Ready, Set, Pale-GO

It is Monday, April 30th.  Today marks Day #1 of my second Paleo experiment.

And it started with a cook off!  Ok, not so much.  But five hours in the kitchen prepping, cooking, packaging, and eating must count for something.  I'm really hoping mass prep helps alleviate some stress this time around.  

I'll be posting weekly Paleo updates with how it's going, what I'm eating, and other random food thoughts.  So please feel free to ask me any questions you might have.  This whole endeavor is an experiment, and the more questions I can answer with it, the more productive it will be.

One question I'm sure someone will be wondering...

Q: What's for breakfast?!

A: Well, I can't eat cereal, oatmeal, no peanut butter to go with my banana, orange juice...  It's funny.  The last Paleo stint left me without any desire to go back to "normal" breakfast food.  So this morning I went back to my old Paleo favorite - fish and veggies!  Odd, I know, but it does the trick.  I throw in a mandarin or clementine to sub for my orange juice and a banana too.  Then I'll snack on nuts 'till lunch (after I make a trip to the store later today to buy them).  I'm sure you're thinking "What about eggs?!"  I plan on having them Tuesdays and Fridays, but I got sick of eggs last time around. 


Here is a question from Sam @ Chasing the Black Line to Ironman that I felt worth sharing (plus, I don't have her email to respond directly).

I was wondering what your 'carb load' meal will be the night before race day? And do you allow GUs etc into your plan as I guess it falls outside of the Paleo guidelines. 

You're right.  GU doesn't exactly fit the Paleo mold.  However, I will allow GUs and/or other race day nutrition, but only during training.  Nutrition is the part of triathlon I feel the furthest away from grasping, so I certainly will be doing some testing in the next five weeks.

Will I carbo-load?  That will depend on how I feel on Paleo.  If in three weeks I feel I have enough energy on my long training days/weeks, then I'll forgo carbo-loading.  However, the alternative is that I will add in carb-heavy paleo foods the week before the race.

In addition, one thing I want to say is that I fall into the category of people who feel carbo-loading the day before (within 24 hours of your race) is only detrimental to your race.  From what I've read, it takes up to 48 hours for your body to store carbs as glycogen in your body.  Therefore, what you eat the 2-3 days (or for safety sake, the week) before your race is much more important.  In my opinion, meals within 24 hours of your race should be light, easily digestible, and energy/nutrient focused (fruits, veggies, lean meats, light on carbs). Just some food for thought!  (*pun intended*)

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Questions

1.  When's the last time you experimented with your own diet?

2.  Do you like to try new things or do you stick to a set habit?
I always used to stick to my go-tos, but have become much more experimental in the last four years.  


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard.