What I Learned From Tara Gidus The runDisney Nutritionist
On my Boston Marathon World Run I listened to my favorite Mickey Miles Podcast in the beginning of my run. Tara Gidus was on again giving nutrition advice and answering questions. She was so resourceful the last time she was on prior to Dopey weekend and I learned so much from her. This time I learned even more!
I want to purchase her book “Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies” and maybe one day hire her as a nutritional counselor for me.
What I took out of the latest podcast from her:
- Eat within an hour of waking up
- Drink your water
- Take a supplement like Vitamin D at least 1000 of it.
- Calcium is another good supplement to take
- Prior to a race have your breakfast such as toast with peanut butter, a bagel, banana, oatmeal. Then while waiting for the race to start, munch on something simple like Frosted Flakes.
- Eat small meals throughout the day. They should last you about 3 hours until you feel hungry again. If you don’t feel hungry it means you ate too much.
- Frozen diet-type meals (Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers) are a great option for a snack because they are low in calories and have just about everything you need for a small meal.
- Have a smoothie with protein each day as a small meal and you will easily take in 20+ grams of protein your muscles need to recover.
A big thing she mentioned that sunk in with me is when you are training for a long run or a marathon, it’s OK if you gain a few pounds prior to that event. That means your body is storing the glycogen you need to fuel you for that race, as long as you are eating more good carbs. So the water and glycogen is being held in your cells. After the race, those pounds should come off when you return to your non carb-loading diet.
Tara is the runDisney Nutritionist and you can read more about her tips for fueling for your runs on the runDisney site. For more tips and details from Tara’s helpful Podcast, download the Mickey Miles Podcast episodes 161 and 162.
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