Eating for Ironman
Changing my workout style to endurance and triathlon specific training has changed the way I eat. I am in the process of training my body to get its fuel from fat. Therefore, I need to consume (a lot) more fat.
Most people think that eating fat will make you fat. This is not true. One reason why people get fat is because they are living on low-sugar and low-fat items that are loaded with preservatives. In fact, when I first started eating this way my body fat dropped to 2% and I learned the hard way that I respond better on the bike with around 6% body fat.
Another thing that I had to do was change the order of the way I eat. Now I need to make sure I get enough calories to balance the effort and glycogen deficit after a hard workout. When I sit down for a meal, the first thing I eat is a hunger-inducing food. This triggers an insulin response that drives blood sugar down and causes me to want to eat more. Hunger-inducing foods include salty and high-density carbs that excite the appetite. After taking a break and letting them do their thing I will eat more and then eat protein with fat. This helps with recovery but at times it is hard to eat as much as I need.
Here is a breakfast and dinner that I had in the last week:
Breakfast:
Oatmeal
2% milk
Walnuts
Bob’s Red Mill muesli
Banana
Cinnamon
Blueberries
4 fish oil capsules
2 hardboiled eggs
Whole milk latte
Dinner
Beef tenderloin
Beets
Sweet potatoes
Brussels sprouts
Quinoa
Zucchini
Spinach salad with almond slivers and olive oil
A huge piece of Kitty’s special cheesecake
Here’s an example of a meal I ate after a 150min ride on the trainer where I burned 1400 calories:
Nachos
Black bean tortilla chips
Three steaks cut up
Black beans
Cheese
Salsa
Make sure you eat for a purpose. I ate an entirely different way when I was not training for an endurance sport. If your goal is to excel at an endurance sport I highly recommend adding healthy fats to your diet and changing the order you eat your food. Make sure you earn your calories though!