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Daily Nutrition advice/Intro
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Hi everyone!

I'm new here and looking for some advice regarding nutrition.

Backstory: I am a college sophomore, currently racing and coaching the bike for my university's tri team. As a junior in high school, I did Wildflower Oly as my first, then senior year I did a long course (slightly skewed from a regular HIM), raced mountain bikes for my school's team (highly competitive) and settled back into triathlon in college. When racing mountain bikes two years ago (8-11 hrs of ride time/wk), toward the end of the season I ended up overtrained and underweight (5'4", 112lbs), and did not preform well at end-of-season races as I 'should have'. Last year, I got faster(!!!) and maintained my weight-only raced once.

This year, I am falling into a bit of a hole. I am having a harder time keeping up with the guys I ride with, and generally feel a bit off. I was talking with the guys, and their times on our home TT bike course are faster than last year, but if we are training the same amount, shouldn't I be getting faster too? I do not have a period, but this is a possible side effect from when I stopped taking bc (Depo) earlier this year. I take an iron supplement, but am not very good at remembering to take it. I occasionally count calories, but each day I struggle to get over 2000ish, when from what I have read online, I should be eating 2500+whatever I lose from training each day. I am not losing weight. The lack of calories is not from not wanting to eat (I do!) but the lack of time when making lunches for my long days at school and feeling like the healthy food I cook for dinner are just never enough to keep me full for long. The reason I wake up most days is because I am hungry that morning. I do get my share of unhealthy calories (sweets) in, but do not drink alcohol at all.

For example, this week so far:
Mon: Breakfast: Hardboiled egg and 2 slices of pumpkin bread
Lunch: PB&J, fruit, carrot
Pre-swim snack: Clif bar
Dinner: Meat tortellini, broccoli, rice crispy treat
Tuesday: Breakfast: 2 toaster waffles from Trader Joes, hardboiled egg, milk
Post-ride snack: another hard-boiled egg
Lunch: Pasta with turkey meat sauce and chocolate milk
Dinner: Brown rice, beans, avocado, tomato
Nighttime snacks: Homemade oat/pb based energy bar, pear, piece of pumpkin bread and a carrot
Wednesday: Breakfast: 2 toaster waffles from Trader Joes, hardboiled egg
Breakfast #2: 1cup of baked oatmeal
Lunch: Hearty turkey sandwich and a piece of fruit
I had lunch two hours ago and I am already famished!

I am 5'4", 125ish (haven't checked in a while). Train ~11 hrs a week. Usually 3-4x bike (140 mi @ 19ish mph pace), 3x swim (7-8k @ 1:35/100 free base pace), and 2x run (10 mi@8:30/pace), and bike commuting 15 min each way to school some days. Training for collegiate olympic season in he spring, and starting to ramp up the bike again for a 3-day/375 mile ride in Jan.

Any ideas for quick, healthy snacks that are portable?
Should I/what type of doctor should I see? My choices are limited here at school
Any advice or insight would be appreciated! I really want to get my body on the same page as the rest of me this year!

Thanks everyone!!
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [tambikegirl] [ In reply to ]
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Most universities have a dietician that will meet with students. You could also find out if your school has an exercise science department, and see if anyone there specializes in sports nutrition.

If you ate lunch 2 hrs ago and are famished, have a snack :-)

It shouldn't be hard to get more than 2000 calories. Try to eat more nuts, avocado, good fats - full fat yoghurt...
I eat hard boiled eggs 3 at a time (I'm serious). Your food intake seems a little low in protein and high in sweets/refined carbs.
My favourite high-calorie foods right now are a bagel either with a thick layer of peanut butter or cream cheese.
You can always do liquid calories, too - chocolate milk is a good, healthy thing. Also looks like a low calcium intake.

Quote:
Any ideas for quick, healthy snacks that are portable?
avocado
nuts
more hard boiled eggs
full fat yoghurt

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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tigerchik wrote:
Most universities have a dietician that will meet with students. You could also find out if your school has an exercise science department, and see if anyone there specializes in sports nutrition.

If you ate lunch 2 hrs ago and are famished, have a snack :-)

It shouldn't be hard to get more than 2000 calories. Try to eat more nuts, avocado, good fats - full fat yoghurt...
I eat hard boiled eggs 3 at a time (I'm serious). Your food intake seems a little low in protein and high in sweets/refined carbs.
My favourite high-calorie foods right now are a bagel either with a thick layer of peanut butter or cream cheese.
You can always do liquid calories, too - chocolate milk is a good, healthy thing. Also looks like a low calcium intake.

Quote:
Any ideas for quick, healthy snacks that are portable?

avocado
nuts
more hard boiled eggs
full fat yoghurt

X2
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [tambikegirl] [ In reply to ]
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I'm just going to throw out a few suggestions for food stuffs and you can use what you like.

If I were you, I'd beef up breakfast.
One of the greatest, beefiest tastiest breakfasts I do when I need a big breakfast is this:
savory oatmeal with two eggs on top.
Cook up the oatmeal, add some parmesan cheese, bacon (I'm lazy and get the pre cooked stuff), pepper, and I put two eggs on top, cooked so the yolks are still runny. chives too, if you have them.

nuts for a snack!!! So good.

overnight fridge oats (google this, tons of recipes online - one I use has plain greek yogurt in it)

Apparently avocado with honey drizzled on it is an amazing snack (small squeeze bottle of honey or possibly honey packets from the school cafeteria or a restaurant - portable)

You might have to just beef up your quantity at meals, definitely try to add more protein.

It would not hurt to get your iron levels checked. I felt worn down last fall / feeling cold, etc, got my levels checked, and yep, I was down. My period seems more irregular when I am having iron issues also (but it's always been somewhat irregular, my whole entire life, even before sports)

Since you mentioned iron levels... don't neglect the dark greens and throw some red meat in there once in a while too.
OR - oysters and clams are actually VERY high in iron. You can get a tin of smoked oysters at Trader Joe's. One tin has 30% of your daily iron needs. Put on crackers with hot sauce. Or not. The tin is portable, crackers are portable.

I sometimes prep omelettes the night before. Keep in fridge, reheat in microwave.
Or bake an egg casserole for the week - reheat in microwave. These are great. It's mainly eggs, some milk, then whatever you like - veggies, cheese, meats. Sky is the limit.
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [tambikegirl] [ In reply to ]
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Do you live off or on campus? It sounds like you live off, but even if that's the case, would purchasing a 5- or 10-meal plan be an option to ensure you're getting at least one large meal per day that you don't have to spend the time to actually cook? It might be worth the money spent on peace of mind and time saved. I played DIII tennis and put the male members of the team to shame with my huge breakfasts. The dining hall will always have some kind of egg and meat, plus you can do toast with peanut butter, a banana, orange juice, yogurt, etc., and sometimes I had a bowl of Golden Grahams on the side. (Cheerios with a sliced banana if I was feeing homesick.) Lunch and dinner were also easy enough to load up on calories with extra sides and ice cream for dessert. Oh, those were the days. =)

As far as snacks go, you said you shop at Trader Joe's, so check out their nut selection. I always have emergency almonds or macadamia nuts on me. Chop some celery or an apple ahead of time and put it in a Tupperware with a layer of peanut butter at the bottom -- dip and go. String cheese can go awhile unrefrigerated. Throw a bag of jerky in your bookbag. Get some single-serving chocolate almond milks.

http://mediocremultisport.blogspot.com
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [Midtown Miles] [ In reply to ]
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I second the single serving chocolate milks! Even the dairy ones don't need to be in the fridge until after opening. I have a stash of them in my desk at work.

Oh, college dorm cafeteria. I gained SO much weight. I don't have the ability to limit myself when 'unlimited food' or 'buffet' food is around.

But if they had a 'breakfast only' option that was cost effective... that might be good. Load up for the day, in a sense.

It sounded like you might be a tad into cooking from your post. There's a cookbook called "power hungry" that has good bar and granola bar and protein bar recipes in it.
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [tambikegirl] [ In reply to ]
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Just eat more fruits and nuts
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [determination] [ In reply to ]
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OMG that savoury oatmeal sounds SO GOOD. Gonna try it next time (work breakfast is typically oatmeal)

I too find that if I skimp on breakie, I make bad food choices later in the day and/or feel like crap for evening skates, and even worse for the 6am skates.

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [tambikegirl] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you all for your suggestions!

Implemented several of them this week and already felt better on the bike this morning!
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [AndyPants] [ In reply to ]
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These recipes for savory oats all look pretty darn tasty. wow.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/22/savory-oatmeal-svoats-try-em-stick-to-your-bones_n_5850048.html

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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [determination] [ In reply to ]
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I had oatmeal at a French bakery two weeks ago when I was traveling - they toast the oats in a pan with EVOO, then cook them. It was DELICIOUS, though it sounds slightly strange.

I love oatmeal, in part because it's a good excuse to eat spoonfuls of brown sugar :-)

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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tigerchik wrote:
I love oatmeal, in part because it's a good excuse to eat spoonfuls of brown sugar :-)
Mmmm you are making me hungry and nostalgic. My dad usually had Thursdays off when I was a kid and he'd be up early and making oatmeal for the two of us, since mom and sis aren't morning people. We had it with lots of milk and a sprinkle of brown sugar. I still eat it that way sometimes. =)

http://mediocremultisport.blogspot.com
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [Midtown Miles] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
I love oatmeal, in part because it's a good excuse to eat spoonfuls of brown sugar :-)
Mmmm you are making me hungry and nostalgic. My dad usually had Thursdays off when I was a kid and he'd be up early and making oatmeal for the two of us, since mom and sis aren't morning people. We had it with lots of milk and a sprinkle of brown sugar. I still eat it that way sometimes. =)

My dad makes really good french toast, and that was a treat when he was around for breakfast when I was little. He makes good omelets, too.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Daily Nutrition advice/Intro [AndyPants] [ In reply to ]
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My favorite oatmeal is with brown sugar, peanut butter and blueberries. That PB really adds some oomph that holds me for several hours.

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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