More on nutrition- thinking of food as 'fuel'

Food is fuel.  Once you embrace that concept, eating becomes purposeful and functional (and perhaps at times, boring).  What do you eat before a workout?  Why?  Here's some notes I've regularly given to my run clients as well as general fitness gurus and goofs. 

IT IS NOT WITH TRAINING THAT
> > YOU BUILD YOUR BODY UP, BUT RATHER THAT'S WHEN IT'S BROKEN DOWN.  YOU BUILD
> > YOUR BODY WITH PROPER STRENGTH/LONGEVITY WITH NUTRITION.  In my goal of
> > which to get all of you thinking and training like athletes, it's also a
> > main focus of mine to get you eating like an athlete.  Not for weight loss.
> > Not for body building.  Not for cleansing.  Not for fad diets.  For FUELING!
> >
> > Remember FOOD IS FUEL.  Fuel in the training world serves a purpose.
> > Fueling properly for running is not geared around calorie counting, carb
> > aversion, or deprevity.  Fueling is all about categorizing what forms of
> > fuel do what, and how they're going to help you.  Here's a very short list
> > of the categories we spoke about and why you need them:
> >
> > Carbohydrates-  Energy!  Keep glycogen stores in your muscles.  Sluggish
> > days and/or injuries are byproducts of low glycogen stores.  Sweet potatoes,
> > oatmeal, brown rice, fruit, whole grain bread are a few good sources.  Eat
> > before and after workout!  Get minimum of 3-4 grams of carbs per lb of body
> > weight.
> >
> > Proteins- Make up your muscles.  You beat up your muscles running so you
> > MUST eat lots and lots of protein.  Add Branch Chain Amino Acids to a
> > protein shake that enters blood stream quickly and that will help convert
> > glycogen stores into energy.  Obvious sources of protein are beef, poultry,
> > fish; less obvious are beans, nuts, quinoa, soy beans just to name a few.
> > .55-.75 grams of protein per lb body weight is standard, however, I feel
> > athletes need much more.  Eat after your workout for sure!
> >
> > Veggies-  Go crazy and eat  a ton.  While these alone may not be an ideal
> > meal pre-training, they MUST be consumed in mass amounts daily. All colors
> > to provide the most antioxidants possible.  Us exercise addicts are more
> > susceptible to free radicals than anyone and we need to protect ourselves
> > naturally with antioxidants via food.  All dark green veggies and the
> > brightest colors possible.  Keep your fiber up!  For a simple, delicious way
> > to make veggies, check out my previous blog post
> >
> > Fats-  "Non fat" and "low fat" is such diet media propaganda.  Ignore
> > that.  We need fat.  But stay totally clear of transfat and saturated fats
> > unless you want a heart attack.  We need monounsaturated fats such as olive
> > oil, avocado, and nuts to keep our bad cholesterol down.  We also need
> > polyunsaturated fats such as Omega fatty acids, fish, flax oil, sesame,
> > sunflower to keep us away from high blood pressure and blood clotting.
> >
> > Again, the fuel consumed pre-workout is an experiment, but you MUST eat.
> > Try a few different things.  Remember is you want more closely analyzed fuel
> > habits, start writing everything down; what you ate and at what time.  We
> > can compare this to your adjacent workouts.