My Training Diet + 5 Healthy Tips
Last year, after the holidays, I sat down with my coach. “Okay… how can I improve my diet?” I asked him. After mentioning “no fucking ice cream” a few times, he eventually gave me an eating action plan:
1. Eat every three hours.
2. Make lunch the biggest meal of the day.
Simple, right? Over the past year, I’ve really tried to stick to a schedule like this:
8:30am: Breakfast. Coffee and cereal, the latter usually sprinkled with walnuts and / or fruit.
11:30am: I’m back home from practice, so I need to get my “big lunch” in me quickly. I’ll start with a fresh smoothie while I’m rolling and icing my legs, then cook a meal. Some days I feel stressed about having to take so much time out of normal “work hours” to cook and eat, but for the most part, I’m embracing the time to relax, take care of my body, and read a book or magazine.
2:30pm: Snack and tea.
5:30pm: This usually follows a second training session, so it’s usually something small and quick for recovery.
8:30pm: Dinner! I try to make this substantial, but not hefty– Coach’s criticism of me last year was that I ate dinner “like a football player”. I try to make my meals the appropriate size for a 26-year-old girl!
I don’t think I have any major secrets when it comes to food and eating. It seems like every day, there’s a different approaching to dieting and our relationship with what we put in our body– chemical analysis, calorie counting, eating like cavemen, eating like scientists, etc, etc. I just like to eat! Exerting moderation and impulse control has been my biggest endeavor over the past year, but in general (except for ice cream), I don’t deny myself anything.
With all that being said– I have found a wonderful balance when it comes to food and exercise. I strive to create a lifestyle that will be feasible once running is over (ie, I don’t want to eat like a pig because I “run off the calories” and then get stuck with bad eating habits when I’m done running– and vice versa! I don’t want to starve myself now, because I’ll end up binging once I’m done being a runner). I’m on the lazy side when it comes to cooking, but I try to challenge myself to find easy AND diverse things to eat. And my body and weight are better now than they’ve ever been– in large part thanks to my eating habits.
My 5 tips for a healthier relationship with eating:
1. DRINK WATER. I notice now when I go too long (45 minutes – an hour) without drinking water. Water is my life force. It gives me energy; it prevents headaches and fatigue; it keeps my hunger in check and curbs cravings; I can FEEL how good it makes my body feel when I drink it. I used to loathe drinking water, so the fact that I’m a believer is a testament to how important it is. Be that nerd who brings their water bottle everywhere and actually drink from it! If you’re not filling it up 3 times a day, make more of an effort to force some down.
2. Surround yourself with good food only. Last year, I had one of those oversized bags of assorted chocolates in my car. And… I ate them. It took months to get through the bag, but I polished them off eventually. Because I’m in my car so much and I drive back and forth to training, it was easy to just pop a chocolate in because I was hungry. Now, my car has an oversized bag of unsalted almonds– and now I have no choice but to snack on healthy things when I’m hungry and far away from my kitchen. The same concept goes for my home– I don’t allow myself to buy “junk food” or sweets because it will be the first thing I go to when I have the smallest craving.
3. Outline your week of eating. This sounds Type A, I know, but stay with me: I’ve started jotting out ideas for meals before going to the grocery store, so that as I shop, I have a strong idea of what I really need and what is just going to tempt me. Not only does this help my grocery budget, it helps me to have a plan for eating each day so that I’m not scrambling at 9pm trying to whip up something for dinner. I have specific meals in mind that I can go to and that prevents me from slacking and just having a bowl of cereal because I don’t know what to cook.
4. Keep tabs of your indulgences. Again, Type A alert! I am all for indulging once in awhile. The problem comes when I indulge… and then indulge again… and then again… and then maybe even again. If I make the excuse of keeping mental track of my dessert nights, I always manage to forget how much I’ve actually had and then get upset with myself for slacking off. Now, I mark an X on my calendar on the nights I have a dessert– that way, I can look back at my week or month and have real evidence of what my diet looked like. It’s totally fine to have multiple Xs in a week– but if I don’t keep track, I have no right to complain that I’m “feeling fat” or unhealthy!
5. Practice presence when eating. I’ve started banning technology from my mealtimes– not only does it take away from my eating enjoyment, it also distracts me into eating much more than I actually need to eat. How often have we zoned out while watching a movie, absentmindedly shoving more into our mouths? Also, let’s be honest– it’s hard to scroll through Instagram with one hand and eat a meal with the other! Admittedly, I do read a book or magazine during some of my meals, but books are tactile objects– I can put my fork down and read a few pages and then put the book down and turn back to eating. It helps me really focus on the flavors and process of eating AND cuts my social media addiction back– a double whammy!
What does your eating schedule look like? Do you have any healthy eating tips or secrets? What works best for your lifestyle? / images via my Instagram– follow my running journey @steph_steeples and my pretty account @beloved_steph
