Marathons and Weight

Mike published a post the other day about how money and marathons are related. With his permission, I will post part of his advice, as I think it pertains to building nutrition and increasing physical activity in general.

“While training last year, I knew I was burning tons of calories, so I took it upon myself to make up ALL of those calories when eating. I relished in my ability to eat whatever I wanted, and almost any quantity I wanted. What was the end result? I still had to carry my 226 lb body 26.2 miles on race day! I didn’t lose a single pound. Granted, I had converted a lot of fat into muscle during training, but I deserved that horrible finish time. I barely “Beat the Bridge” and finished with just under a 14 minute mile pace.

How could I do better this year?

Yeah, I could just push myself harder this year (which I am anyway), but if I continue consuming the same amount of food as I’m burning in calories, I’ll still have to haul my fat 226 lb butt across that finish line. Or, I could reduce my calories to a reasonable amount to provide energy to complete the run and recuperate, and carry less weight for 26.2 miles.

I chose option #2 this year. I’ve already lost about 7 lbs in the last 1.5 months of running, and I hope to be down to 205-210 by race day. However, I have to balance my goal to lose weight with my body’s need to sustain itself during training. If I take in too few calories, my body will give up on me, and I could possible injure myself permanently. Or I could end up gorging on food once this period of “fasting” is over.

What lessons can we take from this post?

Keep in mind that Mike is attempting to lose 15-20 pounds over the course of 5 months (which is about -0.5-1 pound a week). Don’t try to lose weight too fast –aim for 0.5-1 pound a week for sustainable weight loss.

Also, by eating adequate amounts of healthy carbs and protein, but keeping fat in check, you can lose weight without sacrificing the carbohydrates and protein you need for those long runs. For example, eat grilled chicken instead of fried chicken and a baked potato instead of french fries. As well, remember that muscle weighs more than fat, so if you start working out after taking a hiatus, you might not see weight loss but might lose inches around your “trouble spots”, which is better overall!!

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