Training for City2Surf? Time to review your diet!

If there’s one thing that’s super important as you start to ramp up your training - whether it’s endurance, weight loss, pace, or strength you have your sights set on - it’s getting your nutrition right.

And while it’s all very well getting super technical by asking questions like, “what should I eat as I start to train for endurance events”, or “what foods are best to eat post-training to help me lose weight/gain muscle”, or even “what should I eat the morning of a big event or major training session”, it’s important to get a few basics right first! Yep, we’re talking about good ol’ fashioned healthy eating.

In the name of research, I recently typed “healthy eating” into Google and in return got 171 million web addresses blinking back at me, trying to get my attention. Woah! That’s a lot of information – and who has the time to go through even the top 10 listings? Not me, that’s for sure!

The very simple truth is that in order to get your body running better/stronger/faster, you need to put the right fuel in – and that starts by choosing basic, clean foods. 

Help your bod to operate more effectively by making sure you’re not filling it with toxins and by putting plenty of good, nutrient dense stuff in. You’ll find that everything from your fitness, to your recovery and even your breathing improves/becomes easier. 

So where do you start when you make the decision that only healthy foods will grace your plate, fill your cupboards and nourish your body from here on in? Is it really that complicated to eat ‘real’ foods?

Here are a few rules for clean eating newbies, to get you on track: 

Reach for COLOUR

Picture in your mind, just for a moment, a huge dinner table filled with as much fast food as you can possibly think of. Yep all that deep fried, battered and bleached, stodgy, pastry-crusted, non-food that for some reason is so much more appealing in the early hours of the morning, after you’ve sipped too many happy hour drinks. 

Have you ever noticed that these kind of foods are all a variation of one colour? BROWN!! 

Ok you can ditch the fast food visual now (phew!)… time to imagine a table full of all the foods grown from the earth instead. Notice how varied, fresh and colourful your table looks? Much more appealing! 

All those natural colours aren’t just to make our food look good, they contain a variety of vitamins and minerals your body needs to function effectively - nutrients that are most definitely NOT found in a certain smiley-faced pie!

Eat a colourful diet and you’re on track for a better functioning bod and a faster track time.

Herbs

If the mention of herbs immediately has you thinking of the smells wafting from your local Backpackers on a lazy summers afternoon, then its time to expand your mind.

Start with a few basics like: basil (Vitamin K, A & Calcium), chives (digestive benefits), parsley (reduces Inflammation, which is great for training recovery), rosemary (Vitimin A, C , B & Folate), mint (stomach settler, perfect for pre-run nerves) and buy them as fresh as you can. 

Experiment and have fun in the kitchen, trying out different recipes with your herbs and see how they add depth to your dishes.

Let off some steam

The way you cook your food is often just as important as what you are eating. It’s time to let off some steam! 

Steaming is such an awesome way of cooking. Your food is slowly cooked, keeping all those nutrients locked in. You can steam just about anything and all you need is a pan with a small amount of boiling water in it and a colander with a lid. Simple and hardly any washing up! WIN!

Know which macronutrients to reach for

As a simple rule: on days when you’re NOT training or getting active, you don’t need many carbs, so stick to proteins (eggs, lean organic meats, fish, tempeh, plain greek yoghurt), good fats (avocado, nuts) and lots of veggies. On days when you ARE training, include some carbs too for extra energy (fruit, brown rice, beans, quinoa).

The bottom line – yep, eating the way you always have is comforting and familiar but if you’re reading this article, it means you’re interested in treating your body better and fuelling it for performance and health. Today is as good a day as any for change, so start thinking about what you’re putting in your bod now and reap the rewards.

Start one step at a time, even if it’s setting yourself a goal to eat 3-5 colourful foods each day, or to add one herb to your main meal.

What you eat is critical to your mood, hormones, energy levels, athletic performance and immune system, so the better you eat, the better you’ll feel!

Below are a few meal ideas to get you started. I hope this inspires you to become more adventurous in the kitchen and discover food for the beautiful, amazing, colourful, mood enhancing wonder that it is. What’s on your plate might just be the best training buddy you ever had!

Breakfast: 

Eggs (any style), smoked salmon, spinach, avocado, tomato, seasonings of choice.

Lunch: 

Rice paper rolls - as many colourful veggies and salads as you can find, sliced lengthways in approx 4cm strips. Add herbs of choice and wrap up in the rice paper. YUM!

Snack: 

Nut butter & sliced apple… you won’t believe how amazing it is ‘til you try it!

Dinner: 

Protein (any meat or vegetarian protein, I love chicken!) & veggie stir fry – cut your ingredients up, stir fry with fresh herbs and a big squeeze of lime, throw in a few crushed nuts. Done!

Dessert:

Herbal tea is perfect, licorice for good digestion, or ginger and honey BUT if you must ‘dessert’, try frozen berries with a scoop of plain Greek yoghurt, or a few squares of dark chocolate. If you’re an ice cream lover, try freezing a little coconut milk – add cacao for a chocolatey twist!