Although lately, I have to admit that I have not found much of interest out in the blog-o-sphere.

However, there are a couple of nutrition gems from the past few days (or a bit farther back because I have a backlog on my reading list) that caught my attention and since nutrition is my topic of interest lately, here you go:

• Tim Ferris, infamous author of the New York Time’s bestseller The 4-Hour work Week, and “lifestyle design” evangelist, included a great article on his blog the other day: The Science of Fat Loss: When a Calorie Isn’t Always a Calorie. Don’t let the title mislead you if you’re thinking this is another re-hashed 101 article one gram of carbs being worth four calories and one gram of fat worth nine calories ad nauseum. This piece is a well-done bit of research on the topic and you’ll see some nasty effects of high-carb diets from a World War II-era study. Hint: That’s you Mr. or Ms. Heed-Slurping, Bagel-Eating, Need My Carbs endurance athlete.
• Ferris also came out with a nifty, and funny, little video on the Three-Minute breakfast. As one who would rather get an extra five minutes of sleep than make a healthy breakfast, this may be worth a try. I’ll give it a whirl and report back.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd-7a_wdVZk

  
  

• For you soy lovers, Ryan Andrews wrote an outstanding two-part series on the pros and cons of soy for Performance Nutrition. He covers everything but the kitchen sink on this amazing little bean…from its misrepresented use in Asia to busting some myths about the quality of soy protein and concerns on it’s role in the production of phytoestrogens. You’ll have to register at the site (it’s free) to read the second half of the piece.
• Joe Friel…yes, a real endurance coach…agrees with Ferris and Andrews when it comes to athletes eating way too many starchy carbs. Check out his post “How much should you eat?“

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• Tony Gentilcore makes war against the old rule of thumb: If you reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories a day, you’ll lose a pound of fat every week. People, ya need to eat. I speak from experience as one of the worst offenders, although my reasons are more from lack of hunger than trying to reduce calories.
• Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe and Alwyn Cosgrove offer up “Step Away from the Treadmill,” an excerpt from their new book “The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess.” While multisport athletes are all about cardio, the authors suggest you may have to step away from running/cycling for a bit if you want to shed those winter pounds.

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• This has nothing to do with endurance athletes and everything to do with the impact of blogging as a “new media” communications tool. You need to read Major Andrew Olmsted’s post from beyond the grave.
• This past week, we also lost multisport idol and mountaineering legend Sir Edmund Hillary.

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∑ Congrats to one of my favorite bloggers Chris Uy on the arrival of his baby girl Faith. Chris has been writing much for the past several months so let’s hope changing diapers at 2 a.m. will re-inspire his inner muse.

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Finals are next week and I’ve been not-so-successfully treading in the pond of life trying to keep my head above the water. I just need to knuckle down for six more days and then sweet bliss for the next month!

On to this week’s recommended reads:

∑ Have cold feet on the bike? I know I do and it’s perhaps the most challenging part of my anatomy, well, maybe second most challenging, to keep warm when the temps dip in the 40s or lower. Commute by Bike has a great tip on keeping your tootsies warm this winter…and it’s free!

∑ The high temp is Las Vegas today is 50 degrees. Oh yeah, it’s sunny too. Well, we have had some gnarly looking rain clouds threatening to unload on the valley the last 24 hours, but it’s been all show and no go so far. At the moment, it’ sunny. Anyway…it’s a bit chilly, dare I say wintery, for me right now. But, Elizabeth Fedofsky set me straight with her cold weather criteria.

∑ Liz also offers great advice for the newer multisport athlete with her Seven Highly Ineffective Habits of Triathletes.

∑ Over on his blog at the Boston Herald, Tony Gentilcore has two good reads for those getting back to the gym this winter: Exercise Physiology 101 and a Small Rant on Fat Loss.

∑ Paulo Souza gets a bit more old school with some common sense swimming advice.

∑ Gordo Byrn (who was profiled on these humble pages earlier in the week) once again makes you put on your thinking cap on why you’re an athlete in the first place with his post on Health and Athletic Longevity.

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∑ The goal-setting fever that envelopes this time of year is starting to pop-up in various discussions with friends, athletes and colleagues. Alwyn Cosgrove offers up some simple, yet effective, suggestions, on creating the goal snowball.

∑ In keeping with the “keep it simple” theme, Eric Cressey writes about the “Golden Rules” (my words, not his) when stepping foot in the gym. Triathletes? Hello? You are moving a bit of iron around aren’t you?

∑ A comment on Coach Paulo Sousa’s blog sums up his post on changing out your weekly training programs: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” (Heraclitus). You can gain a bit more insight on Sousa’s coaching philosophy by reading the brief interview I did with him in mid-November.

∑ Alan Couzens talks about consistency (a continual challenge for me) during the off season in “Making the Most of Your Preparatory Period.”

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Swim stud-ette Dara Torres

* Check out this NY Times story on 40-year-old Dara Torres, the fastest swimmer in America, and nine-time Olympic medalist. She’s gunning to represent the U.S. in the 2008 summer games. What a stud-ette!

* While I don’t have to worry about icy roads in Las Vegas, those in colder climes who are adventurous enough to get off their trainers and onto the slipper stuff might want to ready Commute by Bike’s tips on how to ride your bike on ice.

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∑ Bicycle Commuter has some great advice on how to use Google Maps to plan your commuter route.

∑ Eric Cressey recommends various support exercises for cyclists and also gives some food for thought on running for endurance athletes.

∑ IronMom (congrats on the new coaching gig!) showcases an interesting biomechanical take on the “catch” phase of the swim stroke.

∑ Joe Friel discusses the pros and cons of strength training for endurance athletes.

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∑ Swimming like a drunken sailor during your open water swims? Ironmom offers a drill to help keep you in a straight line as you go from buoy to buoy.

∑ After a couple top triathletes showed up in Kona wearing compression socks, there’s been speculation as to whether or not this hideous fashion trend has some performance benefit. Joe Friel takes a closer look and provides some answers to the effectiveness of these geriatic beauties on healthy athletes.

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Here’s some more good reading for the weekend:

∑ Gordo Byrn offers a few great cycling drills and an intriguing theory on hand entry during the swim that I’ll have to give a whirl when I get back in the pool…in February.

∑ Here’s a sweet commercial that’s being seen in movie theaters across the U.K. If Canada does a similar one (they’re a bit more advanced on these things than we are in the U.S., they need to have Uber Commuter Libor play the lead character…although the woman in the original is a bit easier on the eyes than Libor. ;^)

∑ Mitch Thrower of Triathlete Magazine introduces us to something I thought I’d never see: scalping race bib numbers to those desperate to get into a closed race.

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