Eating has become weird for me lately.
For most of my life I have not paid much attention to my dining habits. In the last few years though my age has caught up with me and I needed to start. I can’t trust long distance running to burn off all my calories anymore.
As previously mentioned, I’m seeing a nutritionist who has promised I don’t have to bonk on an ultra. That is actually the worst part of an ultra. You can have the strength and mental fortitude to go on, but completely run out of energy.
The first session could be summarized with “eat more protein”. Actually looking through my notes from my first naturopath from last year, she said the same thing. But there are only so many lifestyle changes you can make at one time.
The second session was more useful. We went over what I should be eating in a typical day. She sounded like my dentist; she didn’t want me drinking orange juice in the morning. (Not going to happen.) Now I need to be eating more balanced meals more often. So less, porridge in the morning, and put some olive oil on it. Greek yogurt for snacks.
My lunch has changed for the first time in 20 years. Previously: one sandwich, two apples, three cookies. Currently: one sandwich, one apple, one cookie. I had to negotiate hard to keep the one cookie.
The end result is that I am now tired and hungry all the time. This does not seem to be good. The more I stick to her exact plan, the hungrier I am throughout the day.
On Thursday, it came to a head. I was hungry all day, no matter how many snacks I had. In the end, I went to McDonald’s for dinner, and had two quarter-pounders and a large fries. My headache was gone within the hour. The next day, there was a lot of pizza for lunch. So I fell off the wagon hard. When I went for my run on Saturday, my stomach got upset with me at 34km and I had to walk a long time. Maybe that is because I was now dealing with hills while still trying to run fast? Or maybe it was the peanut-butter Lärabars I was using to maintain energy? I’m starting to worry I’m not able to eat peanut-butter anymore. (Too much during a previous run has now made me sick of it forever?)
I’m going to continue experimenting with her initial plan. I actually saw her briefly on Thursday so she is now aware of the issue. I think the important part is to have a bigger breakfast such that it takes me longer to digest it.