Pop tarts as fuel?!

jojorunner wrote:

Alright what’s the status quo on pop tarts as fuel for high school distance runners. I have a generally healthy diet of oatmeal, whole grains, granola bars, fruits, veggies, eggs, lean meats/fish, steak once a week, etc. I do often find I have a sweet tooth especially after runs and find myself craving strawberry pop tarts weirdly enough more than anything. I was wondering if it’s okay for a high school distance runner (18 yrs, MALE, 5’8.5, 110 pounds) who runs around 50 mpw to indulge in some pop tarts every now and then? I understand that pop tarts have HFCS in them, so would it be more wise to resist my cravings for these delectable sweet treats? This sounds like a joke question but I am being dead serious.

In the short term you can eat anything, especially in high school, and it will not affect performance in the short haul.

However mentally and physically it might mean a few seconds in your 2 mile times in high school. Later on in life

in might affect you in terms of illnesses, disease, and so forth. By the way FLOSS your teeth if you intend to keep

them. You only have to floss the ones you want to keep though. I just had an extraction today. Not fun baby and it

also can run into money.

Who cares, man. I ate whatever I wanted in high school because I knew I was working the calories off anyway. And you owe it to yourself to eat junk food every now and then before your metabolism slows down in ten years.

I really think people overemphasize the importance of diet in running. I’ve had great races/workouts after carb loading the night before and I’ve had terrible runs after eating cheeseburgers and bs.

Pretty sure I had poptarts for breakfast like 3 times a week because I was too lazy/tired to make real breakfasts in high school.

My house growing up was heated by a wood stove. Family didn't have a lot of $. Dad usually lit the stove & often times he burned a little trash to get the fire going. Are there better ways to heat a home or fuel a body? Sure, but sometimes it's better not to overthink things.

Our house was warm. Eat the poptarts, go for a run.

trash fire wrote:

My house growing up was heated by a wood stove. Family didn't have a lot of $. Dad usually lit the stove & often times he burned a little trash to get the fire going. Are there better ways to heat a home or fuel a body? Sure, but sometimes it's better not to overthink things.

Our house was warm. Eat the poptarts, go for a run.

+1. Even foods that aren't great are better than having nothing at all. Sometimes, when I feel like my blood sugar is low or I'm drained, I'll drink something sugary like lemonade/powerade and feel way better.

If this doesn't convince anyone, maybe this will: (starting at 2:58 mark or so)

What do you mean mentally and physically it will mean a few seconds in my 2 mile time? Why that distance specifically? And you mean running faster a few seconds or running slower a few seconds? Could you please elaborate and explain why you think this is so?

Don't listen to all the trolls on here trying to trick you into thinking that eating pop tarts will be detrimental to your performance. With your weekly mileage, you need to consume all the calories you can get and pop tarts will be a tasty way to do so.

if you are craving sugar or food, you are not replenishing your glycogen stores with enough glucose and are not getting enough calories.

it would be smarter to eat like a cliff bar and an apple than a package of pop tarts

I don’t think anyone is saying it’d be the smartest thing to eat, but no it won’t hurt you short-term. Better to eat some fruit, have a pb and j or a clifbar, but you seem to need all the food you can get at that weight.

I'm not trying to troll or be offensive or anything but you got your answer like 40 times over now.

Eat poptarts, and enjoy them.

Stressing about constantly eating healthily is going to hurt you way more than a few pop tarts a week will. Hell I used to eat like 5-6 cookies the night before some meets and I didn't do any worse than when I ate healthy.

YOU LITERALLY HAVE AN EATING DISORDER GET HELP PLEASE

You are on the right track, but I'd recommend the following alteration: preferably on a chocolate-based flavor, lather the non-frosted side with hazelnut, cashew, or peanut butter, and enjoy with a cup of organic whole milk. You can sprinkle nuts (pine nuts, cashews, etc.) on the spread, or put two together like a sandwich. Alternatively, you can mix the milk and pop tart together, like you'd eat cereal or "mush". No reason to worry about detrimental effects on fitness, just enjoy!

I neglected to mention, but the purpose of the nuts and milk is for a better-proportioned blend of fructose, sucrose, lactose (and other sugars), protein, and unsaturated fats. You will find the recovery gains exceed even the satisfying taste.

Eat the pop tarts. When ever you want. Seriously. This is how people get started with eating disorders. You're a twig and you can a ton. Eat what you want, just don't be an idiot. It's not that complicated. 5,8 and 110? Do you get made fun of for being so thin?

Eat the freaking Pop tarts.

food problems wrote:

YOU LITERALLY HAVE AN EATING DISORDER GET HELP PLEASE

yeah

Derice Bannock wrote:

You are on the right track, but I'd recommend the following alteration: preferably on a chocolate-based flavor, lather the non-frosted side with hazelnut, cashew, or peanut butter, and enjoy with a cup of organic whole milk. You can sprinkle nuts (pine nuts, cashews, etc.) on the spread, or put two together like a sandwich. Alternatively, you can mix the milk and pop tart together, like you'd eat cereal or "mush". No reason to worry about detrimental effects on fitness, just enjoy!

Seriously. WTF?!?! EAT THE EFFING POP TART!

for realz agreeer wrote:

food problems wrote:

YOU LITERALLY HAVE AN EATING DISORDER GET HELP PLEASE

yeah

+1

not trying to troll wrote:

I'm not trying to troll or be offensive or anything but you got your answer like 40 times over now.

Eat poptarts, and enjoy them.

Stressing about constantly eating healthily is going to hurt you way more than a few pop tarts a week will. Hell I used to eat like 5-6 cookies the night before some meets and I didn't do any worse than when I ate healthy.

^^^^

Exactly.

The "Eat whole grains" or GF or some soy based crap is just that. Crap.

Athletes burning tons of calories have immediate food requirements beyond normal diet.

If you're an elite, sub-elite, or hobby ultra-guy, you may need carbs quickly, sugar spike and all.

GU, and other gels are frickin' sugar crack, and for good reason.

When youre doing mega miles or hard workouts or ultra endeavors, your immediate dietary needs are different than when you sit down at a table for dinner.

Ultra guys need more fat (way more) than the typical athlete.

People at altitude doing mega hills better consume sugar crack or they will suffer beyond exhaustion including excercise induced headaches or migraines. Sugar and caffeine delivered quickly. Tour de France cyclist will pound a Coke after races. Goucher chowed pop tarts before winning Nats. Coffee and sugar are consumed in massive amounts by all.

If you're doing a hard track workout you better consume sugar crack before and a protein brick bar afterwards.

....You're body doesn't know or care if that food source is poptarts, GU, or an orange. But when it needs it, it needs to be a good sugar spike, period.

Eating well can come later. During huge efforts, don't worry about added sugar. Add more.

Blueberry Pop Tarts were my pre-race go to for years.