Peanut Butter Runner

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 :)

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 ;)

My favorite wedding gift :)  Little red Tea Pot - I use every morning and night!

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)

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,)

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