TriMarni Podcast: Strong is the New Skinny

I recently tuned in to a podcast interview with Marni Sumbal.  You’ve seen me mention her blog a number of times; I’m always interested in what she has to say about nutrition & exercise, as she has a very sensible approach and doesn’t jump on to every fad that comes out.  Plus she’s an endurance athlete and loves plant-based food!  Her points below really resonated with me and I found a few of them to be quite influential, so I wanted to share:

• For athletes & fitness enthusiasts, it’s important that you don’t underfuel before a workout, and that you fuel properly during & after workout. It’s important to make sure body doesn’t fatigue too quickly and sustains energy over time.  Some favorite energy-dense foods for endurance athletes include: granola, honey, raisins, bread (cracker, pita, bagel), pasta, and rice.
• Aim for 20-30g protein per meal
• “It’s not about living to 90, but enjoying all of those years of life” {I loved this quote}
• There is no “best diet”; but you have to find what makes you happy.  A diet similar to Mediterranean diet (plant-based, with whole grains) is found to reduce the risk of disease.
• Enjoy mealtime & food, and feel better after you eat than before.  Take the time to sit down and eat.
• Marni’s #1 piece of advice – Eat more real food, prepared at home.
• Create a diet that allows you to function optimally in life: uplifts your mood, lessens sickness, fuels your activities, etc.  Find food as a positive, not negative.
• For menopausal women: move body as much as possible including strength training 2-3x per week full body, don’t neglect protein (not pre-made bars/shakes), but instead eat real food options and incorporate protein into each of your three meals and snack with a purpose.
• For training, focus small gains daily, not on perfection

The quote about enjoying all the years of your life is great.  It’s too easy to spend time worrying about what you eat for superficial reasons, like weight loss/maintenance (something I focus on too much). Instead, we should be enjoying life and fueling for a life that makes us happy and allows us to do all the activities we love illness and injury free.  We too easily see food as just calories, but instead should look for foods with a variety of nutrients and vitamins.  A colorful plate does wonders!  Just follow my Grandma Susie’s rule for salad bowls: three colors and three textures.

And the thought of feeling better after you eat made me think twice that sure I want to enjoy food while I’m eating, but I want to feel satisfied and ready to go after eating, not stuffed.  I read a long time ago in a magazine that you want to think how you’ll feel after eating something, not just how you feel during eating it.

Easy food prepared at home: chopped cucumber, tomato & pepper salad with herbs, lemon & feta

Lastly, I’m ALL about preparing your own food; it makes a world of difference knowing what goes on your plate and can allow for consumption of so many fresher, nutrient-dense foods, if you choose.  I haven’t done much research myself on restaurant food sourcing, but I can tell you that the majority of chain restaurants don’t care about getting you fresh fruits and produce; they care about their financial bottom line, which means food production needs to be as cheap as possible.  I also find lately that so many restaurant dishes are too large and too salty for my taste anyway.  So going out to eat?  Not my cup of tea so much.  I understand when traveling it’s not always an option, so an easy tip for eating while traveling is to look up vegetarian-friendly restaurants on yelp.  They aren’t always available, but I find they generally have the freshest ingredients around, and if you’re lucky, local and seasonal produce.