Running Tip 5

Dear Friends,

Greetings! Also a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all Indian friends! 

There has been a very good response from many of you considering the number of hits to my running tips. Thank you very much. I believe some of you might have started running and prepared a kind of running schedule for yourself. If not also no worries, take your time. 

Running Tip 5 - What diet to follow?

Often I keep getting queries from my colleagues and fellow runners on the diet I follow. Nowadays everything has become very systematic and measured. All gyms define a daily or weekly diet for each of their clients. They even measure the calories consumed and calories burned. It is one way good. Also there are many articles you can get on internet and print media related to diet and calorie charts for runners and other sportsman. But I belong to old school of thought - "Eat well, burn well". I don't follow any particular regimen as far as diet is concerned. But I am disciplined enough with my eating habits. Putting under bullet points - 

1. Three meals per day - I take three meals per day. 
1. Breakfast - Any available fruit at home and a good plate full serving of any of - Upma/Poha/Puffed Rice preparations/Idli/Dosa
2. Lunch - 3 Chapatis, Veg curries, Buttermilk. On office days since my working mode is sedentary I take light lunch to avoid afternoon doze. 
3. Dinner - 2-3 Chapatis, a bowl full of rice, veg curries, sambhar, curd and buttermilk. Evening it is better to have lighter food but since I run during evenings, I get very hungry during my dinner time. 
2. No junk food - I avoid junk foods like Pizza, Burger, Noodles, Chats etc. Once or twice in a year I try any of the above listed foods. 
3. Less outside eat - I eat out very occasionally whenever there are any treats or gatherings. But there also I make sure I eat lot of salads comprising fresh cut vegetables and fruits. Most of the days I make sure I eat at home. Even when I was staying alone, I used to cook two times to get home food.  
4. Food rich of carbohydrates and proteins - My mom's preparation is a good blend of carbohydrates and proteins. Thanks to her, she ensures my diet has good amount of cereals and pulses to supply needed proteins to my body. The protein rich cereals, pulses and millets include - pigeon peas, green gram, maize, lentil, beans, kidney beans, soybeans, chickpeas, green peas etc. People have a prejudice that to get enough proteins one needs to switch to non-vegetarian food habits. In my opinion, it is just a myth. With good amount pulses in your diet you can get needed protein. Veg or Non-veg, make sure you keep consuming protein rich food. 
5. Food with Fiber content - Though I need to be more conscious on this part of the diet, but I regularly eat fruits so that the fiber intake is available for smoother bowel movement. I suggest you also to take fiber rich food (leafy vegetables, some of the above mentioned cereals and pulses, uncooked vegetables, fruits etc.).  
6. Ample fluid intake - I make sure I drink minimum of 4 liters of water each day. Also I supplement water intake with beverages like Tea, Green Tea, health drinks and cool drinks like tender coconut water and fruit juices. Consuming beverages and juices can be as per your choice but water intake is mandatory otherwise you may end up getting cramps during and after running. 
7. No smoking - If you want to be a good runner then you need stay away from smoking as it weakens your lungs which will hamper your running.  

Overall if you have a good and healthy eating habits, all you need to do is to burn through running. But one more thing, don't eat anything at least an hour before you run or work-out. You can have water or a small amount of juice prior to run but no solid food. It will cause uneasiness (heavy stomach or vomiting sensation) during running. Soon after your run also you can have water, a piece of fruit (banana/apple/orange) or glucose/ORS powder dissolved in water. But avoid eating solid food within 30 minutes after the run.  

I believe the tip provided is useful for you. Please don't hesitate to give feedback. 

Regards,

Chetan