Lately I feel conflicted between eating enough calories and carbohydrates to maximize my endurance training and running performance…but also keeping my weight maintained. I’m 22 years old 5’8 140lbs. I feel comfortable running at this weight…I have managed through resistance training and the addition of BCAAs etc to have decent body composition. In other words…I’m not a skinny fat 140 pounder lol. My diet is very strict. I’m not looking to get flamed…I’m looking for solid advice and I will follow it… Here is exactly what I ate today and what I did today. I eat approx the same thing daily:
Breakfast - 1 slice Ezekial bread toasted with 2 tablespoons of naturally more peanut butter, 1 apple, 1/2 cup of fiber one original cereal with approx. 3-4 ounces of unsweetened almond milk, and coffee no sugar.
-Drink approx 7 grams of BCAAs and Run 2.4 miles. After run I have 1 scoop ON Whey, 1 banana, 1/2 cup old fashion oats with cinnamon.
Snack - 6oz of low fat greek yogurt with 2 tablespoons naturally more peanut butter.
Lunch - 1/2 cup pasta, serving of tofu
Dinner - 3 eggs, steamed veggies with extra virgin olive oil
-Weight training, Sip 7 grams BCAAs…today I did back and Bi’s…consists of various bent over rows, pullups/chinups and bicep exercises with relatively short rest. After I have 1 scoop ON whey with a banana.
-Late night run today was approx. 3.6 miles…come home, serving of almonds or sunflower seeds or more naturally more peanut butter.
From what I calculate this comes out to approx. 2300 calories. I wonder if I should be eating more and if it is acceptable to eat more carbs such as rice in place of one of my higher fat meals later in the day? Is it acceptable to eat carbs with every meal? I’m averaging about 30 or so miles a week running along with a weight training schedule.
With regard to whether you’re eating enough, the inevitable question is how is your weight fluctuating under this diet plan? If it’s stable, then you are eating enough. If it’s increasing, then you’re taking in too many cals, though I highly doubt that this is your situation.
As for your question of whether carbs later in the day would be acceptable or not, everyone handles carbohydrates differently. Try substituting rice in for a fat-dense food later in the day, and see what happens to your performance and body composition.
You may also want to think about having some eggs/egg whites/ some combination of the two at breakfast in order that you’re getting a quality source at that time (most people don’t even count the protein from nuts/nut butters).
[quote]nikoV wrote:
With regard to whether you’re eating enough, the inevitable question is how is your weight fluctuating under this diet plan? If it’s stable, then you are eating enough. If it’s increasing, then you’re taking in too many cals, though I highly doubt that this is your situation.
As for your question of whether carbs later in the day would be acceptable or not, everyone handles carbohydrates differently. Try substituting rice in for a fat-dense food later in the day, and see what happens to your performance and body composition.
You may also want to think about having some eggs/egg whites/ some combination of the two at breakfast in order that you’re getting a quality source at that time (most people don’t even count the protein from nuts/nut butters). [/quote]
My weight seems to stay stable for like 2 weeks at a time…then bam I’m 5lbs lighter one day and it stays that way for another 2 weeks. Really odd…but that’s how it has happened. My norm was 150lbs stable…then bam one day 145lbs…stayed that way for weeks…same diet…then 140lbs…and I’ve been here for about 2 1/2 3 weeks. My diet is basically the same daily with calories being a bit higher on run and resistance days due to post workout nutrition…
If the overall trend for you is losing weight, it would be worth considering adding 300-500 calories a day. I would get alot of those cals from protein, since you are performing resistance training also. Your weight has to stabilize at some point under your current diet and exercise regime, but if you want to maintain 140, you wouldn’t risk losing any more lbs.
I have reworked my diet in an attempt to maintain, possibly gain/recomp more. Therefore, I’ll be eating more and doing more weight training then I was previously doing. Current plan:
Supplements: Whey protein, BCAAs, Glycobol.
Breakfast/Pre-workout: -2 Cap Glycobol Upon waking
-1/2 Oats mixed with some almond milk, cinnamon and 1/2 cup of strawberries.
-2 pieces of Ezekiel bread with 2 tablespoons naturally more peanut butter (higher protein peanut butter with flax).
-TRAIN, Sip BCAAs
Post-workout: -24g whey protein, banana, and approx. 1 cup (cooked) white rice.
-RUN ~ 3 miles.
Lunch: 2 caps Glycobol, 1/4 cup (dry measure) quinoa, 1/2 cup black beans, broccoli or other mixed vegetables.
Snack: 6oz. greek yogurt with a serving of mixed nuts
Dinner: Mixed vegetable stir-fry made with 1-2 tablespoons of EVOO and serving of Tofu or Tempeh.
-RUN ~ 3-4 miles, BCAAs before this run.
Night Snack: 2 fried eggs in a Light Flat-out wrap OR 2 tablespoons naturally more PB on 1 slice Ezekiel bread OR 24g Whey protein.
Even under your revised diet plan, you have no significant quality source of protein at breakfast and lunch. You need a good source at each meal, and peanuts, beans, and anything soy based are rank very low in terms of protein bioavailability.
[quote]nikoV wrote:
Even under your revised diet plan, you have no significant quality source of protein at breakfast and lunch. You need a good source at each meal, and peanuts, beans, and anything soy based are rank very low in terms of protein bioavailability. [/quote]
Hm…I had read a good amount of info that beans and quinoa are good…and that soy ranks as high as any other form of protein. There’s an article on here from Berardi that discusses soy. I can add in more eggs if needed though. As well as an extra whey shake.
Here is a chart of the bioavailability scores of different sources of protein. I can post the link to the original source if you would like, but you can easily google it. As you can see, grains and beans are at the bottom. Those two may be COMPLETE protein sources, but they are still low quality. And soy also ranks pretty low. I would definitely suggest more eggs.
Protein Source
Bioavailability
Whey Protein Isolate Blends 100-159
Whey Concentrate (Lactalbumin) 104
Whole Egg 100
Cow’s Milk 91
Egg White (Albumin) 88
Fish 83
Beef 80
Chicken 79
Casein (a protein from milk) 77
Rice 74
Soy 59
Wheat 54
Beans 49
Peanuts 42
[quote]nikoV wrote:
Here is a chart of the bioavailability scores of different sources of protein. I can post the link to the original source if you would like, but you can easily google it. As you can see, grains and beans are at the bottom. Those two may be COMPLETE protein sources, but they are still low quality. And soy also ranks pretty low. I would definitely suggest more eggs.
Protein Source
Bioavailability
Whey Protein Isolate Blends 100-159
Whey Concentrate (Lactalbumin) 104
Whole Egg 100
Cow’s Milk 91
Egg White (Albumin) 88
Fish 83
Beef 80
Chicken 79
Casein (a protein from milk) 77
Rice 74
Soy 59
Wheat 54
Beans 49
Peanuts 42 [/quote]