Monday was the Boston Marathon, which inspired me to write this week’s blog about athletes and whole grains.  Now, I have always fancied myself pretty sporty (though there are not any marathons in my immediate future,) but after changing my eating habits in the last six months, I have experienced a noticeable change in my workouts. Not just the workouts themselves, in fact, but the motivation to run an extra mile, go for a Sunday afternoon hike or join a friend in some hip new cardio-barre-yogalates fusion class. 

 

About 9 months ago, I threw myself into a 10 day challenge to eat “real” food, which meant making the change to whole grains, cutting out all processed foods (you can’t buy anything in the grocery store that contains more than five ingredients) and eating as local and fresh as possible. 

 

While I had always thought of myself as a fairly healthy eater, (save my uncontrollable sweet tooth) the challenge really changed and shaped the way I eat now. I am much more aware of what’s going into my body and how it can improve my day to day activities. To be honest, the 10 days was a challenge and there were several times when I was just so hungry and sick of eating raw vegetables, I would do anything to sink my teeth into a burger. 

 

But oh how times have changed. When the ten days were over I eased off a bit, but my short-term experiment resulted in many long-term changes. For one, my meat consumption has drastically dropped – I rarely even crave meat anymore – and the thing that has changed the most is the types of grains I eat. I find that I prefer the taste of whole grains after cutting out all of the processed stuff, and now I primarily eat whole grains. Lucky for me, manufacturers are getting creative with whole grains—I even bought quinoa bread last night!

 

Now down to that business of whole grains and running. As an avid runner, I’ve found that my speed and my distance have increased since I changed to whole grains. My energy levels have skyrocketed and I push myself because I feel better all around. 

 

Grains are an ideal food to eat to give you energy and whole grains are an even better choice. Whole grains keep you full longer, giving you something to draw energy from. When you eat processed grains, such as refined flour, the starch turns to sugar quickly in your body, causing you to burn through it faster. With whole grains, you keep a reserve of energy in your body for a longer period of time, allowing you to keep on truckin’! 

 

How can you make the whole grain swap? You don’t have to throw yourself into an eating “challenge” like I did. Instead switch to whole wheat bread at lunch for a week and see if you feel a difference in your workout. Better yet, go for quinoa instead of potatoes or white rice for dinner—it will give you energy and help build muscle because of its high protein content. A win-win, right? (Mallory)