A standardized eating plan for distance runners

this is my basic "food plan", i eat the same thing everyday except on occasion.

Breakfast-almost always a bagel with cream cheese, occasionally i'll switch to cereal with fat free milk or plain oatmeal.

Lunch-Nature valley bars (typically peanut butter or honey oat) with a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard, and an apple. Occasionally i'll eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Dinner-Either some kind of pasta or protein such as chicken. sometimes i splurge and go for pizza or a burger.

Snacks-Braided pretzel twists or a banana

big bird wrote:

this is my basic "food plan", i eat the same thing everyday except on occasion.

Breakfast-almost always a bagel with cream cheese, occasionally i'll switch to cereal with fat free milk or plain oatmeal.

Lunch-Nature valley bars (typically peanut butter or honey oat) with a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard, and an apple. Occasionally i'll eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Dinner-Either some kind of pasta or protein such as chicken. sometimes i splurge and go for pizza or a burger.

Snacks-Braided pretzel twists or a banana

You eat a couple servings of vegetables a week. WTF man?

wish to share wrote:

curious how many of you out there are consistent with what you eat on a day-by-day basis and wouldn't mind sharing that program in detail.

I eat the same things every day, usually every meal is the same, more or less, mixed and matched.

The Stache wrote:

Where are the healthy fats/oils? Most importantly, where are the vegetables?! Where is the actual food? Not processed packaged stuff, I mean food that came from nature and reached your plate essentially untouched?

How old are you? I used to eat more like this when I was younger, and I got a sick a lot. A few years ago I made a monumental shift in how I eat and I never get sick now despite less sleep than I think I've ever had in my life.

Haha that's funny

Breakfast - Cereal with dark chocolate almond milk

Brunch - Bagel with peanut butter

Lunch - Sandwich or rice or pasta, generally at least a 1:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio, but more like 3:2 or greater.

Linner - Banana

Dinner (post run) - Carbohydrate & protein shake followed by a primarily carbohydrate meal, usually pasta or rice, with beans or ground turkey or chicken.

Snack on tortilla chips (corn, blue corn, multigrain, mix it up) with fresh salsa. Also some trail mix or dried fruit mix.

Desert - Bowl of cereal with dark chocolate almond milk

I'm stunned by the lack of vegetables and fruit in these diets.

I do think, though, that we all fall into the trap of eating more or less the same things because we find it convenient to get what we know works whenever we go to the store. It's not worth the hassle spending hours in the store to vary it significantly.

When I wake up: water, sometimes a vitamin, and a handful of something, whether cereal, Gold Fish, or a banana (this gets me going before a morning run or work)

Breakfast: usually an apple or else oatmeal with raisins

Lunch: Typically a can of no-salt-added vegetables

Snacks throughout the day: shredded wheat or prunes

Dinner: varies incredibly from day to day, quite often trying to eat something that I feel I've neglected lately

I probably get less than 1000 calories before dinner. From dinner until bed, I definitely get more than 1000 calories, typically between 1000-2000, but sometimes more. I wish I could spread this more evenly throughout the day, but it's just convenient to bring to work what's easy to have there and then to be more diverse when I have the fridge and cabinets at home to pull from.

Stache,

what nutrition programs are you referring to specifically?

Throw some smoked salmon on that morning bagel. Not cheap, but for about $6, you can get a half lb that will be good for about 4 days. Great protein source and fatty acid source. I alternate with oatmeal or granola/yogurt breakfast. If I eat oatmeal or granloa for breakfast every day, the fiber is too much.

does somebody even really need to eat vegetables everyday if they are taking a multivitamin? I probably eat vegetables once every 2-3 weeks unless it comes with a meal when i decide to eat out

A can of vegetables for lunch? What is that, 70 calories?

Pre Morning Run: Half a Bottle of Water

Breakfast: A bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with Skim Extra Milk and a Multi Vitamin.

Lunch: Bag of animal crackers, Baby Carrots, Turkey and Cheese sandwich on Mini Buns, Light Yogurt.

Dinner: Varies day to day. I typically eat out a lot. No fast food.

Weekdays:

B: Cereal, OJ

L: Sandwich, Apple, Carrots, Granola Bar

D: Pasta, Salad

Snack: Peanut Butter toast

Weekend:

B: Omelet, bloody mary

L: Burger, beer

D: Fast food, much more beer

But I run more on weekends, so, um, its 'ok'. Plus like the OP I'm incredibly consistent with my dietary routine

I don't have a standard diet, but I sure rocked a McRib today for lunch! And I'm gonna have another one tomorrow! OMG that's some could eating, pal!

I knock down a few V-8s every day for my veggies.

6 Big Macs followed by a 10 k

Breakfast- 2 bowls of Lucky Charms and 2 Peanut-butter and honey sandwiches. Also drink around 3 diet sodas.

Lunch-Subway footlong, and chips, 2 diet sodas

Dinner- whatever my wife makes and I also eat some yogurt with frozen berries mixed in. No caffeine after 5 or I can not get to bed at night. So I usually drink caffeine free diet pepsi for dinner and eat a bowl or 2 of ice cream.

Hope this helps. I also run around 110 mountain miles every week so I do not really pay attention to calories. Sundays I eat all day long and usually feel like crap on Mondays because of it.

My menu, for the heck of it (80-90mpw usually; 120-130 max):

Pre-AM run: 1/2 powerbar, small banana, coffee

Post-run: shake (hydrowhey and cytocarb), small banana

Breakfast: oatmeal with fresh berries & flax meal (if pressed for time a Clif bar instead)

Lunch: big salad with mixed greens and tons of veggies; chicken, tuna, or salmon; some kind of fat added to the salad (nuts or avocado, olive oil); piece of fresh fruit, some kind of whole grain or starch (bread, crackers, rice cakes, small bagel, sometimes a sweet potato - whatever is available)

Snack: nuts (usually almonds), fat free plain yogurt, piece of fresh fruit (usually a pear or an apple)

Dinner: some kind of whole grain or other starch (couscous, quinoa, pasta, brown rice, homemade muffins, biscuits, or rolls, sweet potato); chicken, fish, tempeh, beans, or tofu (steak or ground beef about once a month); smaller version of lunch salad or a couple of servings of veggies; added olive oil (per recipe)

Snack: piece of fresh fruit (usually berries or a granny smith apple) and casein shake

If I'm running twice a day and closer to max mileage I'll toss in an extra Clif bar somewhere and I'll change the PM snack to fruit with a bowl of whole grain cereal and skim milk or ff plain yogurt or applesauce (weetabix, shredded wheat, kashi puffed cereal)

wish to share wrote:

for me food represents fuel, not a source of pleasure/enjoyment.

In my experience these are the people that get into trouble. Be wary.

big bird wrote:

does somebody even really need to eat vegetables everyday if they are taking a multivitamin? I probably eat vegetables once every 2-3 weeks unless it comes with a meal when i decide to eat out

I want to give you a... 3/10 for trolling, but I actually think you're serious. Multivitamin are a nice SUPPLEMENT. They don't replace REAL FOOD.

Fruits and vegetables provide tons of nutritional benefits beyond a pill. They also provide fiber which is often overlooked. I'm not a nutritionist, but the simple message is: incorporate fruits and veggies into your diet heavily. Processed wheat carbs aren't doing too much for your health and energy systems.

Seems like there are some crazy bad diets here.

Tri-geek here, typically 20-30 miles running, 10k-12k swimming, 100-150 riding.

Diet is varied quiet a bit, but here is what one day looks like:

Pre-breakfast: coffee, one or two bagels with cream cheese or waffles with peanut butter and syrup

After morning workouts: banana, protein shake, Naked Juice with extra Fiber

11 am: yogurt and another banana

12-1: 1 turkey or chicken sandwich on wheat bread and 1 pb&j on wheat

Afternoon snack: another banana or piece of fruit, +dried mangos, +typically something sugary and unhealthy like a candy bar or cookies

Dinner: Protein (either steak, fish, chicken), vegetable, and rice/pasta/sweet potato/regular potato.

Dessert: ice cream, pie, or something else sugary.

Figure I get 3-4 servings of fruit a day (sometimes more depending on the juice I drink) and I load up on veggies at dinner.

I think you have to vary it up and you have enjoy what you eat.

Breakfast:

- 4 large whole eggs (sometimes with spinach)

- half a cup of oatmeal w/ blueberries

- banana w/ peanut butter

Lunch 1:

- chicken

-sweet potato or brown rice

- broccoli

Lunch 2:

- same as Lunch 1

Snack:

-another half cup of oatmeal

-fat free greek yogurt

-some nuts (usually almonds, cashews, or walnuts)

-fruit (figs or dates)

Dinner: (post-run)

- salad with broccoli, carrots, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, beets, and chicken

In case I'm still hungry or I lifted weights that day, too:

-2 servings of cheerios in almond milk w/ protein powder