Road Racing and Training Thread, Week Ending 1/7/18

What I meant by the last part was. By making that change I was never in a position to count calories.

For what it is worth, I now weigh about 145 pounds, but I have been as high as 182. That was all fat because I wasn't exercising and just drinking and eating too much.

My experience in losing that excess weight was that the key is to reduce consumption more than to try to out burn your regular consumption levels. I used the myfitnes pal

app to track my calorie consumption and burn each day. I tried to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, which meant a 500 to 1000 cal per day deficit. The conventional wisdom is that anything more than that seems to be hard to sustain.

To get there, I had to change my diet quite a bit. I went from eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, to focusing on home cooked meals that were whole food based. I did run the entire time as well, but obviously wasn't in shape to run a significant amount prior to losing some of the weight that I had to lose because the reason I gained weight in the first place was that I was not running. I did some weightlifting to to try to jumpstart my metabolism on top of the cardio that I was getting.

Counting calories sounds brutal! Just my beer consumption alone would melt the myfitnesspal app down

It was a real PITA at first, but the app is pretty good in that it remembers recently entered foods and allows you to save favorite meals and recipes. So after using it for a couple of weeks, entering food wasn't all that burdensome. It also has the effect of encouraging you to eat the same things over and over, which actually results in a greater ability to be consistent in good food choices.

Basically, I would eat one of three breakfasts, one of about 8-10 lunches, and one of about 15-20 dinners over and over again. That was enough variety to keep me from getting bored (especially since you can make certain foods taste very different depending on how you season and cook them) and to allow for a well balanced and nutritious long term diet, particularly since my snacks were usually fruits and vegetables (with the fruits usually being whatever berries were in season).

I like that you also get a ton of feedback on your diet so you can figure out if you were lacking any important vitamins and to see what ratios of carbs, protein and fat you consume.

actually got on the scale and was the lightest this morning when I woke up ever I think. (Not counting dehydration) 152.5. Always thot for a goal race 6ft 148ish would be about right for me. Should be relatively easy when I cut back on the beer when starting the cycle in a week or so.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll have to try that app. I think it is tied to my garmin I've just been to lazy to use it. I guess I'll start cutting more calories. Burning 3500+ a day gets difficult.

One bit of food for thought Pappy: I tried not to be overly-obvious in my tracking in front of my kids. I didn't want my kids worrying about calories or really even thinking about all of those things. Especially since we really do control their diets since they are young, so we know that they are eating properly, and especially since girls (which all three of mine are) tend to end up with eating disorders and body image issues at a higher rate than boys. Still, boys are apparently suffering from eating disorders at a increasingly fast rate. I know you have kids, so I thought it might be worth mentioning.

Very true. I try to instill a healthy relationship with food for my daughter (who is 10). We love to go grocery shopping together and it's def a good learning experience for her. the mantra is buy whole ingredients and cook.

Also cut back on oils as much as possible. Possibly the biggest empty calories there are. 100% fat 0% nutrition. You can "sautée"veggies for most dishes just as easily w a little broth, and save 100s of cals. Little changes like that add up like crazy. Like putting money in a 401k.

I used my fitness pal a few times. Usually just for a few weeks since I eat more or less the same meals every week so I memorized the calories and didn't need the app anymore. It always made me lose weight cause I was always eating way more than I thought I was.

I am 5'9 and was about 150 last time I weighed myself a couple months ago, and am probably around 148 now. Would love to get down to high 130's for my goal races, but probably can't get much lower than that as I'm more muscular than the typical distance runners, specially my legs.

Smoove wrote:

One bit of food for thought Pappy: I tried not to be overly-obvious in my tracking in front of my kids. I didn't want my kids worrying about calories or really even thinking about all of those things. Especially since we really do control their diets since they are young, so we know that they are eating properly, and especially since girls (which all three of mine are) tend to end up with eating disorders and body image issues at a higher rate than boys. Still, boys are apparently suffering from eating disorders at a increasingly fast rate. I know you have kids, so I thought it might be worth mentioning.

LOL thanks Smoove. Both of my kids are a little older. My son still asks me how the twins are doing. Referring to me as pregnant even though I have lost most of my gut. My daughter keeps trying to entice me with mint Oreo's and ice cream. I really can't say they are very PC but I'm not to worried about their eating habits. We eat dinner together at least 6 out of 7 days a week. Most of my bad weight came from getting ill and not being able to be active for a few years.

You all are giving me a complex. I've always known one of the biggest things holding me back from some big PRs is weight. The lightest I've been at 6'1" is 168lbs and I dream of what I could run if I could just shave 10-15lbs more off that. The good news is I'm already close to that weight so I may actually have a decent shot of racing closer to 160lbs come May.

Well, I'm one of 3 unattached runners for tomorrow night's 3k. There are 20 total runners in my heat (the slower of the two).

All my workouts indicate a PR is there...BUT, I'm insanely nervous. After running over 100 road races, this is nuts!

To make this less about me, and more about the group, what strategies do you employ to get through the day(s) leading up to a race? I always think some nerves are good, but this is a bit out of control.

Honestly I was always less nervous for 'big' races than I was for small ones where I knew I was expected to place well or something like that. Going into a big race where I knew the race was going to be fast and I was a in over my head was a bit freeing. The pressure isn't on you to do anything special. Just tuck in and go along for the ride. You know your training and what you're capable of. Focus on what you know you're capable of, not what you're worried about going wrong. Good luck!

What? Good advice? On letsrun?

Thanks statfan!

@ weigh loss- I weighed 195 lbs at my heaviest. I'm 5'5". counting calories worked for me. I drank A LOT of water. when you're hungry, that was the only thing I could take in. The first step for me though was literally cutting everything in half. For lunch for example I ate chinese food a lot. Instead of finishing the meal, I just cut it in half. Still garbage, but the body reacted quickly. 20 lbs in 3 months. No cheat days. After a while, my stomach got smaller and got full with much smaller meals. Minor changes to exercise.

@ Bdubs, good luck man, are you trying to PR or Win?

WH - you can get there. That's a super reasonable goal.

I am a rigid about what I eat because when I made the switch the nightmares/terrors that I struggled with for years went away almost overnight. Being healthy and on the lighter end is just gravy when it comes to that. Oh and according to the gal at work " Matt you are just on a vegan diet because you are cheap and beans and rice cost nothing". Which is also partially true.

Bdubs I always thought being nervous was a good thing and helps a person perform better. There is no such thing as being overly nervous. You have put in the work so just run your race. You'll hopefully get a good PR and then wonder why you were nervous in the first place. One of the joys of competition. Go kick some butt.

Thanks, I'm making the necessary sacrifices of late in order to get there. (secretly I'd love to race around 155lbs) The most recent sacrifice has been skipping over the six pack of IPA for something with half the calories...and taste.

WH - natural light. Now you know my secret sauce! Inlike to keep my macros at a 2-1 ration.

Food-Beer calories 2-1.