What to eat - when to eat

[daz h]

Tuffer, don't confuse Low GI with Low carb. There are stacks of carbs in vegetables, nuts and things like mushrooms. Its just that they are released into the bloodstream slowly unlike sugary or starchy foods (High GI) where the carbs get hoovered up really fast. And when you think about it, you need slow release stuff to last you through a race. My eating plan now is high carb (low GI), high protein and high fat and high fibre.

Egglet, when I did my 3 x 10 mile runs in one day, my eating plan was:
Porridge and berries
Run 10 miles
Bacon, eggs and mushrooms. Greek yoghurt. Apple juice
Run 10 miles
2 Chilli Tortilla wraps. Dried apricots and 70% cocoa choccy. Black tea
Run 10 miles

No problem with energy and no cramp (unusual for me since on my previous pasta/rice type diet I always got it).

Emmy, I've never been one to obsess about a pre-race meal. If toast does it for you, fine. Me, I just lob down a bit of dark choccy and keep going on dried apricots.

And in case anyone else thinks I'm obsessive about this, I'm not. Its just that I have changed the habits of a lifetime, walked away from a whole load of BS talked about food (by so-called experts) and now feel a whole lot better for it.

that would not be enuff food for me after 30miles, id eat the house out
2 tortillas for tea, eck id need at least 400gramms of pasta and sauce, yum

[Wheeze]

FSS, the 28 day bit is just a bit of promotional fluff to hook a largely jaded audience and to appeal to those who are seriously overweight. As aspiring athletes, few of us are and so you can ignore all those bits of the book. The underlying change of eating habits is crucial though. If you have got the book and read on past the 'weight loss' bit, there is a discussion of fat and what it means to our metabolism. Basically, we have been sold a pup by so called experts who extol a low fat diet. The truth is 'fat does not make you fat'. You need an enabler like highly processed sugars to make the fat go to your hips. And the whole cholesterol and bad fat science has holes shot all through it.
What the eating plan does is turn you from a sugar burner to a fat burner. If you look at primitive diets, they are often high in fat as that is the principle source of energy. So a 'high fat' diet is not, on its own, harmful. The Kalahari tribesmen subsist on a diet of nuts, fatty meat and whatever root vegetables they can find and are fit as butchers dogs. Admittedly, their lifespan is probably nearer 60 rather than 80!

[FellShoeShuffler]

Wheeze

We could bandy about traditional diets until the cows come and, indeed, I might point you to the traditional Scottish west highland diet of oats, potatoes and herring - high in (starchy) carbs, low in fat (v low in saaturated fat) and low in protein which many would argue is perfect - but both diets to some extent and the Kalahari Tribesmen's in particular developed through 'availablity' rather than choice.

What matters rather more is, when we have the choice, what is it we choose?

"Fat burning rather than sugar burning" is an attractive sound bite and what is considerably more important to an athlete, an endurance athlete, is whether 'fat burning' can produce fuel fast enough for 'running muscles'. Unless you run very slowly indeed, at less than 65% of MHR, the answer is that 'fat burning' cannot produce fuel fast enough for running muscles.

Every marathon runner carries round the course enough body fat to fuel the entire marathon, in fact many marathons, but the energy just isn't available - fast enough. Endurance athletes need carbs - starchy, slow release carbs to run on and to live on and fast release carbs to replenish depleted glycogen stores with. Athletes don't need a high fat diet and can't use the fat as a significant energy source when running. That is another reason why a "High Carbs, High Protein, High Fat" diet is bobbins.

[plop the owl]

i like cake.

[Tuffer]

Me too, especially homemade ones, lemon drizzle and victoria sponge inparticular.

[Wheeze]

All I know is, I can achieve the performance I want eating this way. I feel the best I have in years, I sleep better, and I'm enjoying the experiment. So what if it challenges established doctrine? Isn't that what life is all about? If thats bobbins, I'll take it thank you.

Don't miss cake, one little bit! Now toast...that's different, but we all make sacrifices to achieve goals. Ooer, and pasties too! Damn, damn and triple damn! Better scoff some cheese quick!

[Wheeze]

Just done 160 miles in 5 days on the low GI plan. No probs at all with nutrition. Drank only water whilst running. Felt good all round. Pasta? Pah!

[Toffer]

Just done 160 miles in 5 days on the low GI plan. No probs at all with nutrition. Drank only water whilst running. Felt good all round. Pasta? Pah!

He neglected to tell you about the wind and bowel problem then

[Wheeze]

I blame the dried apricots.....parp!!

[molehill]

My "Tinned Pineapple Rings" diet doesn't work