It all comes down to what I put in my face or more importantly what I don’t.

I struggle with food, I love eating and have a big sweet tooth so finding a good balance between eating what I want and what I should is very hard.

I am not a dietitian and there is so much conflicting information that it’s hard to know what to do. Every person has a different metabolism rate and what works for one doesn’t work for another. Controlling eating habits is a big challenge for me, it was easier to give up smoking than sugar.. maybe.. I believe nutrition to be a personal quest for glory, may the force be with you in your quest, but quest is best.

When I started running I wanted to loose weight and I did, it went from 85kg to 70kg which was great. I felt a lot happier in my own skin, people said I looked a bit skinny but maybe they were used to me being a bit heavy. However, the weight loss stopped at 70kg, even though I went from running 80k’s pw to 100k’s pw my body became accustomed to the workload. If I look back I have to be honest with myself and realise that I started thinking that if I am running so much I can eat those extra snacks because i’ll burn it off.

I love eating and I find it very hard to be consistent with my diet. What I find works best is to keep it simple, at some stage each week I am going to get hungry and the only way to success is to ignore that little voice telling me to snack. If the urge is too great or my body just needs to eat then I try to be prepared with a meal so I don’t raid the pantry and eat crap. I tried this once with a mix of sultanas and almonds, this resulted in me eating a bag of each within a week, you cn imagine how that turned out.

The reality is, life is too short and I eat really healthy 80% of the time so I can live with the 20% because it makes me happy. Chocolate is the best, I love it and no force on earth will stop me when I want it. Damn you Fererro Rocher

When a big run or race is coming up though I like to loose a couple of kg and have found through trial and error that 70kg is a good ‘race weight’ for me. Ultimately to lose the weight I have to train my mind and stomach, ask myself what is more important, the chocolate or the goal. I did try to loose too much weight once when I wanted to try running at a lighter weight. The trail failed and resulted in my dragging myself through a course all day with no energy, I learnt a good lesson here and wont push my body like that again. It took a few weeks to recover and can’t have been good for me, live and learn though. Better to have tried and failed than never tried… as long as you learn from the failure that is.

Here’s a look at some meals that I try and stick to.

Breakfast - Smoothie

I love smoothies in the morning and if I’m not drinking one of these it’s toast with PB & Honey spread thick.

  • 1/2 a banana,

  • 1/2 an avocado

  • big handful of spinach leaves,

  • a small cup of mixed frozen berries

  • a scoop of protein powder (flavour of your choice) - I use Bulk Nutrients peppermint slice

  • a tbsp chia seeds

  • a tsp of cinnamon

  • 3/4 pint of almond milk

  • drizzle of honey

BAM blend that bad boy and smash it down, so good and it keeps me going till lunch. It’s filled with good fats, carbs, natural anti inflammatory and nitrates.

Lunch - Roast Vegetables

This is a staple and I stick to it because it’s good for me and I enjoy it. I roast a heap of veggies every Sunday arvo because I am time poor and it doesn’t take much time to cut them up, bake in the oven for half an hour and throw them in 5 microwave tubs. It’s really easy to do, I don’t have to think about it and all the energy needs are there. For a bit more energy you can add a small amount of tuna and brown rice or a chicken breast.

Dinner - A bit more challenging but I have a secret weapon

I’m very lucky in the fact my wife is a chef and very supportive of what I do. No doubt it drives her crazy but she does her best to help me and our family by cooking healthy food that tastes great. I’m a lucky man in this regard and appreciate all that she puts up with and the support she shows, thanks love.

Before Bed - Protein

Study’s show that protein synthesis is optimal during sleep. I have a serve of protein before bed, this can be in a snack I bake, boiled egg or a quick shake.

Snacks - Be prepared

Habit, it’s a thing. Once I start snacking at a certain time and searching for certain foods like lollies, sweet treats it snowballs and gets out of control. I have trialed a 4 meal day in an attempt to stop the night time eating. This means eating a tub of roast veggies ready for the evening so at least I am eating good healthy foods instead of the snacks I will feel guilty about later. It comes and goes and sometimes it works.

Denying myself doesn’t work, it just means I end up with a massive cravings. I think it works best to build in cheat days and let yourself relax. Life is too short not to enjoy good food, if it’s 1 day a week or a fortnight I like to give myself a taste of the foods I’ve been craving or the temptation eventually gets too much and that leads to overdoing it.

Don’t even get me started about Easter! Wow, it takes weeks to break the sugar habit I gain after eating every egg, bun and rabbit in the house.