Food in my opinion is one of the most important parts of maintaining performance and making sure your body stays properly fueled. I’m not talking about counting calories and a restrictive diet, I believe in eating nourishing, wholesome foods to help your body build muscle and recover properly. I used to not eat so great but a couple of years ago I really wanted to take my running seriously and changed the whole way I approached my diet. At first I thought that I just wanted to get lean because skinny=fast but I ended up eating too few calories and dropping a whole bunch of weight in a short amount of time. After going through some articles and listening to some dietitian lectures, I realized that getting to race weight isn’t the primary goal; it is eating right so that our body feels nourished. Today I eat a lot of organic and protein rich food that help me be a healthier and fitter runner without obsessing over calories or anything like that. Female runners are more susceptible to getting eating disorders and anemia (iron deficiency) so it is always important to assess what you eat and make sure you are getting enough of the good stuff (veggies, chicken, lots of whole grain, even PB :), etc.) Below is the master list that I use to brainstorm grocery shopping and what I plan to eat for lunch/dinner during the week. Take a peek and gain some ideas:
Resources that I use for recipes/food ideas:
- Damn Delicious, always an abundance of healthy choices and everything looks just so…well damn delicious!
- Smitten Kitchen This website has a whole section for just vegetarian dishes, can you say Yum?
- Spoon University Healthy Their whole healthy recipe section is both easy and quick
- Running with spoons I love all of her muffin recipes
- Runner’s World Look for their “Best foods for runners” series, that is where I got a lot of my ideas
- Naturally Ella Calling all vegetarians!
Breakfast Ideas:
- Breakfast burrito w/ egg, tomatoes, etc.
- Rice cake, PB, banana & chia seeds
- Oatmeal with….
- Strawberries, bananas & almonds
- Egg (fried)
- Avocado toast w/ boiled egg
- Whole grain waffles and pancakes
- Whole grain ready-made oatmeal
- Whole grain cereal and banana
- Breakfast salad (cooked spinach and egg)
- Breakfast Hash
Pre-run snacks:
- Protein bars w/ little fiber
- Waffle or graham cracker PB & J
- Squeezable applesauce
- Try gels?
Snacks:
- Yogurt, granola & chia seeds
- Apples & PB
- Carrots and hummus (or Guacamole)
- Sugar Snap Peas & Hummus
- Beef Jerky
- Pea crisps (Their lentil bean crisps are really good too)
- Almond butter packets
- Quinoa tortilla chips & Guacamole packs
- Trail Mix
Lunch: - Sandwiches loaded w/ veggies (mustard)
- Salads w/ a lot of protein
- Quinoa patties
- Brown rice Fried Rice recipe
- Greek Salad
- Pesto pasta
Dessert 🙂
- Justin’s Dark Chocolate PB cups
- Luna bar bites
- Fruit popsicles
- Banana Chips
- Halo top Ice Cream
- Banana Muffins
Dinner:
- Veggie Pizza
- Microwave healthy burrito
- Protein blends/rice bowls
- Salmon burgers w/ sweet potato fries
- Zucchini pasta or Spaghetti squash
- Stuffed peppers
- Tofu Stir Fry
- Turkey Taco bowls
- Fattoush salad
- Shakshuka
