Basketball camp

Question
QUESTION: Hello :)
My name is Meera and I am a 16-year-old female. I'm 5 foot 8 and weigh 177 pounds. A couple weeks ago I started the South Beach Diet and saw great results with no drop off in my energy levels or blood profile. I still have around 20 lbs to lose, but I should be able to lose it in the near future. I'm going to stick it out and lose it slowly, no point in crash-dieting. I'm also a vegetarian, but an ovo-lacto-vegetarian (I eat eggs and milk/dairy products). I lift weights fairly regularly. My concern is when I go to basketball camp. The camp is pretty intense, and subtracting lunch and water breaks it amounts to around 6 hours per day. Normally I eat around 60 grams of carbohydrate (mainly from my 4 plus milk glasses per day) but when I go to basketball camp I feel very tired much faster than I did last year, when I was not on South Beach. The diet is really great and all, but I was just wondering what modifications I need to make to it while I go to camp. Thank you in advance for your help!

ANSWER: Hi Meera,
I thank you greatly for your well-written question, and I admire you for your research and persistence with the South Beach Diet and you preparation for your basketball camp.  You are amazing!

Here's what I think:
a) that dairy is the culprit in both your energy drain and if you are unable to persist in weight loss in the future.  Most people have a digestive intolerance or allergy to dairy products.  Consider that the human is the only animal to continue to consume dairy products after being weened.  If you can, I suggest that you find a naturopathic physician in your area who knows how to do muscle testing... they can find out if you have a digestive intolerance and/or allergy to dairy products.

b) your blood type can help you determine which foods to eat to give you energy.  If it is type O or B, this will be a problem because Os are advised to eat red meat... as much as possible to increase metabolism and give you energy.  If you are type A, vegetable carbs are your best bet for energy and chicken is also useful.  Interestingly, none of the blood types benefit from or get energy from dairy products.

c) One of the best products available for vegetarians is FAGE full fat Greek yogurt, which is high in protein.  Although yogurt seems to be a dairy product, it is usually very well digested by most people, and it contains probiotic fibers to help you fight yeast infections and cleanse the colon.

d) You do not mention if you are taking any prescription medications, but if you are, I advise against these.  Most medications require additional energy to metabolize... and would drain your natural levels of physical energy.

e) another way to protect your energy levels is to be sure that you are well hydrated.  Bring a big water bottle and add some bottled organic lemon juice to the water.  The lemon juice is refreshing and lemon helps to cleanse the liver.

I hope you have a great basketball camp and continue to enjoy a wonderful life.  I am flattered that you asked me to be a part of your coaching team and I hope my thoughts have been of help to you.

All the best,
Mary Jo


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again...
I don't know if you are referring to lactose intolerance...as far as I know, I'm not lactose intolerant. In addition, I was never tired last year when I consumed a similar amount of milk. I believe I have type A blood, but I'm actually not sure. Thanks for that information, I really didn't know that that alone could affect so many things. I make my own yogurt at home, but I will look into getting FAGE. Unfortunately, most store-bought yogurts I know of contain gelatin. I'm not taking any prescription medications. I'm fairly sure that during basketball camp I'm well hydrated, but I will definitely focus on getting enough water. Thank you for your help.

Answer
Hi Meera,
Greetings and thank you for your thoughtful reply.
Two things more that I can think of:
a) the milk/dairy issue that I am speaking of is not lactose intolerance, but more of an incapacity to completely metabolize dairy products... much the same way that many people with a weight problem are gluten intolerant... we simply cannot completely digest and metabolize the wheat and it just adds body weight.
b) which brings me to the question of the gluten in your diet. Somehow I reasoned that you are a low carb eater, but in looking over what you wrote, I am not sure I should have come to this conclusion.  I apologize but I am not very familiar with the South Beach diet.  I do suggest that if you are eating carbs from bread, pasta, potatoes, fruit, sugar, corn syrup and/or artificial sweeteners, that you delete these from your eating program.

I apologize if my expertise is insufficient to help resolve the issues you are facing.  I admire you for your level of dedication to having the life you want.

Best,
Mary Jo

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