Winter is officially in full
swing, the Christmas break is over and it getting pretty cold. It's time to get
your head down and work through the important next couple of cold, dark months.
There is always lot of hype about
diet and body image especially at this time of year. I've spent a lot of time
over the years reading up on nutrition, initially as a method to lose weight and
then whilst at University as a method to improve athletic performance.
By no means do I think that I
have all the answers or follow the best diet, I enjoy my food and try to follow
a healthy ‘balanced’ diet that should help with training and racing, although
we are all only human and I do have the occasional binge resulting in me being
curled up into a ball on the floor.
I think learning to read what
your body says is a really important and no more so than with food. As an ‘athlete’
I've never counted calories or measured out food quantities. I try to avoid
over-indulging and have spent a lot of time finding healthy alternatives to
everyday snacks and meals. But my main rule is that if I’m hungry it’s time to
eat!
Below is a 3 day food diary I
recorded from the 19/01/15 – 21/01/15, I tried to eat and train as I normally
would during a standard base week.
7:00 - Double espresso
7:45-10:30 - 1L water (During 1h 15min swim/ 1h strength and
conditioning gym session)
10:30 - Banana
11:15 - 3 slices rye bread with wholenut peanut butter and
banana, mixed fruit pot
11:45 - Nakd Bar, Coffee
12:15-14.15 - 750ml Water (During 2h ride)
14:30 - Homemade flapjack, pear
15:00 - Omlette with chorizo and cheese, avacado, hummus and
carrot
15:20 - Orange, Green tea
16:30 - Green tea, 50g cashew nuts
17.20 - (Run 5km recovery and 20min stretch/foam roll)
18:45 - 3x Lamb and apricot sausage salad with
beetroot/courgette/pepper and onion.
19:30 - Frozen smoothie ice cream.
20:00 - 50g 85% dark chocolate, large bowl of mixed nuts
7:00 - Double espresso
7:45-10:30 – 750ml
water, 750ml High 5 electrolyte tablets with water (During 1h 15min swim/ 1h
15min turbo)
11:00 - 3 slices rye
bread with wholenut peanut butter and banana, orange
12:00 - Coffee
14:30 – Salad with avocado,
halloumi, chicken, onion and hummus
15:30 – Nakd bar
16:00 – 50g cashew nuts
17.00 – Handful of
raisins
17:15 – 750ml water
during 1h 15min turbo
18:45 – Glass of chocolate
milk
19:45 – Peppered pork
chop, roasted carrot, boiled baroccoli, asparagus and peas. Frozen smoothie ice
cream.
20:45 - 50g 85% dark
chocolate. Hot chocolate
21:45 – A few slices of
cheese
7:00 - Double espresso
8:00-10:30 – 750ml water (During 1h 15min gym session and
45min swim)
10:45 - Banana
11:15 - 3 slices rye bread with wholenut peanut butter and
banana, orange, handful of dried fruit and seeds
11:45 – Homemade flapjack, coffee
12:30-14.45 - 750ml Water (During 2h ride)
15:00 – Handful of mixed nuts and seeds, glass of chocolate
milk
15:20 - Omlette with chorizo and cheese, avocado, hummus and
carrot, green tea
16:00 – Nakd bar
17.30 – 500ml water (post sports massage)
18:45 - 3x Lamb and apricot sausage salad with beetroot/courgette/avocado
and onion. Frozen smoothie ice cream
20:00 - 50g 85% dark chocolate, large bowl of mixed nuts and
raisins
Keeping a food diary for just a couple
of days is a great way to take a look at your diet objectively, does it
complement your training or hinder it? It
makes it easier to then make changes and see how they affect your mood, energy
level and training.
If you have any questions or
queries then please message me.
