Running - Nutrition is a Main Ingredient

               If it was possible to take a pill to prevent hunger but still have essential nutrients, I would be taking that pill every day. I don’t enjoy food like some people do. Frankly, I feel like eating takes way too much time that could be spent doing something fun. However, over the course of half marathon training I have quickly realized nutrition is an essential ingredient in the recipe of running.

               Although I still do not enjoy eating as some people do, I value how much eating the right foods can do for you. For me, eating is done to keep myself on track for a good run. Olympic Marathoner Jeff Galloway agrees with my thoughts about eating in his book entitled “Marathon” by saying “The point of eating is to acquire the essential nutrients with a steady metabolism boost so that you can maintain a motivational level of blood sugar to do all of life’s activities” (Galloway 140). I think it is necessary to apply this concept to your life. The point of eating is to fill your body with helpful nutrients, not to fill your body with candy and carbonation. Applying this concept to my life was definitely not my biggest challenge simply because food is not something I care much about.  Don’t get me wrong though, I do love some good fries.

               Moving on to something slightly more challenging about nutrition which is timing of meals and size of meals. I would say that most of us are used to eating 3 meals a day and snacking throughout the day. However, this isn’t the best for digestive systems and metabolism rates. Galloway writes “It’s better to eat seven to nine small meals a day rather than two or three bigger ones. Try to make each meal consist mostly of complex carbohydrates balanced with some protein and a little fat” (Galloway 141). With school, following Galloway’s words is a little bit of a challenge since eating isn’t allowed in most classes. However, eating the right food is something that anyone can work on doing while also keeping in mind to graze throughout the day instead of devour a meal at the end of the day.

               Long distance runners eat and drink some things you may find very weird. This is what I thought until I was on mile 9 and still had 4.1 to go. After having a shot of Gu my opinion on Gu packets quickly changed. Gu is a brand that makes, well, Gu. It’s a hard thing to describe because it sounds quite strange. Gu is a pudding-like consistency and comes in many different flavors. On the package it is given the name of Energy Gel. It contains amino acids, sodium, and some flavors contain caffeine. They are meant to be opened up and poured down like some children eat Nerds. Gu packets help bring up your energy level in a quick manner. Energy gels should not be taken on short runs because they are unnecessary and also should not be taken too early during a long run because energy levels will plummet back down at the end of the run.

What are some foods or drinks that you consume that may not be the most beneficial to you? Would you consider taking them out of your diet to see how you can benefit from better foods?

Reading a Food Label

Reading a Food Label

Picture this, you’re at the grocery store and you can’t move your cart full of unhealthy food because someone is looking at the ingredients and label on a box of crackers or something like that. Yes, it can seem annoying but maybe we should all be looking at the food label and seeing what’s really in our food like that person in the store. “For my clients eating cereal, reading the label would have saved them about 200 calories at breakfast (and a potential weight gain of about 20 pounds in one year)” (Stollman 75). This shows that maybe that person knows what they’re eating and is especially helpful when trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy or healthier lifestyle like I’m trying to do.

Here we have a picture of everyone’s favorite sugary cereal with a leprechaun mascot. Looks innocent right? Kids eat this so it must be healthy. Well that’s a wrong assumption, Lucky Charms is not a cereal that should be eaten every day for breakfast based on the food label.

You can learn so much more about the food you’re eating by reading the label. The book mentioned all the different nutrients you’ll find the specific amounts for like fiber, sugar, sodium, fat and more (Stollman 75). Knowing these things could make us all more mindful eaters and allow all of us to know what we’re actually putting in our bodies instead of eating unknown substances. Also knowing the ingredients and how much of each nutrient you’re eating can help you eat healthier which I know I will be using to help me start eating better.

Lastly we’re going to talk about ingredient lists on food. We all should know what we should look out for in our foods. “You may also want to avoid products with harmful colorings, additives and preservatives” (Stollman 79). This section of text is flat out saying ingredients you don’t want in your foods. Another thing to look out for is in the past I was taught to avoid foods that contain ingredients you can’t pronounce the names of. Now we can all be more mindful while eating and know what we’re really eating. 

What’s your favorite cereal? Is that cereal considered a food to avoid?

MLA Citation:

Stollman, Lisa, MA, RD, CDE, CDN. The Teen Eating Manifesto: The Ten Essential Steps to Losing Weight, Looking Great and Getting Healthy. Northport, NY: Nirvana, 2012. Print.