Nutrition

I can't tell you the importance of nutrition on improving your race results. I've read in magazines and books that nutrition is 70-80% of performance (and contributes to the way you physically look.)

For beginners: The more you train, the more you will eat. It's inevitable.
For example; this summer I was probably consuming at least 3,000 calories per day. Recently I've kicked things up again and I'm hungry ALL the time. Listen to your body and EAT!
***A smart way for you to gauge if you are meeting your daily calorie needs is by keeping a weekly performance and weight log. If your performance is remaining the same or improving and your weight is consistent, then this is a good indication that your daily calorie needs are being met.

What should I be eating???

You need a mixture of things for the best results. I know you aren't necessarily trying to win your first race, but you do want to finish and finish feeling good. You need to fuel your body properly or you will bonk(run out of energy) during the race and feel like poop!

Choose more nutrient dense items. (Ex. Baked potato or French Fries? Baked potato is more nutrient dense...has more nutrients for the total amount of calories it contains.)

Here are some nutrient dense foods to choose from in a variety of forms:

Carbohydrates: Fruit, Vegetables, 100% Whole Wheat, and 100% Juice
I personally drink Odwalla juices or Naked Juices. Odwalla Superfood is my favorite. It looks nasty but its good!

Protein: Skinless Chicken, Lean Beef, Beans, Eggs, Soy Foods, and Milk
I throw skinless chicken on the George Foreman all the time! Yummy!

Fat: Nuts, Seeds, Vegetable Oil
Here's a little tip on fats: READ THE LABEL! Fats are broken down into 3 different types; saturated fat, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats. Saturated fat will raise your cholesterol levels and give you a big but so try and stay away from those. A maximum of 20 grams of saturated fat is recommended for a 2,000 calorie diet a day. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are the healthy fats. They help raise HDL Cholesterol levels (good cholesterol) and lower LDL cholesterol levels (bad). NOTE: Trans fat are just as bad as saturated fats, if not worse. Try to find food with higher monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.

(You guys know the drill it goes back to the food pyramid in kindergarten)

DRINK LOTS OF WATER! I think they are saying 100 oz of Water is what is recommended now. This will help you feel better while you train, keep your metabolism up, give you a good complexion and a million other benefits to drinking plenty of water!

BAD NEWS...So we all like to have a little fun and go out and get crazy...right? Well come on people, moderation. Is it really necessary to go out and get drunk 5 of the 7 nights of the week? No, if a triathlon is truly something you want to commit to, you can find better things to do with your time on those week nights than getting wasted and feeling like crap the next day(to the point you can't get your workout in). My suggestion, go out enjoy your friends but drink cranberry juice. Before long they will be so drunk they won't know alcohol isn't in your drink. And save those crazy moments for special occasions or a night out with the girls.
(This all comes from experience. Training is hard enough on your body, adding the stress of alcohol to your body will lower your immune system. Your doctor will be seeing you more than he/she wants to. So do yourself a favor and drink with moderation. Plus you will wake up feeling better in the mornings ;)

Also, I have a friend who knows way beyond anything I know in the sport. He has given me a great article regarding nutrition that I have used. Let me know if you would like a copy of the article! It's awesome!!!