r/running • u/AutoModerator • Jul 30 '24
Weekly Thread Run Nutrition Tuesday
Rules of the Road
1) Anyone is welcome to participate and share your ideas, plans, diet, and nutrition plans.
2) Promote good discussion. Simply downvoting because you disagree with someone's ideas is BAD. Instead, let them know why you disagree with them.
3) Provide sources if possible. However, anecdotes and "broscience" can lead to good discussion, and are welcome here as long as they are labeled as such.
4) Feel free to talk about anything diet or nutrition related.
5) Any suggestions/topic ideas?
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u/AidanGLC Jul 30 '24
Looking for recommendations for electrolyte/carb drinks for during long cardio workouts!
I've used a mix of Nuun and Liquid IV tablets/powders for the last couple years, but am starting to get to the point where I'm sick of the taste and figure it's worth trying some other options.
Only restriction to note is that, as a resident of Canada, I sadly can't buy some of the more rocket fuel-y gels and drink powders that contain enough caffeine to kill a horse.
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u/pvtmorningwoood Jul 30 '24
Mix Coconut water, OJ w/ calcium, and some salt. Has sugar, potassium, calcium and sodium. OJ provides carbs. Basically tropical Gatorade.
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u/AsternSleet22 Jul 30 '24
how much of each thing do you put?
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u/pvtmorningwoood Jul 30 '24
Some of it’s dependent on how much you sweat. I sweat an insane amount and my sweat tastes like pure salt. So for 16oz I go half coconut water half oj with 1/4 teaspoon salt. You can tinker with the coconut and oj to meet your taste preferences.
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u/AsternSleet22 Jul 30 '24
thanks, I'll have to try this out. not a fan of chewing things while I run.
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u/Falcopunt Jul 30 '24
During long runs I have been using Tailwind Endurance fuel, specifically the watermelon flavor. It comes in a few form factors, but the pre-portioned packages are 50g carbs and also have electrolytes. Easy on the stomach, not too sweet either.
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u/LionOver Jul 30 '24
I went out with two bottles of the dauwaltermelon and lime. Idk if I drank too much, too quickly but I had major diarrhea at the end of my 18 miler. I'd gone out with that much plenty of times before without a problem.
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u/sonostanco72 Jul 30 '24
I highly recommend Skratch Labs electrolyte drink mix. I used it all last year for my marathon training and post run recovery. It tastes great, not overly sweet, won’t upset your stomach.
I use all of their products for my marathon training and workouts. Either Energy Gummies are amazing and so are their energy bars. Same thing as I noted, they taste great and they are GI friendly.
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u/Pure-Horse-3749 Jul 30 '24
Tailwind is a good option used a lot with trail running. They have a lot of flavor variety and a good “naked flavor” for one that doesn’t have much taste to it. I also started using Naak recently as it will be at an upcoming race and it is good. Not a lot of flavor options but it does add a little bit of protein as well as carbs. Maurten makes a very high calorie option (320 cal in 500 ml) and not a bad option either and they have a 160 cal as well. More expensive but I like throwing it in for some variety
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u/jandrewskenora Jul 30 '24
Canadian here. I get Santa Cruz paleo electrolytes from Amazon US. 1000mg sodium, 200mg potassium, 60mg mag Maybe put some honey or maple syrup in there for carbs?
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u/junkmiles Jul 30 '24
If I'm using a drink mix on a long run or long workout, I tend to stick with SiS BetaFuel or Maurten. Both are 80g of carb. Not cheap, but actually some of the better $ per carb options for off the shelf, pre made stuff. SiS is also on sale for what seems like 90% of the year as well, which is nice.
Neither really has much in the way of electrolytes if that's something you want. Personally I don't worry about it.
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u/mispirit Jul 30 '24
Lentils for lunch + night run = worst idea ever
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u/DougalR Jul 31 '24
Anyone know a good website or books to help plan meals? I find if I don’t prepare in advance I switch to junk food.
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u/Geesearetheworstt Aug 01 '24
I SWEAR by "Run Fast, Cook Fast, Eat Slow" and "Rise and Run" (this one is all breakfast/brunch). The original is "Run Fast, Eat Slow" but I don't use that cookbook as much. You can find a TON of the recipe pages on Pinterest, but I love supporting Shalane and Elyse (co-authors), so I bought the copies. Shalane won the NYC marathon a few years back.
The superhero muffins are my savior for breakfast and snack prep. They also include a lot of science as to why they chose certain ingredients and give general running advice.
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Jul 30 '24
I eat light never try to go out with a meal in my stomach. I personally hate feeling food in my stomach because I don't want to let one loose.
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u/ColtSingleActionArmy Jul 30 '24
This isn't like earth-shattering, but I've been putting grated fresh ginger into my smoothies before blending them and it tastes ridiculously good. Supposed to be good for the joints too, so win-win.
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u/BeYouMore Jul 31 '24
Thanks for this! I’m a morning runner (+/- 10km) and I always drink a blueberry/banana/maple syrup smoothie beforehand. I have a sensitive stomach and although the smoothie doesn’t give me any trouble, I’ll definitely be adding ginger to my pre run drink.
For what it’s worth, I also eat overnight oats with a pile of healthy ingredients when I get back from the run for breakfast. Great start to the day! My daytime diet usually consists of chicken, fish, or pasta with vegetables. The closer to the original source the better.
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u/ColtSingleActionArmy Jul 31 '24
Make sure you don't use too much ginger. It can go from a pleasant addition to too much pretty quick.
Never tried overnight oats, if you have any recipe you'd recommend let me hear it. I am lazy in the morning so having one less thing to do other than plunge the coffee is a plus!
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u/BeYouMore Jul 31 '24
I made a Frankenstein version:
1/2 cup of oats 1/2 cup of milk 1 tsp maple syrup 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp hemp hearts 1 tsp chia seeds 1 tsp flax seed 1 tbsp salad topper seeds/cranberries 2-3 pitted prunes 1/4 apple (diced)
Once in a bowl, I also add whatever fresh fruit I have, which is usually blueberries or strawberries and a little more milk to make it less dense.
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u/crapatoa-nonono Jul 30 '24
Enchiladas are not recovery food.
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u/skygrinder89 Jul 30 '24
Source.please... :p
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u/crapatoa-nonono Jul 30 '24
For me, it’s been a reoccurring situation. Hard workout -> man enchiladas sound great! Make them. Poor overnight recovery: high resting HR, low low HRV, and feel not so springy on the next run. But they sure are good 😀
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u/lostvermonter Jul 30 '24
I mean..I guess I can see this. Tend to be a lot of cheese and meat in a tortilla, yeah? Not a lot of carbs, decent amount of protein but that's only good to an extent, not many vegetables unless you go out of your way. So not exactly ideal runner nutrition, but like..you gotta enjoy life too 😁
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u/crapatoa-nonono Jul 30 '24
And a lot of chiles: spicy. 🌶️ I suspect the spice is the most impactful aspect.
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u/muffin80r Jul 30 '24
I'm losing weight at the moment by running a calorie deficit. Most advice is not to eat back calories you burn through exercise if you want to lose weight. But I'm also running most days of the week and needing to eat a fair bit more so I don't collapse. Whats a good way to run a calorie deficit while burning a lot of exercise calories?
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u/iamsynecdoche Jul 30 '24
It depends on how much you are running and therefore how big your deficit is. I think a lot of the advice about not eating back calories is not speaking to people who might be putting in dozens and dozens of miles a week, mostly because it's very easy to over-estimate your calorie burn and under-estimate how much you are eating. When I was losing weight while running, I would eat back a couple of hundred of calories around a long run (over an hour) but that's about it.
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u/muffin80r Jul 30 '24
Good advice, cheers. Other people have said to eat back about half the exercise.
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u/vapue Jul 30 '24
How big is your deficit in a week? And how much do you run?
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u/muffin80r Jul 30 '24
I had been running about 250 cal deficit per day and then started burning 4-800 per day in active cardio between running and riding. I've been eating back about half that extra but then my weight loss plateaued.
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u/homemadepecanpie Jul 30 '24
There are a few things that might be contributing to your plateau as well.
1) If you're lighter you won't burn as much running, so make sure you're updating your weight when tracking calories burned during exercise.
2) Cardio in particular can reduce the amount of NEAT, basically calories you burn doing tasks like fidgeting or just moving around throughout the day. Because of this, you might not be burning as much inactive as many calculators say you are.
You could consider reducing calories a bit more and seeing if that breaks the plateau without ruining your running fueling. Building muscle with strength training is another great way to counteract a plateau because it will help you burn more inactive calories.
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u/vapue Jul 30 '24
The other reply has already great advice! I know how frustrating plateaus can be, but sometimes it just looks and feels like one. Weight loss is not linear and water is a big factor in this. I weigh myself every morning and a hard tempo run the day before is like one kg difference, a big carby cheatmeal can be even two kg. For someone like me (I weigh about 65kg) that's a huge difference. If you are taller and or heavier than me, it can be even more. Maybe track your weight with an app that calculates the mean of 3 days and shows a graph of your weight loss and then look at the progress of the last two weeks. Sometimes it is just a little bit slower and no plateau. That helped me a lot, but I can totally understand if that's not for you.
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Jul 30 '24
I don't know much about calorie deficit, but I think you need to count your calories a little bit to find out the deficit. You might go for a deficit of 100-200 kcal which should not impact your efforts that much. But if you go for >500kcal deficit every day, I'm pretty sure you will feel it somehow.
Usually I get some weight in the autumn for the cold winter, then I lose some weight in the spring (3-4kg seems to be enough for me not to feel cold all the time). When I lose weight, I don't count calories, but I just eat a little bit less (I have more or less the same diet everyday). To not feel so tired, I try not to run on empty stomach. However, I have to admit, that during the period when I lose weight, the first 2-3 weeks seem to have an impact on the effort I can make.
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u/AsternSleet22 Jul 30 '24
Training for a half in November, really struggling to get the nutrition portion down..... I'm prone to go all day without eating and just eat dinner, but that doesn't work well if I'm running around 4pm. I'm bad at meal prepping. Does anyone have recommendations for easy snacks to put together. Can one exist off of plain rice and chicken with bananas, apples, and peanut butter thrown in? Because that's about all I can handle to prepare. Having to eat is such a nuisance to me.
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u/LBro32 Jul 30 '24
Honestly plain rice, chicken, apples and bananas is way healthier than what a lot of people eat because it’s whole foods, rather than processed.
I do a bagel with PB & J as a meal before my runs. Could be an easy go-to and you can even pack it if you need to take it to work. Similarly, overnight oats are extremely low effort with big pay off (it can be as simple as oats, milk, banana). You can also make a large thing of pasta and eat that several days.
Carbs are your friend during training and chicken is a great source of protein. Also just having things around like eggs (you can hard boil for a quick snack) or yogurt can make a big difference. Protein bars are a food quick snack as well.
Basically, stock your pantry with easy things that take less than 10 minutes to throw together. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just needs to get you through.
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u/Aggravating-Fix-4399 Aug 02 '24
I have my first ever half marathon tmw! Any tips on nutrition for today? And any advice for my breakfast tmw morning! I have a veryy high metabolism so should I eat a big breakfast or keep it light? Thanks in advance!
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u/Agreeable_Winter737 Jul 30 '24
I stopped eating the sugary snacks and my HRV has improved by about 20% in the past month.
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u/PositiveKarma1 Jul 30 '24 edited Jul 30 '24
I run /walk in the mornings - on losing fat process. I try to take early dinner (with protein) and breakfast is after run, breakfast rich in protein and limited amount of carbs (like a homemade cheesecake or protein shake).
No idea if it is enough to lose slowly fat and slowly increase muscle, never measured, but I feel stronger muscle on my legs.
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u/Accurate_Prompt_8800 Jul 30 '24
What is your goal? If it’s to get better at running, not consuming carbs post exercise is the wrong move. If you’re trying to build muscle, then by all means keep up what you’re doing - but you’re not going to build significant muscle without strength training and eating at maintenance / slight surplus. If you are trying to lose fat, then all that matters is being in a calorie deficit.
You’re on the running sub though, so I’m just going to say that what you’re doing isn’t optimal for running performance.
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u/PositiveKarma1 Jul 30 '24 edited Jul 30 '24
I consume carbs around 15-20 gr after sport.
My scope is to build now the habit of getting out almost daily (for run /walk) - now I run 3 km 3-4 times per week but in 1 month I plan to increase slowly to 5km. Doing for one month already.
Simultaneously I am on caloric deficit with 5-10% - in one month plan is to lose 1kg (with same style I already lost 1 last 3 weeks) and limit sugar, my addiction.
Then to start increase slowly speed and distance of running - here I will speak with a consultant for an adapted plan.3
u/junkmiles Jul 30 '24 edited Jul 30 '24
now I run 3 km 3-4 times per week
If you goal is losing weight, I would be sure to count your calories as you change your diet. Running 3km is burning less than 200 calories. Eating a "homemade cheesecake or protein shake" is going to be way more than what your burn on your run. It doesn't matter if it's more protein and fewer carbs, you won't lose weight if you eat more than you use. Obviously it depends on what you eat for the rest of the day and week as well, just keep in mind you're not exactly crushing calories running for 3km.
Secondly, if you want to really visibly increase muscles the way most people think about muscles, you're going to want to lift weights in the gym.
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u/lostvermonter Jul 30 '24
Not sure why you'd limit carbs right after running when you need to replenish glycogen. Weight loss is ultimately about calories.
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u/PositiveKarma1 Jul 30 '24
because I am carbs addicted, I could eat only carbs. A chocolate junkie :) and replacing the regular chocolate with solid protein and 15gr of carbs, per breakfast, it is a big success for me.
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u/lostvermonter Jul 30 '24
Chocolate isn't even that many carbs 😂 it's mostly fat. And carbs doesn't mean junk food, a banana on oatmeal with peanut butter and a Greek yogurt cup would have carbs, fat, and 25g protein..
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Jul 30 '24
[deleted]
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u/Kaywin Jul 30 '24
I’m very annoyed by some of the responses you’re getting. The response you got to this comment implying that 230g carbs from praline (in other words, straight up sugar) is totally a totally reasonable or OK component of regular nutritional intake is incomprehensible to me.
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u/vapue Jul 30 '24
I am insulin resistant - so my diet is (almost) always low carb. I also lost a significant amount of weight a few years back and I started running back then. You will lose weight if you are in a calorie deficit. Running doesn't burn much calories until you are able to do it for a long time. You can approximate: km you run X your weight in kg = calories you burn. That's not that much unfortunately because the human body is very efficient. :(
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Jul 30 '24
Why they downvote you? Decent post. Most important is caloric deficit and high protein low carb in my opinion. Could be the low carb that's triggering people but to each their own.
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u/graphiquedezine Aug 02 '24
I am about halfway through a couch to 5k app. I also weight lift twice a week, and have PCOS (I have blood sugar issues and don't eat high carb). Protein and fiber has always been my priority.
As I'm getting into running, I'm curious if anyone has very basic tips for what I should eat before and after, and how long I should eat before. I've seen a lot of conflicting info and also it's usually for people running much longer than me! I currently am only running about 20 minutes total haha.
Might not even need to worry about it yet, but just thought I'd ask :)
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u/PurpleAvocado5 Aug 02 '24
DIY liquid gels hack:
Log cabin maple syrup (since it’s primarily corn syrup, which is mainly glucose) with a bit of water in a Hydrapak soft flask is an extremely cheap alternative to individual Maurten, spring, Gu gels, etc. I find it’s effective to fuel with during training runs, and it also gets my gut ready when i use the brand gels on race day
Can mix up the flavor with cocoa powder, espresso powder, peanut butter powder, lemon juice, etc.
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u/Kaywin Jul 30 '24
I want to ask about people’s experiences fueling for a long-distance run who run on a lower-carb or even keto diet. What are your favorite snacks for before, during, and after your long runs?
I limit my carb intake for health reasons and I’m not interested in changing that.
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u/RhodyM8 Jul 31 '24
For anyone that has been running 60-80mpw, how have you changed your nutrition for daily meals? This is more so with your total calories per day as I assume a good chunk try and go for 2000-3000 a day depending on Long Run / Intervals / Recovery runs?
I try and hit atleast 120 protein a day with the bulk being during Breakfast / Snack / Lunch with having 4-5 meals a day. I am curious how others have been handling their nutrition plans to try and adjust mine.
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u/QQlemonzest Jul 31 '24
I was going to answer this question but then I noticed you were talking miles not kilometres. I’m running about 60-85 km a week and eating an average of 2500 calories (depending on the day, 2200-3500). I just had to up my calories this week because I’m getting quite sore and have lost a couple pounds (37F, 118 lbs, 5’4”).
I guess I’ll answer it anyways, as calories are individual and not a certain amount based on mileage. I’m also aiming for 120 g of protein and needed to add a protein shake in the morning to get it in. I also increased the amount of grains in all my meals, plus more chicken at lunch. Here’s a typical week day at ~2600 kcal and 127 G protein.
Breakfast: chocolate protein smoothie with banana and flax seed, Nature’s Bakery fig bar, almond milk latte
Lunch: Quinoa salad with/chicken, feta, butternut squash, cucumber and vinaigrette.
Snack: Overnight Oats (Greek yogurt, oats, chia seeds, slivered almonds, almond milk, frozen mango).
Dinner: Pasta salad with/back bacon, corn, bell pepper, celery and a homemade Greek yogurt dressing.
In between snacks: dates, graham crackers, small ice cream bar after dinner, etc,
Long run day is basically a bagel and butter, 3-4 gels, a frozen lemonade, pasta salad for lunch, pizza for dinner and ice cream for dessert.
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u/RhodyM8 Aug 01 '24
Thank you for sending this and that Quinoa + Pasta Salad sounds amazing!!
The protein shake is a great move, but I usually try and use that with Oats for Breakfast and then cram in more Greek Yogurt for a snack with Granola for an easy 200C with 20p and 20carbs
I try to limit myself to 1 protein scoop a day and try and have the rest be natural with protein. Carbs I've been working in with Bagel / English Muffins / Rice Krispy Treats and Sourdough + Honey thats been a slow change.
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u/QQlemonzest Aug 02 '24
You’re welcome! I agree…one scoop of protein a day is fine, but I’d much prefer food. It sounds like you’ve got a good foundation going. I’m gonna have to try sourdough and honey…I’ve never had that combo before 😋
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u/SweetSneeks Jul 31 '24
I run about 90-100mi/wk with additional training.
I’m eating around 4-5k cals/day. I do around 150-160g of protein and most the day just eating 3:1 carb to protein ratio.. wish some spikes in protein. Carb intake is 90% unprocessed fruit/veggies/beans/rice. Just simple, healthy, natural foods. I’m mostly vegan.
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u/EasternInjury2860 Jul 31 '24
I’m looking for tips on best snacks / quick energy pick ups during runs. I’m upping my miles and my long runs are now 12-18 miles ( I know, small numbers for some, but big for me!)
I’ve tried gu and other gel type products but they upset my gallbladder in a bad way. Any other recommendations? I reverted back to granola bars and while that’s better on the stomach, I don’t find it very nourishing or energizing.
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u/toonaphish1 Jul 31 '24
I like bringing a fig bar or a couple of gummy bears on medium runs (5-10 miles)
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u/gdblu Aug 03 '24
+1 on fig bars, or dates. For me, trying to chew candy makes breathing difficult...
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u/EasternInjury2860 Jul 31 '24
Ohh both good ideas, I’ll try that. I’ve got a toddler so no shortage of fruit snacks laying around lol. Thanks!
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Aug 01 '24
I use Tailwind for long runs. Any gels or solid food gives me GI issues. But Tailwind has been like a secret weapon for me. Used that alone for two 24 hour events (skateboarding, not running) and other long distance activities. Definitely worth checking out if you are having trouble finding something easy on you. Before I found this stuff, I have fun stories of puking and pooping during long events. I know the struggle!
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u/Iwillbecurbappeal Jul 30 '24
I'm not 100% certain this topic is nutrition related but I think it must be: I have been losing weight and consistently weight lifting for about 10 months now. All has been going great and I feel my recovery has been good. I would get sore from lifting but didn't regularly feel tired and always looked forward to my next workouts (and I was consistently lifting 4-5 times a week). I was also getting 11k steps a day, minimum. Diet-wise, I tend to focus on eating protein but have plenty of carbs throughout my day too.
I started running about...6 weeks ago? At first just to see if I could do it and then I kept going because I was enjoying it. I'm getting out running at least 2-3 times per week at this point. I've decreased my lifting schedule a bit, so that I'm not lifting on running days. I don't really want to give up lifting or running... I enjoy both forms of movement.
Ever since I have started running I have been absolutely EXHAUSTED during the day. I feel like my recovery is really taking a hit. I still want to lose 15-20 lbs so I don't necessarily want to eat more and I'm not sure that would help anyway as I've had some higher calorie days and I can't say that they made me feel any better or less tired.
My sleep is OK, I'm really regimented about getting to bed on time and I get an average of 7 hours of sleep per night. I kinda wish I could get more sleep but I can't seem to swing it - I have kids.
I drink as much water and gatorade-zero type drinks as I can tolerate, it amounts to about 60 ounces a day.
IDK, I just don't know what else to change here....other than maybe running less. Which I'm not particularly excited to do :-( Any ideas? Apologies as I'm basically just ranting and feel like I'm making excuses.
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u/Lucky-Researcher-846 Jul 30 '24
I started running again and was exhausted at first. Now I can run a 10K in the morning before breakfast and feel fine for the rest of the day. I think it is a question of overall fitness, not an expert just my experience.
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u/Iwillbecurbappeal Jul 31 '24
This gives me hope! So I guess i need to just keep up with it and eventually it will get easier
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u/runnerglenn Jul 31 '24
You are gonna have to up the carbs to sustain the running. You can still lose weight but probably at a slower pace. You are just tanking your glycogen and feeling the effects of that.
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u/triedit2947 Jul 31 '24
Before I started running, I was also lifting around 4-6 days a week with some HIIT sessions thrown in. I recovered well between workouts. Started running and felt like I needed a nap after each 5k. This was 4 months ago. Now, I can do a 5k and feel great after. I haven't really changed my nutrition. It'll just take some time for your body to adjust.
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u/Kali_skates Jul 30 '24
I’m having this same experience. I roller skate often, pole and lift. I dialed those activities back a bit to start running. I’m out of it for the rest of the day. Even on days where I do an easy run.
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u/Iwillbecurbappeal Jul 31 '24
Ugh I'm sorry to hear you have the same experience! It sucks!! I'm hoping that with time maybe my conditioning will improve and I'll just be able to handle it better? Here's hoping.
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u/Neither_Maybe_8459 Jul 31 '24
I usually run 2-4 miles in the am before weightlifting and I’ll try to run 5-6 miles outdoors after work later in the day, I drink one liquid IV packet a day to help with electrolytes/hydration and about a gallon of water too before my evening run. Is this enough to stay properly hydrated? Is it okay to drink more than one liquid IV?
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u/CautiousPersimmon904 Aug 01 '24
Depends on where you live & how much you sweat. I live in FL and will shoot for 3 LMNT packets per day + one while running. Also would recommend switching away from liquid IV as there’s a ton of sugar in it.
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u/[deleted] Jul 30 '24
I ussualy go out running in the mornings and usually don't eat anything at all. At first thought it was bad, but I feel good and light by doing so, and I Will continue this way... For me, running in the morning is my go to... And usually don't have breakfast... Anyone else? Edit: I usually run 10-15 km