Protein, water and an afternoon snack!

Quinoa & rice with bacon and eggs!Let me start by saying that we all love to hear that we are doing things correctly but there is really something magical about a teacher/coach/leader who can make you feel that way while pointing out the things you can improve on.

I just had my first telephone consult with Lauren Jawno, our Runner’s Makeover nutrition consultant. I’m not going to lie – I was worried. She had us track everything we ate for 4 days (including a Saturday). That was nearly a week ago. I have been waiting (nervously) ever since.

I am 6′ tall and 160lbs. I wear a 31″ waist jean and medium t-shirts usually fit me well, so I’m doing pretty well… for a normal person. For an endurance athlete? I don’t know. Maybe?

In any case, Lauren had some great feedback for me. First of all (she said in her magical way) “You are doing pretty well.” Nice! “Aside from the chocolate croissant and 12oz mochaccino”. Damn, I had somehow hoped that was an ok recovery meal. “Also you are not getting enough protein.” That surprised me. I eat meat, I eat dairy, I even use a whey protein powder. I know protein is an important building block for the body but I really thought I was getting enough.

Next was my water intake. I have to admit to being an on-again-off-again water junky. I happen to be in an off-again phase and I do know better. We athletes need water and lots of it. That is an easy one to remedy.

Lastly, I need to eat a snack in the afternoon. I am “going too long between lunch and dinner without food.” Hrm… yeah, I guess I usually workout in the morning and consequently eat a lot between 5:30am and noon. Afternoons are not my hungry time. So, from now on I will grab some cheese and fruit around 3:00pm. I can do that.

That was about it. We had some quick exchanges about putting real food before sport food and she asked me why I had switched from Gatorade to coconut water recently (mostly out of curiosity and being tired of fake fruit flavours). She also encouraged me to start taking an Omega 3 fish oil to “help my general health and to lubricate my joints”. I like the sound of that!

So, this is great. I have 3 things to concentrate on: Protein, Water and Afternoon Snacks. Easy, clear and doable. We’re planning to check in with each other in about 10 days to see how I’m doing. Hopefully I will be proteined-up, well-hydrated and afternoon-snacked.

Whoops – it’s 3:30 and I haven’t had my cheese!

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