Training's getting hard and I'm hungry.

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.