I have spent the last month really trying to rebound from the after effects of the flu and while it is almost out of my system, I still notice a bit of burning in the chest as my intensity goes above my threshold for a sustained period of time. It was also pretty cold in Colorado and I attribute the cold response to part of my chest burning response. Luckily, I have turned the corner and am about 90% now and have been introducing some very good intensity.
Of course, you are wondering about my nutrition...when coming off of the flu, I tried to get food in my stomach and the higher fat foods were not appealing to me for a few weeks. I didn't not go crazy with carbohydrates but I included more frequent breads and trail mix to my daily plan. While I did not meticulously log my daily nutrition, I estimated my daily carbohydrate intake between 120-160 grams per day on most day. Thankfully, I put an abrupt halt to this higher carbohydrate intake but not before having blood work done. I was curious what adding roughly double the amount of carbohydrates to my daily nutrition plan would do to my blood lipids. I had a much more comprehensive blood analysis done, one that looked at the particle size of my LDL and HDL, among other things.
Here's a quick snapshot of my bloodwork changes when I added more carbs into the plan:
- My total cholesterol went up
- My LDL went up
- My HDL stayed the same
- My triglycerides went up
- While I have never had my particle size assessed before, my HDL particle size is fine but my LDL particle size is high in the small dense particles (promoting a higher risk for heart disease)
- Aside from blood lipids, my testosterone was fine, cortisol and DHEA normal, iron level good but my vitamin D levels were extremely low (low for athletes)
Taken altogether, this indicates that my body responded poorly from a blood lipid standpoint with adding more carbohydrates into my daily nutrition plan. Coincidence? I think not.
Guess what I am back doing again? And yes, in the heat of high intensity training for sprint and Olympic distance triathlon training. My fitness is improving and in my next blog, I will discuss my dietary nutrient timing strategies and thoughts regarding following a controlled carbohydrate nutrition plan for high intensity endurance training.
Stay tuned! It's just getting good.
Coach Bob
