how do you fuel

I was just wondering what the daily food intake looked like for the different athletes here.
I know that some of you are burning huge amounts of calories.

I'm not asking about race fuel like gels, but just on a daily basis.


I did try some of the hammer gels this last weekend and had no issue with them.
I went back and bought a couple packages of their electrolyte drink.  I haven't tried those yet.
It would be great if I found something that worked for me on the first try. 

Have a great one.

Scott

Hey Bro.... Here is what a typical day looks like for me:

4:00: wake up call and chug 32 ounces of Gatorade Focus, eat 2 pieces of wheat toast with butter, a Kashi Go Lean breakfast bar and a banana. (I usually take 30 - 40 minutes to eat all that) sometimes I will have oatmeal too....Take my vitamin C, 2500mcg B12, Multivitamin, calcium, fish oil, and antioxident.

7:00: post-workout breakfast: Kashi Go Lean bar, peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat, banana, granola bar, and 20g protein bar

10:00: Granola bar, almonds or cashews, 16 oz 100% apple juice, 12 ounces 2% milk

Lunch: Grilled Chicken, brown rice, veggies, and a potatoe or carb of some sort (Rolls, etc...)
Another example of a typical lunch is 2 chicken tacos with cheese & lettuce with beans & rice (YUMMY) I don't "Diet" I eat a well-balanced diet, but do not deprive myself because I burn 2000 + calories a day and I need FUEL.

Afternoon small meal: Sports drink (Cliff or Gatorade), Granola bar, orange, 100% pure apple sauce, peanut butter crackers

Dinner: PASTA!!!!! PASTA!!!! PASTA!!!!! (So what if I'm an OILY Italian?) I will eat whatever my wife makes really! Grilled chicken & rice or Chicken casarole, or pulled pork sandwiches with mac & cheese, or burritos, or whatever gives me a lot of fuel, not an obscene amount of trans fats and something that will not have me crapping like a Canadian Geese in the morning for my workout!

Last meal: peanut butter sandwich, protein bar, and a pure fruit smoothie.... my favorite is my own concoction:

Pinapple, blueberries, strawberries, honey, splenda, light vanilla yogurt, cinnamon, vanilla extract, milk and orange juice, a couple ice cubes, and you are money ....(If I need protein I will throw a 26G scoop in with it) and my nightly treat to cap the day off..... 2 "No Sugar Added" Fun Time" Fudgesickles!!!! YUM YUM

Hope this helps. THIS IS NOT A TYPICAL POST RNY PATIENT'S DIET!!! I eat between 3500 - 5000 calories a day and have continually lost doing this type of "Grazing". The key is to build up your "Base" to get your internal engine going and burning / metabolizing your food faster, this comes by working in your lower HR zones. I have come to the point that I don't regiment my eating so much on a schedule as layed out above, this is just a template, but the bottom line is that I eat when my body tells me I need food, period. I don't let myself get hungry, I make better choices when I eat, and I work hard to burn the fuel I have taken in. Take care buddy. My guess is that you are not even taking in 1/3 of what I eat???  Hey it's something to aspire to .... just messin!

Thanks for posting Dan.
You need to work out harder, Michael Phelps still has you on the calorie consumption.

I'm eating between 1200-1800 depending on the day.   I don't want to consider what I eat a diet either, but I do log my food intake.    My big worry would be getting used to eating that much food, then not being able to maintain the exercise level needed to burn it.

You have a lot more focus than I do, and I know my weakness.  I'd get used to it and keep right on eating 5k calories a day and doing 0 exercise.  However you sound like you are making good choices with your foods.  You aren't eating 5k worth of pizza or hamburgers.

Do you feel like you are eating more?  I know on a couple occasions I have eaten too much and I can feel it in the stomach.  I worry about stretching out the pouch and losing that full feeling.  Have you felt like it takes more to satisfy your hunger now, or are you trying to eat more frequently and keep the meals small.

Thanks again for sharing that info.

Scott

2 months ago, I had my 1 year post-op visit with my surgeon, and he said I have a perfectly normal size pouch. I do eat a lot, but I eat slow and chew each bite 25 times, so when it gets to my pouch, it is already broken down and probably slides on through and doesn't sit there too long. I can eat a lot more than I used to, but it's funny now, because even on my biggest meal, I am still eating what should be considere a "Normal" size portion, just pales in comparison to what we were eating pre op. Instead of living to eat, I eat to live, and as I mentioned in my post, I listen to my body, it's funny that when I am on a rest day, I take in considerably less calories, and experience no difference in hunger levels. When you listen to it, your body will tell you what it needs. Goos luck bro! Oh yeah, about Micheal Phelps, not too sure I could hang with him and my "Buffet Challenged" pouch! No waffles and syrup for me.... Oh well.... I guess I will go gnaw on my granola bar.

I'm still losing, so I don't think my food patterns count.

But I start off the day with a protein shake and mostly eat meat, fish, cheese, eggs and yogurt with veggies 2x a day and occasionally fruit. Once in a while I'll eat some potato but pasta doesn't agree with me and breads are too much work (I was never too keen on them even pre-op). Then again, the other day I had a brownie and some popcorn.

I'm experimenting with race fuels too. Tried GU2O today. It was okay. I find the pure carb stuff tends to make me draggy. Sometimes I mix in a 15g protein drink with it so it's got 3:1 or 4:1 carbs to protein and that helps. I know that's the recommendation for *after* exercise. but it works better for me during exercise than something that is pure carbs.

Thurs. I'm going to try a gel. Not sure what I'll try tomorrow. Maybe Heed.

The only thing that upsets me so far is to eat while running. It has to be liquid. Even a few Sports Beans make me cramp up a *****ad's experiences have scared me, so I back right off as soon as I feel the least bit uncomfortable.

Scott I make sure to get in at least 200g of protein a day, mostly in the form of 4oz GNC protein and water that I mix in a blender throughout the day.   I also drink 96oz - 128oz of water a day.  Water and protein are the only things I closely watch.   Other than that I moderate what I eat and don't deny myself any foods that I enjoy.   I do try to choose the 'right' things such as unprocessed and raw foods when I can but I don't deny myself foods that I enjoy.  Coke?   Sure, I'll drink a regular Coke or Dr. Pepper once or twice a week.   Candy?   You bet.  I'll have a Snickers bar or a couple Reeses Peanut Butter Cups a few times week.   The KEY is moderation.   I no longer drink a 12 pack of Coke a day and I no longer eat bags and bags of candy.    I also eat a lot of fresh fruits.  (Apples, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapefruit, strawberries, pineapple)

For pre-race weeks I do modify my diet a bit.   I'll start carb loading on the Monday prior to the race by eating pasta with lean protein.   (chicken or beef)   I also cut out all sweets and soft drinks leading up to the race.   I make sure to get in 128oz of water / fluids each day as well so I can make absolutely sure that I'm hydrated.   3 days out I start drinking pickle juice and drinking salty soups and broths to get my sodium levels up.  2 days out from the race will be my last 'big' carb load meal.  The day before the race I eat light.   I'm trying a new med called Welchol for Wildflower that's supposed to help bind to the bad stuff in your gut and help prevent the runs.   Been using it in training to some positive effects but don't know how it will work yet racing.  Guess I'll find out this weekend.  :)

After Wildflower my coach is putting me on Infinit for training and recovery nutrition.   I'm looking at trying a recovery supplement too called Kona Endurance as well.

 

I have looked at both Kona and Infinit, but I haven't plunked down the money for it yet.
I'm still mostly running short distances, but I'm working towards a 1/2 marathon in October.
There is a local 1/2 on my 42nd birthday.  So I figured while I have time, I'd start experimenting.