#9 – Are you dieting during mountaineering training? You might regret it.
So many people come into mountaineering training as a way to get healthy and lose weight. If that's you, first off, I want to congratulate you! Committing to a big, long-term goal like a mountain climbing trip is going to teach you so much about your mind and body.
However, this can also be a tricky place to be. Because do you know what you have to do to succeed in endurance training? You have to EAT! A lot.
The sad truth is that a huge number of mountaineers and endurance athletes — including those with a so-called healthy diet — are chronically underfueled.
They think their sports nutrition is on pointe. But they're wrong, and it's hurting them.
They're convinced they need rigid fad diets (keto, paleo) or behaviors (cleanses, intermittent fasting) to succeed. Or just as often, they're simply not eating enough to fuel their bodies because they have rigid ideas about how much food is too much food.
The sad thing is, underfueling yourself in training can actually cause your body to hold on to weight — not to mention hold back your fitness progress.
So today, I'm going to talk about healthy ways to fuel your body during mountaineering training so you can kick more ass and feel good doing it!
Resources: My Favorite Cookbooks
These cookbooks feature fast, healthy, easy recipes that actually fit into your adventure lifestyle!
This section contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission for purchases made through the following links. There is no additional cost to the purchaser.
- Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow By Elyse Kopecky and Shalene Flanagan
- The Feed Zone Cookbook by Biju Thomas and Allen Lim
- Rocket Fuel Cookbook by Matt Kadey, RD
Additional Reading on the Blog
More helpful posts on sports nutrition for mountaineers and other endurance athletes:
Episode Sneak Peek
[1:30] Personal story: my stupid diet, which I was following during ultramarathon training, even though I should know better. A great illustration about the power of our beliefs around diet, weight, and bodies. We create drama over this stuff that hurts us even when we absolutely know better!
[4:59] Are diets bad? How paleo, keto, vegan, and other popular diets can sometimes be a gateway to better nutrition. However, they also have downsides. The truth is, looking for nutrition “rules” outside yourself usually backfires. You’ll get better long-term results by moving beyond these and looking within.
[10:52] The dangers of chronic underfueling, and how it undermines your mountaineering training. The training effect model teaches us that getting stronger requires recovery, and recovery requires adequate fuel. However, a scary number of endurance athletes are not getting the fuel they need. Sometimes there are obvious symptoms (like loss of menstruation in females). But you can definitely be underfueled without experiencing any drastic external signs. For athletes with weight loss goals, underfueling can actually work against you, because it stresses your body and promotes fat storage.
[15:51] Here’s my simple (but sometimes hard to practice) formula for fueling your body during training (or any time really). If you’re having a hard time putting this into practice, I also share five practical tips to help you become a more intuitive eater.
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