Diet

[Cal]

Hi Bella,

I am a huge fan of you!  You are such an inspiration!  I was wondering how you handle "good eating habits" on a day to day basis.  I seem to do well for three days then I fall off the wagon and have a complete blow out of junk food.  Then, my workouts suffer.  I am currently training for my first ironman and would like to make eating "cleaner" a part of my life.  Are there certain foods you avoid like maybe dairy, alcohol, peanut butter, etc......thanks a bunch for your advice!!!

Good luck with the rest of your season!!!!!  You are such a great role model for this sport!!!

Thanks.

[BellaBayliss]

Hi Cal

ThankYou for your message and lovely words!   

So, eating habits, well.  I have been doing this sport a while now!  So I have learnt a fair amount over the years.
I have always been pretty strict what I have put in my mouth.  However, at times, (a few years ago now) too strict and I became too skinny and yes, on some days I would feel I ate things I should'nt have/or too much of something.  I had those cravings because I was starving my body of food my body needed.  If you strave your body of what it needs it is likley one will splash out and eat foods that it does'nt need because one is desperate.

I have learnt now, that if you have a good balance, you dont have those absolute desperations for certain foods.
In moderation, your body needs carbohydrates, protein and fat.  But you dont need to fuel your body like it is a huge dinosour!  Keep your portion size right for you, ..somtimes you might need a bit more as you have just done a lot of training, sometimes it might be a bit less as you are doing less.

I have never beleived that I need foods like biscuits, suger sweets, fizzy drinks, pastries etc.  I just dont even look at them as food for me.  I ignore they are there. 
But if for some reason I feel I need something like that, then I have a bit, eat and enjoy and move on.

Often after an Ironman or some hard training you really do crave things like pizza, crisps etc.  Well this is the time to have something like that.  At times like that your body tells you what it needs so you should'nt ignore it.

But day to day, well, you should have self control!  But you must use your brain too!

[Cal]

Thanks, Bella, for your expertise!  I envy your self control and will strive to improve on mine!!  Everything you advised makes sense.  I just need to make it a daily practice.  I am not overweight but I am not underweight.  I am 5'6 and weigh 56 kg. I want to change my body composition to make me stronger and look more athletic (what woman doesn't, huh?).

Can you share some of your "recovery meals" with me - - like, maybe a protein smoothie shake, fruit, or carbs?

Do you strength train with weights, do yoga or pilates as part of your training or just focus on swimming, biking and running?

Also, I bought a pair of compression socks (like you!) and was wondering something...do you wear compression tights or just the socks during training and racing?


Thank you for responding so quickly to my previous email!

[BellaBayliss]

hi Cal, I am happy I can be of some help to you,

so, to answer your questions,

to make your body stronger and fitter takes time (years), determination and patience.   
To help you along your way to being stronger and faster requires lots of hard work in your training and a good balanced diet 365 days a year, year in year out.

For "recovery meals", well, for me, I am always recovering, whether it from yesterdays training, from this mornings swim or last weeks race, ...ALWAYS recovering, so again, it is not very complicated!  ...you need a good balanced diet every day of the year, every minute of the day.
Balanced diet means, carbohydrates, protein and fat.  I am not a "smoothie" person.  Some people are, but I prefer to eat some food and drink some water.  ..but everyone is different.

Do I do strength training?  well yes, I swim bike and run.  Somtimes I do sessions up hills, that is my strength work.
I dont do any pilates or yoga.  I concentrate on the sport of Ironman.

And your last question, I wear my compression shorts for everything!  I hardly take them off, ..well I dont swim with them on.
It is a good idea to always practise what you will do in the race, so I wear my socks for all running and biking whether it training or racing.  I love the support they give me.