When you’re trying to lose weight whilst fueling yourself for large amounts of endurance sport, it can be difficult to find the foods that work for you. It’s a long, dark tunnel which I believe I can now see the light at the end of.
It occurred to me last night whilst warming up my tea and toweling myself down after a particularly hard turbo session, that a lot of my daily intake is sourced from 1 of 4 glass jars that I keep in the kitchen next to the kettle (next to the tea, coffee and sugar of course). Those 4 jars contain:
- Porridge oats
- Wholemeal pasta
- Brown rice
- Cous Cous
Now this might seem like a really trivial and boring subject to be dedicated a post to, so please, bear with me.
As mentioned in a previous post, porridge is my breakfast of choice, due to the fact it is a good source of complex carbohydrates whilst being relatively low in calories. On top of that, it is quick and easy to make and in the Winter it warms you up ready for the inevitable ice scraping session required when you don’t own a garage!
What about the others? Well, the story is really simple.
After training hard, your body needs a good combination of proteins (to help rebuild the body and recover) and carbohydrates (to replenish your glycogen stores). I’d love to be able to have pizza, or fish and chips after a session, but these foods will not serve any great purpose with recovery and refueling, something which is critical if you’re serious about training.
Brown Rice
Why brown rice? Simple. White rice is originally brown rice, but it is processed - the outer husk and inner bran layer and germ are removed. What you’re left with a white starchy rice, which tends to be softer and tastier - hence it’s popularity. However, by removing the outer layers you essentially strip the rice of many of it’s nutrients. These include B Vitamins, magnesium, rice bran oil (good for cholesterol levels), good fatty acids and fibre. Rice is also a good wheat free food stuff, ideal for people for a wheat intolerance.
Wholemeal Pasta
Pasta has long been the foundation of endurance athlete’s diet but must be eaten with caution. One of the side effects of training hard is inflammation in the muscles. Pasta is made from wheat, and wheat naturally causes inflammation. Having said that, pasta is a great source of complex carbohydrates and is a filling choice of food. So why wholemeal pasta? Basically, it’s down to the flour used. White pasta is made from white flour, so just like white bread it is a high GI food (it’s energy is released quickly into the body leaving you hungry quicker) and contains very little for either an athlete or someone trying to lose weight. Alternatively, wholemeal pasta is made from wholemeal flour, so the end product is a low GI food (it’s energy is released into the blood stream more slowly), with more protein than white flour, and is usually just as tasty and much more filling.
Cous Cous
Although cous cous is a medium to low GI food, it contains a good source of carbohydrates and protein, and is an ideal post-training food. It is made from wheat, so again it may not be ideal for those with a wheat intolerance and should be used in conjunction with other foods. It takes minutes to make, and also forms an ideal basis for a salad to take for a packed lunch - it has actually been one of my main foods since starting my healthy lifestyle.
As you can see, these 4 foods are a primary source of nutrition for me, and should be for anyone looking to loose weight whilst exercising. It may be worth noting that if you are trying to lose weight by purely cutting your food intake down, then these foods might not be such a good idea as they are high in carbohydrates and any energy the body doesn’t use tends to be stored as fat!
So do yourselves a favour. Ditch the white bread, white rice and white pasta. Chuck it. In the bin. Now. It’s pointless and not good for you. They have little to no nutritional benefit, and do nothing to fuel you for normal daily tasks let alone endurance exercise. Stock up with wholemeal pasta, brown rice and cous cous. If you must have bread, get the seeded batch or wholemeal bread.