Lilith NoFair, Author at

Why Am I So Tired? (psst – it might be your diet…)

I'm sure we've all said it a hundred times: "I'm so tired, why am I always so tired?". There are lots of reasons that we can feel tired (poor sleep quality, lack of a sleep routine, stress, etc.), but one of the under-examined causes can be the foods yo…

Post-Game Pain? Eat it Away!

And I don't mean binge on chips to feel better :) What I'm talking about is tailoring what you eat to help manage the inflammation that intense exercise and exertion can cause. When we compete, our exertion causes the release of free radicals. Free…

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Crush Your Muscle Cramps: How to fuel so you feel great!

It's game day - you're feeling mentally ready, you've worked on your strategy and you're ready to roll. And then, when you hit the track for warm-up, you start to cramp up. Sound familiar? What you eat on game day can have a direct impact on your perf…

Keeping It Sweet: Better Desserts

Late February! Time for half-price Valentine's candy! Right? Well, for many of us, this cold and dreary time of year can make us want to curl up with some decadent desserts and a good book. Which is totally cool, but maybe let's find a way to make th…

Make These Your Top Nutrition Tips for 2019

Sometimes New Year's resolutions can be a little problematic, but that doesn't mean that we can't use a new calendar year to prompt us to do good things for ourselves. The key is to be gentle with yourself - a resolution is something that you break and …

What to Eat After Practice

We all know the story - long day at work, maybe time to grab something quick for dinner before dashing off to a 2-3 hour practice in a sweaty arena, right? Yeah, that's pretty much every practice day. And how often do you find yourself starving after yo…

Why Health Food is Trying to Kill You

Okay, well, maybe health food not trying to kill you. But it's definitely trying to mislead you. Our Derby in the Kitchen expert, Lilith NoFair, gets real with the grocery store lingo, so you can know what you're buying, and what you're eating... …

Batch Cooking for People Who Hate Batch Cooking

If you've been keeping up with me (Lilith NoFair) and Derby Fuel, and like basically any heathy eating plan ever, you've likely heard about how great batch cooking is. And that's true. Batch cooking is awesome. It helps you to have healthy options in …

Everything you need to know about Protein

A Day’s Worth of Protein

Protein, protein, protein. I know I go on about eating enough protein quite a bit, but for athletes, your protein intake is one of the most important building blocks for performance and development. And that's why Lilith NoFair is here with this epic ro…

No-Oven Noms

Who's excited that the warm weather is finally here? So awesome! Time for lots of outdoor skating and some delicious summer foods. However, now that it's stinking hot outside, turning on the oven is often the last thing you want to do. So, what's a…

March Break Bites

It's March Break! That means fun times with the fam or friends, and some fun snacks to keep you going! Kids love to help out in the kitchen, as long as you can make food (and healthy food especially) fun. All these recipes are kid-friendly in the k…

Keeping Your Heart Healthy

It's Valentine's Day! Time to think about your heart, and keeping it healthy! Did you know that your heart beats approximately 2.5 billion times over the average lifetime, transporting gallons and gallons of blood, oxygen, fuel, hormones and essent…

From Resolutions to Results

I hate New Year's Resolutions. Okay, I don't hate them. But I certainly don't love them either. While I can see the appeal of a month of excess (December) followed by a brand new routine to supposedly last until next December, I think the whole set-…

Turkey Time!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Leftover turkey time!!! I remember the first time I was planning to host a holiday dinner. I was SO nervous about cooking a turkey. Then, after that first one - I realized it's the easiest thing in the wo…

Winter Warmers

I don't know what it's like where you live, but around here winter just came in with a bang! In the spirit of our (newly) cold weather, I thought I'd share some healthy recipes that will warm up your kitchen and your belly! I don't like soup, but lots of…

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Ask NoFair: How Can I Snack Better?

We reached out to you guys to see if there were any other pressing Kitchen Questions, and MAN, did you deliver! One of the most repeated questions was "how can I snack healthier, but with something easy and portable?" That's an awesome questions, and a…

Eating for performance | Roller Derby Athletics

Ask NoFair: Eating for Weight Loss or Eating for Performance?

About a million years ago, Booty asked me what the biggest mistake people make when changing their diet to fuel for derby. The unequivocal answer is that they start eating for weight loss instead of eating for performance. There are SO many diets out the…

Level Up Your Playoff Snacks

Another Playoff season is upon us! Who is having a watch party? And at that watch party, what are you serving? I'm back with some healthy munchies that will make you the hit of the season! The theme for all of these tasty treats is replacing your g…

Ketogenic Diet: The Lowdown on High Fat

If you keep on top of diet trends, then you've almost certainly heard of the Ketogenic Diet (or Keto). If you haven't, trust me, you will. It's a method of eating that's gaining more popularity in the bodybuilding and strength community, and inevitably, i…

Ingredients You Should Be Using: Flax

Know how I'm always going on about how you need more Omega-3s in your diet? Well, today's ingredient is here to help! Especially if you're vegan/vegetarian and can't eat fish or fish oil. Flax is ready to help you hit your healthy fat targets! Today's In…

Ingredients You Should Be Using: Chickpeas

Do you feel like you're not getting enough protein or enough veggies in your diet? Well, here's a solution - more chickpeas! Since they are a legume, chickpeas are considered both a vegetable and protein, giving you twice the bang for your buck! Today's …

Ingredients You Should Be Using: Turmeric

Yeah, yeah, I know we've talked about how great turmeric is before, but we've never talked about how to cook with it! So, let's get the science out of the way, and talk about some delicious curries and spicy dishes! Today's Ingredient: Turmeric What is …

Ingredients You Should Be Using: Kimchi

When you're eating healthy, it can be easy to eat the same things over and over again (heck, I even encourage it in Derby Fuel). Usually, we have our favourites - those dishes that are easy to make and that we know we'll enjoy. Having a few solid staples …

Grow Your Fitness (and some Veggies)!

Ah, Springtime, when everything starts to grow! As I've gotten older, I've learned to love gardening. It's not just the magic of planting something and then, through hard work and a little love, having it turn into something else. It's that I am cheap.…

Comfort Food: CHEESE

To round out our comfort food series, we had a request from RDA fan, Erin Hanusa to address the most awesome comfort food ever - CHEESE. Oh cheese, how would we ever make you healthier? Cheese, in and of itself, isn't too bad for you. It's that we ten…

Comfort Food: Burger & Onion Rings

Photo credit: Delfina Cocciardi Now we're getting to my favourite kind of comfort food - BURGERS! I love burgers in a pretty serious way. But I also love my health, so it was important for me to find a way to skip the McD's, and make something th…

Comfort Food: Fettuccine Alfredo and Garlic Bread

Grey, rainy Spring days always make me want to bundle up and spend the day in bed with some puppies. Also, they make me crave comfort food. I don't know about you, but one of my most comforting of comfort foods is pasta of all different sorts. All kinds o…

Comfort Foods: Fried Chicken, Coleslaw & Apple Pie

As a derby athlete, you do your best to eat well and give your body the fuel it needs for the very best performance but, let's be real, sometimes we crave those comfort foods! Now, if your comfort food is a baked chicken breast with broccoli on the side, …

Ask NoFair: No Meat Athlete – Where’s My Protein Coming From?

We're always cooking up new stuff at Derby in the Kitchen, so here's something brand new! Reader questions answered right here on the blog! As you know, we love hearing from you and we do our very best to answer any questions you might have in the com…

The Athlete’s Guide to Not Derailing Your Whole Plan When Fast Food Calls

You know when its mid-February and you're killing your meal plan, since you haven't had to attend any big holiday parties or events? Yeah, sticking to a healthy eating plan can be a lot easier when you're in the comfort of your own home. But sometimes we…

How to Sneak Vegetables Into Everything

Ah, veggies! Nature's candy! It's often easy to get lots of veggies in the summer when things are in season and you can pop out to the garden, but what about in the middle of winter? How can you make sure that you're getting enough vegetables when all you…

How to Crush your Nutrition Goals

You know when you test your WFTDA minimums, and there’s that one skill that always gives you a challenge? And that’s the skill you decide to make your personal mission? Healthy eating can be a lot like WFTDA minimums. There will be a lot of st…

Down the Hatch: The Booze Post

Oh December! Month of holiday parties, family gatherings, and the occasional overindulgence. You can find a ton of articles out there about how to manage your nutrition during the holidays - but what about the cocktails? Let's be realistic - some of u…

How Do You Feed A Broken Heart? (Or actually, a broken leg or a torn ligament)

Derby injuries happen to all of us. And we totally adapt our training to deal with whatever our current physical status is. Booty has some awesome information about training while you're in recovery that I highly recommend you check out. &…

Fabulous Fall Foods!

Sure, sure, it's easy to get excited about summer foods - all those bright colours and zesty flavour profiles. But what about all of the tasty treats that greet us at harvest time? Maybe a sweet potato isn't as sexy as a watermelon, but fall foods have a …

Crock Pot Paleo

Ah, autumn! Time for crunchy leaves, snuggly sweaters and pumpkin everything! Also, time for me to bust out my crock pot and start cooking everything in it! Since we just spent the last three weeks talking about how to save you time through meal pre…

Meal Planning 101: Part 3 – The Noms

Our first and second posts addressed how to get started with meal prep and meal planning, and included some handy tips on making prep less of a chore. Let's get to the good stuff! The recipes! Breakfast Batching! I shared my favourite egg muffin frit…

Meal Planning 101: Part 2 – A Week in the Life

Meal Planning! It's super fun and awesome! Well, maybe not fun and awesome, but it is really, really important when you want to eat like an athlete. Planning ahead saves you from making rash decisions because you've run out of time for dinner be…

Meal Planning 101: Part One – The Basics

True story: I'm not perfect.Yep. I'll be the very first to admit that I rarely eat 6 macro-balanced meals per day. That style of eating is just not always viable for my real life. Nor is three squares always right for everyone. Or paleo, or intermittent f…

Grill ‘Em All!

Another installment in our summer recipe series! This one's about using your barbecue to make amazing (and healthy) food. When it's this hot out, keeping your oven off is an asset. Here are some tips to make you a grill master, and some tasty Paleo recipe…

Delish During Down-Time

Last post, we shared some easy healthy foods that were summery and that could be made quickly, since early summer can be prime game and tournament time. But what about later in the summer? When things are winding down and there are less games and practice…

Simple Summer Snacks

It's summer (prime game and tournament season), so I'm sure your free time is at a premium. Instead of stressing out about having time to make and prep healthy meals - summer is a great time to focus on simple dishes. Here are a few of my favourites!…

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Diet Deconstruction: What’s Booty Eating – Part Three

In our first post, we watched Booty track her food for two weeks, then I gave her heck about not eating enough and not getting enough protein.In our most recent post, we shared a normal day of meals for Booty and gave some quick tweaks that might make he…

Diet Deconstruction: What’s Booty Eating – Part Two

In our last post here, Booty Quake put herself under the microscope, tracking her food intake for two weeks, and then I took her to task on not eating enough to support her athletic needs. You can check out Booty's experience tracking her food, and my a…

Diet Deconstruction: What’s Booty Eating?

"You can't manage what you don't measure."With SO much information out there on various dietary strategies (like the ones we've been breaking down for you in our recent Derby in the Kitchen series), it can be really tough to know what to eat and when. T…

Breaking Your Fast

So, how was Intermittent Fasting? Straight talk - Intermittent Fasting was really easy for me. I spent much of my life skipping breakfast and lunch, then eating a big dinner. To be honest, eating 6 meals a day would be FAR more challenging for me t…

Intermittent Fasting

What does "Intermittent Fasting" Mean?Intermittent Fasting (IF, also called, in various permutations, The Warrior Diet, Lean Gains, 5:2, Eat Stop Eat) is an dietary intake pattern that has become popular in the last few years. There is a period of fasti…

Macro-Fueled Munchies!

So, what did I learn while Fitting My Macros? Planning pays off! As with my other dietary experiments, I needed to have a good sense of what I planned to eat through the week to make sure I was hitting my targets. To review, I was aiming for 46% c…

Managing Your Macros

What does "If It Fits Your Macros" Mean?If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM, also known as Flexible Dieting) has gotten pretty popular in the past couple of years. First off - Macro refers to "macronutrient" - the carbohydrates, fats and proteins found in eve…

Gluten-Free Grub

Let's talk some more about gluten-free meal-planning!For me, at least, eating gluten-free was very similar to eating paleo (but with extra cheese)! It was a matter of re-examining familiar favourites and seeing how they could be made gluten-free, as wel…

Going Gluten-Free!

For many people, eating gluten-free is a choice forced upon them by nature. Currently, statistics suggest that 1% of the North American population suffers from Celiac Disease, and another 15% report some sort of gluten sensitivity. As such, there's a …

Vegan Vittles

Let's talk some more about veganism!Eating vegan was a challenge for me. In a cruel twist of fate, my experiment in vegan food started the same day that my 97lbs of ethically-sourced local beef was ready at the butchers. Suffice it to say, I had plenty…

Plant-Based Power!

What is the Vegan Diet?Veganism means abstinence from the use of animal products - this can be dietary (not eating meat, eggs, dairy and other animal-derived food sources) and/or ethical (not using animal products of any sort).Just like everyone else, ve…

Paleo Bites!

Let's dig a little deeper into the Paleo Diet!I, myself, recently finished a Whole 30 to see what the buzz was all about. When I started and read the testimonials, I was impressed. People were having all sorts of beneficial outcomes from changing to …

Paleo Primer

To start off our New Year's Nutrition series - let's talk paleo!What is the Paleo Diet?Supporters claim that paleo is the healthiest way to and is "the ONLY nutritional approach that works with your genetics to help you stay lean, strong and energetic!…

New Year’s Nutrition for Roller Derby?

New Year, New You?Another new year. Another chance to reinvent yourself and your goals - you've heard that story before, right?January often brings a slew of resolutions and the urge to over-correct our holiday habits. The start of the year can be a …

Festive Feasts: How to Remix Your Recipes

Break out the elastic-waistband pants...It's December! Time for friends, family, fun and festivity! This time of year can be filled with wonderful gatherings, awesome events, and tons of delicious party snacks, requiring the aforementioned sweatpants d…

Keeping You Going – On the Go!

Food to-go doesn't have to come from the drive-through. With a tiny commitment of time, you can have super tasty, healthy meals, no matter how busy you are.Derby skaters are busy people and we don't always have tons of time for meal prep. A little bit of …

Crushing Your Protein (Without the Shakes)!

We're starting to answer some of your questions from the All-Star group, so please keep those questions coming and we'll do our best to keep you fueled, fit and fantastic!When we asked about what you think you could use some help with in the kitchen, the …

Champs Watching Party? Here’s How to Get Your Snack On!

So, all of us will be watching WFTDA Championships next weekend, enjoying some great derby and not really thinking out all the snacks we'll be scarfing...right?Well, with a little bit of advanced planning, we can make sure that our Champs-watching snacks …

Post-Workout Supplements: Is Your Recovery Covered?

To wrap up our supplement series, let's talk about what you should be taking after you wrap up your training sessions - Post-Workout Recovery Supplements! What should you be looking for to maximize all of your hard work? What sort of supplements will en…

Fish Oil!

I'm sure by now you've heard about it, but if it still conjures up ideas of grandma spooning out the cod liver oil, you might need to take another look at this staple supplement.What it is: Fish oil is oil. From fish. Generally, the best fish oils will c…

Pre-Training Energizers!

We're all looking for that competitive edge before a game or practice. What can pre-training supplements offer? Are they sketchy? What do they do?What they are: There are a HUGE number of pre-workouts available on the supplement market, and that means a w…

Curcumin

You might wonder why we're including curcumin in this series. It's not terribly well known, and its health claims range from helping with dementia to heart disease and cancer. Why would a healthy derby skater even care about this supplement? It's just cur…

Creatine and BCAAs

Next up in our sports performance supplement series: Creatine and BCAAs!If you've ventured into the world of strength training, chances are you've started to hear about the wonders of supplementation in your diet. Two popular contenders for your supplemen…

Coconut Water

Sports performance! We all want more of it! There are all sorts of potions and supplements out there that will claim to boost the hard work we're doing on the track - but what really works and what's a scam?Since Booty and I only want what's best for you,…

Eating on the Road

Derby season is in full swing, and you all know what that means - Road trips! Tournaments! No spare time!We've covered pre and post practice (and game) eating tips, and what to eat when you're at the arena (during practice or throughout a tournament week…

I’ve Got Practice – What Should I Eat? (Part Three)

We've talked about what to eat before and after practice, but what about those crazy long pre-game practices, or double-header days, or tournaments? What should you bring with you to the arena on game day, other than your gear and killer in…

I’ve Got Practice – What Should I Eat? (Part Two)

In the first part of this post, we talked about some options for eating before derby practice - but what about after practice is done? How can you make sure that you're eating the right things after all of your hard work? When you put a little bit of t…

I’ve Got Practice – What Should I Eat? (Part One)

As a derby skater, you're probably almost always at practice. We all know that we need to eat well so that we can give our absolute best each time we hit the rink, but what does that mean? What should I eat before practice? There's no ONE right answer. …

Operation: Hydration

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know that we should probably drink more water. We say it to ourselves a few times a year, make plans to up our intake, and then usually forget about it. Water's not flashy - it doesn't promise you super-hero-like performance or in…

The (RDA) Breakfast Club

Do you find it difficult to do anything except grab a coffee and get out the door in the morning? You're not alone! Breakfast might be "the most important meal of the day", but it's also the one we leave the least time to prepare, and the …

Switch a Grain for a Green!

Carbs! They're not the devil! But we can still be mindful when it comes to our intake. Here are some ways to swap out some high-calorie, low-return options for some more nutrient dense fare. Swap Your Noodles for Veggies! There are many easy ways…

Healthier Holiday Hints

It's that time of year again - the festive season! A time of feasting and fun with family and friends. A time where maybe sometimes, some of us, overindulge a tiny, little bit. It's the holidays. There will be parties. There will be drinks, hors d'oeu…

A Quick Guide to Gluten

In our last post, we talked about why carbohydrates are still important to athletic performance. We also mentioned that even though you still need carbs (and starchy ones at that), the typical North American diet contains too many of the processed varie…

Why You Still Need Carbs

There are many rumblings out there about carbs - Carbs are the devil! Carbs are making you fat! Carbs are inflammatory! But what's true and what's just hype? First, what are carbohydrates? Carbohydrates are chemical compounds composed of carbon…

Bulletproof Coffee: Worth the Hype?

Do you love coffee? Are you always on the search for the most delicious way to brew it or the best espresso joint in town? Well, instead of adding your normal cream and sugar next time, perhaps you should try putting some butter in your coffee. Yes that's…

Fueling Up with Fats!

Now that we've learned a little bit about what comprises dietary fat; which ones we should be getting more of and which ones we should be steering clear of, let's add some healthy fats into our diets! For me, incorporating more fat isn't about …

3 Fabulous Fats (and 1 Not So Great One)

Just in case you haven’t heard (though I’m sure you have), DIETARY FAT DOESN’T MAKE YOU FAT. In fact, we need healthy fats in our diet for our systems to function properly. Fats help our bodies to support the growth of body tissues (including th…

High Protein Recipes: Powder Edition

High protein recipe installment number two! In our lasts protein posts, we learned about the components of protein , talked about protein powders, and cooked with whole proteins. Now, let's learn about cooking with protein powder. Adding protein powd…

High-Protein Recipes That Aren’t Just Steak

So far, we've learned about what protein is and what it does, we've examined and tested out some whey supplements and vegan protein powders, so all that's left is to take our new knowledge and turn it into delicious food. Since you likely already know…

Protein Taste Test #2: Wheighing in on Whey

In our last few posts, we've been talking about protein pretty extensively, and Lilith NoFair has been giving you the cold hard facts on protein and supplements... but what about the taste? Last week NoFair used human experiment subjects (TCRD teammates…

Protein Taste Test #1: Vegan

In our last few posts, we've been talking about protein pretty extensively, and Lilith NoFair has been giving you the cold hard facts on protein and supplements... but what about the taste? NoFair has conscripted some of her TCRD teammates to be our gui…

‘Sup with Supplements?

Photo credit: LYFE Fuel In our last post, we talked about what protein is, how much you need, and where to get it. Invariably, when you start talking about protein, the topic of protein supplementation comes up. We all know that we should hit ou…

Protein Pro-Tips

SKATERS, let’s talk about protein... What is protein? Protein is one of your three major macronutrients (Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates), and it's made up of groups of amino acids linked into peptide chains. Generally, we tend to overdo it on carbohy…