Cook Books
I have Chris Carmichael's "Fitness Cookbook" and "Food for Fitness." Both are okay. Both were bought on Half.com for practically nothing, though, so I'm okay with them being just okay.
Food for Fitness is more of a textbook. Much more geared toward the coach or health education professional.
One of the interesting things about the cookbook, though, is that it breaks it down by training period, so you get different meals for your foundation, prep, peak, etc. It also has a pretty good section in the front to give you the basics. Unfortunately it's rather small and there aren't very many recipes, even fewer that I was really impressed with. Further, I love to cook and I like cookbooks more like Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here for the Food," and I use "The Making of a Cook" (Madeline Kamann) as my definitive reference, because they go more into technique and execution, which is what you really need to know to make great meals. But if you are interested in cooking for yourself and already have pretty good basic skills and intuition about food, I would definitely recommend picking up Carmichael's book as a supplement. Buy it on half.com for cheapo.
Oh, and I was going to say about your particular situation -- with a race a month and a half away, you're correct about being more into the stage where you should be concerned with getting enough fuel rather than losing weight. If you continue to train hard, watch your fat intake, and not eat excessively because you feel like you've earned it, the weight will continue to come off.
I am new to the sport and I am trying to find a good cook book to aid in my daily meal prep and my overall training. I am planning on doing my first race in mid-September and training is going well, but I need more diet ideas. I recently lost about 45 lbs before starting to train for the triathlon, but obviously the meal plan I had to lose the weight will not sustain me during the training. I have plateaued at 201-203 lbs.....I am really shooting for 185-190 for a goal. Although I still want to lose more weight, my primary objective is to fuel for the race. If I have to be a clydesdale, so be it. I have read the books answers about a certain percent carb/protein and more calories out than in....but I need a cook book to walk me through the early stages. Sorry for the long post, my lack of good nutrition causes me to ramble......
I like allrecipes.com and it's free. Use common sense and you can tell whether or not something is healthly. I typically look for ratings that are near 5 stars and in the hundreds for user count.
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Thanks guys!
Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food - not fitness oriented at all, but it is full of great meals, fresh ingredients and nothing takes over 45 min.
i say, get a bunch of random ingredients, mix them in a bowl and put them in the oven for 25 minutes....what could go wrong?
I have a ton of endurance nutrition books at home, I'll post up the names when I get back, lots of good info. I created two cook books (all proceeds went to the LLS) that had meals broken down by serving and macro. All mostly between 300-600 kcal and high in complex carbs, moderate to low proteins and low healthy fats. I cook 95% of what I consume during the week. It's all about finding the best ingredients and modifying recipes.
The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel is great. It's more of a how to change your eating habits for a lifestyle change but there are some recipes in the back that exemplify it.
You can still lose weight and keep yourself fueled for training. You really only need carbs immediately before, during and after workouts. Don't skimp during these times but all other times, get your carbs from fruits and veggies (ie, no rice or pasta for dinner unless it is within the window pre/post workout).
What distance race are you doing? If it's a sprint and you're training less than 10 hours a week, you really don't need to have any of that stuff in your diet.
Good luck! You're going to feel great!
Set goals...... but be here now. Enjoy the ride to the finish line.





Hi guys,
I am new to the sport and I am trying to find a good cook book to aid in my daily meal prep and my overall training. I am planning on doing my first race in mid-September and training is going well, but I need more diet ideas. I recently lost about 45 lbs before starting to train for the triathlon, but obviously the meal plan I had to lose the weight will not sustain me during the training. I have plateaued at 201-203 lbs.....I am really shooting for 185-190 for a goal. Although I still want to lose more weight, my primary objective is to fuel for the race. If I have to be a clydesdale, so be it. I have read the books answers about a certain percent carb/protein and more calories out than in....but I need a cook book to walk me through the early stages. Sorry for the long post, my lack of good nutrition causes me to ramble......
Thanks in advance,
Kevin
Memphis, TN