Here are my top 10 nutrition tips for how to get the most out of how you eat and drink. 

10 for Eating for health and weight loss, and
10 for Eating for runners.  🙂

We do it (eat) every day (usually), and it’s one of the only things that we stop everything else to do it regularly.  But what are some good tips on how to get the most out of what you eat and drink?

1. Eat small regular meals: 8am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 6pm, 8pm.

2. Eat meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, dairy, nuts, berries, fruit, seeds.

3. Drink plenty of water and green tea (avoid fizzy drinks, limit caffeine and alcohol).

4. Eat fresh, colourful food and consider your portion sizes.

5. Snack sensibly: tomatoes, vegetables, berries, fruit, [low fat greek yoghurt, oats and grapes].

6. Avoid low fat foods and fill up on protein (eggs, chicken, turkey) and good fats (nuts, extra virgin olive oil, avocado).

7. Eat high GI / complex carbs which deliver energy slowly (oats, sweet potato, nuts, and vegetables).

8. Avoid or limit sugars, sweets, high GI carbs (honey, potatoes, sweets, bread) and processed foods.

9. Replace a bad food choice with a good food choice once a week to improve diet.

10. Think Nutrition, not Diet.  Diets don’t work, but you want to eat so that you get as much nutrition from what you eat as possible.

For more info see here:
16 Healthy Eating and Weight Loss Tips

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My other top 10 Nutrition tips specifically for Runners include:

1. If you are running for less than an hour, you probably won’t need to rehydrate or refuel on your run.  You can be properly fueled and hydrated by eating before and after runs of this duration.

2. If you are running for more than an hour, you should consider hydration and energy (water and gels or sports drinks).  Drink to thirst.  You can either use a water pack, or leave a bottle (and gel if you want) half way along your route.

3. Time your meals.  Eat enough to give you energy to do your runs, and eat recover meals made of protein and carbs after long runs (over an hour). Try chocolate milk to help aid recovery.

4. Don’t eat everything in sight just because you run lots!  That’s a sure way to put on weight.  Consider everything that goes in your mouth and don’t overeat.  Remember the 10 points above and eat well.

5. Practice with certain foods and the time you leave it before you go for a run.  Some people can’t take bananas or porridge before a run, whereas I’m able to eat porridge and have a milkshake before a run ok.  You might want to leave more time between when you eat and when you run to save any tummy trouble on the run!  And most runners get a bout of the ‘runners trots’  so don’t worry if you do, just have a think about what you ate / drank before it happened and what you were doing to make it happen… were you running very fast? Putting your body into shock? Overtraining?  If so – try a different approach next time.

6.  Don’t always rely on sports drinks.  Water is usually fine to rehydrate you. Be aware of the calories in sports drinks and consider whether they go with any weight loss goals you might have.  If you want to use sports drinks but don’t want the calories – go for the ‘lite’ option, or water.

7. Eating and drinking for runners is about refuelling so consider your options carefully.  Fuel for nurtition and strength (not for glutony!)

8. Before your run: Skip the snack if you’re running for less than an hour. If you really need a boost, have 100 calories of mostly carbs, like a couple of handfuls of whole-grain cereal or nuts.  Otherwise, drink 8 to 12 ounces of water or a low-cal sports drink and go.  If running longer, eat a combo of protein and carbs, like toast with peanut butter and banana (200 to 300 calories), about an hour beforehand.

9. When You’re Done: Eat within 30 minutes post-workout, when your muscles replace their power supply fastest. Grab an 8- to 12-ounce glass of chocolate milk or a combo of mostly carbs (75 to 80 percent) with some protein (20 to 25 percent).

10. All Day Long: You don’t need to bulk up on bagels now that you’re training. Aim to get about 60 percent of your diet from carbs, 20 percent from lean proteins, and 20 percent from fat.

For more information check out:
Running Long
Top 10 Long Run Tips
Top 10 Beginner Running Tips
Runnersworld Tips on Nutrition.

Read: New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition by Matt Fitzgerald

🙂