Diet / Nutrition
WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
Our bodies are literally made up of what we put into them, so don`t expect to perform well or consistently if your diet is poor.
There is so much written abouts diets, everything from grapefruit only diet to meat only diets and everything inbetween. I only intend to include some general advice here.
Food can basically be broken down into 3 main groups
• CARBOHYDRATES
• PROTEIN
• FAT
The amount of each of these we should eat varies depending on who you ask, or what research you have read, but somewhere between 40-60% of your diet should be carbs, and between 20 - 30% for both fat and protein.
Added to this you should try and eat 6 - 8 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables a day so as to get the vitamins and minerals that are needed for when you train hard( or certainly harder than you have trained before).
Just as important as how much we eat is the quality of the food we eat. Try to avoid too much processed and junk food. Most of the goodness has been taken out and although it may leave you feeling full you will still need good calories, vitamins and minerals and so will feel hungrier sooner and eat even more. The other foods to avoid are too much cakes, biscuits and sweets, they are full of processed sugar(generally known as empty calories) and hidden fat. These foods will quickly be laid down as fat in your body, and that is extra weight you will have to carry with you on your race day. Have a look at the general population next time you run down the road, frightening isn`t it! and they think your mad. Eat healthily first before eating any cakes and biscuits, and even then not too much. Try just buying less of them, if there not in the house you can`t eat them.
Remember you can`t run a formula one car on crude oil. We are all adults and we choose what we put in our mouths, so choose to eat healthily.