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By Cody West, PT
Memorial Hermann - Katy Sports Medicine
Memorial Hermann
Meal plans should be designed to match your caloric needs and recovery between training sessions.
Pre-exercise nutrition is important but varies from person-to-person. Some individuals are not
able to eat much before exercise because of gastric discomfort. Some runners are not able to
function without eating a full breakfast. Studies show it is best to eat about 200-300 g of
carbohydrates anywhere from 3-4 hours to one hour before training. It is important to remember
that each person has different sensitivity to blood insulin levels when ingesting carbohydrates.
So the best combination of eating time and diet will vary from runner to runner. Remember,
‘An Empty Sack Can’t Stand Up’.
Most runners will train in the morning so here is a list of good choices for breakfast:
- Good carbohydrate choices include whole wheat/grain bagels, pancakes, toast, English
muffins, and cereal, low-fat milk and fruit.
- Good protein choices include eggs and egg whites, turkey sausage/bacon, whey protein mix,
lean ham, yogurt, low-fat milk.
- Good fat choices include peanut butter, nuts and 2% cheeses.
- When shopping for other meals, look for foods that have 3-4g of total fat or less per
serving and 1-2g saturated fat per serving.
- Look for foods that have ‘healthy fats’ such as avocado, walnuts, flaxseed, peanut butter,
olive oil.
- Avoid foods that have ‘hydrogenated’ or ‘partially hydrogenated oils’.
- Avoid foods that have added sugar.
- Remember ‘Don’t Eat Grains Plain’.
The endurance athlete should eat every 3-4 hours. Snacks can be any combination of carbohydrate,
fat and protein and can include energy bars, protein shakes, peanut butter and crackers, fruit,
trail mix, hummus and crackers, yogurt and nuts, a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Always drink
a healthy beverage with the snack.
Eve Pearson Rodgers, RD, CSSD, LD, a sports nutritionist in Dallas
(www.nutriworkscnc.com)
says "Most marathoners that think they’re doing pretty well nutritionally tend to be eating
higher fat than necessary. If they’d actually track their intake for a few days, they would
notice this trend. Therefore, it’s important to learn where to get good carbohydrate and
protein sources and limit fats."
To optimize recovery, the runner should ingest 200-300 calories immediately after training
followed by a large meal within the hour.
For more on this topic go to http://physiocrunch.com
for more articles and a news blog on exercise, injury management and random runners topics.
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