If I could choose another name for this blog I think it would be 'Peanut Butter Runner"....my love for peanut butter (and acai bowls) is well known and ever-growing. But, I do eat other things believe it or not :) At least once or twice a week I get a message or question related to food/nutrition. I have largely stayed away from posting about what I eat/when I eat/how I eat because quite frankly it scares me :( People can be mean - and I am not an expert and my diet is nowhere near perfect, nor do I intend it to be; it's just what is working for me right now. But, last week Justin and I were literally talking about this exact subject and someone pinged me asking me a food question - and he said you really should. In the spirit of starting this marriage thing on the right foot, here's to listening to feedback and posting on food!
Most of what I have learned about nutrition and food I attribute to my sister Kate (while she knows nothing about running, I have found almost anytime I have issues I can call her and she has the answer), my friend Lauren Kay who has a great nutritional background, and when I lived out East I actually did see a nutritionist, Bill Nadeau, to figure some things out. All three have helped me tremendously.
Instead of go into details of what a typical day or week looks like, I think it might be easier to just kind of share the basic principles I follow. And again, this is what works for me - I think that paleo, vegan, froyon, pizzatarian, or whatever type of diet you are on is 1) great and 2) normal - IF it works for you. Sometimes we worry so much about what other people are doing - and the truth is we were born as US, not THEM - so do what works for you :)
So here we go, these are most of the questions I get....
1. Do I count calories?
Yes and No. I do not limit myself, but I do have a number I have to hit or we have "system breakdown" lights that go on. This is easy for me if I am in my routine - but if I am traveling or have a crazy week (think wedding week) then I have to keep a running tab in my head and it becomes more difficult. It also does not help that I am VERY plain, and picky about food, I always have been. So while I could just "eat anything", I don't, because I don't like anything Furthermore, as we progress in our plan and make jumps in mileage and/or intensity I have had to "re-figure" that magic number out again and again. Having a coach that understands this has been great as we have moved very conservatively - basically in 5-6 week blocks - that has allowed me to find it and my body to adjust accordingly.
2. How do I think about the Macros?
I am a carb machine. And I know tons of people will tell you carbs are bad. I'm sorry it's just how I am, I tried "paleo" for 3 months when I lived out East and I have never been more miserable, I felt terrible. No energy and my running suffered tremendously. So I eat a lot of carbs - rice, cereal, pretzels, popcorn - all staples for me. Never, ever count them. If I crave them, I think it's my body saying it needs them. In fact, Saturday night I do the typical pasta before the long run and as I eat it (this is really dorky) sometimes I visualize the tank filling up, and then before I go to bed I eat cereal and the tank is overflowing - - so when I run the next day at like mile 15/16 I think back to that and say - I got plenty o gas in the tank!
Protein. I don't do protein shakes or try and get a certain amount of grams per bodyweight. And I never had a steak or bison, or burger I liked. Even when I was little steak grossed me out. I just don't like the taste. Instead I eat either fish or chicken 6 nights a week (pasta Saturday night). Again sometimes visualizing the protein healing up all the damage from that day's mileage. I like turkey and turkey burgers too. And I eat lots of nuts. I kind of use them as croutons almost on top of my veggies at dinner :)
Fats. So when I was cool in high school I did the whole low fat thing - looking back on that what was I thinking? Anyways it led to issues of low body fat% which caused all sorts of problems leading to a string of injuries. Enter Bill, that nutrition guy I mentioned, who basically saved my running career. He completely broke it down for me - and I looked at my fat% versus what average was, not even athletic average - and it opened my eyes. How things have changed - enter my love for peanut butter and nuts in general. I never look at fat. In fact, I think fat is what keeps us healthy. Having said that, this was a journey too, as one of the best sources of fat is avocados right? So Bill had me start eating those (WHICH WAS A BIG STEP< I EAT LIKE A 1st GRADER). And who knew - I was SEVERELY allergic to them (hospital allergic) @Kelly and @Elisa #verydramaticworkmeeting. And so one step forward, then 5 backwards after that episode. It shook me up pretty bad.
3. How do you think about fruits and veggies?
I eat a banana everyday (magnesium is KEY, I could preach all day about this, I think it is the #1 secret weapon for runners) and I have lots of veggies every night - even on Pasta day because I have an acai bowl that has kale and broccoli hidden in it :)
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| So this sucker believe it or not has kale and broccoli in it, but you do not taste or see it, BRILLIANT! #inflammtionfighter |
4. How much water do you drink? What are your hydration go to's?
Another HUGE growth area for me. Justin used to call me a camel, I never drank much of anything. And how embarrassing is this, I used to drink about 4 Diet Cokes a day :( In November of 2014 one day I said, I am trying to do something that the odds are already against me, why would you make it even harder, how bad do you want this? And I quit cold turkey. Have not had ONE since, and I have never felt better. And now, you will RARELY find me without water bottle in hand. I drink my body weight in water every day + 1-2 Nuun tablets a day. Now, I am sponsored by Nuun, so full transparency here, but it has been one of the biggest game changers for me. Once again, a learning process, and I was drinking SO much water it was depleting my system of all minerals. My coach helped me on this one, and man what a difference I feel. It's nuts. I highly recommend EVERYONE to try Nuun. You can't just have water all the time, and Nuun replaces all the minerals you have lost. Incredible.
I also wake up and drink caffeinated tea every morning and no caffeine tea before I go to bed at night. In the morning it has really helped my runs, I have an extra "pop" I did not have before. And at night, it's my signal to my body to wind down. In fact, I think my favorite wedding present was a red teapot, it's special because it's from someone very important to me at work, and she knows my whole dream and journey ;)
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| My favorite wedding gift :) Little red Tea Pot - I use every morning and night! |
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| That's a lot of Nuun! This stuff is a gamechanger, literally put a pep back in my step. |
5. Do You Snack?
So, I know this will seem really weird, but not really. I never have been a big snacker. I don't really like eating in the car or while walking or while working and I am a busy body and so that is what it would have to be. I need down time, time to just "be" and so when I eat, I like to sit down and just "eat" - listen to the people I am with, or read, or sometimes just think. Eating quickly or on the go just is not my thing and my stomach is so sensitive if I do it I end up not feeling so great. I will say before I go to bed I eat a bowl of cereal every night because otherwise I wake up hungry. To which everyone always tells me, well you're not eating enough at dinner. I eat about 1500 calories at dinner, so I don't think that's the case. I just get up at 3 or 4am REALLY hungry if I don't. And I prefer to run without breakfast in me, so I think that allows me to do that as well.
5) What are your grocery trip staples?
I eat a lot of anti-inflammatory foods - Bill and Lauren have helped me with this a lot. Basically, any athlete training at a high level has a lot of inflammation and you have to combat that to prevent injury. So while ice, massage, epsom salts help - I also believe what we put in our body can be the best ally for us. Hence my obsession with acai - a superfruit known to fight inflammation! I also started eating fish about a year ago and I believe it has gotten me to where I am today, feeling great.
So here's a list of my go to's :
- Fish
- Bananas
- Nuts
- Rice
- Vegetables (except red peppers - I do not like spicy food - so I pick these out and give them to Justin :)
- Cereal/Almond Milk (dairy bugs my stomach, I have had to cut my froyo down b/c of that:(
- Chicken
- Pasta
- Water/Nuun tablets
- Tea (AM/PM versions @ Teavana - $$$$ habit)
- pretzels
- Peanut butter (Lauren makes me homemade PB, amazing)
- Bread from Sprouts - I am REALLY picky on my sandwich bread
- Cornbread (recent obsession - from Sprouts)
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| My friend Lauren has helped me a lot with nutrition, and also makes me REAL peanut butter! |
6) Do you use supplements?
Again a HUGE journey, but have a rotation now that is working for me. I take a fish oil supplement to fight inflammation, Stronium for bone strength, and a multivitamin to get all the minerals I am missing (primarily the B's,)
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| The 3 supplements I take every day |
7) Do you have any vices?
I have a "bar" addiction. I love my bars, KIND, Quest, Cliff, Rx Bars. I share this with my nephew, Connor :) Perhaps we should go to an addiction class together for it! I know they are bad for you, but I love em', and so I eat one for desert at lunch every single day. (I did use to have 2 a day though, so improvement!!)
I realize I left a lot of the pre-run/post run nutrition specifics out, but that really is a whole other blog, and so I thought maybe my next race recap I could include that?
Lastly, I am the last person to be giving advice, but for what's it's worth my two cents would be that this has been a long journey, with lots of trial and error. Never take what one person does and follow it out the window; tinker to make it fit you. But then at some point you have to STOP tinkering and let your body adjust. I am at a point right now where I am holding steady through game day and then before the next cycle I will tinker a bit more. And my biggest piece of advice? One thing at a time :) Small changes you can tackle; changing everything was overwhelming for me and never worked. Once I started to focus on one thing at a time, it stuck, and I could feel a difference. As always, any comments or questions I am all ears as I am still very much learning!
xoxoxo,
CB
