What do you eat to exercise hard?
 

I learnt early-ish on that a weightloss diet and exercise do not necessarily go hand-in-hand when you reach a certain point.

Specifically, about 18 months ago I was eating less (teeny weeny chicken salads), running a lot and doing weight lifting. I woke up one day, tried to go for a 6 mile run and my body just said "no". My muscles just did not have any energy.

From that day I revisited my exercise (ran less far, but have since built back up) and crucially ate more but better food.

As most of you know, my main staple is fish. I eat about 2 pounds of the stuff a day now. With a very large salad. I also like to eat a lot of dried fruit and nuts (with lunch, not snacks).

But before long runs, I also find dark chocolate, almonds and bananas beneficial.

I used to eat oats as well for a long time. They gave me energy but I recently gave them up as they were also bloating me out and gave me gas.

So what do you eat to fuel those heavy workouts?

On long run days, I go carb heavy for breakfast, the opposite of my usually protein heavy weekday breakfast of turkey sausage, egg, and cheese sammies. Oatmeal with dried fruit, nuts, honey, and Greek yogurt. I might throw in a banana or juice with coffee right before I head out. I can't seem to get an actual lunch in or I feel sluggish. I fuel midrun with chews and a small amount of Gatorade. Post run is a Clif bar. Dinner is either a bacon cheeseburger or roasted chicken with veggies.

I'm finding that it can be difficult to balance the energy needs of hard training with creating a calorie deficit. I'm still about 40 lbs from my goal, so I need to watch it, but at the same time, I'm not willing to sacrifice my running goals to lose weight faster. I've accepted losing about a half to a pound per week as a trade off.

Following!

I'm in a similar boat as Steudel. Just started running and I still have at least 30 pounds til goal but I'm focusing on fitness right now, so I know my diet will need to change.

I do a lot of backpacking so I know what works well for me when it comes to hard physical training (protein and fat!) but finding a balance in a more long term situation will be interesting. Can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts!

First thing I do is a banana/parsley/flax seed smoothie. Then Eggs eggs eggs. I find that a combination of veggies (mushrooms/peppers/spinach etc) and some toast keeps me sane during a tougher work out. Truthfully I think it's the toast that really gives me the energy lol.

On lighter days I'm good to go after a bowl of full-fat yogurt, honey, chia seeds, flax seeds, and almonds.