On Wednesday evening I met with my nutritionist (Debbie Allen, Health on Earth) for the first time and had a very positive experience. I decided to seek professional advice because I've been having a very difficult time knowing how much I should be eating, and whether or not I am fuelling my body with what it needs to continue training for a marathon. In addition (and this is not something that I have discussed here in a long time) I have been trying to lose weight. In fact, I have been successful in losing weight - over 30 lbs in 6 months. For the first time since I was 17 years old, I find myself at a "healthy" weight. I would still like to lose another 10 lbs or so and, more importantly, lean up. You'd think that I could lose weight running 40+ KM/week regardless of what I am eating but unfortunately, that is not the case.
As it turns out (and as I suspected) I am not getting nearly enough protein, which probably explains why I am hungry ALL! THE! TIME! and why my muscles are not recovering as quickly as I'd like.
Starting next week I will be following a nutrition plan which pretty much doubles the protein in my current diet and reduces the starch. At this stage in my training I don't need to be eating quite as much starch as I have been, which means I'm not burning it and therefor storing excess. In a few weeks I'll be meeting with Debbie again to re-evaluate as my mileage creeps up and I will need the extra carbs. But don't worry, I still get to have my spaghetti on Saturday nights before the Sunday long run.
In addition, I'll be drinking Genestra Endurlyte for electrolytes on Friday and Saturday (in preparation for Sunday) and taking powdered magnesium in water daily for muscle relaxation.
Here's the kicker: NO MORE ASPARTAME! I have to admint, I'm an aspartame junkie. It's going to be tough, but hopefully worth it. Maintaining a steady blood sugar level is key in running performance and aspartame does exactly the opposite.
I'm looking forward to implementing the changes and hopefully seeing results.
1 comment:
Protien with every meal including breakfast should show a considerable change in your recovery.
Congrats Marlene on the significant weight loss, OMG girl that is awesome!!
Let me know how is goes with Debbie, I'm really keen on hearing all about it!!
Post a Comment