The active woman's guide to eating: a diet of your own

if you're like a lot of highly active women, you're probably hungry for dietary advice, not only because you want to stay healthy, but because you know that eating right can help you get the most out of your workouts. And, certainly, there's no shortage of dietary advice to go around. From the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid to popular eating plans like the Atkins and South Beach diets to the "try it, you'll like it" testimonials that friends tend to bounce off one another, there are enough nutrition tips out there to fill a library. The question is, does any of that advice really apply to you? "Most guidelines are targeted at the middle-of-the-road person who may get a little physical activity," says Leslie Bonci, RD, director of the sports nutrition program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Center for Sports Medicine and Department of Orthopedic Surgery. "They're not at all targeted at people who might be doing at least an hour of exercise a day, every day."

This isn't to say that many of the nutrition rules that apply to sofa huggers don't apply to, say, marathon runners. We all need to meet the RDAs for vitamins and minerals, eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, keep our intake of saturated and trans fats to a minimum and get our fill of high-fiber foods. But because athletes make greater demands on their bodies, they need to tweak the general recommendations slightly to ensure that they're adequately fueled for exercise--and that they recover completely when they're done. Here, what every active woman needs to know before she sits down to eat.

CALORIES FIRST

Last summer, the USDA announced that it would be changing the dietary guidelines for Americans, including the number of calories that the agency recommends we eat each day (the changes, still up for review, won't actually be implemented until 2005). The good news is that the new calorie guidelines acknowledge that active women need to eat more than sedentary women do. It's recommended, for instance, that a 30-year-old sedentary woman eat only about 2,000 calories a day, though a woman who's the same age but "active" can consume 2,400. The bad news is that the USDA's definition of an active woman is someone who walks more than three miles per day at a pace of 3 to 4 mph. Not to belittle what is a healthy amount of exercise, but basing recommendations on doing three miles at 3 mph effectively leaves competitive athletes and women who exercise significantly longer and harder out in the cold.

Fortunately, there are other ways for very active women to determine how many calories they need to eat (see "Calculate Your Dietary Needs," right). More difficult, laments Bonci, is getting athletic women to adhere to them. "It's very rare that I find athletes who are eating what their bodies really need because they won't allow themselves to do it," she says. "When someone says to me 'I think I'm already performing at 100 percent,' I say, 'Just imagine what your body might be able to do if you really gave it what it needs.' Just like the guys, we need to belly on up to the training table."

THE CARBOHYDRATE QUESTION

With all the recent hype about high-protein diets--and the carb bashing that's accompanied it--an important fact has gotten lost in the shuffle: Carbohydrates are the body's main source of fuel. "Certainly, protein is needed by the body to build and repair muscle fibers, but it's carbohydrate that powers those muscles," says Jackie Berning, RD, a sports nutritionist and assistant professor in the department of biology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. "If you sacrifice carbohydrates for protein, you're just not going to have the energy to train on a day-to-day basis." What's more, skimping on carbohydrates--most of which we get from grain foods, but which also come from fruits and vegetables--can actually make you lose muscle. Left high and dry when its glycogen (a form of carbohydrate warehoused in the muscles and liver) stores are eventually depleted, the body may even cannibalize its own lean body tissue for fuel.

How much carbohydrate you need in your diet depends on what kind of workouts you do. The majority of active women thrive on a carbohydrate intake that's 55 to 60 percent of their total calories, says Berning, but if you're an endurance athlete training for events like a century bike ride or a marathon, you probably need a diet closer to 65 to 70 percent carbohydrates.

Perhaps an easier way to look at it is in carbohydrate grams. The formula on page 98 uses your body weight and the amount of activity you do to let you see how many carb grams you need daily. It also lets you see just how different your carbohydrate requirements are from those offered up by trendy diets. For instance, a 130-pound woman who works out an hour a day needs about 390 g of carbohydrate. The amount recommended by the Atkins program: a paltry 20 grams per day. Granted, that small amount of carbohydrate is meant to facilitate weight loss, but even at a weight-maintenance level, the Atkins plan calls for considerably less carbohydrate than an active woman needs.