Processed Foods & Diet

[Dave Holt]

I have a very addictive personality and have worked to control it in many aspects of my life - but eating is still one that I struggle with.  (Some might say running is as well - but I don't think so.) So when that cookie is sitting on the counter, it is SO HARD not to go and grab it.  I eat pretty healthy and do a pretty good job, and sometimes I can say no, but not usually.  Some improvements I have made in the past year: whole wheat whenever possible, bread, rice, noodles, tortillas, etc... ; oatmeal for breakfast - often - instead of sugary cereals; rarely a soda, and never caffeinated (the stroke kicked those DP's and Cherry Cokes out pretty quick); and finally more healthy snacks, sandwiches, fruits, blah, blah, blah.

[Sasha Pachev]

Two points. First, my definition of addition is a negative compulsive behavior. Feeling an urge to run when your legs start feeling undertrained is no more an addiction that feeling an urge to eat a healthy meal when your body starts feeling undernourished. Run is what a healthy body should want to do. That is what healthy little kids do until we kill this by making them sit for prolonged periods of time and feed them foods that slowly erode the drive to move. A squirrel will die in captivity from lack of exercise unless you get it a spinning wheel to run in, or some other way to move. This is not an addiction, this is a healthy life requirement.

Second, do not shoot for better than average. Boston Qualifier is much better than average. Even just finishing a marathon is much better than average. Most of us on the blog are already doing much better than average in a lot of ways, but that is not what we are here for. We want to run our very best. I believe if we plan to  run our very best, we must also plan to eat our very best, not just better than average or be satisfied with a mere "better than I used to".

[Kory Wheatley]

I think it's impossible to eat totally healthy, because occasionally your going to eat at someone's house that doesn't serve the right nutrition.  Also going out to eat sometimes you don't always eat the best.  What I've been trying to live by is cutting out the fried foods, sweets (which I don't care for anyway), I still drink diet soda which is still a problem.  I try to stick with Smart Start cereal, or Oatmeal for breakfast.  Lunch, Bagel with honey, and a yogurt.  Dinner is where it's hard for me to eat different when you have family, but we try are best to eat good.  I try to eat as much whole grain, fruit as I can.  Sometimes I'll have pancakes for dinner with sugar free syrup.  I also take Apex Performance Multi-vitamins to get the extra I miss.

I think it would be great if those that have healthy recipes for dinner would post them in this discussion.

[Paul Petersen]

Kory - I posted on my personal blog last year several links to my favorite healthy recipes:

http://marathongis.com/blog/?p=15

Logan, if you're reading this, the recipe for the Indian Dal that you had at our house in there.

[Sasha Pachev]

When eating at somebody's house, church party, etc, in the rare event that there are absolutely no healthy choices, I just do not eat. I do not care if somebody gets offended by that. The food is theirs, but the body is mine, and it is not replaceable in this life.

[Paul Petersen]

When eating at somebody's house, church party, etc, in the rare event that there are absolutely no healthy choices, I just do not eat. I do not care if somebody gets offended by that. The food is theirs, but the body is mine, and it is not replaceable in this life.

I saw that response coming from about 100 miles away... :-)

[Superfly]

Too funny! LOL all night.

[Bethany]

I am far from a nutritionist and actually not really sure what made me reply to this thread, most of the important stuff has already been mentioned. (lots of great info!) For the most part balance is where it is at. A good mix of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains with protein and dairy (especially women!) The nutrition courses I got in nursing school all focused on eating foods as close to their natural state as possible- carrots with their peels on (not the nubby baby carrots) whole grain breads with real grit in them- some of the professed "wheat" aren't much better than white. Whole grains and fiber are actually going to fill you up and keep you full longer than any other food (well, beside fats). Buy whole grain crackers. Nuts are excellent for proteins and oils, mix em with some rice or beans and you can get complete proteins. As for quick healthy foods, just make some stuff ahead of time that you can grab and go. Cut up fresh veggies and have them stored in your fridge ready to eat, keep some whole almonds on hand etc. Boil eggs for some good protein that you can grab. Have your cheese already sliced and put a little on some apples or crackers.  I have also heard that when you shop at the grocery store, try to stick to shopping around the "outside" of the store or away from the aisles where most of the processed foods are shelved. Basically, be creative and try for variety, enjoy all the different foods out there.
If you are really looking for quick and healthy food ideas, Im sure the library or Borders carries books with some excellent ideas- or hey, right here on the blog as paul mentioned.

[Fredrick Teichert]

I'm a little late to be adding to this topic but, hey, I'm new here. One of the most convenient things I do is cook up a week's worth of brown rice on Saturday night. I put it in the refrigerator and then pull out just what I need to make Spanish Rice (add a little browned, lean hamburger or turkey and some stewed tomatoes or salsa), fried rice (add eggs, ham, peas, carrots and onions), rice pudding (add an egg, milk, raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon and a little lemon zest-- cook in the microwave), chicken and rice and anything else I can think of. I use it in soups, all kinds of meat dishes or just as a side with fish and other entrees. It takes 45 mins to cook it on Saturday, but in only a few minutes I can make a healthy meal during the week. I ustadidn't like brown rice. Now it's one of my staples and I really don't like the white stuff anymore. A few other simple meals I like that seem to be good for me: scrambled eggs with broccoli, cheese, ham, eggs and onion; most "homemade" soups, baked potatoes with the "right" toppings and masterpiece chef salads (if you have to eat rabbit food you deserve to put "good stuff" on it-- just make sure it's really good stuff). If you don't want to crash, run every three hours and eat just about that often.