I’ve been instructing run clinics for 16 years….

I’m not sure how many that adds up to, but divide my life by 10 or 18 weeks for those 16 years, that a lot, a lot of people going through those clinics, and me, listening to a lot of nutrition talks…….

I’ve learned a lot from some, nothing from others, and what I’ve really come to understand, it’s really not that difficult or complex, and frankly, a lot of what I hear or have heard is about as interesting as staring at a wall……

Funny, right now, while writing this, I’m actually watching/listening to a Zoom nutrition talk for someone else’s half marathon clinic; it’s almost 25 minutes in, and I’ve already switched my brain off.

I’ve heard a lot of this type of talk already; too much of it sounds like a variation of the Canada Food Guide, and I’m sure once the talk is done, most those watching will start saying they’re going to change their lives, and a week later…not……you eventually return to where you were…..yeah, I understand the need for dieting, and managing weight gain…….but even that, it shouldn’t be that complex.

We know what we need to eat, should eat, and should not…..we know what’s enough, what’s too much, what’s too little, and yeah, we need water to hydrate….duh?

Food!!!!…Not nutrients…..real food, simple food, if it was grown, sure, if it was created in a chemistry lab, nope…..I like the difference between big food and small food….a Farmer’s Market vs a huge big box store, though I do shop, occasionally at that big box store……I seriously just go into my fav grocery store, and stick to the perimeter.. bakery, fruits and veggies. meat, dairy…that’s it, if there’s a baking ingredient I need, yes into an aisle……..simple…it doesn’t take an hour long talk with charts, graphics, a power point to figure that out……I’ve been eating for a while, so yeah, McDonald’s no…..real food, yes…

I do love having guest speakers for a lot of things, coaching, and it’s like having a lot of free personal coaches, but some talks just leave me feeling like I’ve wasted my time…..nutrition, pretty much almost every time…….I know the speakers are sincere, they have knowledge, education, but, you don’t bake a cake thinking fat, carbs and protein…you think ingredients…..you don’t look at a plate, and think, do I have the exact number proteins I think I need….and it’s not that one meal, it’s all of them!

There’s was one talk that was invaluable when it comes to my race and training days, and it was simple….chances are, if you’re already eating well, and have been, half marathon morning, you’re hydration and nutrition will be good to go, no need for a change…..as for hydration, if your event is under 2 hours, you don’t need the amount of hydration some advise…the my first half marathon I did after hearing that, I just kept running past the hydration stations, and I was fine!…..I didn’t take or need a gel, 2 hours and 20 minutes, I was fine…I think I had a banana and had a glass of Gatorade before, and I lived, I didn’t feel fluid sloshing around in my gut…..so simple.

Yeah, my take on nutrition, it’s simpler than we’ve been told by some……if all those diet plans out there actually always worked, why are there so many out there, and why do the most popular always change? Cut out carbs, proteins, wheat belly, macro and micro……what?

I am married with children, my diet has to work for 3 other people, I always cook and go for real food, food that’s nutritious, filling, and tastes good……

And yes, why do they never mention the huge difference between women and men…….?

So simple, just eat, just hydrate….it doesn’t take an hour to say that…or more than a few paragraphs.

94 days to the BMO Vancouver