there's this weird relationship with cards. And then with protein um also kind of like, you know, most people actually eat enough protein but it kind of depends on their needs, but it's also the distribution of protein throughout the day. Right? And so um we know especially if we're looking at making body composition changes um having you know, especially you know, kind of older, 30 plus type of athletes, we want to get about 300.42 point six g of protein per kilogram of body weight. You know, every 3 to 5 hours. Like if we can get that that amount 4 to 5 times per day, that's kinda the goal, right? Um And I can't maybe do the math right off the top of my head, but that might be 30 to 40 g for you know, depending on your weight obviously. 30 to 40 g of protein or five times a day. So are most people doing that No right? Like often times breakfast is very low in protein snacks are low in protein lunch? Maybe low in protein dinner is probably too high in protein, right? So it's this imbalance. So if we can kind of figure out how to balance it out better and get kind of that distribution of protein throughout the day, um carbohydrates figure out how to um have a good healthy relationship with carbohydrates where, you know, kind of the timing of when to take them, how what types of carbohydrates to have, you know, all of those sorts of things like carbohydrates, you can almost think of them as like, protein sparing, right? If our body has enough carbohydrates to do all of the activities we're doing, then it's our body is not going to have to kind of go into the protein and the muscle stores and break down muscle for energy. So carbohydrates actually play a really important role um especially in women, if we're under eating carbohydrates. Again, that can have huge implications for hormones and estrogen levels and things like that. So, it is actually quite important to get the right amount of carbohydrates. Um And again, often times people will have this all or nothing where they're like low carb, like I'm not gonna eat any carbs, like no carbs with my meals, Right? But then there's this bounce back where it's like all the cards all the time, Right? It's just like, so it's finding that balance and like, how can I eat enough of the things I need so that I feel good and I'm not having these cravings or these big swings up and down in terms of, you know, hunger levels and things like

Chad [47:50 - 48:58]
that. I have so many questions that just came out of that. Um uh first question actually just first thought like, how do you balance, you know, your macros, like this is all the same question about protein. So like, I feel like it's fairly common for folks to say like if they have a built in routine for a snack in the afternoon, it's very difficult for me to get protein. I've tried the greek yogurt, I've tried the protein shake, I've tried the boiled egg, what else can I do for protein? Right. Like it feels like we don't have enough options, convenient options for protein in the like for those instances, like, would you like, do you have any sort of ideas? Because then it's like, okay, we'll go grab a protein bar. But then how do you balance whole foods versus what is in this protein bar? It's got a bunch of chemicals in it probably. It it tells me I get 25 g of protein. But what's the source? Like, how do you approach that? Because I feel like that's like even for someone like myself, I feel like I sort of nailed the whole nutrition thing, but it's still something that you should easily struggle

Cara [48:58 - 49:14]
with your and I think you know that's that's one of the big things is like how to get that amount of protein in kind of quick convenient snack options that aren't like eating, you know eating a chicken breast meal kind of thing. Um

Chad [49:14 - 49:15]
Meatballs.

Cara [49:15 - 50:19]
Exactly, you could do that. Um But yeah, you want it to be kind of like you know, a bit normal too, right? Like you don't want to be like in this like body building like any chicken and broccoli five times a day, right? Like you want it to be like enjoyable and like you know kind of eating foods that you want to keep eating. Um So yeah, I mean definitely the options you mentioned are great. The greek or Icelandic yogurt, the hard boiled eggs, um having a little protein shake. Um Those are all great options. Sometimes it can be um And even two protein bars like. Yeah, for sure you can have some like I don't usually recommend having protein bars every day because you're right like it's sometimes even it can just make people feel like G. I. Y. Is not that great because of some of the like sugar alcohols they put in there and like different sweeteners and stuff like that. Um So they're okay as kind of like a backup but not necessarily your daily go to um So looking at yeah like even like looking at some plant based protein options, right? So things like nuts and

Chad [50:19 - 50:19]
seeds

Cara [50:20 - 51:49]
where you may not get 20 g of protein from a serving of pumpkin seeds, but you might get 10 g, right? So if you pair that with you know, a couple of slices of cheese and an apple. You know, you're getting a decent amount of protein, right? Or things like roasted, they have different like roasted fava beans and roasted lentils and things like that where you can actually get 10 15 g of protein in a serving. Um And again you could pair that with something else and get you know, a pretty decent protein, you know, high protein snack. Um And then there's things like cottage cheese and you know, even just like Like drinking something like coffee that has 10 g of protein in a cup which is like a it's like a fermented milk drink, right? Um so those sorts of things can be good options to forgetting extra protein in. Um But yeah, oftentimes or you know, you could even do something like um you know, people are gonna be like what? But like a slice of like a whole grain bread which has you know, maybe five or six g of protein in one slice and add you know a bit of like almond butter and hemp seeds on top, right? Like that could easily be 12 g of protein right there. Um And then if you have a little cup of coffee with that, like that could be 20 g 25 g of protein, Right? So you kind of have to think about mixing and matching sometimes too, and getting a little bit creative. Um and yeah, and there's definitely a lot of snacks that can give you that protein head.

Chad [51:50 - 52:15]
No, that's really that's great. I mean, that's yeah, I mean that's that's great advice. I think when I when I hear you say that it's like, I guess going back to what you're saying that you have to sort of figure out prioritization if you're processing protein, then the sort of the extra fat that comes with some of those snacks is what it is. Again, it's not going to make you add additional weight anyway. Um because maybe, Yeah. Okay,

Cara [52:15 - 52:16]
cool. I

Chad [52:16 - 52:24]
just see that, I see that that's like kind of like, I would imagine that was fairly high in fat, but I guess that's also just kind of comes with the territory if you need to get protein.

Cara [52:24 - 52:44]
Yeah, totally. And so sometimes again, like, and this is where individualizing it based on your needs is going to be so important because for some people, yeah, that might be a bit too much fat and we might look at some other options. Um but for most people, you know, it can be a reasonable amount of fat that won't be like, will be detrimental in terms of their overall goals.

Chad [52:44 - 53:31]
Right? Cool. Um the other question that I sort of took note of um carbohydrates late in the day, or I guess late in the day or up, so how I approach it is, I try to decrease my carbs as I go throughout the day. So breakfast, breakfast slash workout time is heavy. Carbs, launches, got a bunch of carbs, and then when I get the dinner, carbs are fairly small to some degree. Obviously, if I'm going out for dinner, most likely probably not because, you know, a burger and fries is X, but like for the most part, that's sort of my golden rule, would you say that's appropriate? Or do you relate it back to like opposite your workout time? Or or do you not just just as long as you're imbalanced carbs, it's not a big deal.

Cara [53:31 - 55:25]
Yeah, I mean, I do like that approach because you're prioritizing carbohydrates around your workout time, um and oftentimes just metabolically, like we're more active in the beginning of the day versus the end of the day, right? So it does make sense to kind of eat in a way that supports that. Um so kind of front loading your carbohydrates, especially if the workout is in the morning does make a lot of sense and then kind of tapering it off throughout the day to the end of the day, um I always tell people like, again, if you're getting to dinner and you're like really hungry and feeling like you have to eat a lot that's a big red flag that you're not eating enough during the day. And often times if we're under eating at the beginning of the day, especially if we work out, we're gonna feel like they've actually measured and looked at, you know, hunger hormones and things like that, those are gonna be elevated later on in the day. So you're gonna feel that in the evening. And so if you feel like you have to sit down to a big heavy dinner and like that's what you're hungry for. It would just be, you know, a point of reflection where you want to say, okay, maybe I actually need to be moving the curbs to the beginning of the day and then you want to get to dinner and feel satisfied with, you know, at least kind of the same amount that you would eat at the other meals or maybe a bit smaller and, and feel okay with that when you get to that point, that's kind of a good sign that okay, I'm, I'm probably eating enough for what I need during the day. Um, and again, I think sometimes people feel like, oh, I have to, you know, be good and I'm using quotations, right, Be good and not eat cards at the beginning of the day and I'm only going to eat, you know, protein and veg and all of that stuff and then they get to the end of the day and they're like hungry and wanting to have a larger meal and so let's flip that, right? Like let's work with our bodies, not against our bodies. And so let's, let's feed our body the energy and, and the carbohydrates it needs at the beginning of the day and then see how we feel at the end of the day

Chad [55:27 - 55:37]
makes sense. And even for someone that works out later in the day, obviously the rule for still getting carbohydrates around your workout is still totally the priority.

Cara [55:37 - 56:20]
Yeah, definitely. So you want to prioritize around the workout, um, you want to still have a recovery carb protein snack afterwards or have your dinner afterwards. Um, like I would say, yeah, definitely. You don't want to, like if you do work out later in the day or even in the evening, you wouldn't want to just skip a recovery meal or because you're worried about eating in the evening like that, that recovery, I would say is priority. Like prioritize that over. Um, you know, I don't want to eat in the evening because there's no, there's just nothing to support that. Like you shouldn't, especially if you just didn't work out, so that's going to be important. Yeah.

Chad [56:21 - 57:00]
And, and I guess how do you approach someone that is, um, they're looking to uh body compositions or gold, they're looking to lose some weight and right away their thought process is I need to cut the calories I need to, you know, like you said, car free or just whatever and you know, they have this goal in mind that in 12 weeks I need to do this. How do you help them approached this? Yeah, approached their goal.

Cara [57:00 - 58:52]
So that's a really great question. So when I work with clients and I'm very upfront about this, right? When we first talk, before we even decide to work together, I always say, um, you know, wait, is something like wait alone. I think body composition is a better marker of, you know, making changes and stuff. Weight alone is a difficult thing because there's so many things affecting our weight, right? Whereas body composition, you know, is a little bit more um, was a little bit more in depth in terms of what's happening, right? So, um, but I always say, you know, obviously there's so many factors playing playing a role and so, you know, I want to help people find kind of their best weight or their best body composition for them, right? And that's again gonna be different for everyone and it is more of a long term Goal, I would say, um sure, you can see changes in the short term in, you know, six weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks, that sort of thing. Um, but just like an endurance sport, like it often takes years and like, not to discourage people, but like, like it's something that you work away on and like I always say like, you know, I want you to like six months down the road, 12 months down the road, look back and say like, whoa, like I've actually come a really long way, right? Like if we can make those steps and lay that foundation, then that's really where the success lies. So, you know, So I always tell people like, yes, like, let's make these changes. I want you to like, first of all, feel good, perform really well, see, you know, achieve your fitness schools and then changes in body composition are almost like a by product of that, right? Because if we're feeling good, we're doing all the things. So when we look at cutting back, when we look at cutting back on calories, that is often the go to, right? Like, I'm gonna cut back on what I'm eating calories, carbs. And I'm gonna see some weight loss. And sure in the short

Chad [58:52 - 58:53]
term we

Cara [58:53 - 59:22]
often do see weight loss as a result of that, right? But of course, you want to look at what kind of weight are you losing because that's really important, right? Are you losing muscle losing fat or using water? Um And we also want to look at what is that doing long term, right? Because we know even a few days of a restricted diet can lead to decreases in our basal metabolic rate. Um So our metabolism starts to slow down because our body is trying to conserve energy

Chad [59:22 - 59:23]
hormone

Cara [59:23 - 60:34]
production starts to decrease. Um We you know often see some reduction in muscle mass. Um So even though the number on the scale may be shifting, you're also doing damage that can be difficult to reverse, right? So um sometimes it's a matter of and you will often see this with people that feel like they're kind of stuck, right? So they're like I'm working out really hard, I'm watching my diet like why am I not seeing changes? Or maybe they're seeing the opposite changes of what they want. Like I'm actually gaining fat and losing muscle, right? Um And it could be that you're actually not eating the right amount for what your body needs. So it started slowing down and so sometimes, you know, that's where you might look at, okay, you know, nutrient timing and eating enough so that our metabolism can work well and then you know, that's where we often start to see things moving a bit better and and shifting so that you're building muscle, decreasing body fat. Um And that's really where like once you find that and you can start working on that, then that's where you start to see the progress coming a lot faster.

Chad [60:36 - 60:56]
Okay, that makes sense. And so what's a good nutrition tip for someone that wants to build sort of lean muscle mass, I mean same category sort of but they're prioritizing, you know, I want to get more muscle, which equals, I'm getting stronger.

Cara [60:57 - 61:23]
So I mean the main thing is looking at um you know, obviously protein is huge when we're looking at increasing muscle mass and getting kind of that, you know that those chunks of protein often throughout the day um having a you know, there's a lot of research that shows pre bedtime protein of about 40 g is really helpful in muscle recovery overnight. Um So that can be helpful. Um

Chad [61:23 - 61:26]
Is that like is that specific to a casing protein?

Cara [61:26 - 62:13]
So the research does has used casing protein and casing is dairy protein. So I usually recommend, you know, based on what we know from the research having, you know, some kind of dairy protein, you know, using that having that for So that could be something like a greek, yogurt or Icelandic yogurt or something like that doesn't necessarily have to be casing protein powder. Um But yeah, that can be, you know, that can be an effective strategy um sleep. I mean, you know, if we don't have if we don't get enough sleep then that is like that's like foundational, right? And so we have to look at all of these different components and that's true for any changes in terms of body composition and health and stuff like that, is that if, you know, if we're not if we're putting all this work into nutrition, but not prioritizing sleep,

Chad [62:13 - 62:14]
like

Cara [62:14 - 63:13]
it's not gonna work right? Like that's number one if we can prioritize that, so that's a huge piece of it too. Um It depends what your goal is, like if it's actual like, weight gain in terms of increasing muscle mass, then obviously you want to have that calorie surplus um and you you have to do that consistently. Um So again, it's like, you know, you can't do it 50% of the time and expect to see, You know, the results you want, you have to do it, you know, 80, 95% of the time, so you have to find a way that works. Um and a lot of times when people are wanting to increase muscle mass, maybe don't do it in like, there's no planned approach, just like many things with nutrition, right? It's like, oh, I'm gonna try to make the best choice, I'm gonna try to eat more protein, but like, let's actually have a plan for how that's gonna work. And then you can actually be successful in doing it 90% of the time instead of just trying to eat more protein or more protein bars or having more protein shakes or whatever it might be

Chad [63:14 - 63:50]
gotcha And going back to overtime before with like, sort of the, what feels like a limited uh limited sort of ideas for protein. Is it important to diversify sort of what you're doing for protein? Like, if I'm having eggs in the morning and I'm doing chicken at lunch and I had a protein shake in the morning with my workout and then have a protein shake again in the afternoon and then I have chicken again at night. Like is that now I'm getting my protein in but I'm getting it from really just two sources. Is that something that you sort of look at or again it just comes down to sort of fine tuning over time.

Cara [63:50 - 65:17]
Yeah, I mean diversity is always a good thing in your diet because there's so many different nutrients that work synergistically in the foods that we consume. So always having the same sources isn't in the long run is not going to be beneficial. Um but you know, definitely um you know, focusing on those high quality proteins. So if you're having like eggs and chicken and you know, weight protein or a good like plant based protein, then you are getting, you know, a good amount of the different essential amino acids and high quality proteins. So that's good. Um I would say, you know, I would look at are you doing this short term? So some of the athletes I work with will say like, okay, the next three months I want to gain you know, x amount of muscle and like so okay short term sure, let's increase, you know, you're having two protein shakes a day and you're eating more chicken and you're doing that kind of thing for the short term. But then longer term, You know, we modify things a bit. So there's more variety. But sometimes if you have a goal and we're looking at, Okay, we're gonna, you know, need to eat 200 g of protein a day. Well, what does that look like then? How can we realistically do it? You're gonna probably need more protein powder in your diet and more of those like concentrated sources of protein. So sometimes we'll do that for the short term. But longer term it will be better to have a bit more diversity just because different types of foods have different protein profiles and you're getting different benefits from them.

Chad [65:18 - 66:13]
Gotcha, gotcha. Um, no, that's great. Makes sense. Well, let's um, really generic and simple. Maybe, maybe simplifying too much. But we've talked a lot about the details. And we talked a lot about, um, nutrition. I'm, uh, someone that's been doing regular sort of 3-5. I'm a regular sort of weekend warrior. My fitness regimen is pretty sound. I don't skip a workout, but I've been doing it for a year or so. But my nutrition, my nutrition is still something that just, you know, I can't get down. How do you, what is sort of a few things that you would just tell that person to focus on to? A very simple aspect of just like getting just a little bit better. Just like a starting point.

Cara [66:14 - 66:18]
Yeah, that's a great question where, how to simplify it to that level. Yeah, I would say,

Chad [66:18 - 66:41]
yeah, I mean, I mean, we talked a lot about it and I think at this point it's like someone's listening is like, oh my God, there's so many things to think about, like timing diversity, but and it is a complicated topic, I totally get it, it's not as easy as some people make it sound like, but I don't also know it can be easy if you can simplify it um but I know it's not an easy, I

Cara [66:41 - 67:38]
would say as a starting point. Um you know, if you can if you can look at like even just like meal timing and snack timing, so prioritize pre and post workout nutrition and then eating, you know, every 3 to 5 hours kind of throughout the day, so that might look like pre and post and lunch and dinner, it might look like pre and post lunch snack dinner, you know? But if you can get kind of that consistency as a like, number one starting point um that alone will be huge for someone who might skip meals or for someone who's like not taking anything before or after the workout or goes long periods without eating, like and has lots of inconsistency. So if you can get consistent just with that, I think that would be a huge starting point before even looking at meal composition or anything like that. Um

Chad [67:38 - 67:38]
that can

Cara [67:38 - 67:40]
Be, I would say that would be number one

Chad [67:42 - 68:16]
that's great, and then so someone that is interested in sort of taking the nutrition further, how how could someone, so how do they start working with someone like yourself? Like I know that a lot of people, like they digest a lot of nutritional advice off the internet podcast, etcetera, but not many people, like they have a fitness coach, they don't always have a nutrition coach and I know I would almost assume no offense, but like a nutrition coach would be your your bang for your buck is probably in that area versus just a fitness coach. I mean, I'm probably, I don't

Cara [68:16 - 68:17]
know

Chad [68:17 - 68:28]
if any fitness coaches, but I mean it's one hour day vs sort of, you know, 23 hours of the day, 24 hours a day. So how would someone start working with someone like yourself?

Cara [68:28 - 70:35]
Yeah, yeah, so we have different options for how to work with us. We work one on one with people um and we have, you know, different programs that we work, we work with. So we have like a six week program and a three month program that we work with athletes in. Um and so to get started with us, you can go to our website which is blueprint nutrition dot c a um there is a link there to book a call, so we always book an initial call um where we just kind of jump on a call and discuss what your goals are and see it for a good fit to work together because that's so important to you want to make sure that you're working with someone that you want to work with in terms of just like any kind of coach, but nutrition coaching as well. Um and then from there we would decide kind of what the next best steps are. So there's a link to book dot call on our website at blueprint nutrition dot c a um and yeah, that would probably be the best way to get in touch with us and to kind of start the process of of working with us. Um and yeah, I mean I think, you know, my goal when I work with people is always to uh to give them the tools, strategies and all of the information they need to go forward and feel confident doing it on their own right. So I don't want people to have to see me every week for the rest of their lives. I want them to feel empowered and confident and feel like they have a really solid plan moving forward. Um So that's what I always tell people. Of course I would, you know, love to continue working with people if they really feel they need that support and accountability, but um but I really want to yeah, just empower people to do it on their own and feel like they know what they're doing because I think yeah, there's so much information out there, it's confusing, It's overwhelming, it's stressful. So to have that plan and guidance and accountability to kind of develop something for you, your specific needs and very personalized needs. Um I think that feels, that feels good. That feels like, okay, I can kind of ignore all of the noise that's out there because I know what I need for my body and uh, and that's my, that's my hope and my goal for all of my clients.

Chad [70:37 - 71:13]
Great. That's awesome. I'll definitely probably take you up on that love to keep talking to you, but to you, hopefully we can get you back because I know that we wanted to talk about nutrition with kids and teenagers and we'll get to that. Um so we'll definitely have to schedule you in for another session, awesome. Well thank you so much for your time. Thank you for all the information. This has been super great. Um and thanks everyone for listening. Hopefully you learn a few things um and definitely reach out and booking session by everyone.