I have been fortunate to have worked with some spectacular coaches throughout the past few years, who have a great eye for nutrition. In my work as an athlete and then coach with QT2 Systems I was educated in the theories of The Core Diet. The Core Diet is just a method of eating healthy and fueling training properly. It’s actually not a diet at all and nothing that is outlandish or over the top.

The foundation of the Core Diet is health. Without health we have nothing to build upon.

The Registered Dieticians at the Core Diet write daily nutrition and race day fueling plans not only for their own athletes, but for anyone who wants one. They were really the first to focus on this side of training.

Visit The Core diet for more information.

Fueling training is critical. Here are some tips, and how I have adapted for more Paleo-ish style:

1. The 30-60 minutes before a workout is considered to be the pre workout window. During this time aim to eat something less than 50 Grams of CHO, with minimal protein and fat. Examples for an athlete who eats Paleo would be:
• Banana = 27 grams CHO
• Sweet potato = 30 grams CHO (depending on size)
Other suggestions would include mango, egg and banana pancakes, something easy to digest. This is often skipped and it shows.

2. During training aim for 50-60 grams of CHO per hour on the swim and the run, and upwards of 90-100 grams of CHO per hour on the bike. This is where adhering to Whole30 and strict Paleo guidelines can be tricky. Many of us endurance athletes train upwards of 20 hours a week which means long rides of 4-6 hours. This is where many of us need to cross the line over to fuel that includes sugars, to help us fuel.

When I fuel short workouts of 1-2 hours in duration I rely on organic baby food. I use pureed bananas, blueberries, and sweet potatoes. Powerbar has also come out with their energy blends, which are also great.

The issue with the longer training sessions, is that we need the combination of short, medium and long acting sugars to fuel us and prevent GI distress. We also need sodium when it’s hot.

During shorter sessions I use Osmo and baby food.

During long sessions I use Powerbar Perform, cliff blocks, and / or powergels.

I find that alternating between these products HAS helped my GI tolerance to many things. I never get gut rot or teeth sting anymore. And I feel great.

3. Post workout window: The post workout window is equal to the duration of your session. If you rode your bike 60 min, your post workout window is 60 min. Here you are aiming for foods with a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein, because research shows that ratio restocks glycogen and helps begin muscle repair.

Many non Paleo athletes will use chocolate milk here. Other sources of recovery foods:

• Raisins: high glycogen.
• Eggs: high in protein
Fueling training is critical if we are aiming to see improvement. Fueling training allows you to get the most out of each session.

Here is an article written by my former coach and employer Jesse Kropelnicki, which investigates starvation workouts (which he does not recommend, nor do I). Click here for that.

Bottom line: fuel your workouts. If you train > 15 hours a week you may have to cross the line into sport drink. Experiment with products that work for you and remember: the foundation is HEALTH.