IIFYM and Performance - why do some rich foods seem to help and others don't?

[EliKoehn]

It goes without saying that a balanced diet consisting primarily of whole foods is the optimal approach for long term health as well as anyone's training goals, but I'd be curious to know in layman's terms what specific things are going on which make sometimes lower calorie foods result in notably better gym performance than more calorically rich food, assuming that the demands of digestion itself isn't a variable here, and what it is between the rich ones which makes some good and others bad in the short term of lifting performance.

For instance, if I eat a breakfast of 4 eggs and a bowl of oatmeal, I usually feel great and don't lack for energy when training later on (and even if in a caloric deficit, it's notably not so bad). If I'm eating poorly, sometimes I feel relatively weak (acutely and stamina) when training even if I am easily exceeding every macro minimum I would normally have to observe to make par on a deficit. On the other hand, there are still calorically rich foods which usually result in excellent workouts afterwards: pizza and ice cream come to mind. Almost every time I eat plenty of pizza several hours before lifting, the workout rocks.

That said, there are many other foods with high macro counts across the board which seem to have the opposite effect; more examples of than not, probably, which makes me wonder what (if anything) is special about things like pizza and ice cream beyond their being rich sources of carbs, fat and protein? Has anyone else noticed this with certain foods but not others?

I would guess that things which spike and then drop your blood sugar quickly could have an adverse effect even within the same caloric amount, but that kind of glycemic index evaluation seems not very relevant here when IIFYM is brought up.

Tl;dr, just a stray thought I thought I'd put up here. Kind of a ramble so ignore unless the title interests you.

[paulinkansas]

You have to have all the amino acids. Your limiting factor will be the amino acid that is in the lowest quantity.

Civilization figured this out a long time ago. Fish was a good protein source but lacked some amino acids. Rice made up for it. How may cultures eat fish and rice?

Beef was a good protein source but lacked some amino acids. Potatoes made up for it. How many cultures eat beef and potatoes?

I'm not sure about the food pairings of chicken or pork, since I don't know anything about nutrition.

[air2fakie]

You're a human & you feel certain things that FYM give you a boost. Someone else will feel those same things make them want to take a nap.

[DougyF7]

Refined carbs I think are a huge cause in reducing energy to work out and be active in general. That's why I'm surprised you mention pizza gives you energy - since the crust is usually refined carbs. Ice cream I feel okay on if I've had a quality balanced meal before I eat it and it's not a huge serving.


But usually fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, reduced fat dairy, lean meats all give me a strong stable energy balance.

[desslok]

You're a human & you feel certain things that FYM give you a boost. Someone else will feel those same things make them want to take a nap.

Yeah a big part of this is mental in conjunction with digestion. Certain food items that are too greasy will upset my digestion and then the only thing I can think about is my upset stomach, causing my gym performance to suffer, even if calorically the meal had no effect. Some tastes and even scents can boost my mood and even give me energy, again despite calories. Like for example go look for “energizing” herbal teas. Try some before a workout. A lot of times the ingredients don’t physiologically do anything, but the psychologic effects can give you more energy. There are herbs etc used in cooking that can do the same thing.

As mentioned, highly refined sweets with little fats or protein will give me a sugar high and crash and make me want to take a nap/little energy or strength, similar to if I had a beer or two.

TLDR: way too many variables

[AdamWW]

I mean it entirely depends on the content of the meal.

If you compare oats and eggs to like 5 pop-tarts or some equal amount... the oats and eggs have a more sustained effect for energy release, keep you full longer, etc... if you just eat simple sugars, you may get a short term boost but it won't really last.

That's not really a micronutrient thing, it's an energy absorption/release thing.

A lot of the different in how you feel post-meal simply comes down to the balance of fiber/sugar, along with fat content which slows digestion... and then of course just the meal size (bigger meals will make you feel more tired).


That being said, I feel just as good having egg white and avocado with a side of oats as I do having egg white and avocado with a side of cereal... I might be fuller longer with the oats, but I don't feel 'bad' either way.

[lsiberian]

When I eat Pizza I always feel like garbage after lol. When I eat fruit and veggies I also feel like garbage normally. I'm missing a some hardware though so my experience is certainly unique.

[EliKoehn]

Interesting comments...

Well, true to form, I ate plenty of pizza for lunch today, and then ended up benching 5 singles of 315 when I was only aiming for one originally.

Maybe pizza is just an underappreciated superfood?

[AdamWW]

Interesting comments...

Well, true to form, I ate plenty of pizza for lunch today, and then ended up benching 5 singles of 315 when I was only aiming for one originally.

Maybe pizza is just an underappreciated superfood?

I eat it once a meat to hit my pizza macros.

[jaxqen]

I never ate pizza before, only after, but what I like before:
- potatoes and chicken thighs
- rice and eggs
- rice and sardines
- a mashed thing made out of wheat germs, protein, cocoa, honey, banana...
- homemade bars made of oat bran & protein


Also, now and then I add in my gym water whey or EAA for taste + honey.
Probably placebo, but I feel better.

Probably a whole foods + digestion thing.
And yeah, bigger meals would make me tired; like pizza and ice cream - No, I cannot eat medium size amounts of pizza and ice cream, I am not a godless barbarian, it has to be a lot, mkay?


Pasta also works well, but I haven't ate that in a while.

Also, I bought a 500 gram bag made of of 10 types of beans: lentils, chickpea, black beans, japanese beans and so on... added tomato sauce and spices.
Good energy, good protein content... but I wouldn't do squats or leg presses after eating it.

[EliKoehn]

^^ Wait, so eating a small-medium sized portion of pizza would make you a godless barbarian?

And for the record, I don't mean eating these things immediately before going and lifting. That would of course affect performance. I mean having this as the previous meal, probably 2-4 hours beforehand, ideally.