Health and Nutrition

A most important aspect of endurance racing, I may spend more time thinking about health and nutrition than actually training!

While training for Ironman UK, I worked with a sports nutritionist and took a very clinical approach (measured and tracked all calorie intake, lots of supplements, tried depleted state training, etc; read here).  While it was great (I dropped to 8% from 12% body fat in 6wks!), it was too much:
- still had race day stomach problems despite detailed approach
- the time to measure and write everything down
- the inflexibility of requiring certain intake at specific times depending on training sessions
- lean towards non-natural help of supplements (though nothing illegal)
- no need to be at 8% body fat half way through training (may be better holding on to some to absorb the volume of training)
- as much as I like to think, racing is not my life nor my profession
- the monetary cost of it all.

Reflecting on the experience, I want to keep things simple for now (though I plan to continue reading on the subject).
- well balanced diet, 50% carb/ 30 prot/ 20 fat, through well balanced meals with lots of veg and fruit (the more colorful, the better!)
- 4 to 5 meals through the day, higher calorie intake around training sessions
- higher carb/ protein ratio post high intensity and close to even carb/ protein post moderate sessions (though no throwing a fit if can't get it perfect!)
- no tracking of calorie intake unless I have concerns about weight or body comp
- limited supplements, whey protein (otherwise 30% protein intake is tough), fish oil (more for skin than athletics) and vitamins A, B, D and iron (accommodate general health through high training volumes)
- target peak body comp on race day only (allow sweets, a few brews, etc until 10wks before the race then clean through race day)

Going with the simple/ flexible approach, an approximate target for Tango and MDS is 62kg and below 10% bf.  Honestly, my bigger concern is losing too much weight from all the running as post MDS I'd like to get back to triathlon requiring 3-4kgs more muscle (5% total body weight!).  So, I set a lower limit of 60kg/ 132lb that if I start moving toward, I'll take action (up calories/ speak with a nutritionist).

As of Tue this week, I was 63.4kg/ 139.5lb and 10.6% bf.  I'll track this every rest day going forward.

Ending with a general philosophy from many nutritionists/ athletes, "fuel your body for performance and optimal race weight and comp will naturally follow."