Athlete Spotlight: From beginner to 2 x Ironman finisher with Bec Baird

I spoke with one of my longest-standing clients ever, Rebecca Baird about her journey through triathlons and what she has learnt about nutrition along the way.

Here’s what she had to say:

Some background about Bec

• Bec is a single mum to Roy and lives in Mackay. She works as a podiatrist and first got into triathlons in 2015 after playing and coaching netball. She has since competed in many triathlons of all distances including 70.3 and two Ironmans.
  
  

Bec’s Plans for the next 2 years

• Mooloolaba Tri next year in March
• Looking into the ultra-running scene – either 50 or 100km
• Ironman distance again in 2023
  
  

What made her decide to invest in a Sports Dietitian?

• She read a blog post about another triathlete and how she'd been training for ages and had put on weight while doing massive volume even though she thought she was eating okay. She'd been to see her friend Taryn at Dietitian Approved and wit...

7 Nutrition Tips for Exercising in the Heat

It’s getting hot here in Australia! Training in the Aussie summer can be challenging. 

One of the biggest impacts of heat exposure when exercising is its effects on the gut. This is exacerbated when our core temperature gets >39°C

What happens to the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) when we exercise?

• Redistribution of blood flow away from the GIT towards working muscles and peripheral circulation (to cool you down)
• Results in decreased perfusion (less blood flow) of organs in the abdominal cavity causing GIT ischemia (lack of oxygen)
• Sympathetic activation (fight or flight response) - you don’t want to spend energy digesting food when you’re trying to run away from a lion
• Supressed gastric emptying (less efficient compared to normal), digestion and absorption
  
  

The longer & more intense the exercise, the worse these responses are.

Here are 7 strategies to manage exercise in the heat from a nutrition perspective:

1. Heat Acclimation

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What is Sweat Testing and Should You Do One? 

What is Sweat Testing?

Sweat testing is a way to measuring your sweat sodium concentration during exercise. Simply, we put patches on your skin, you exercise for a defined period of time and then take them off and analyse them. Combine with measuring your body weight pre and post, we can also calculate your sweat rate in ml/hr and then calculate sweat sodium concentration in mg/L of sweat.

In the field, we use sweat patches at certain sites on the body to calculate your sweat sodium concentration and then use mathematical equations to calculate total body sweat sodium.

Many things impact your sweat rate; genetics, your fitness level, intensity, the environmental conditions of the day, your pre-test diet – there are many things we want to try and control for to give you the most accurate results.

Who is sweat testing best suited for?

• Athletes competing in endurance events 10hrs + e.g. ironman, ultra-marathons, 24hour mountain bikers
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Do You Need Salt Tablets?

Many endurance athletes take salt tablets, but do we really need them? I spoke with the sodium and hydration master aka Alan McCubbin to break down everything you need to know about sodium, hydration and endurance exercise.

Here’s what we discussed:
 

Why is sodium is important for sports like triathlon?

• When we sweat during exercise, sodium is the main mineral we lose along with chloride
• The main electrolyte in our blood is also mainly sodium, and this plays a big role in moving water around the body

 Are there currently any guidelines around sodium replacement?

• The guidelines are currently very vague
• There aren’t really any specific guidelines around sodium replacement during exercise apart from a broad statement from the American College of Sports Medicine indicating that people should replace sodium when large losses occur, but they don't define what a large loss is

What research is currently underway to find some answers?

• A study to su...

Everything you Need to Know About Sports Gels

There’s a lot of information out there about sports gels and it can be confusing. There's a huge variety of brands and flavours and the content of them varies as well. Not all gels are created equally.

Here are some tips to consider when you’re buying your gels:

1. Carbohydrate content

• Carbohydrate content can range from around 20-50g of carbohydrate per gel depending on the brand.
• You don’t have to consume it all at once

2. Type of carbohydrate

• A lot of gels are made up of maltodextrin (two glucose molecules joined together) which is very easily broken down in the gut and absorbed quickly into the bloodstream.
• Some products contain maltodextrin and fructose which is a different type of sugar and is absorbed differently across the stomach lining
• The right one for you depends on your overall nutrition plan

3. Is it isotonic or not?

• Isotonic = the same salt concentration as our cells and our blood
• Hypertonic = more...

How to Lose Weight & Maintain Energy for Ironman Training

Most athletes are looking to be in peak physical condition for their A race. For endurance events like Ironman where you have to carry your weight across a long distance, performance can be improved with a good power to weight ratio. But it’s a delicate balance between being light, strong and fast and falling into a hole because you’ve under fuelled too aggressively to get there.

Here are my 7 Tips To Drop Body Fat While Still Maintaining Energy Levels And Performance Through An Ironman Build:

1. Eat Strategically

• Have a periodised approach to your nutrition
• You shouldn’t eat the same thing every day – your nutrition should match your training load
• Your nutrition should look completely different on your lighter training days vs a double session hard training day vs a long endurance ride & run off the bike type day
• Without a specific nutrition plan perfect for you, you run the risk of getting sick or injured
• Offseason ...

Eating on your Feet: Fuelling Long Runs 

It can be a challenge to eat and drink when you’re running. Your tummy is jiggling up and down, it’s hard to breathe and chew. It’s also common to experience gut symptoms like nausea, bloating, diarrhoea and vomiting.

Here are some practical strategies to help you eat on your feet: 

• Practice!

  • If you’re not used to doing anything at all, start with just a small sip of water and slowly build up over time
  • Your gut is very trainable - start building up slowly, being gradual, and being consistent to your approach to fuelling
  • Assist with increased blood flow to the gut by taking on small amounts of nutrition, more frequently instead of a whole gel or bar at a time
  • Avoid following carbohydrate targets per hour you’ve pulled from the internet – this is a recipe for disaster
    
    

• Have a periodised approach

  • You don’t need to fuel the same all year round
  • Focus on building up your gut tolerance in the lead up to races and back off in...

Coffee & Questions ☕️ 2nd September 2021

8 Key Ingredients To Becoming A SuperCharged Triathlete

1. Pre-Training Nutrition
2. Recovery nutrition
3. Periodisation
4. Run fuel
5. Ride fuel
6. Carb-Loading
7. Hydration
8. Supplements

Dial each of these nutrition components in and you’ve nailed a solid foundation as an athlete.

The Triathlon Nutrition Academy Podcast is now LIVE!

Listen in wherever you listen to your podcasts 🎧

Doors are opening on the 19th of September! Join the Triathlon Nutrition Academy waitlist HERE

TRANSCRIPT

Good morning and welcome to coffee and questions! I am live on Facebook over here, in case you see me looking from different places and Instagram over here. So hopefully you can hear me. I've got my headphones in. Yep! Alright, cool. So this morning, I wanted to introduce to you something I've cooked up. Good morning Bec Baird and Tesla and Nick. Yeah, something I've cooked up which I'm pretty excited about. And you'll hear more about it over the coming ...

Coffee & Questions ☕️

I went on a little tangent today for coffee & questions…which is not usual for me.

But I wanted to give you permission to invest in yourself.

Too often I see clients last, after they’ve tried every diet and yo-yo’d for years, or broken themselves with chronic fatigue or injury.

Nutrition becomes a fix rather than prevention.

I’d encourage you to prioritise your health and control the controllables. After all, your body is your temple and you only have one! Treat it with the respect it deserves. Particularly in such crazy times! What you put in your mouth is something only you have control over!

Because at the end of the day, I want you to feel great! Energised and well. Something you might not have felt for a while if you haven’t got your nutrition dialled in.

Let me know if any of this resonates with you or if this was the butt kick you needed to get your nutrition sorted. For life! 💬🤍

The Triathlon Nutrition Academy Podcast is LIVE tomorrow!

Listen in wherever you l...

Coffee & Questions ☕️ Today we talked all about gels!

I answered your questions:

• Why do gels upset my stomach?
• Can they be mixed with water?
• Do they need to be consumed all at once?
• What to look for when buying gels?
• How much do you need during endurance events?
• Are bloks/chews better for women?
• Are there gels safe for use during pregnancy?

There were so many good questions! Watch the replay to see the discussion or read the transcript below 👇🏼

Not all gels are created equal! Some are better than others but at the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference and what fits in as part of your overall nutrition plan.

_{I have definitely seen a movement away from commercial sports nutrition products towards more real food options.}

_{If you're looking for more real food options to fuel your training, check out my Fuel Your Adventure Recipe Book! It contains a collection of Dietitian Approved energy bars and balls to fuel you from your very own kitchen.}  

If you ar...