As Americans, most of us have ready access to food. Not just healthy food mind you, but fast...and fatty options. It's a struggle for athletes to choose the best options to fuel our body in our rat-race world.
How do you fuel your workouts? Are you careful to eat things that won't harm you or the environment? It's a fair question you know. Things now-a-days are not necessarily harmless, even though they're packaged as food.
In the past 9 months, I've begun a campaign to eat locally produced, healthy food. And I mean real food. Not stuff that's been sitting on a shelf for 6 months....or even would survive on a shelf for 6 months. It means shopping more frequently and it means going more places. I avoid the inner isles of the grocery store. I poll friends and scour Facebook for places where my local friends are buying local produce, eggs from free range chickens and meats from sources not in feedlots. It's a chore. Heck, by some standards, it's a job.
But I'm feeling better than ever. I'm feeling strong and I'm sleeping soundly. I still consume caffeine. (I love coffee.) My workouts are going well and I'm feeling the strength I've gained over recent months.
The other thing that I've found helpful is keeping a food diary. This is common amongst folks trying to lose weight, but how many of us do it, who are just trying to fuel our bodies efficiently?
What I've found is that I not only eliminate mindless snacking by documenting my consumption, but I'm much more careful about eating enough food on days where my training load is heavy. I definitely think this contributes to a stronger body, more complete recovery and consequently, better response to training stimulus.
I would recommend that anyone who is trying to improve performance try keeping a food diary. You'll be amazed at what you eat....or don't eat and you'll find it much easier to fine tune your training diet so that it aides in optimized performance.
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