Monday, February 17, 2014

The importance of good nutrition - My nutrition history


It has been 25 years since I started to do sports, and up to this day it takes conscious effort on my part to take the best care of my body so my body can serve me the best. At the beginning of my career I was not terribly concerned about nutrition, I just wanted to do sports and it felt good that way.


The first difficulties started to occur when I moved from my parents to the (college) dorm and became self-sufficient during my college years. In those years contrary to my fellow classmates whose biggest concern was how to study while partying all the time, I was trying to fit in all my hard training sessions between classes and studying.

The biggest challenge was that I had a really busy schedule; swim in the morning, then school, running and biking after that, then school again and in the evening studying and homework. I simply did not have time to have a decent meal between the training sessions and school. Most of the times I quickly had some pastries or sandwiches for breakfast, I ate a cooked meal at the school cafeteria for lunch and I had some food that was easy to make for dinner, like eggs or sausages. Besides that I had quite a bit of snacks and cookies between these meals to refuel fast.

I was 18 that time and I was not aware that the nutrition would affect my training. When I was more tired I though that it could have been because I slept only 4-5 hours at nights.

Training Nutrition

In those years I was not concerned about sports nutrition either, simply because I could only use that was available in the Hungarian market. We did not have a big choice of energy drinks and bars. During training and racing I used the drinks, gels and bars that was available at the time. Of course I ate other simple nutrition, like bananas and one of my favorites; Snickers bars, because it contained lots of energy.

First Signs

The first signs that something was wrong appeared about ten years ago. Right after I finished my workouts I often had stomach cramps and couldn’t eat for a long time, only drink. I realized that the only thing that would help was drinking soda (Fanta). I craved it especially after long training hours and it helped with the cramping. Another strange thing happened that time: I started to feel some pain in my foot usually at night or right after I woke up. First it was not too bad but later the pain started to increase. Around the same time I found a foot masseur and the massages somewhat eased the pain. But I received instructions that I had to pay special attention to my nutrition since I have symptoms that indicate potential problems with kidney and intestinal function. This bad news left me helpless and lost and for a while I could not come up with anything helpful or effective. I did start preparing my own food at all times and since I was finished with my college years my sports career was my only focus.

First Ironman

In 2002 my swimming was not at the level of racing Olympic distance triathlons, so besides duathlon events, I specifically trained for long distance races and I entered my first - ever ironman. The race started really well, although in spite of the useful advices and warnings I did not take enough calories. Since I did not feel like eating I only had 1 or 2 energy bars all day long, yet I pushed it as hard as I could. Of course it did not end well. At six miles I was leading on the run when I suddenly completely bonked, collapsed and the ambulance took me to the hospital.

First ironman victory in 2005
After this rough start at the long distance scene I was training for years until in 2005 I finally won my first ironman distance race in Hungary. I gained lots of experience and worked out a very simple nutrition plan for the race day; on the bike I ate 4-5 energy bars (200ca/each) and after 60 miles I had some “cookies”. It might sound weird but I found a certain type of Hungarian cookies were the easiest to digest. On the run I ate 4-6 energy gels. As for fluids, I drank mostly water and had some energy drink that was provided by the race organizers. This method worked pretty well for me and I managed to win 9 ironman distance titles and finished several times on the podium at international races. And this nutrition plan even got me through Kona where I finished 19th overall.

The Diagnosis

In the meantime I noticed more and more signs of my intestinal issues. Roughly around 2007 I had serious stomach and digestive problems that very much affected my training and racing. There were times when it was better, but when it was worse I found some blood in my stool, which scared me a lot. Despite of these symptoms it took me several years to find out what was the problem. In 2009, only three month after I was hit by a car on my bike, I decided to race Ironman Arizona. During the run I had really painful stomach cramps and I had to take several bathroom breaks finding blood again. I dropped out of the race and was taken to the hospital where I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Then I went through a thorough examination and my physician was shocked that I was even able to train and race with this condition in the past 6-7 years.

I was trying to determine when the symptoms started and what could have caused the Ulcerative Colitis. The best answer that I could find was that it was a combination of several things: a stressful life, bad nutrition and probably genetic reasons for sensitive intestinal functions as well. I was diagnosed more than four years ago; and since then I managed to deal with my colitis with more or less success. However it is a chronic disease and I have to live with it for the rest of my life.

Nutrition Nowadays

Every day I have to eat with careful consideration and take only the food that is good for me and won’t interfere with my digestion either. So I start my day with the Ignite Extreme Energy drink, then I eat a toasted sandwich with ham, cheese and salami, or an omelette with mushroom or whole grain cereal with almond milk, etc.
Most of the times I have a cooked meal for lunch: brown rice, or potato, or pasta with meat or fish. I like all kind of meats but I prefer poultry, and one of my favorite meals is the grilled salmon with zucchini.
Nowadays I eat vegetables more regularly, like celery, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, tomato, pepper and all kind of green salads. But sometimes when I don’t have time to cook I just have a pizza, which I really like.
Hungarian Paprikas Csirke
We still like to cook Hungarian meals at home, especially my favorite meals, like layered potato (casserole), or the well-known chicken paprikas.

There are certain foods that I can’t have because they upset my stomach and cause difficulties during workouts. In addition, if I eat right I feel much better and I can focus on my program and my recovery is faster as well. It is a long process to experiment how these foods affect my body and how I can take the right nutrition without causing any trouble.
Besides eating healthy, sometimes I’m tempted to eat a little dessert, or snack, like cookies or Oreos. But these days I try to alternate them with peanut/almond butter, fresh fruit, cottage cheese, wholewheat crackers, cream chees, dark chocolate etc. They taste like a good dessert and are more healthy.

It is also really important to take the right amount of good quality fluids. I drink lots of water especially because I live in Arizona year around. Time-to-time I have some green tea or light lemonade, or even some coke during or after long workouts. I am very careful with these beverages and sodas because they have too much sugar but sometimes I just crave them too much.

Race - day Nutrition

They say triathlon is about swimming, biking and running, however there is a fourth discipline which is one of the most important: nutrition. You can be as strong as possible both physically and mentally, but without the right nutrition plan, you are not going to succeed.

I think my first ironman experiment is a good example what happens when you are not taking enough calories. My energy level dropped significantly because of the poor nutrition. However bad nutrition doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t take enough; it could also mean that you take too much or just not the right kind for you. It is a long journey to find out what works best for each individual. A good nutrition is a real game changer during an ironman race. A good nutrition helps to boost your performance, increase your energy and to reduce muscle fatigue while pushing yourself over your limits. You know your nutrition was good when you run an 8+ hours race and when you approach the finish you still have enough in the tank to nail a sprint finish.


You can choose of a large variety of Nutrition Products at Destination Kona Triathlon Store.
Use DISCOUNT CODE: JM15 for 15% off.

Last May I started to work with Ignite Naturals and tried the GSH Ignite Pro Series along with the IN Refresh Electrolytes. I liked them from the very beginning. I train 5-6 hours continuously every day. It's very important to fuel with the best to produce more energy. The GSH Pro Series provides fast absorbing carbs from 100% real food that help me maximize my performance. All in all, it tastes good and helps me to get my training and racing to the next level. The IN products enable me to work hard without stomach pain, cramps or any symptoms of my Ulcerative Colitis disease.


You can order any Ignite Naturals product online and receive a 10% off with the
DISCOUNT CODE: IN0630

When people ask me for nutrition advice I can tell them what works the best for me but I believe everyone has to find out what kind of nutrition work the best for them.



Recently I started to work with FUEL to the Finish Endurance Nutrition Coaching - Brooke Schohl, MS, RD. It really makes a different to talk to a professional nutritionist. Even in my case; I don't need to lose weight or gain muscles but I really have to fuel with healthy and quality food to increase my energy level.


Reload energy gels are made with real food like brown rice or figs. Very, very tasty. My favorite is the Blackberry Blueberry gel which tastes like the best jam I ever ate. You can order any Ignite Naturals product online and receive a 10% off with the
DISCOUNT CODE: IN0630

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