The training schedule you are following is designed to integrate the three sports in a way that will get you to the starting line fully prepared. Your plan for nutrition as you train should have a similar design.

The good components of your nutrition plan have been laid out, bringing on the natural question as to whether there are foods that should be avoided. A good starting place is junk food. Yes, most people, even athletes, love it, and you can indulge occasionally. If you feel completely deprived during your training, you won't enjoy it as much. But try to limit the potato chips, donuts, and candy bars. These treats contain lots of calories but virtually no nutrition, certainly nothing that will assist you in your quest to become a fit, fast triathlete.

Not So Sweet

As you become more familiar with triathlons and what goes into participating, you will discover many sources of information and products designed to help you compete at a higher level, including many involving nutrition. Nowadays, even your grocery store will have shelves of energy bars, drinks, and other supplements touted as just what you need to excel at your sport.

The best way to evaluate various bars, gels, and drinks is to check the nutrition information on the package. If it contains a high percentage of simple sugar, see if there is something with a smaller amount. You are aiming for the most carbohydrates you can get in the smallest package.

Always look at the ingredients in anything you plan to eat. The ingredients are listed in order of predominance, that is, the first thing listed is what the product contains the most of. If high fructose corn syrup is the first ingredient, look for something else. While there is debate about whether high fructose corn syrup is worse for you than other sweeteners, the fact is that it's simple sugar, which should be limited in your diet.

Not So Fat

If your diet includes a lot of greasy, fried, and fat-laden foods, you are going to have to change your habits or your triathlon training will crash before takeoff. Think of a change in diet as yet another positive result of your decision to become a triathlete. As with junk food, you can indulge occasionally in heavier foods such as hamburgers or pizza, but be careful about doing so immediately prior to a scheduled workout. Saturated fat sitting on your stomach from last night's meal will slow you to a crawl on your morning run or ride. It can also upset your stomach.

Remember, too, that any problems brought on by your diet will be exacerbated if your training takes place in the heat. Be very careful about what you eat the night before training if it's going to be warm outside.

Not all fats are bad. In fact, athletes need fat in their diets, preferably two servings a day from fat-rich plant foods. There are many good fats that you should include in your diet. Leading the list is olive oil, a great source of monounsaturated fat, as well as avocados. And don't forget about the good fats in certain nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans). Certain fish, notably salmon, contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, considered very good for the heart. Even butter, a source of saturated fat, has beneficial lauric acid and is believed by many to be superior to margarine, which contains trans fats.

Trans fats, which come from partially hydrogenated oils, is present even in products whose labels declare them to be trans fat free because federal regulations allow that statement if the amount is negligible. Tend to view a product with partially hydrogenated oil as the tenth listed ingredient differently than one with it listed second. There is evidence that no amount of trans fat is healthy in your diet.