Back at it

Hello world, it's me again! I've taken a couple of good cracks at being consistent with my blog in the past but it never worked out the way I had planned due to other work projects popping up.  However, now is the time and I am committing to writing a blog every week for the rest of 2016! These blogs will not be lengthy. They will make you ponder a few things. They will make you scratch your head. They will make you want to learn more. They will make you want to think twice about the nutrition and exercise plan you follow. They may be controversial. They may be highlighting research. One thing is for sure: each blog will include a huge splash of reality so stay tuned and enjoy the journey!


Back to Blogging

In 2003, I had a vision and after three years, I introduced it to the world. Metabolic Efficiency. Since 2006 many things have happened regarding this concept.  It has progressed from a dietary strategy to cure GI distress in endurance athletes to improving health markers, inducing safe and effective weight loss, and decreasing the need for copious simple sugars during sport competition. I have refined the testing protocols, introducing it to many different populations of athletes. I have created two levels of the Metabolic Efficiency Training Specialist certification, one for fitness and coaching professionals and one for health and medical/nutrition professionals. I have written hundreds of articles about the topic, given presentations at annual conferences and for athletes, and have written the book on Metabolic Efficiency (now in its second edition).

Even with all of these great accomplishments, there still seems to be some confusion about what Metabolic Efficiency really is. I could go on and on about how great of a concept it is but let's leave my first blog back with a bit of support by a recently published 2016 Position Statement by the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the Dietitians of Canada. This Position Statement is pretty big stuff in the world of sports nutrition so us Sport Dietitians take note of the updates.

Under the New Perspectives in Sports Nutrition, point #3 states the following:

"A key goal of training is to adapt the body to develop metabolic efficiency and flexibility while competition nutrition strategies focus on providing adequate substrate stores to meet fuel demands of the event and support cognitive function."

Look at independent research studies all you want (and I do frequently). There is always bias in them and I will highlight a few of these throughout the year. However, there is no arguing with a Position Stand from three reputable organizations. For Metabolic Efficiency to be highlighted as a new perspective in sports nutrition is both an honor to me but also a sigh of relief that proves that there are more forward thinking sports nutrition professionals such as myself.

Until next week...


Bob