The key knowing what your understanding of food is!

30 Aug 2011 8:26 AMBrendan Murray

 

The  last word on Nutrition - The First of many thoughts!

 

 

The key is understanding. What your thoughts about food are !

 

Goals

Inspiration

Nutrients

Plan

 

My philosophy on Nutrition. 

 

Start with quality components that you require for your output - macronutrients 

Bolster it with micronutrients and balance that unlocks and adds vibration to your food. 

Be mindful and understand the natural performance and medicinal purposes from what you consume.

 

 

The Thoughts

 

The Energy our body needs is a relay straight from what the brain is telling us. 

 

Stressed. Lonely. Negative self talk. Eat for comfort. Take the mind off thinking. 

Know where your going. What your coming up against. The body wants to prepare. Learn more and get control to help it. 

 

There's nothing like the feeling of being in charge of your destination. Feeling like your in it. Living it, looking forward to your achievements and the new experiences, influences and learnings you find along the way. Your journey. 

 

Throughout this year I have been fortunate enough to have plenty of these learning experiences. What I know for sure is that it's as a result of the goals I've set. I've looked at what I want to discover in the world, in myself and in others. 

 

The news is in and it reports that my running just keeps getting better. This being such a source of joy. I want to extend that further and enhance the experience by sharing the sport with others that hold the same passion. 

 

 

Q. So what does this all have to do with nutrition? 

A. Goals, Where are you going?

 

Well over the past few months I've been evolving and improving on the coat tail of training and competing in regular events  but this new goal I set for my self in the past few weeks has spurred the inner drive to go forth and reapply myself .

Ultimately I want to be the guru, born to run. 

Best way to get closer to this? Run a 100km trail run at the Great Ocean Road. 

It's in December 2012 and Im excited by the drive this gives me to get conditioned physically and mentally and what lessons I may learn from this. When I was 17 I decided to make life my university and what a beautiful classroom it can be. 

 

My eating

Ok so onto nutrition. I Generally eat well and I have been incorporating new foods into my diet that bolster what nutrients I get from my food. It's been about eating to maintain my training constancy and to give me the physical and mental stamina to bash out the long days.  As time has passed it's become less and less controlled and more about " ill have a bit of this and I probably should have that . What if I get hungry again , oh well I'll have that too."

 

Now we all have a line with ourselves and I reached mine after weeks of thinking 'I need a plan". I guess finding that intrinsic drive is what propels us forward.  

 

For me if I feel out of touch with my goals it's because I lack a bit of inspiration. 

Let's be honest all we get really is the normal bull. News about tragedy, weather, the price of milk etc. A bit of it is good to  take it in but that is not the only  feed we want for our brains?

 

Seeking inspiration. 

Outsource your mates and the bloke that sells you your newspaper in the morning. Find something that is extraordinary that will switch your brain channel back to your life path. 

I’m not a big reader but when I do I believe it's always a case of the right book at the right time. Recently I picked up 2  books that have been sitting on my shelf for months. First it was "Racing Weight" - How to get lean for peak performance. I skimmed through it having read parts of it before but what sang to me the most was the % ratios of macro nutrients  for different objectives. Sometimes it's hard to get out of our heads something we were taught before - Especially when it worked for us at that point in time. Lets evolve. New objectives in place it's time for a personal upgrade! What is right for you?

 

The second book is something I'm looking forward to opening every time now- ‘Born to run” It's a tale of author Chis Macdougall’s  quest to learn more about his running and why he gets injured. He travels deep into Mexico"s Copper Canyons to find the answers from the worlds greatest distance runners - The Tarahumara Indians,whom run barefoot for hundreds of miles at a time and live with ultimate inner peace. 

It highlights some of their dietary intake and again it hits a light bulb with me- this is what im looking for! Understanding that it's not about master chef recipes or magic pills but understanding the nutrients in food  and knowing your personal requirements for your objective. When we are comfortable an in control about processes in place the head noise volume gets turned down as we are in the positive. 

The Tarahumara speak of ‘iskate’ - A special energy potion that has all the good stuff. Omega's, protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber and antioxidant's. Macdougall describes it - ‘If you were stuck on a dessert island on the chia diet , in a couple of months you would be strong and probably be able to swim home”.

 

Planning

I love the idea of pealing back the layers of food and thinking about what it's doing for me . And if our goals are big enough we will need to cut the crap out and get a good chunk of our calorie requirements from quality nutrient rich sources.

I've got to do this know I'm going into the office to plug it all into my ' Nutrition Complete' program that will give me all the stats. 

 

Stay posted for some figures - what I'm eating and  for your own goals. 

 

Brendan