Replace Grains with Fruits and Veggies
Grain-phobics, take note: If you have sworn off bagels for breakfast, here's what you need to put in your fruit smoothie to replace the 60 grams of carbohydrates in a 300-calorie Dunkin' Donuts-size bagel:
- 16 medium strawberries, 1 cup of blueberries and 1 medium banana
More: How to Create Your Carbo-Load Plan
If you've nixed your lunchtime sandwich and pretzels, here's how many veggies you need in your salad to replace the 62 grams of carbs from two slices of wholesome bread (220 calories) and a 100-calorie bag of pretzels:
- 24 cherry tomatoes (15 g carb), 2 whole 7 inch cucumbers (8 g carb), 2 whole 8 inch carrots (14 g carb), 2 large green peppers (16 g carb) and 5 cups (10-ounce bag) mixed salad greens (9 g carb)
Alternatively, you could heap a whole cup of chickpeas on top of the greens. Either way, you end up with a pile of food that is time consuming to eat if you're a busy runner.
More: 5 Gluten-Free, High-Carb Meals for Runners
No more pasta for dinner? To replace those two cups of happiness (1/4 of a 16 ounce box dry pasta is 84 grams of carbs), you need to eat this many veggies to fully refuel your muscles and load them up for the next day's workout:
- 3 cups of cooked zucchini squash saut?ed with 1 large onion (45 g carb), 2 cups cooked kale (15 g) and 8 spears of broccoli (24 g)
The Bottom Line
Wholesome grains have a helpful role in a sports diet. While fruits and veggies offer some carbs, you need to eat lots of them to compensate for lack of grains. Your efforts to eat healthfully might end up contributing to a sports diet that fails to support your hard training. Please, fuel wisely!
From The Athlete's Kitchen; Copyright: Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD, May 2014
More: 5 High-Carb Super Grains And Recipes
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