I've been rock climbing for just over a year now, and I've just barely started to research the benefits of healthy eating. My hight is 5'10 and I weight 158. My BMI level is just fine and I'm not really worried about losing weight.
I'm curious on what foods help build and maintain a health, lean body. I've been eating a lot of oatmeal with walnuts and wheat germ in the morning and a cup of joe (20oz). Then for lunch I will snack on a home made wrap (which have carrots, cheese, sunflower seeds, black beans, bell pepper, onions, spinach, olives, and a tiny a bit of ranch). Dinner is the hard part for me. I really don't have a set diet on it. I tend to go out and eat a lot. Although I have been trying to stay at home and cook, like Potato soup, Taco Salad, Chili, and steaks. In between meals I will eat apples, bananas, nuts. I also take pills for joints and bones, and Flax Oil

When rock climbing you workout a lot of your pull muscles and also your forearms (grip). I have gathered that eating good complex Carbs will benefit me. For the energy I will get and the glycone (sp?) it stores in the muscle.

So with that all said.... What are some foods that will assist me while before, during, and recovery?

Rock climbers require a daily high-carbohydrate diet to maintain stamina and replenish lost glycogen stores during climbing and/or weight training. Stored carbohydrates (i.e. muscle and liver glycogen)are the primary fuel for energy. When the stores are low, focus and timing begin to suffer.

For athletes, the American and Canadian Dietetics Associations recommend 55 to 58 percent of calories be CHO, 12 to15 percent protein and 25 to 30 percent fat (1). These are the same requirements for sedentary individuals. However, there has been a growing body of evidence that protein and fat requirements may need to be altered for active individuals, especially when 15 percent of the diet is protein (2,9,10). In order to avoid muscle loss, the protein and fat requirements have been slightly altered here for the recommended training diet

Hi ClimbOn
I believe you will find the podcast featuring Tara Gidus, MS, RD, CSSD extremely helpful. Tara is a certified sports nutritionist and the national spokesperson for the ADA(American Dietitic Association) at the time of this podcast. The discussion is around athletes using food to gain maximum performance.
Have a listen: http://www.healthcastle.com/podcast-016.shtml
Tracey

thanks for this informative link

Thanks for the the advice people. Helped out a lot.