Food/Nutrition

I often get asked what I eat.

I had a complete diet turnaround twice in my life. The first time was when I did the Body for Life program and the 2nd was when I read Kevin Trudeau's "Natural Cures they don't want you to know about"

I think it would be easiest if I just list most of the things that I eat, avoid, make my own;

Meat-lean chicken, turkey burger, turkey, fish-Tilapia, Salmon, shrimp, lean turkey sausage containing no MSG, eggs.

Almonds, organic steel oats, low fat Tillamook yogurt, extra white cheese from Tillamook, fresh fruits, vegetables steamed in water, sea salt, olive oil, pam, agave nectar, honey, Dave's Killer bread, Quaker Natural granola cereal, 100% juice, protein powder, Gatorade, Soy milk (I don't like cow)

I make myself-coffee creamer, bread, icecream, A-1 Sauce, bagels, pancake mix, re-fried beans, hamburger buns, soups, chips

Organic-Salsa, potatoes-if Costco has them only,beef and chicken broth, sugar, pop tarts as a treat, peanut butter

I avoid-canned foods, long ingredient lists that you can't read, pork, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, boxed foods, MSG, titanium dioxide*-see below

I have a thing for sweet tarts, tic tacs, skittles, cheese crackers, white tortillas (although they aren't that good for you) and turkey bacon. Thing for cheese (even if it gives me a stomachache)

I always replace recipes asking for butter with olive oil

I drink about 15 glasses of water a day on a non running day and drink 3 qts on runs of 24 miles, more for 31 miles.

It is best to eat 6 small meals a day, instead of 3 big ones, but I have not been following this.

On runs longer than 14, I start bring along a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and when I get back to the car, I have waiting for me a protein shake (soy milk with protein powder) As a runner, it is important to start consuming protein after a run.

*Titanium dioxide makes things white, it is in all kinds of products including acne medicine, sunscreen, which is why I try to avoid it.

Below is a text taken from Dean Karnazes book "50/50" I wanted to share.

"If I could recommend only one dietary change to improve your health, it would be to reduce your consumption of refined sugars. Although fat-and especially saturated fat-has typically received the most blame for causing America's weight problem, increasing evidence suggests that sugar might be the true culprit. Fore example, the rate of obesity is more than tree times greater in our country than in France. Yet the french actually eat more fat than we do (42 percent of calories versus 37 percent)-and more saturated fat as well.
The one glaring difference between the American and french diets is the amount of sugar in each. We get more than 17 percent of our daily calories from sugars added to foods, whereas the French get only 10 percent. So if you want to improve your diet and overall energy level, the very first thing you should do is cut out sugar. Lean rot scrutinize the labels of the packaged foods you eat. If it contains more than 10 grams of "sugars" per serving, don't eat it.