Zoom zoom how the days are flying! Thanks for your lovely comments on my baking fail in my last post. It’s the equivalent of an ugly kid I think – you tell them it’s what’s on the inside that matters (i.e. the taste), not the appearance 
And the cake tasted amazing so that’s all that mattered.
I’m currently feeling a bit achy and tired from my interval session with the running club last night. Ack, it was painful. I literally hate those sessions. I much prefer a lovely nice run. Not this “run to that lamppost at top speed” nonsense. But it must be done. And you do feel great afterwards (after the nausea and pain has disappeared…).
This is a snapshot of the training (a graphical representation if you will…oooh er). I’m amazed that one of my last intervals was my fastest! The intervals increased in distance (as we went to the next lamppost along and back) but none really went on longer than a minute I guess. No way I could sustain this for a long time!
So it’s What I Ate Wednesday today (check out Jenn’s blog for more information).
I thought I’d show you my eats recently. Because I’m running around 30 miles a week (and two of those sessions focused on speed – Tuesday night’s session and Saturday’s Parkrun) and doing two spinning classes a week (and 30 minutes of pump at the weekend) I’m finding myself quite hungry quite frequently (surprise surprise eh). Sometimes ‘hangry’ (angry with hunger – or food rage as Ben describes it).
To combat this I’ve been trying to ramp up my between meal snacking to more filling options. Also I’m a voluminous eater (i.e. I like a big plate of food and regular snacks otherwise I feel cheated with life) so this works out nicely for me.
Breakfast: same old same old but with a slight change.
Oatmeal (a good half a cup) and a tablespoon of chia seeds with enough almond milk to give it a good thick consistency. Zapped in the microwave (I’m sorry, cold over-night oats don’t float my boat. It’s gotta be steamy and stodgy for my liking – call me goldilocks). I haven’t really caught on to the chia seed bandwagon that always seems so hot in the blogging world. However, I’ve recently been reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall and he mentions chia seeds (briefly really) in one of the things that seem to help the amazing tribe runners run. Well I am sold. Jeeze I am such a sucker for books and what they tell me. Honestly I believe anything if it’s written in a book by a supposed credible source.
Lunch: I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t snack between breakfast and lunch. I never need to I find. I’m an afternoon and evening snacker.
This might just look like vegetables and salad but I assure you within this vast Tupperware box there is also a whole load of tuna. Like I said, I’m a voluminous eater. I love eating a monster salad that takes me a year to get through.
After this I have a box of popcorn. I’ve been added salt to my popcorn as I don’t think I eat enough salt and with all that running and sweating it can’t be a bad thing to add!
I probably have a couple of cups worth of popcorn. I’ve actually started a wave of popcorn eaters in the office. Everyone’s gone popcorn mad now! I’m proud.
Then I have low-fat (but not 0%) Greek yogurt. I like it a bit creamy but not overly so.
In the morning before work I pop in a load of frozen fruit and by the time lunch comes round it’s all defrosted and the yogurt is still lovely and chilled with lovely added flavour from the fruit.
First snack: usually this is something from my Graze box:
My favourites being the dip ones… ahh I love those sweet jammy dips.
Or other bits and pieces, like dried fruit and nuts.
Then later I’ll have an apple and a banana and lots of peppermint tea. If I’m still feeling peckish I’ll probably dive back into the graze box again (I love them!)
When it comes to dinner the only problem I’m having is that when I’m at running club I find it hard to have a large meal straight away. But this the other night was perfect. I had prepared the tomato sauce and got everything ready to go in the oven before I left for running club and then it was just a case of leaving it to cook while I showered, which allowed my stomach to chill out a bit before chucking food into it straight away.
This was chicken, stuffed with goat’s cheese and wrapped in two pieces of lean bacon. I’m not a fan of stringy bacon but I like the lean stuff. Then I coated it with a herby tomato sauce and served it with broccoli. Perfect.
Post-dinner snacks: In the evening I always need snacks.
After my post-dinner apples (never changes) a bit later on I’ll snack on a cheese string and a yogurt. Lately I’ve been loving the Activia yogurts especially the thick and creamy ones. Lots of protein so nice and filling before bed!
And that’s me. After running club and my stomach has settled a bit it’s a case of trying to eat as much food as I can within a shortened period of time. I’m not necessarily hungry in the evening but I hate waking up famished and if I’ve got spinning the next day (like I do Fridays after running club Thursday evening) I want to know I’ve got fuel in the tank so I’m good to go.
What do you snack on between meals? I used to only go for fruit (love it) but it wasn’t very sustaining. So now it’s all about nuts and protein-based things like yogurt and cheese (the strings and Babybels).
How do you make sure you’re eating enough for the exercise you’re doing? I don’t want to lose any weight. I want to be strong and healthy and damn fast at running so this is really important for me.
What workouts do you do that you just hate but know you should do them?
This is really interesting to read – I love knowing what other people eat! Between meals I usually go for a piece of fruit with some sort of protein; peanut butter, peanuts, cheese…whatever takes my fancy! Although I don’t always eat anything after dinner (I can usually take or leave the sweet things), increasing my mileage on the bike this week means than in the evening I’m currently loving an apple with two thin slices of cheddar and either a home-made ice lolly or some protein choco-roons…yum!
I try and let my appetite lead what I eat – if I’m hungry and I’ve eaten what I usually eat then I’ll have a small snack (after checking it’s not thirst) – you get hungry for a reason and I don’t believe in denying yourself food when you’re actually hungry, even though my aim IS to lose weight 🙂
I can see why you have to do the speed work as a runner, but personally I don’t do any workouts that I hate – I just can’t do it!
Apple and cheese are a great combo. I never used to be a big fan of cheese but I’ve since had my eyes opened to some really nice varieties (mm goat’s cheese).
I agree about not denying yourself if your hungry. Otherwise when you do later eat you just go into overdrive needing to consume everything.
Yeah intervals suck but afterwards I always feel amazing. That sense of achievement, and also it adds a nice variety!
Urgh speed work! So tough! But worth it too, I suppose. Intervals is (are?) what I tend to leave out- I try to push the pace during Parkruns (when I do them) and with Sweatshop, which I suppose are more like threshold runs? I am never sure of all the terms.
I tend to have nakd bars for snacks as they can survive being left in my bag, and fruit or nuts or maybe ryvita with something if I am at home.
I like chia seeds too (I read Born to Run too) although the chia seed drinks do not look appetising at all! But I love them for breakfast- good omega 3’s I think.
Yeah I know what you mean about Parkruns being good speed sessions. I guess the only difference is that you maintain the pace for a longer period of time and I guess with intervals you can really push 100% because it’ll be over soon (thankfully).
I think that’s what put my off chia seeds – that tadpole look (exactly like he said in the book). But really they’re tasteless so I’m all for it.
How are you liking the chia seeds now that you’re on the bandwagon? 😀
Well they don’t taste of anything. I quite like the crunch factor they add but other than that I don’t really notice them. Can’t be a bad thing for a powerhouse of nutrition!
I liked hearing the thoughts behind all of your food choices. And good job on starting that popcorn trend. Popcorn is delicious. Amp up the salt! Haha. I have to put a lot of sea salt on my food since nothing I eat naturally has much salt in it. I can really tell a difference if I run out or don’t get enough. Can you?
I think I only notice really with popcorn as popcorn is such a bland food. Without salt now it’s a bit boring. In meals I make I haven’t really noticed if I don’t add salt – maybe because I throw in stupid amounts of herbs? But I’m definitely more aware now of adding it to dishes. So maybe in a few weeks I’ll notice when I forget!
The thick and creamy Activia are lovely aren’t they! There’s definitely a popcorn craze going on, it’s really interesting to see all the popcorn flavours showing up in the shops. Sweet and salty is still my fave!
I know, I really need to try doing different popcorn flavours. I’ve heard that parmesan popcorn is amazing. I’m worried if I do it I’ll never go back to plain haha.
I always forget about how delicious popcorn is. I’ll see it in the store but always pass it up… i think tomorrow may just be different. Thank you very much for that 🙂
Our house always smells of freshly popped popcorn in the morning, it’s lovely. So simple as well – and a wholegrain as well with lots of fibre 😀
That oatmeal looks so good! I currently am finding it difficult to ensure I’m eating enough to gain some much needed muscle- I’m sick of being the stick figure boy among my mates! I’m interesting to hear how that book was, its gotten big recommendations here!
It is tough trying to eat more than usual. People think it’s easy and amazing but I find it quite hard to eat lots and lots because you just get a bit bloated and full!
The book is really good, I definitely reccommend it. It has a good balance of science and running-specific info and a good storyline with great individuals in it.
I’ve just started running 30 miles a week and my appetite is kind of crazy too, I find it’s even worse when I strength train regularly as well. I try to just listen to my body, and eat as and when I need it, but sometimes I will make myself have something ie in the evening as I know I’ll wake up hungry otherwise. Some days I eat more than others, sometimes less, but I guess it balances out over the week. Chia seeds are amazing, I love them in porridge/overnight oats they make it so thick and doughy. I like chia pudding as a snack, fruit, nuts, hummus with veggie dippers, protein shake/pudding.
Yep I’m with you on the evening eating. Sometimes I’m still full from dinner but I will make myself have a snack just to make sure that when I wake up I’m ready to go.
I couldn’t imagine eatng chia seeds as just a snack on their own, but I guess I shouldn’t knock it till I try it!
Your dinner looks fabulous!!! What a great idea to have it all ready to go. Love the yogurt idea too…I’ll have to try that with some frozen berries.
Frozen berries are amazing. And so much cheaper I find! And you don’t have to eat them quickly before they go off.