General Dietary Advice

paulocon

Hi,

Just looking for some general 'best-practice' advice as regards diet etc. for running.

I'm in my late 30's. I went through a period in my mid 20's to early 30's where I done little or no exercise. In the last few years, I've got back into running and have built up a decent relative level of fitness. I have a young family so I have no strict training regime but tend to get out a few times a week, normally doing between 5 and 10kms. This is augmented by a bit of Indoor Football.

Sometimes, I find that my legs can be quite heavy or stiff and I'm not sure if this is due to lack of stretching, poor hydration or general diet.

Just wondering if people have any advice on the types of foods I should be eating to help with my running. Diet is something I've never really looked at - I generally grab a sandwich from the local supermarket for lunch and have meat and two veg for dinner. I used always have crisps and a mineral with lunch but have managed to drop that bad habit. I do eat a lot of white bread but I've been cutting down on that.

Is there any other key advice for the novice runner? I've heard people say that they take certain oils to help their knees/limbs but again, it's not something I've ever done.

Paul

nellocono

Was going to open a similar post, so will be interested to follow this...

tunguska

I've been taking Udos oil for years and my joints are fine, but that could be down to other factors so I cant say for sure its the oil.Having said that though Its a good source of healthy fats so its worth taking for that reason alone. Its a great alternative to fish(which can be toxic)and I find I just feel physically stronger when taking the oil.
I think its wise to look after your health by watching what you eat in general, I mean for the training cylce I've been on since the begining of the year I've really focused on getting my diet clean, just to see if it would make a difference. I suspected it might have some impact but I was pretty shocked at how much of a difference its made to my training and racing, its the difference bewteen night and day. I feel amazing, I never get tired, even after a hard session I've noticed that I recover way quicker with a clean diet than a non-clean one. So I think its well worth refining your diet, you'll feel better but also you'll be a lot healthier on the inside.

I base my diet on this guys book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Thrive-Diet-Brendan-Brazier/dp/0143052365/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333383210&sr=1-1


But this book is also great

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spent-Exhaustion-Feel-Great-Again/dp/1848500610/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333383296&sr=1-1

dahat

Porrigde for breakfast with 1500 mg's of Glucosamine Sulphate for the joints,both have helped me a lot over the last 12 months of taking up jogging/running...

MrCreosote

There's no difference between a normal healthy diet and a normal healthy diet for runners. You don't need supplements with very few exceptions (certain medical conditions or deviant diets like veganism). You don't need fancy recovery drinks or protein shakes.

Everything you want to know and more is available here- http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition

ocnoc

The Ozzy website is brilliant!

bazman

The Butterfield Diet is your only man: