|   Diet for competitive athletes? | ctxcrossx
Dec 29, 2003 1:10 PM | | The weakness in my training right now is my diet. Honestly, I have no idea where to begin. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to find more information? What do you all do for healthy eating? Atkins? 40-30-30? I'm pretty sure that my diet of soda and junk food isn't optimal! Thank you in advance!
Chris |
| Follow link, nice place to start | moab63
Dec 29, 2003 4:58 PM | | http://www.cptips.com/toc.htm#nuttips |
| re: Diet for competitive athletes? | Topaz
Dec 29, 2003 8:46 PM | | 1. Find your daily caloric intake (@ 5'9" 160 I'm at about 2000cal/day)
2. If you want to lose weight target a 250-750 cal/day deficit. 750cal can be hard. 500 takes a bit of effort. And 250 is fairly easy. That will get you:
250cal/day = 0.5lb/week
500cal/day = 1.0lb/week
750cal/day = 1.5lb/week
3. Try to eat 5+ times a day (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner).
4. Try to eat every 2-3hrs. Otherwise you get really hungry and then over eat.
5. Here's a typical day:
-0cal no exercise
250cal breakfast 8am
125cal snack 10am
500cal lunch 12pm
125cal snack 3pm
500cal dinner 5pm
-------------
1500cal total
-500cal morning workout
250cal breakfast 8am
125cal snack 10am
750cal lunch 12pm
125cal snack 3pm
750cal dinner 6pm
-------------
2000cal total
that's a start |
| cut out the soda & junk food... | *rt*
Dec 30, 2003 6:34 AM | | and voila! you have a more healthy diet. ;-) seriously!
instead of soda drink water. if you think water is too plain mix water & gatorade to give it some flavor.
eat fruit & veggies instead of whatever you get out of the vending machine at work. don't buy chips or cookies or ice cream when you go to the grocery store. if they're not in the house, you can't eat them. don't buy lunch (or breakfast) every day, bring lunch from home. (my usual lunch consists of cut fresh veggies, a turkey sandwich, a powerbar, & maybe some cheese.) it cost significantly less than going out & its better for you.
no fancy diet needed. just cut out the bad stuff and your diet immediately improves.
rt |
| cut out the soda & junk food... | ctxcrossx
Dec 30, 2003 12:43 PM | | So nothing specific? Like amounts of fat/protein/carbos? Thanks.
Chris |
| cut out the soda & junk food... | Topaz
Dec 30, 2003 8:39 PM | | Start with your portions and calories per day first. If you're pretty much eating 2 big meals a day then make the transition to 5 meals gradually. Make 1 change a week:
week 1: add breakfast every day
week 2: add snacks in between meals every day
week 3: cut back on lunch or dinner
week 4: cut back on the other big meal
drastic changes will make it hard to stick to
your main goals should be to eat the correct number of calories per day, cut out the processed sugars (soda, white bread, chips, sugary cereals, ice cream, etc.) and stay away from fatty/greasy foods.
And absolutely no fast food. I consider fast food the same as smoking just so I don't go near it :) Slowly educate yourself on what good foods are and how to pick them over bad foods. It takes time to learn so try it step by step. |
| no, sorry... | *rt*
Dec 31, 2003 6:22 AM | | nothing more specific on fat/protein/carbs. but cutting down on the junk food will really make a difference.
i recently had a chat with my coach about diet & competition because everyone i know who is training is on some sort of restricted diet. i, on the other hand, am on the see-food diet: if it lands on, or even near, my plate i'll probably eat it. ;-P as far as my coach was concerned if you're eating relatively healthy (no fast food, few or no sodas, few junk food snacks), not gaining weight, and feeling energetic then there is no reason to restrict diet.
that said, i try to be sure to get some sort of protein at lunch & dinner (cheese, meat of some sort, etc) and during the race season i up my protein/calorie consumption by starting my day with a protein smoothie. it's probably worth it for me to mention that weight gain is not a problem i have, rather once the season gets going i have a really tough time keeping weight on.
rt
rt |
| another soda alternative... | shawndoggy
Dec 31, 2003 10:56 AM | | I'm positively hooked on sparkling water (you know, like Perrier). Used to think it was gross. Now when out, I'll order a club soda with a lime rather than a soda. It's fizzy with zero calories, and I like the taste. |
| soda is pretty bad... | reklar
Jan 5, 2004 2:00 AM | | I'm sold on Wyler's Light. It is a lot like crystal light...it has no calories and imo has better flavor. I've lost a bunch of weight over the past year or so and I credit a lot of it to that as I used to drink too much soda. The occasional soda is okay, but avoid multiple in the same day...
Combine cutting out the soda with a measure of portion control and that will often do the trick. "Dieting" seems hard intellectually but if you just eat a few bites less than your normal portions that may set you on your way. Supersizing is for people of not-so-super size, at least if they want to be endurance athletes...
Good luck! |
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