Posts Tagged ‘eating’

I just ran a 16.5 km trail race on the weekend and it felt great. Are you planning on doing any races this year? If you're anything like me, you often struggling trying to come up with the perfect pre-run meal. I've done a good deal of races, so I've tried a few different meals in search of the perfect one. Read on for a few helpful suggestion.

Running makes me feel grrrreat!

Pre-race meals
The goal is to eat enough so you're fully energized and able to use that fuel during your race, but not too much so that you're weighed down. That is not a nice feeling, trust me!

It's important to remember that high fibre and high fat foods can cause too much of a demand on the digestive system before a race.

Idea #1
Difficulty: Dead easy (you don't even need to eat it off a plate)

2 slices of whole grain bread + peanut butter + 1 banana = pre-race meal perfection

Add a drizzle of honey if you're feeling totally crazy.

Idea #2
Difficulty: Moderate (you do need to get out the blender for this)

Handful of frozen berries + 1 banana + 2 TBSP yogurt + almond milk + chia seeds = delicious smoothie

Those are my two tried and true pre-race meals. If I'm up early enough, I'll have both.

I find I need to eat about two hours before a race - anything closer to race time pretty much guarantees stomach cramps.

Remember: never try a new eating routine on race day. Test out different foods before some shorter training runs to find something that works for you.

What do you like to eat before you exercise?

The bad news: If you've been soldiering on with your healthy living habits since New Year's and you haven't hit a weight loss plateau yet, it's probably on the way.

Your plateau will come partly courtesy of brain chemicals called dynorphins, which help your body conserve fat. After all: your body is designed to conserve fat, not lose it, so chances are that at some point in your weight loss journey, your brain will panic and raise your dynophine levels to protect against further weight loss.

The good news: You can outsmart your dynorphins by eating more. "Eating more food has been shown to help bring dynorphin levels down to normal and can help get you back on track," weight-loss scientist Dr Amanda Sainsbury-Salis of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney told the Brisbane Times this week.

"But it's important to eat nutritious food and eat enough to feel satisfied."

So why not get cooking with a prize pack from Scanpan? We have a 28 cm (11") Scanpan frypan to give away, along with some kitchen accessories.

The Scanpan Classic line of cookware is made of high-quality ceramic titanium that’s designed to keep its shape and eliminate hot spots when cooking. It's dishwasher-safe and ovenproof to 260 degrees Celsius. Plus, its non-stick coating can’t be damaged by metal, so you don't have to worry about which utensil to use.

For a chance to WIN, just Subscribe to This Blog and leave a reply telling us if you’ve hit a plateau yet and how you’ve handled it or how you plan to handle it when one comes your way.

You have until Thursday, March 19 to let us know. I’ll announce the winner here on Friday, March 20.