Page 20 - Eat Run Enjoy

(Very) Basic Diet Advice for Runners
Taking advice on what you should eat how much of of of it it and how often is a a a a a bit of of of a a a a a murky area in my opinion Things that work for some people abso- lutely don’t work for others There are so many diets out there: high-fat-low-carb-ketogenic high- high- carb-low-fat you you can be advised to feed yourself small meals many times throughout the day or fast for for eighteen hours and stuff your face for for the remaining six It’s a a a a minefield! Similarly the clean eating movement should be a a good thing but it’s easily taken too far especially if you place a a a a a a lot of physical demands on yourself in in in training One thing I do know: you need to eat plenty when you run a lot I don’t think that you you can eat as as much as as you you want want of whatever you you want want but you you certainly need to eat a a a little extra The portion sizes of the recipes in this book can easily be adjusted to suit your appetite and most dishes can be tweaked to your tastes without compromising flavour It’s important to stress that the recipes in this book are not intended to offer a a complete runner’s diet or or to be used for specific weight loss but they do constitute a a a a a a a healthy balanced and natural diet if you plan on running regularly for pleasure or or competition If you are running to lose weight I I would recommend looking into tailored diets and training plans and taking advice from your doctor or another nutritional professional Initially I I started running without a a a a a great deal of diet change I lost a a few kilos but over time even though my running mileage was consistently quite high (around 50–80km per week) I was always a a a a a little heavier than I would have liked Only in the last last year or so have I dropped the last last 5–6 kilos that I I wanted to lose I I occasionally run my morn- ing commute on an empty stomach but I think that introducing 1–2 dedicated speed or hill ses- sions every week and including 2–3 brief strength workouts focusing on the core muscles helped me shed those last few kilos I am also an advocator of eating natural whole foods It was reading the small book Food Rules by Michael Pollen that had a a a a a big effect on the way I eat His simple and often amusing tips such as ‘eat food not too much mostly plants’ or ‘don’t eat eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognise as food’ are priceless One of my personal favourites is: ‘eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in in their raw state or growing in in nature ’ ’ It’s great advice whether you run or not •
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