Eating for Ironman

I hate the word "diet."  The word comes with such negative associations and is often seen as a temporary state.  As in, "I'm going on a diet to lose 10 pounds...and then I'll go back to eating chicken wings and put it back on."

Many people (myself included) treat endurance sports as an excuse to eat WHATEVER they want at times.

"I can afford it, I just ran six miles." 

"Give me an extra slice of cake.  I think that last 10 miles on the bike made some room for it."

The thing I am realizing the more I do these events is yes, you may be able to eat extra calories, but WHAT you eat is much more important than HOW MUCH.

Yes, I might be able to get away with a donut.  But I feel like I'm running with a dozen of them strapped to my gut on the run the next day.  The more active you are, the more you pay for the decadent choices you make.

There is also irony too.  The cleaner you eat, the more you want to continue eating that way because of how good you feel.  At first, as you're cleaning up your diet, you think of it as an impossibility.  This thought ran through my mind right after Christmas.  "How am I going to say no to cookies?  I'm going to want to pig out every now and then."

At first it is sheer willpower that drives you.  But after a few weeks, something "clicks" inside and you don't even want to eat that junk.  You look at it as something that will only gunk up the works and interfere with all the amazing progress you're having.  A few cookies are not worth tanking your run the next day.  You begin looking beyond the immediate gratification of it and see the big picture.  The highs of progress and accomplishment outweigh those from sugar and comfort foods.

So I'm finding that my whole outlook is changing -- rather than limiting what I'm eating, I am taking a good look at WHAT I'm eating.  Rather than looking at what I need to cut back on, I'm looking at where I need to add quality calories as my training increases.

For example, I lost two pounds last week....of muscle.  Not good.  I weigh myself weekly and do my body fat percentage so I can stay on top of where gains and losses are coming from.  By losing muscle, I know that I need to eat more quality calories (I know, pity me, I need more food). 

I am now becoming more aware of the need to track my energy levels, meal plan, and training volume.  Rather than being vigilant about NOT eating too much, I have to be vigilant about eating ENOUGH of the right stuff.  It's a strange, strange shift.