First time, need diet plan

sabiandale

Hey,

I plan on running a marathon in May. I did a half marathon last year without training and paid heavily for it so I intend on taking this one seriously.

I am quite fit, professional Irish dancer/study dance in University which involves a lot of cardio work.
My main concern is my diet. I have always ate terrible foods, most nights I eat take aways, so I was wondering if anyone could point me towards a diet plan for marathon training/good nutrition in general.
All the research online has just outlined what groups of foods to eat and not what to actually eat and I don't really understand the information.

Thanks in advance,

SD

ecoli

If you search diet on the forum here you should get a fair bit of information

Here is one of my previous posts regarding it which should point you in the right direction

Think Brown over white - when taking carbs always think this way. Brown pasta, bread, rice are great substitutes for there white counter parts

Fish - Try to included once a week at the very least. Fish contains Omega 3 which can increase the bodies ability to metabolise excess fat

Light Meat Think of this as scale in terms of healthy low fat protein. Turkey is a good low fat substitute for chicken though chicken itself is grand. try to aim to have these atleast 2-3 times a week. Add this to the fish and you have over half the dinners for the week sorted;)

Tea/Coffee If you can cut down the milk intake with these preferrably to none. Green Tea is actually a good alternative also (admittedly wrote this piece so it can be biased:D)

Nuts/seeds/fruit Great substitute for snacking during the day. You can pick these up cheap and leave them on desk in work and pick away during the day.

Smaller meals more often Rather than the usual 3 square a day try to have lighter meals more often. This keeps you metabolism engaged and doesnt allow the body to enter hibernation mode (metabolism slows down i attempt to conserve fuel if goes too long hungry)

If you manage all these and still fins it hard to shift the extra weight look at portion control as progressive. Dont limit but rather slowly but surely whittle it down (one less roastie tomorrow maybe) or little random things like that

Also here is a good thread with alot of info some diet related but general novice marathon training also

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71849973

Happy Reading

A0

sabiandale wrote: »

Hey,

I plan on running a marathon in May. I did a half marathon last year without training and paid heavily for it so I intend on taking this one seriously.

I am quite fit, professional Irish dancer/study dance in University which involves a lot of cardio work.
My main concern is my diet. I have always ate terrible foods, most nights I eat take aways, so I was wondering if anyone could point me towards a diet plan for marathon training/good nutrition in general.
All the research online has just outlined what groups of foods to eat and not what to actually eat and I don't really understand the information.

Thanks in advance,

SD

That's because it's recommended to see a professional in order to get accurate prescription of what to eat / not to eat. Websites provide generic guidelines. Nutritional advice should be given by a nutritionist (preferably with a Ph.D in nutrition, although a MSc does the job, if the nutritionist has good experience). During a consultation, they get to know your food intake and can tailor a plan based on what you eat and how active you are (so they can estimate your energy expenditure and what should be your energy intake).

So if they suggest you to cut down / increase the intake of something, it doesn't come out of the blue, it's really based on what you told them - what your needs are.
This is also very important in female athletes as a good diet helps to prevent the female athlete triad.

So what you did is good (i.e., reading, searching) but if your concern is diet (i.e., a diet plan), then it might be worth to see a nutritionist.

sabiandale

Thanks to both of you, I think I will go see a nutritionist. I will check out that thread too!

Also I am a male dancer, just sayin' :P

SD

meijin

A0 wrote: »

That's because it's recommended to see a professional in order to get accurate prescription of what to eat / not to eat.

How did I manage to lose weight and run marathon without seeing one then? :eek:
Edit: listen to ecoli!

A0

meijin wrote: »

How did I manage to lose weight and run marathon without seeing one then? :eek:
Edit: listen to ecoli!

Haha! What about me? How did I manage to learn to drive a car at 10, without a driving teacher?

More seriously, that's good for you, the OP mentioned he needed advice about a diet plan. Hence my suggestion. You sound very good and extremely competent, but it's not because it has worked for you (I'm wondering what is your marathon time and weight loss though) that what you did works for everybody. There are so many things to say-consider when losing body weight...

What Ecoli says is right and these are generic statements (you don't have to kiss his ass by the way, it's not "massage-ego.ie" it's "boards.ie"). If the OP wants to have something tailored to his needs, then it's not a bad idea to see a nutritionist (one-two sessions will be plenty).

meijin

A0 wrote: »

Haha! What about me? How did I manage to learn to drive a car at 10, without a driving teacher?

And your argument is? It seems to support my view that he doesn't need "professional" help?

More seriously, that's good for you, the OP mentioned he needed advice about a diet plan.

reading http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963342 should help for start. Getting "prescription" for food is quite weird idea to me. I like to understand what I eat and why, and be able to change it when I want, not just follow some "prescription".

You sound very good and extremely competent

haha, that's great
it surely was the "listen to ecoli" line that convinced you? :cool:

I'm wondering what is your marathon time and weight loss though

not as impressive as some people on http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055439823 but I'm very happy with my results

you don't have to kiss his ass by the way, it's not "massage-ego.ie" it's "boards.ie"

huh? are you for real, or just trolling?
ecoli, does your ego feel massaged?

If the OP wants to have something tailored to his needs, then it's not a bad idea to see a nutritionist (one-two sessions will be plenty).

sure, if after reading all the information he still cannot decide how to improve his diet, and has spare money to hand out, it shouldn't hurt, but
I think it's more useful to go for professional advice once OP has a bit better plan than "eating take aways".

PS I've actually seen many conflicting marathon training diet ideas, for example - a lot of carbs vs. minimum amount of carbs, etc. It's better to educate yourself and make informed decisions. Also the new diet will more likely stick for longer if you know why you eat certain foods.

A0

meijin wrote: »

reading http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963342 should help for start. Getting "prescription" for food is quite weird idea to me. I like to understand what I eat and why, and be able to change it when I want, not just follow some "prescription".

Good, your argument shows that you don't understand what is a diet plan and have no clue of what a good nutritionist does...

haha, that's great

Glad you appreciate sarcasm.

huh? are you for real, or just trolling?
ecoli, does your ego feel massaged?

Man up... boards is not a place where you post childish comments like "come on daddy" or "listen to Bob" or where you team up with people who have the same ideas as you. On boards you discuss, give your ideas and full stop. If you really like people, then PM them, they'll love it.

sure, if after reading all the information he still cannot decide how to improve his diet, and has spare money to hand out, it shouldn't hurt, but I think it's more useful to go for professional advice once OP has a bit better plan than "eating take aways".

Your point of view... Is it right? Do you have the knowledge to recommend the OP to not see a nutritionist? There's no rule of thumb, it's open... and as the OP wants a diet plan, then it might be worth to see a nutritionist. If he just wanted advice about nutrition for runners in general, then you could argue that seeing a nutritionist is not vital.

PS I've actually seen many conflicting marathon training diet ideas, for example - a lot of carbs vs. minimum amount of carbs, etc. It's better to educate yourself and make informed decisions. Also the new diet will more likely stick for longer if you know why you eat certain foods.

Good and again you're talking about generic advice.

meijin

OP is not top level marathoner looking to win it and needing top level diet plan, but "a diet plan for marathon training/good nutrition in general". Link to Health & Fitness thread I provided should be enough for a start. I think you're over-complicating this. There is no need for any specific marathon diet plan for first timer.

A0 wrote: »

Man up...

I think you should read http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055254160 before posting anymore.

RayCun

<mod>
I think you both need to step away from the thread
</mod>

A0

RayCun wrote: »

<mod>
I think you both need to step away from the thread
</mod>

Don't worry, that was my last on this thread as it becomes off topic.

couerdelion

ecoli wrote:

Tea/Coffee If you can cut down the milk intake with these preferrably to none.

Why? Milk's isn't a high fat food and even when taken in tea has nutritional qualities.