The Runners Diet?

Hey guys,

Im a keen runner, and want to improve my times etc, I think I have a healthy diet, I don't drink or smoke and assume to myself the food im eating is good. I will go through my typical day:

Morning: Weetabix w/ skimmed milk

Mid-morning snack: Nature Valley Bars - Ginger flavour 2 bars

Lunch: 4 slices of Turkey sandwich on wholemeal bread w/ spinach and tomato

Mid-afternoon snack: Banana 

Tea: It varies, but a typical meal of lean proteins, carbs(potatoes/oven chips) and steamed veggies.

After my workouts I always have a few gulps of low fat chocolate milkshake, which is better than most sports drinks.

Im always looking to improve my diet because I know this will improve my running.

Thoughts/suggestions?

Mike. 

Also, sometimes I have pasta in low fat sauce for lunch instead of a sandwich.

I remained hydrated throughout the day to; I drink plenty of water. 

mike rushton wrote (see)

Im always looking to improve my diet because I know this will improve my running.

Thoughts/suggestions?

Mike. 

I reckon that changes will make pretty much zero difference to your running speed. Might improve your health and increase your lifespan but not your mile pace. For  sake of brevity what I've said is a bit of a sweeping generalization, but there's a pauctiy of evidence that diet will increase speed.

Anyway your diet sounds fine to me. Not enough fat for my liking, but foods a very personal thing.
As for drinking plenty of water, this is well worth a read - 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/145042497X 

I was thinking the same, in the 2 bars I eat there is 10% of my sugar RDA alone in them, and around 12% fat. There ok for a daily treat I guess? There so tasty and they do have oats in them and fibre. 

I probably intake only 40-50% sugar and fat of my RDA.

Can you guys give me advice on what to eat on the morning of a race? I run in a parkrun every saturday at 9am and I wake up at 6am, is that too late to have some weetabix? Should I just have a banana and a glass of water? 

mike rushton wrote (see)

Can you guys give me advice on what to eat on the morning of a race?

Whatever works for you. Parkrun is as good a place as any to experiment with different breakfasts.

A bit more variety in your diet. If you are on FB, like this page and you'll pick up some great nutrition tips. And no, I'm not connected to the company https://www.facebook.com/fitnaturally.co.uk

Hi Mike - noticed a lot of low fat options there. Personally I choose full fat milk, yogurt, chocolate etc because they are better for you as long as you don't over-load - low-fat options often have additives (not always)

Too many products nowadays (carefully marketed products) would have us believe that we will lose weight by eating low fat options (in fact the opposite is true) - if you eat foods low in fat you generally feel less satisfied and eat something else

Fat, Carbs, Protein you need all 3 - don't cut them - balance them. Personally I go for about 20% protein 25% fat 55% carbs - fat and saturated fat in particular has had a bad rap (and no, it doesn't cause heart disease) and many health issues can result from not getting enough, ie. if you cut too much out

If you research info on the web it isn't always helpful and nearly always contradictory but one thing that stood out for me was the research done on fat is very unreliable when trying to claim it causes heart disease

have a look here: http://www.menshealth.com/health/saturated-fat

(very interesting)

Andy

myrunningtips.com