to the bowl of pasta you were planning for lunch. You don't need a nutritionist to tell you that refined, processed foods such as cakes, biscuits and pastries have little nutritional value, but many complex carbohydrates are also refined, which complicates

1. Always carry appropriate recovery snacks and drinks with you. Being prepared is an essential part of your training.2. Start eating and drinking immediately after exercise if you are training again within eight hours.3. Take 1-1.2g of carbohydrate

quick energy from refined foods such chocolate and biscuits. Ideally, refuelling should start just after you cross the finish line. This is because your body's stores of glycogen (the carbohydrate that is stored in the muscles and liver) are depleted

and try to build up the quantity over time. If you tolerate liquids better after exercise, try a specially designed recovery drink - with a balance of carbohydrates, protein and essential nutrients - straight after exercise, followed by something like a

Association and The Nutrition Society. She has completed the London Triathlon twice. Sarah regularly writes for magazines, newspapers and journals.

With three disciplines to consider, it's easy to make mistakes when you're eating and drinking during training and racing. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's easy to avoid triathlon's common nutritional pitfalls if you plan ahead

Lynn Clay from Maxifuel is a sports scientist, nutrition consultant and freelance journalist with eight years' experience in the nutrition industry. She’s a former AAA gold medallist runner, a keen cyclist and she’s competing in Ironman Austria

Q. I want to practise my nutrition for race day but my trainer says I should wait until a few weeks before the race so I get the maximum benefit - is he right?A. It's imperative that you experiment during training to find out what will work best

the US Department of Agriculture appropriated it for a report on nutrition. Specifically, a calorie was defined as the unit of heat required to raise 1g of water 1 degree Celsius.To apply this concept to foods such as sandwiches, scientists would set food

number of variables that will affect what your body needs for training and recovery and it may take some time to figure them out. The 2008 Sprint Triathlon Age Group (50-54) World Champion Jane Bell says her nutrition plan for her first year of triathlon