My Current Running Nutrition Strategy
So, often, as runners, we over look nutrition. BUT, I firmly believe it is one of the most IMPORTANT aspects of training and can literally turn your running around!
I’ve not only learned this in researching and studying, but in my own personal running and nutrition journey. I’ve gone through seasons of eating whatever I wanted and trying to train (i.e. weight gain and not my greatest runs ever) and seasons of under eating (i.e. constant injuries, period loss, BAD stuff overall.)
But in the middle of these pitfalls, lies a beautiful happy medium! I am so, so passionate about living a balanced and free life. The last thing I want for anyone, runner or non runner, is to be trapped in living a certain type of diet without having any freedom to enjoy your favorite treats and homemade pies, and cookies, and delicious ice cream. However, I also believe that, in order, as runners to achieve our optimal racing and training fitness, we do need to take a look at what we are fueling our bodies with.
Recently, my absolute, favorite way to strategize nutrition is through a lifestyle called carb-cycling. I use this nutrition strategies, as do my athletes, so they (and we) can stay lean, while still keeping/building muscle! Carb cycling has been a serious game changer in my own running and I am so excited to see the benefits as I continue to implement it into my lifestyle and pair it with my workouts for a dynamic effect!
Confused on macros and carb cycling and what I in the world I am talking about?
Here’s a little breakdown:
Macros (short for macronutrtients) are the building blocks for every single thing we put into our bodies, from cupcakes to kale, macros build up our food we choose to eat, daily.
The biggest macros are carbs, fats, and proteins. And it’s important to get these macros right, if you want to hit your fitness goals!
For the average, active person a breakdown of macros looks something like this:
50% carbs
20-30% fat
20-30% protein.
With carb cycling, you are essentially cycling your carbs through your low and high intensity training days to reap the benefits of a low carb diet, while still nourishing your body with the important carb macros to keep and maintain muscle!
High level overview now:
High carb-days: give your body an energy boost, increase muscle mass, and nourishes tired muscles.
Low carb days: trains your body how to best utilize fat as a fuel source. shreds fat, while still maintain muscle. (I do two low carb days per week.)
It may sound complicated, but I promise, once you learn it, it is easy to implement into any lifestyle!I use Myfitnesspal (a free app!) to track my macros and keep track of my low-carb and high-carb day and find it easy to implement into my daily routine. YAY for modern technology!
I seriously love this lifestyle and am obsessed with teaching this to my athletes! In my run coaching packages, I walk you through carb cycling details, give you meal examples,pair your low carb and high carb days with your workouts, and coach you through this hand in hand, so you can get the best results possible!! Make sure to comment if you want more info and I can hook you up!