Thursday, February 21, 2008

Hot Dang I Love Fruit!!

Over the last year or so, since my running has begun to picked up, I have been experimenting with Doug Graham's 80/10/10 lifestyle. Doug is a 25+ year raw foodist and exercise guru. He has worked with many professional athletes through the years, and with dietary changes, has added youth and years to their career.

The 811 lifestyle consists of consuming 80% carbohydrates, 10% proteins, and 10% fats of your daily caloric intake. What he explains, and what I have personally noticed is that when I consume too many fats, my body feel numb,lethargic, and my energy level goes completely down. During training runs,my legs feel heavy and overly tired. On days where I eat "properly" I feel light, energized, and although I may be slightly tired from the previous days run I have enough in me to keep going.

811 is certainly not all about the fruit. Getting enough greens into the body is just, if not more important. Greens like baby kale, romaine, and tender shoots offer many vitamins, protein,and minerals that the body needs to sustain its self. David Rain of Juicefeasting.com recommends 2-3 pounds of greens per day in the form of juice, smoothies, soups, and salads.

It is not uncommon for a 811 athlete to consume 30+ bananas in one day. I personally have gone up to 18 while running a 50 k race. Doug Graham recommends mono fruit meals to start your day. Eat as much of the same fruit as you so desire. Proper food combining is a whole other topic which will be left for another day but I will say that poor digestion is usually caused by not eating properly.

I guess what I am trying to get at is fruit works for me, and too much fat slows me down. Fat before fruit doesn't work, but fat at night after fruit is okay.

Checkout www.foodnsport.com!!!

Back seat banana stash....Just in case