I eat moderately more healthy than average, will improving diet really help my running?

Middle Distance Coach wrote:

About the only reply on this thread that has any resemblance of intelligence. Processed cheese and crackers = health food. Yea.

Where did you guys learn about nutrition? Your ignorance and misunderstandings are appalling.

"Nutrition" is a mere theory and certainly has no relevance to running. Runners just need a lot of crap poured in the top and they need to make sure they put it to good use.

wrongo wrote:

Middle Distance Coach wrote:

About the only reply on this thread that has any resemblance of intelligence. Processed cheese and crackers = health food. Yea.

Where did you guys learn about nutrition? Your ignorance and misunderstandings are appalling.

Fortunately, very fortunately in fact, not from you. Your statements are laughable, but believe what you want to believe. I, nor anyone else, is going to change your misinformed mind.

Unquiring Minds wrote:

You are displaying the type of ignorance that I take to bank every time I race guys that have put on 15-25 lbs since college because they have no control over the cravings that industrially produced foods are designed to promote. The OP himself senses his problem by listing starchy foods as his late-night craving.

Anecdotally, my sister recently lost 97 lbs over the last 14 months on a starch-restriced, healthy diet, combined with an hour of walking (now with some running) each day. It is almost impossible not to be at your ideal weight when you consume a good balance of nutrient-dense foods, which crackers and bread certainly are not.

You nailed it. My meal time is pretty planned and generally healthy. I mess up at the night time cravings.

That said I'm pretty fit and somewhat muscular so I not going for the skinny runner look. I wouldn't mind losing maybe 5lbs but no more. I was wondering if healthy food would help performance without major weight lose.

Consider converting to a total raw food diet. You will see a tremendous boost in energy.

wrongo wrote:

You have no idea what you're talking about. For the most part, it is about calories in vs calories out. The source of those calories doesn't matter.

Fat isn't bad for you and it doesn't make you addicted fat provides satiety and fullness.

Simple carbs are not bad for you and they dont necessarily turn to sugar faster than complex carbs. And the fact that either of them might turn to sugar right away is not bad. Why do you think this?

It is about total calories in vs total calories out. Everything else you're saying has no merit in reality.

This is great to know. Thank you so much. I am going to start my Mountain Dew diet immediately. I will drink nothing but 2-liters of Mountain Dew. But I will be sure to get the total calories in exactly right.

This will be much easier than concerning myself with what kind of vitamins and minerals my food contains.

Thanks again, Coach!

I will check back in with you in 6 months and let you know how things are going.

fasten your safety belts wrote:

This is great to know. Thank you so much. I am going to start my Mountain Dew diet immediately. I will drink nothing but 2-liters of Mountain Dew. But I will be sure to get the total calories in exactly right.

This will be much easier than concerning myself with what kind of vitamins and minerals my food contains.

Thanks again, Coach!

I will check back in with you in 6 months and let you know how things are going.

We're not talking about vitamins and minerals. We're talking about calorie sources.

wrongo wrote:

fasten your safety belts wrote:

This is great to know. Thank you so much. I am going to start my Mountain Dew diet immediately. I will drink nothing but 2-liters of Mountain Dew. But I will be sure to get the total calories in exactly right.

This will be much easier than concerning myself with what kind of vitamins and minerals my food contains.

Thanks again, Coach!

I will check back in with you in 6 months and let you know how things are going.

We're not talking about vitamins and minerals. We're talking about calorie sources.

Calories? CALORIES??

48yr old guy wrote:

You nailed it. My meal time is pretty planned and generally healthy. I mess up at the night time cravings.

That said I'm pretty fit and somewhat muscular so I not going for the skinny runner look. I wouldn't mind losing maybe 5lbs but no more. I was wondering if healthy food would help performance without major weight lose.

He didn't nail anything. Neither of you knows what you're talking about. For starters, let's go back and read your comments about eating healthy:

Don't eat simple carbs

Don't eat fat

Don't eat crackers and bread

Well exactly what else are you going to eat for calories? The only thing that you haven't mentioned is meat. Are you really saying that getting 100% of your caloric requirements from meat is healthy? Because meat is the only thing that you haven't crossed off.

Provided you are eating a moderately healthy diet with enough carbs and you are not anemic your times will improve more if you train better/more rather than just lose weight.

At a 20:00-ish 5k you should not even be remotely concerned about weight...the pounds come off when your body says so, depending on training, etc.

The best diet has been proven by Kenyans to be high carbs (75-80%), very low fat and moderately low protein (10%). A look at the typical diet of Kenyans shows they eat meat as a side dish and are not scared of sugar.

In my experience, Americans are obsessed with two things when it comes to fitness/running/etc....intervals and protein.

ItsNotAboutFood wrote:

The best diet has been proven by Kenyans to be high carbs (75-80%), very low fat and moderately low protein (10%). A look at the typical diet of Kenyans shows they eat meat as a side dish and are not scared of sugar.

Kenyan culture is notorious for diabetes due to the high sugar content in their diet. Not a pleasant disease to say the least.

Raw Foodist wrote:

Consider converting to a total raw food diet. You will see a tremendous boost in energy.

Plenty of wild animals eat a raw food diet and the average wild animal does its utmost to conserve energy because they really have little to spare.

You will rarely see them ever exhibiting their boundless energy because they don't have any extra. Humans are no different.

The animals that show the most excess energy are the ones living off the town dump and McDonald's parking lots because they are the ones getting extra calories.

wrongo wrote:

You have no idea what you're talking about. For the most part, it is about calories in vs calories out. The source of those calories doesn't matter.

Fat isn't bad for you and it doesn't make you addicted fat provides satiety and fullness.

Simple carbs are not bad for you and they dont necessarily turn to sugar faster than complex carbs. And the fact that either of them might turn to sugar right away is not bad. Why do you think this?

It is about total calories in vs total calories out. Everything else you're saying has no merit in reality.

Wrongo,

You should do some research regarding nutrition. All fats are certainly not created equal. Now you must know the difference between polyunsaturated and saturated fat. Do some research on healthy fats and animal fats.

As far as carb go, research the hypoglycemic index and you will learn much about the difference between complex and simple carbs. You will also learn the effect simple carbs have on cravings.

Also salt and fat together does trigger a crave response in people. Google that too.

And next time don't be so arrogant when you really are not knowlegable in basic nutrition yourself.

Unquiring Minds wrote:

HUGE salads with nutritious veggies such as kale, cabbage, greens etc..

kale: high amount of provitamin A, modest amounts of vitamins C, K and potassium, not a significant source of anything else.

cabbage: modest amounts of vitamins C and K, not a significant source of anything else.

One cup of kale contains 1mg of iron, and many other vegetables have similar iron content. This looks good on paper, but it is absorbed poorly, both because it is non-heme iron and because it's trapped inside indigestible cellulose. And you would need over a gallon of the stuff to hit your 18mg daily requirement anyhow. That's a mighty big salad.

OP, beware anyone who comes at you with buzzwords like "healthy veggies," "nutritious," and the like. Read the nutritional content yourself. While I will as usual offend many sniveling, cringing, anonymous jerks by saying this, vegetables are mostly junk. Few vitamins or minerals, almost no calories, too much fiber. They're a good food substitute for when you want to lose weight, but you don't need big bowls of the stuff.

SMJO wrote:

It's not what you eat but rather how much.

Correct. All the other mental masturbation fuels the diet industry. It is so simple.

Wrongo is either a troll or an absolute fvcking idiot.

wrongo wrote:

fasten your safety belts wrote:

This is great to know. Thank you so much. I am going to start my Mountain Dew diet immediately. I will drink nothing but 2-liters of Mountain Dew. But I will be sure to get the total calories in exactly right.

This will be much easier than concerning myself with what kind of vitamins and minerals my food contains.

Thanks again, Coach!

I will check back in with you in 6 months and let you know how things are going.

We're not talking about vitamins and minerals. We're talking about calorie sources.

Translation: your advice is worthless and dangerous.

RE: The OP's question -

Yes, improving your diet could help make you a little faster. Personally, I feel like crap when I spend a week or two eating too much crap (read: sugar and other simple carbs that make you crash later). Maybe some people feel awesome after going on a junkfood binge; I don't. This can affect my workouts and races.

In contrast, I feel great when I follow the most basic dietary guidelines: Eat lots of fruits and vegetables; avoid too much animal fat; take it easy on the sweets and simple starches.

I wish I knew this in high school, when I would eat, like, french fries and cookies for lunch and then - surprise, surprise - feel sluggish and unmotivated at cross-country practice after school.

Yes, the type of food that you're eating matters. But no, it's not complicated (that doesn't mean it's not hard to follow sometimes).