Getting the Basics Right

There isn't enough food in the world to make you feel full after a long run.

Turns out nutrition is pretty important when you put your body through more than an hour of training. When you don't eat enough to fuel your swim/bike/run/other-crazy-adventure the enjoyment quickly switches to a new level of hell. The version of Sam that lives in this zone is affectionately known as "Hangry Sam" and is not someone I would wish anyone willingly meet. 

The up side of this sort of training though, is that I get to eat. Lots.

The trick is to eat the right stuff.

When you try to refuel your body with caffeine and bacon and egg pie 2 hours after a 14km run and an RPM class I can tell you that Hangry Sam will not tolerate your shit. 

The photo below shows my general mood for the remainder of that day. It was not OK.

Goal by my 29th birthday - run from my house in the city to my parents house in the burbs. 13.7km, several Wellington-typical hills and 300+ stairs. We did it. 

Cue the food plan. 

I promised I'd be open about my entire journey. Training and eating included. 

Below, is my 5 day food diary I sent to Cath. 

Yup it's true, I train hard and eat crap. As Cath said, it has got to stop.

After 5 days in Melbourne eating and drinking whatever was in front of me I figure it's time to start my real eating plan. This is in no way a diet. It is not designed to help me lose weight nor is it calorie restrictive. It is a guide to help me get enough of the right fuel for the training I am about to embark on and to eliminate processed crappy food from my lifestyle. It'll probably make me eat more veggies. 

Day 1 today and I stuck to the plan pretty well, apart from the birthday cake of which I had 2 not so small slices. It was carrot cake though so I'm gonna count that as a vegetable. 
The first thing I've picked up is that after a morning RPM class I'll need to go for the high protein breakfast. By opting for the muesli and peaches instead I think I ended up having Meal 1, Snack 2 and Meal 2 within the space of 90 minutes. 

I'm slightly disappointed that there is no mention of wine on this food plan. There's also no mention of grapes either so I can't even misconstrue them as wine. Well played Cath, well played. 


The last elimination of excuses

I got a new toy. Toys make things fun, even swimming. Now I can track everything from my calorie balance to how restless I am when I sleep. How fast I run/ride to how many strokes it takes me to swim 33m. I want to record EVERYTHING! 

And I will. Watch this space. Or Strava.