Nutrition: My Achilles heel (Read 622 times)

I make a lot of mistakes in my training no doubt. I run too much sometimes. I run too hard when my body is tired. I ignore signs of impending injury. I don't always sleep enough. But, if there is one thing I do wrong more than anything else, it is eat poorly. I'm not talking about A dessert everyday, or something that I know my running probably entitles me to. I am talking about regular binging on terrible foods, and missing out on anything healthy for days at a time. I hear other runners say they eat bad, but when I look at what they are talking about, I scoff. I OFTEN have several donuts for breakfast, a burger and fries for lunch, a piece of cake for a snack, fried chicken for dinner, and a pint of ice cream for a dessert. I seriously am pretty sure I go days at a time without a fruit or vegetable (that isn't fried). I would not be suprised if that really was an average day. Do any other runners out there eat this poorly?

Wow, GUILTY!!!! I'm such a carb person---and not always complex carbs----I'm sure I don't get the correct amount of veggies---I'm pretty good on the fruit because it's sweet---it's the veggies and even the fat I'm pretty bad at getting enough of. Maybe that can be a New Year's resolution!

I used to have some really horrible eating habits, but that was before I started running. One thing that I learned is to not push myself too hard, to just make one small change at a time. Try finding some kind of fruit that you like the taste of, and keep it on hand. Or buy some precut salad mix, toss it with a can of tuna and some dressing and have that as a meal. The other thing that helped me change my habits was studying food, really learning about what is in what we eat. That pretty much stomped out most cravings, but it is not for the faint of heart. A good book to start with is called Twinkie Deconstructed. Just a little bit at a time adds up. Good luck!

I have definitely committed my share of nutrition atrocities. Veggieburgers have been a huge help - not the soy ones, but the gardenburgers made from rice and mushrooms. I load them up with peppers and some lettuce and sprouts, and try to have just a handful of fries or green beans on the side. It'll never be as fast as a bag of ramen noodles or as delicious as a box of shells and cheese (my two worst vices), but i'll probably thank myself for it someday.