Discussion: Healthy Eating?!..

Does any1 here do the whole healthy eating thing?!.. lol

Or does any1 know any good pre/post race snacks?!..

I try and do the healthy eating thing. Keyword in the sentence TRY. I think though if i'm going to actually really be serious about orienteering i should probably try harder to do it. I try not to drink soda though if i have the choice.

As for pre/post race snacks. I've found that bananas are Awesome!!! and PBJ's are another great snack both pre/post depending when your running. If your running in the afternoon like 3ish for lunch. if your running like 12:30-1 post race. also i'm tried clif bars before a race and that worked pretty well.

Yes, I'm trying to eat healty and somehow according to the paleolithic diet which basicly means that I don't (try not to) eat products that's refined. Products that didn't exist 1000 years ago.

This means: a lot of fruits, berry, nuts, meat, fish, egg and vegetables. And less pasta, rice, bread and sugar.

Really?!.. So what would you eat to prepare for a race the week beforehand?!..

you don't have to eat extremely healthy if you exercise enough.

I wouldn't eat anything special. If you eat like this you don't have to carbo-load before a race. I try to eat as world class triathlete Jonas Colting.

im good with eating carbs but not so much fruit/vegetables. i like sugary food.
before races i eat normally but not too close to the event.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away :)

haha i dont eat apples cos they hurt my teeth

I like apples! well now that i don't have braces and can actually eat them like a normal person.

and yeah i don't really eat much of anything in the summer. Its just too hot and i don't really feel hungry. anyone else find that? or am i just weird?

Jordan said: you don't have to eat extremely healthy if you exercise enough

Well, that's not exactly true. In terms of energy balance, yes. If you're exercising a lot, you need to increase your energy intake.
But you should eat healthily to get your other nutrients to required levels.

yeah i think you're a bit strange. but i doo feel hungrier in winter (sugar cravings). i don think i get enough nutrients. how can you tell? i dont have energy problems at the moment.

Well it's kind of hard to tell.
But we have what's called the Reccomended Daily Intake (RDI) for most major nutrients. Trouble is to find out if you're meeting those you need to log everything you eat into a special program.

Easiest way to keep ontop of it all is to follow the guidelines of how many serves of the core food groups you should have each day. If you really want to get better at eating, go see a nutritionist, they help a lot.
It's always hard to fix your diet when you live at home, but trying to eat as little processed food as you can is the best start. Fresh is always best!

ok thanks, ill give it a go this week and see how i feel!
i dont think ill be able to give up ice cream though.

Hah! I never could! Ice cream, chocolate, all that yummy stuff :D
You can eat lots of good stuff, just in healthy amounts.

I usualy don't eat that healthy but i still run fine. the junk food doesn't seem to effect me. But i do run almost every day so that maybe why.

But before every race i over load on carbs. it gives u a good amount of energy.

My dad has told me some stuff on eating to go with a big event. I think he said carb loading is most important the day before a race, along with drinking water the day before too. But actually the best time to eat is after a workout because the energy goes right to rebuilding muscles instead of turning into fat. So going for a run right before dinner would be a much better idea than going on a run after dinner.

Also, another tip is that I have found that I run much better if I only get 3 to 6 hours of sleep the night before. This way my body doesn't have time to fully shut down and thus it's easier to start up again. But I personally only do these things if it's a very important event.

And I'm with Dylan, junk food doesn't effect me either.

That's very interesting... My dad asked for some nutrition book for christmas (and of course he got it) and he's started chosing different foods. I don't really know what's best but the one thing I do remember is that certain foods are ranked. Fruits and veggies come to mind right away. I bet you could google "Fruit Rankings" or "Vegetable Rankings" and you would probably find something. Both lists were suprising (Spinach is actually ranked #1 vegetable! BLEH! haha). The list my dad had was based on nutritional value, I'm not sure what the parameters were for the tests, though.

I'm not sure if I really believe the sleep thing. I think that would only work if the event is earlier in the day. I have hockey after school (4:00) and if I haven't gotten enough sleep, I really notice a decrease in performance. I haven't tried any early morning runs, though.

So Andrew what are these lists? What fruits and veg should i be eating?

You're probably right about the sleep thing only working in the morning. I've only been able to do that after I was up until 6 in the morning with friends a few times on the weekends. So when the event is at noon I was just sleeping my 3-6 hours a few hours ago. But I do remember that the sleep before the last night is most important no matter how much sleep you get on the very night before.

I know some people are starting to think that going on a vegan diet (no meat, dairy, or eggs--no animal products) is the best diet for high performance because it allows your body to recover quicker and thus allows for more training. Brendan Brazier (an Iron Man athlete) wrote a book called The Thrive Diet if anyone is interested.

I'm not so sure about that. My coach has always told me to go home and eat some chicken or fish after a workout to build up muscle faster. And then the calcium in dairy is actually supposed to help hydrate you. So drinking milk and eating a little ice cream every now and then should be good.

Emily, you're just saying that so you have an excuse :P No, I can see the logic there. It is a much more fiberous diet. The thing about eating meat is that, as carl said, it can work to repair muscles faster because your body doesn't need to do as much work to get the complete proteins (I think that's how it works...) Another thing is dairy. It is difficult to get as much calcium into your body without milk, yogurt, ice cream, etc.

I don't mean to just shoot your vegan diet idea out of the water Emily. I am well aware of the fact that I don't consume nearly enough fruits or vegetables, both incredibly important. I have a feeling you eat quite a few.

And for the record (you can't tell in writing) but the word is pronounced Vee gan. not Vay gan :P

Actually, I have heard that kale and spinach has more calcium than milk and cheese. Just because milk is white and bones are white doesn't mean there is a connection, which is what most people think, haha. But milk is still better than soda, so I'm still a milk fan.

And meat is very healthy, not to take anything away from fruits or veggies. I think balance is the most important thing of all.

I was unaware that spinach and hale have more calcium than milk... That still isn't going to make me eat either ha ha. I'll just drink 2 glasses of milk. But I agree, balance is key.

one square meals, you cant go wrong

Oh Andrew, I'm not vegan at all! I was just saying that some people are starting to think that a vegan diet is better for high performance.

Ok, you're not vegan... I just wanted to say that :P
My dad is reading a book called "The Sports Nutrition Guidbook" it's by Nancy Clark. ANd if what my dad says is true, then she has an article about nutrition in every ONA issue. Aparently she's the "know-it-all" of sports nutrition or something, atleast in the US.

Oh yeah she always does something for ONA it is great!