How to Follow a Runner's Diet

Expand the description and view the text of the steps for this how-to video.

Check out Howcast for other do-it-yourself videos from Dynamic and more videos in the General Running category.

You can contribute too! Create your own DIY guide at http://www.howcast.com/videos/new or produce your own Howcast spots with the Howcast Filmmakers Program at http://www.howcast.com/filmmakers/apply.

Runners have special nutritional needs; fulfill them for maximum performance.

To complete this How-To you will need:

A balanced diet
Complex carbs
Lean protein
Good fats
High-fiber, water-rich foods
Sports drinks

Step 1: Divide your calories

Get 50 to 60 percent of your calories from carbohydrates, 20 to 25 percent from fat, and 15 to 25 percent from protein. If you eat 1,800 calories a day, 900 to 1,000 would come from carbs, which include fruits, vegetables, and grains; about 400 would come from fat, preferably good fats like nuts and olive oil; and another 400 or so would come from protein, such as beef, chicken, or fish.

Tip: Going below 25 percent fat may increase your risk of injury.

Step 2: Choose the right foods

Eat mainly complex carbohydrates, which means vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Stick with lean protein, like chicken and fish, and unsaturated fats, like those in nuts and olive oil.

Step 3: Time your eating

Eat most of your daily carbohydrate calories an hour or two before running, to provide fuel for your run, and within two hours of finishing, to replenish your energy stores. Pick ones that are rich in fiber and have high water content, like spinach and grapefruit.

Step 4: Stay within your range

If you're trying to lose weight, don't eat more calories than you are burning, or you'll gain weight no matter how much you're running.

Tip: Multiply your weight by 13 for the calories you need to maintain your current weight. You burn about 100 calories for every mile you run.

Step 5: Stay hydrated

Drink water an hour or two before you run. If you're planning to run for more than an hour, have a sports drink instead of water. It will help replace the electrolytes your body loses during a long run and the sodium will help you retain water.

Tip: To determine how much water you need to drink before a run, weigh yourself naked, get dressed and go for a hard run, and reweigh yourself in the buff. For every pound of weight you dropped in sweat, you need to take in 16 ounces of liquid.

Step 6: Don't carbo-load

Forget the old advice about severely limiting your carbs several days before a long-distance race and then gorging on them right before it. Recent research advises eating normally until three days before the big race, then increasing to a 70-percent carb diet up to and including the morning of a long run.

Thanks for watching How To Follow a Runner's Diet! If you enjoyed this video subscribe to the Howcast YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=howcast

####
HealthBeauty, sports, fitness, running, dieting, diet, foods, eating, healthy, performance, health, howcast, runner's diet, runner's diet before a race, runner's diet book, runner's diet lose weight, runner's diet recipes, runner's diet plan, runner's diet for weight loss, runner's diet menu, runner's diet meal plan, the runner's diet pdf, follow a runner's diet, follow runners diet, follow runner's diet, how to runner's diet, how to follow runner's diet, how to follow a runner's diet

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• howcast
• runner's diet
• runner's diet before a race
• runner's diet book
• runner's diet lose weight
• runner's diet recipes
• runner's diet plan
• runner's diet menu
• runner's diet meal plan
• the runner's diet pdf
• follow a runner's diet
• follow runners diet
• follow runner's diet
• how to runner's diet
• how to follow runner's diet
• HealthBeauty
• sports
• fitness
• running
• dieting
• diet
• foods
• eating
• healthy
• performance

[BinkieMcFartnuggets]

Runners are in too much of a hurry, how about a walkers diet?

[Piercepb1996]

you know most runners...that are not in the olympics or something don't give a shit about their diet :( i wish i did

[DetJohnKimbel]

My runners diet? PCP

[mat00422]

Oh hey! Have you considered intellectus 424 diet (google it)? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my cooworker lost lots of weight with it.

[InTheMomment]

Great video! Very factual ! Thank you!

[princeXblood]

did anyone relize he's black and eating wid chop sticks

[MisterTappi]

@MdP2 lol

[nvhieu97]

he looks so sad when hes eating

[runlildoggy]

Of course the guy's black -.-

[uchihasasuke1996]

@TheMaskedDouche It really depends on many factors, like how much you weigh, how much effort you are doing, how old you are and how fast you are going. But in average, yeah 100 calories per mile.

[pinkjapanwolf]

@AstroXtreme you either read the nutrition lable or buy a calorie counter(or just look one up online)

[ThePearI]

@jihadsoup Damn that was 11 months ago. Sometimes... If I'm hungry I enjoy a big steak more than potatoes