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What Gabriela DeBues-Stafford eats in a day

How to eat like a Canadian record-holder

Gabriela DeBues-Stafford is the Canadian 5,000m and mile indoor record-holder. The 23-year-old distance stud is currently finishing her degree in psychology at the University of Toronto and training under Andy Young, who also coaches Olympic finalist Laura Muir. Stafford has a very busy schedule between school, running and trying to make another World Championship team. But if you’re running at the intensity that Stafford does, nutrition can’t take a back seat. 

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The three-time Canadian 1,500m champion walked us through what a day of eating and training looks like for her and some of her key nutritional philosophies. 

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Breakfast:

My breakfast is usually three eggs with avocado and two slices of toast and of course, coffee.

Lunch:

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This changes everyday. Sometimes it’ll be leftovers from the night before or also a prepared lunch for Fresh City Farms, which is a Toronto-based organic food grocer. If I’m in a pinch I’ll grab a sandwich on campus from one of the cafes.

Workout:

An hour and a half before my workout I have a banana and as soon as I’m done cooling down I have an apple and a protein shake. A typical workout for me is something like 15x300m with 45 seconds rest.

Dinner:

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A staple is the Minimalist Baker’s Thai noodle bowl with peanut butter tofu. Salmon with sweet potato fries and a spinach salad with beets, blueberries, cucumber and walnuts is another classic.

Dessert

DeBues-Stafford doesn’t shy away from desserts. She says the less sugar she eats, the less she craves, but there’s certainly room for a good dessert or two every week. “If I’m really craving something sweet, this usually means I’m just hungry, so I’ll try and have a healthy meal or snack instead. During the season I try and cut back on desserts so I’ll only have something more decadent, like a slice of cake, once a week or so. The other days if I want something sweet I’ll have some dark chocolate or a biscuit with tea.”

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