My hour with a nutritionist

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At the smart recommendation of my personal trainer, I scheduled an hour session with a nutritionist. The time was very worthwhile and while she said I was doing some things right, she pointed out some opportunities for improvement. And I liked the fact that she's a science-based nutritionist and not just someone who's listening to their body or the imaginary voices inside their head.

So, what did she say?

• You need to eat before you workout, and you need to do it 90-120 minutes beforehand. It reminded me of the old adage about waiting after a meal before swimming, but here the issue isn't cramps, it's giving your body time to process what you ate and turn it into usable energy. What should I be eating beforehand? Mostly carbs -- my breakfast of cereal and soy milk works just fine as long as I eat it at the right time.
  
• You need to eat after a workout. Again, not earthshaking news, but I was surprised about what I should be eating afterward. I had read somewhere on the internet (always a dangerous thing) that one should eat protein after a workout. So, I've been chowing down on near pure-protein post-workout meals. WRONG. Protein after a workout is good, but your body needs carbs to. A ratio of 4:1 carb grams to protein grams is about optimal. Sounds like it's time for a sandwich or perhaps some toast with my after-exercise eggs.
  
• You need to eat back *some* of the calories you burn during exercise. After giving me a rough estimate of the calories I'd need to eat to lose 2 pounds/week without exercise, she said I should probably add to that half of the calories I burn during exercise. She was also wise in noting that the calorie counts on many fitness machines are wildly inaccurate, so it's important to be conservative. essentially, she said it's good to think of your budgeted daily calories as coming from two pools -- one is the standard base pool that you get just for waking up in the morning and going about your business and the other comes from exercise above and beyond that. No extra exercise, no extra calories.
  
• Soluble fiber is important and she told me about a really odd source of high quality soluble fiber -- orange rind. Really. I'm not pulling your leg. No, she didn't tell me to start eating orange peel. What she did say was to switch from Mandarins to Navel Oranges, cut them into eighths like you did when you were a kid, and eat them down to and including a little bit of the pith. I tried it today and not only was the orange sweet and juicy, but a little pith didn't hurt.
  
• You've got to get enough fats, and since you're not eating too many fats, get good ones. She recommended expeller-pressed canola oil or olive oils for cooking. She also recommended raw nuts -- apparently roasting manipulates the fat in nuts so it loses some of its goodness.
  
• Finally, she gave me a lesson on label reading and ingredient lists. She's a big fan of avoiding processed foods. I don't know if I'm quite as gung-ho as she is, but it made some sense. Especially when the calorie difference between a product with a lot of artificial stuff and one with little is very small. I'm thinking of changing soy milks to one without Splenda (only 20 calories difference for what I'm putting on my cereal) and I bought some strawberry preserves today that was 35 calories per tablespoon instead of the 10 calories/tablespoon version using Splenda to sweeten.

It was a really worthwhile session. TIP: Good nutritionists can be EXPENSIVE, so know what you want to ask before you come in and use your time wisely.