Last month I went to a clinic on Endurance Nutrition Tips featuring sports nutritionist Rebecca Mohning, MS, RD, LD, put on by Team Z at Fast Track Physical Therapy. I’m always amazed how no matter how many of these things I go to or how much I read on the subject, there’s always something new to learn.

Rebecca talked about nutrition pre, during and post workout or race. She highlighted the usual important tips including eating the proper amount of calories, fat, carbs and protein for training; staying hydrated; not trying anything new on race day and choosing the appropriate calorie level for weight loss so it doesn’t impact training and performance.

Some new things I learned and interesting stats…

• Be careful of sugar alcohols in bars or energy drinks. They can cause GI distress.
• If you lose more than 3 percent of your body weight in a training workout, it’ll hurt your performance.
• Just 4-6 ounces of OJ or 1/2 a banana will give you 30 percent more energy for a short morning workout. (The 1/2 banana thing actually drives me crazy. Does anyone ever actually just eat 1/2 a banana?!)
• Women have an exaggerated increase in appetite hormones after exercise leading many to eat more calories than they’ve burned. (So not fair!)
•  Your weight in kg. times 1.2 is equal to the number of grams per day of protein you should eat.
• Always take vitamins with food and not with teas, colas or coffees.
• Women need 350 mg. of magnesium per day. Nuts and seeds are the best source, but need to supplement it as well.
• Many people are Vitamin D deficient and should get a blood test to determine further supplementation needs.

I’ve tried over the years to take vitamins, or at the very least a daily vitamin, but never stick with it. What do you all think about taking vitamins or supplements? Any new nutrition tips you’ve learned recently?