Runners, athletes, people who exercise just about daily - what do you eat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a runner. I train for and run one or two marathons a year. I also do yoga.

I eat whatever I want. Today I had a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast with a banana and coffee. A Baconator Meal with a coke from Wendy's for lunch. I'm eating Brownies and drinking a beer while watching football right now. We're having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

I run enough that I don't have to worry about weight gain. I struggle to keep my weight up to 115.

I'm guessing you are under 40. I miss those days...

[Anonymous]

I workout 6 days a week, with 1 day of double workouts. Plus a crazy amount of walking (30 miles a week or so, measured door to door, so not including walking done inside a store/mall/house/etc).

My non walking workouts are generally as such, per week:
- 2 short runs (2.5-3.5 miles)
- 1 long run (10k or so)
- zumba, 2x a week
- insanity, 2x a week

My food today includes (have already eaten, and will likely eat later on):
- oatmeal with a scoop of granola, and diced apple
- grande peppermint mocha from Starbucks, 2% milk
- slice of pumpkin bread
- very large bowl of a hearty, homemade bean soup
- apple
- another slice of pumpkin bread
- will probably snack on some pickles, trying to hold off on the peanut M&M's

I have a sweet tooth clearly, but don't eat out that often. The peppermint mocha is a treat on my double-up days. I've been losing weight, and seem to have leveled off, or still losing (very, very slowly)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I exercise 7 days a week, alternating a day of running (5+ miles) with a day of weight-lifting plus 30 minutes on the Arc trainer or elliptical. I take yoga twice a week.

I eat a lot more than most people, probably, but probably 80% healthy, 20% crap. Breakfast most days is oatmeal or instant grits plus yogurt with fresh berries. Lunch is often some sort of pasta with meat and a couple of veggies, often leftover from the night before, but sometimes a microwave entrée. Dinner varies - taco night or burgers on the grill or pasta or pizza or whatever my daughter and I want. I also have several snacks every day - baby carrots, grapes, swiss cheese, sometimes hummus. And I usually have dessert. And I like my wine.

My metabolism is pretty high for a 42-year-old mom in pat because I've never really deprived myself, so my body's never thought it was starving. plus, you know, the daily exercise.

I really think this is key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a runner. I train for and run one or two marathons a year. I also do yoga.

I eat whatever I want. Today I had a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast with a banana and coffee. A Baconator Meal with a coke from Wendy's for lunch. I'm eating Brownies and drinking a beer while watching football right now. We're having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

I run enough that I don't have to worry about weight gain. I struggle to keep my weight up to 115.

Tell me this is a troll, or someone with an amazing metabolism.
I could easily workout for an hour on the elliptical every single day and still have to keep my calories under 1600 in order to lose weight. And I have a good 50 pounds to lose.

Troll or not, it's not a healthy diet.

[Anonymous]

DH is a serious runner, a few marathons a year and interspersed other races. He eats a ton of carbs - bagel sandwiches, peanut butter/pretzels/granola bars/etc for snacks. Turkey sandwich or pays for lunch. Big carb heavy dinner - full plate of pasta, burger w potatoes, etc. He is thin - 5'10 and about 155 - but does have a bit of a stomach pooch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a runner. I train for and run one or two marathons a year. I also do yoga.

I eat whatever I want. Today I had a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast with a banana and coffee. A Baconator Meal with a coke from Wendy's for lunch. I'm eating Brownies and drinking a beer while watching football right now. We're having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

I run enough that I don't have to worry about weight gain. I struggle to keep my weight up to 115.

I'm guessing you are under 40. I miss those days...

I wish! I turned 50 a couple of weeks ago. And in fairness, I don't always eat junk. When I'm seriously training, I eat what my body needs to perform. For me that's high protein and high carbs. I absolutely do not have to worry about gaining weight. No one who runs as often and as far as I do is worried about weight gain, I promise you. There are down sides. My knees are shot. I won't be able to keep doing it forever.

For heavens sake, I am not a troll. Anyone who runs between 40 and 50 miles a week is going to keep weight off. Surely there are other marathoners (or any endurance athletes) who can attest to this. I'm not doing anything special...just burning a hell of a lot of calories.

[Anonymous]

For me, working out has never translated into ability to eat tons. In college and my early 20s I was a competitive rower, doing 8 to 9 workouts a week, cardio and weights. I watched my diet, but it was carb heavy. My body fat percentage was higher then than it is now, at 41 and running a couple miles a couple times a week. The difference is I now don't eat sugar and flour and eat a ton for fruit and veggies. And protein.

[Anonymous]

My week consists of 3 days of T25 DVDs, and 2-3 classes of ballet or hot yoga (90 minutes each). Meals are home-cooked and vegetarian unless I'm eating out.
Typical breakfast is steel cut oats, banana, glass of skim milk.
Lunch is leftovers (bean soup, chickpea salad)
Snack is a piece of fruit
Typical dinners: black beans and rice, lentil soup, bean burrito, with multiple veggies.
Dessert few times a week.
Eat out on weekends

[Anonymous]

B- Oatmeal w/flax seed and coconut milk. Use salt/pepper instead of sugar.
L- Tuna, Sardines, Eggs, etc W/veggies.
S - Nuts
D - Protein/veggies

Weekends - whateve I want

[Anonymous]

There are 3 steps for me to ensure that I eat quality foods in my meals.

1. Eat nutritionally dense foods.



2. I run 42 miles a week so I ensure that I get enough slow release carbs for my workouts and runs.



3. I eat enough complete proteins so that I maintain healthy tissue replacement.



Stop eating processed crap.

[Anonymous]

I am the pp above. If you want to be at your best you need 3 things.

1. Quality nutrition.

2. Consistent exercise.

3. Quality rest.

It is really difficult to manage all 3 appropriately given DMV lifestyles. For me quality rest is the most difficult, but all 3 are challenging.

If you lay out a good plan, stick to it and give it time, you can be healthy and in great shape. Give yourself a year to reach your goals.

[Anonymous]

I run 5-6 days/week, for a total of 25-30 miles (more if I'm training for a half or a marathon). I don't eat "whatever I want," but I certainly don't worry about my diet from a calories standpoint.

I have a greek yogurt for breakfast, a couple of snacks of nuts, usually a candy bar, leftovers for lunch, and usually a dinner that's high protein with a lot of veggies. The more I work out, the more I crave healthy foods. The chocolate cravings never go away.

I agree with the 40 mile week+ PP---when you consistently run that much, it's hard to eat enough to even keep up.

[Anonymous]

I bike 50 miles a week, run about 3-5, do a little strength and stretching, and play a competative amature sport that's another 5-7 hours a week. I'm 40.

I largely eat what I want, and my physique is a testament to the power of dessert. You might not know I'm an athlete by looking at me in regular clothes. Aside from dessert, I eat a lot of whole grains, leafy greens, lean proteins, and fruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

For heavens sake, I am not a troll. Anyone who runs between 40 and 50 miles a week is going to keep weight off. Surely there are other marathoners (or any endurance athletes) who can attest to this. I'm not doing anything special...just burning a hell of a lot of calories.

Seriously - that is a LOT of mileage. I'm surprised anybody would think that you could be a troll. I eat pretty well (most of the time) and only average about 25-30 miles/week, and I find that I have problems NOT losing weight. I can't imagine doubling that amount and not being able to eat literally anything I wanted (I', 5'5" and 135 lbs - with a muscular build).

[Anonymous]

I lift and run.

Normally, I lift heavy four days a week and run one day a week (3-5 miles). Right now, I'm scaling back because I'm in the third trimester and that's what my body needs, so it's looking more like lifting two days a week (not as heavy as before), running 3-4 miles twice a week, and prenatal yoga (ugh) one day a week.

I try to eat a decent amount of produce, lean proteins, and whole grains, but eat treats as well. I've been having way too much chocolate lately.

Today's food, which is pretty typical -
Two eggs, sauteed kale, whole wheat berry muffin
Two oranges
Large bowl of chicken/veggie soup, whole wheat toast
Plain Greek yogurt with chocolate chips
Large bowl of chicken/sausage/veggie soup, whole wheat toast
Hot chocolate

That's more soup and toast than usual, but usually dinner is some sort of protein, veggie, and carb, and then lunch is just leftovers from dinner.

I can put down the junk food but then I feel like crap, so I don't do that all too often.