Do you Train for Longer so you can ‘Treat’ Yourself?

Is it just me or is training harder and for longer just so you can have more ‘treats’ not a good idea?

How many times have you trained really well before going home, drinking lots of alcohol and ate lots of high calorie/low nutrient foods because you’d “earned” it?

Now I’m not talking about after accomplishing your main goals here – I’m actually a big fan of going out and enjoying myself after achieving something that I set out to do and worked hard for.

I am talking about on a day to day basis in your training. Are you one of the many people that have the mentality that every time you train or if you train well – that you reward yourself with something that has a negative effect on your body?

Chocolate, crisps, ice cream, lucozade and alcohol are often the common choices. These foods include wheat, gluten, sugar and sweeteners – which are toxic and can be harmful to the body. Your body actually has to use up it’s own nutrients and energy to remove these toxic substances – meaning your body can’t relax and recover after training. Everyone knows the real benefits of training are developed during your periods of rest between training!

Are you making the most of these benefits by ‘’treating’’ yourself with toxic food?

If these toxins are entering the body on a consistent basis and the body becomes unable to process them, the toxins get stored in the fat cells. You may have noticed this with a number of runners (they’re pretty good at storing fat around the stomach area). If you keep training well but keep putting toxins into your body – there will come a time when you’ll not be able to maintain your current form. Overloading on toxins can be very dangerous and cause a number of degenerative illnesses so it’s important to reduce these as much as possible. 

Here’s my advice for you…

1. Try not to think of these types of foods as a treat. You’re likely to be associating training well and eating badly together. They are very contradictory and don’t work together to help you become a better runner.
2. Try to limit toxins as much as possible
3. Think about what your great grandparents would have ate on a daily basis – would they have ate your current diet?
4. Eat a variety of foods with lots of different colours. Green vegetables are my personal favourite.
5. Make small adjustments to your diet that you can maintain. Lots of small changes = 1 big change

For those of you that are interested in making a change – I’ll be sending out my CLEAN EATING FOR RUNNERS 7 DAY EXAMPLE PLAN some time next week. Keep your eyes PEELED!

Thanks for reading,

Luke