Eating for Exercise: Nutrition Notes for Triathletes

By Kat Gunsur • For Active.com

It’s time to shift from the offseason frame of mind to the it's-almost-triathlon-season mindset. And what does that mean for nutrition, fueling and general health?
Eating for exercise is an essential skill for triathletes to master since your eating habits can make or break your performance. If you want to get faster this season, you have to evaluate more than just your training schedule. Follow these tips to stay on top of your nutrition and make this your most successful year yet.

Nutrition Basics of Losing Weight

1. Eat frequently and spread your meals throughout the day.
2. If you want to lose weight, remember that a 500 calorie deficit per day equals 1 pound of fat loss per week.
3. Consume a diet high in protein and carbohydrates, and low in fat.
4. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store.
5. If it comes in a box, bag or can, nix it.
6. Fill up on healthy fruits, vegetables and lean protein.

Pre-Exercise Nutrition

Calories: To help lessen the stress of intense training, start your workouts with optimal carbohydrate stores and be sure to maintain blood glucose levels during your session. One to one and a half hours prior to training, consume 200 to 250 calories for men or 120 to 225 for women.
Energy: These pre-exercise calories should come mainly from carbohydrates and proteins. This combination helps improve and lengthen endurance performance and limits muscle damage for repeated training sessions.
Sustained Energy: Foods with a lower glycemic index, such as whole grains, brown rice and yogurt, cause a slower and more sustained release of blood glucose. Foods with a high glycemic index such as waffles, pancakes and white bread cause a more rapid rise in blood glucose. This is important because some research suggests that low GI carbohydrate foods are useful before exercise to provide a more sustained carbohydrate release.
Hydration: Drink 16 ounces of water 30 to 60 minutes prior to workouts.
Important lesson: Abstaining from food prior to exercise will not help you in the weight-loss process, if that is your goal. An apple or banana before a workout is ideal and only costs 100 to 200 calories.

Fueling During Exercise

Depending on your age, weight, height and workout intensity, you can burn anywhere from 350 to 700+ calories per hour of exercise. Whereas food does not make you go faster, it allows you to maintain your optimal speed throughout the course of the workout. So, you should consume 150 to 350 carbohydrate-rich calories per hour of exercise for training sessions lasting over 60 minutes. Doing so can greatly enhance endurance performance.
Note: Forty five minutes into a workout or race, especially a long run or ride, is the longest you should wait before refueling.

Post-Exercise Nutrition Basics

• To aid in rebuilding and repairing muscle tissue.
• To maximize your glycogen storage potential.
• If the body is not refueled, it decides to turn down metabolism.

Post-Exercise Nutrition Tips

• Eat within 15 to 45 minutes post exercise.
• Men should consume between 200 and 350 calories while women should consume 120 to 240.

Hydration Basics

Perspiration is the body’s cooling mechanism. Sweating keeps the body’s core temperature from rising. Sweat contains water and electrolyte minerals. The more water and electrolytes the body loses, the less efficient this cooling mechanism becomes.
Part of eating for exercise is hydrating properly, so here are a few hydration reminders.

Hydration Tips

• Stay hydrated throughout the day, even on rest days.
• Consume a fluid replacement drink of 4 to 12 ounces in extreme heat and humidity, 6 to 10 minutes before exercise.
• Weight should be the same post long run. As little as 1 percent body weight loss can negatively impact performance.
• It is possible to overhydrate so measure your sweat loss and drink accordingly.