Carbohydrate loading: Sample meal plan

If you're training for a marathon, triathlon or other high-intensity endurance event, loading up on carbohydrates in the days before the event may boost your performance.

Stephen DeBoer, a marathon runner and registered dietitian at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., suggests this sample carbohydrate-loading meal plan for an athlete who weighs 170 pounds. Based on 4 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight, it consists of about 65 percent carbohydrates.

Item	Amount	Carbohydrates (grams)	Calories
Breakfast
Milk, fat-free	12 ounces	18	125
Nutty barley cereal	1 cup	94	400
Cinnamon raisin bagel	1 (3 1/2-inch diameter)	39	194
Reduced-calorie margarine	1 tablespoon	0	50

Morning snack
Granola bar with oats, sugar, raisins and coconut	2 (1 1/2 ounces total)	29	180
Grape juice, unsweetened	12 ounces	56	227
Carrots, baby	12	10	42

Lunch
Milk, fat-free	8 ounces	12	84
Whole-wheat bread	4 slices (1 1/2 ounces per slice)	78	440
Chicken breast, roasted without skin	3 ounces	0	140
Romaine lettuce, shredded	1/4 cup	< 1	2
Mayonnaise-type salad dressing	2 tablespoons	4	57
Tortilla chips, baked	1 ounce	24	110

Afternoon snack
Low-fat fruit yogurt	8 ounces	47	250
Wheat crackers	10	19	142
Apple, medium	1	19	72

Dinner
Salmon, baked	4 ounces	0	233
Brown rice	1 1/2 cups	69	337
Broccoli, steamed	1 cup	10	52
Milk, fat-free	8 ounces	12	84
Lettuce salad with tomatoes and carrots	1 1/4 cups	3	16
Low-calorie Italian salad dressing	2 tablespoons	2	15
Walnuts	1/4 cup	4	196

Evening snack
Banana	1	30	105
Fig bars	2	22	110
Frozen yogurt, fat-free (not chocolate)	1 1/2 cups	62	285

Total		664	3,948

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Carbohydrate loading: Sample meal plan

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