mmmmm.....Food Thoughts.....

I got asked last week to share on my blog what a typical day of food looks like for me. So here it is below but one thing to note, I have a very unusual metabolism. I can guarantee that ALL endurance athletes eat way more then this but due to the nature of my races for nearly 9 years which are so long and deplete my body of everything, I struggle daily to maintain race weight. The reason for this is because in a typical 5 - 7 day race, I drop about 12lbs. Then, when I return to regular day life and normal eating my body says "ah ha, I know that you are going to go and deplete me again, I am going to hold on to every single thing that you eat." So to make a long story short, I have to watch every thing that I put into my body despite training days of 2 - 6 hours. On the plus, I am a whole foods eater and really enjoy eating well. I've learned to cut my sugar cravings which has been a huge accomplishment and taking my Udo's Oil (essentialy fats) everyday has really helped. I'm constantly reading up on the whole "nutrition" thing and trying to learn as much as I can. One thing is certain - fruits, veggies and whole foods is the key to success.

Sample Day:

6am - morning trail run (1hr)

8am - coffee + VEGA smoothie (1.5 c blueberries, 1 banana, 8c water, 2 scoop Vega Whole Food Optimizer, 2 tbsp Udo's Oil, 1 handful green spinach) * drink this over 1.5hrs

11am - carrots + hummus, 1 home made gluten free blueberry muffin

1pm - 2hr bike workout (water on bike)

3pm - coffee, apple, almonds, cashews + yogurt

5pm - 1hr swim workout

7pm - massive salad with either chicken, salmon, bison or eggs, beets, peppers, tomotoes, 1/2 avocado, sprouts, carrots, brocolli + home made dressing (oil, balsamic, lemon juice, hemp hearts)

8pm - Bija truffle chocolate (oh ya) + Roobios tea (decaf)

I'm learning to cook more and more too which has been really fun. I've expanded my baking knowledge and am having fun with making gluten free breads, muffins etc. Here are a few books/blogs that always have good recipes to share. Got to be honest, nothing everything I make turns out, I've got lots of learning to do.

Adam Harts - Power of Food

Devon's - Fast Foodies

Elana's Pantry - regular email list

Brendan Brazier's - THRIVE diet

Udo Erasmus's - Omega3 Cuisine

A few of my newest additions:

Kale chips (kale with olive oil and sea salt baked in oven until crisp)

Yam fries (yams in Pumpkin Seed Oil baked in Oven)

Hemp Heart Cookies

Any kind of salad - you name it, it tastes good on spinach!

Quinoa Dragon bowls

Kamut banana pancakes - excellent for ski tour days

Carrot ginger soup

Butternut apple soup

Share with me what you got!!!!

PS _ more cooking and trying things was a 2010 goal of mine. Finally I've started to dedicate time to it and I intend to keep doing this into 2011.....