Gaining weight while running high mileage....WTF am I supposed to eat?!?!?

seattle prattle wrote:

A veritable cornucopia of dietary approaches. All i can say is, i am really really glad i am not reliant on the messageboard for what i'm supposed to be eating.

Good luck!

Yep. I'd bet 80% of replies you've gotten are from people with disordered eating patterns. See a nutritionist and possibly a therapist. It will save you a lot of trouble. From what you listed you eat in a typical day doesn't seem like *enough* calories, which can actually make it harder to lose weight (if indeed you have weight to lose) because your body is as you stated, starving. Anyone telling you they lost weight eating less calories and carbs while running high mileage - I'd like to know how long that was "sustainable." From my own experience and many others I've know in nearly 20 years of running, it's not. It's deceptive because you can go a few years like that, but eventually your body will break down.

How old are you bud? Few things I've picked up on over time..runners sell themselves short metabolically speaking when their training is all cardio/aerobic based. Runners like Sage Canaday miss the point too when he speaks down on strength training, as his approach is more mileage the better, and I agree, to a point. Full body compound moves a few times a week can really help rev the metabolic engine up, and a dose of lean muscle mass (don't think of a bodybuilder) will keep you feeling younger with more mobility and athletic function too as we all age, eventually. Look at a runner in their 40s who have likely only ran with no other supplemental forms of training, while lean, they resemble more of a "skinny fat" especially in their gut, even with an enormous aerobic engine. Based on your diet breakdown, your body relies a lot on carbs and I am not seeing many fats in your diet. Not going to waste your time to highlight all of the benefits of more fat in your diet, but if you're really looking to switch some things up, read more into the importance of fat in our diets, especially as endurance athletes. Don't obsess too much over a few pounds here or there, I know I can range within 3-5 lbs on any given week depending on a few variables. Take it one run at a time, often times we get so obsessed chasing the unicorn, it's easy to forget how blessed we all are just to be able to go outside for a run. Good luck!

Thanks for all the responses. Several of you asked my age, I am 29. Around age 25-26 is when I noticed that I had to really start being careful with food intake, otherwise I would easily gain weight. I'm also a software engineer, so yes I sit a lot during the day, although I do have a sit/stand desk. Sounds like I need to switch out some carbs for more fat and protein, and do some weightlifting.

What are some good sources of fat? And how would I incorporate this into my diet? People are telling me to cut carbs but then when they share their diet they're having rice, oatmeal, and beans lol.

Healthy Fat wrote:

A calorie in equals a calorie out has been medically disproven. Carbs trigger an insulin response that in turn stimulates fat storage and weight gain.

What reputable scientific journal has contradicted the First Law Of Thermodynamics ?

As for the debunked insulin hypothesis of Taubes, see here

snow blow wrote:

Thanks for all the responses. Several of you asked my age, I am 29. Around age 25-26 is when I noticed that I had to really start being careful with food intake, otherwise I would easily gain weight. I'm also a software engineer, so yes I sit a lot during the day, although I do have a sit/stand desk. Sounds like I need to switch out some carbs for more fat and protein, and do some weightlifting.

What are some good sources of fat? And how would I incorporate this into my diet? People are telling me to cut carbs but then when they share their diet they're having rice, oatmeal, and beans lol.

I am in a similar situation as you. I am 28 and have always run while @ 141-144 all through HS and College, and wanted to try and get down to 135 last year (and I did).

Breakfast for me is usually 4-5 of the below:

-Eggs, Butter, Whole Milk, Wheat / Sourdough Toast, Tomato's, Bacon, Fresh-graded cheese

I definitely get some carbs but it's also quite a bit of fat and protein. Fruits have so much sugar in them and I generally avoid them. However, the #1 thing that helped me was just eating less, as lame as that sounds.

I like Frank Horwill's article

though fats are better than he says (can't blame him for thinking that way though when even the scientists / nutritionists did). Everything else in there is pretty good. Don't go overboard on the OJ though—take out the vitamins and that is just flavoured, fiberless sugarwater. At the end of the day if you are gaining weight that is because you ate too much food.

1) 80 mpw is not HIGH mileage at all. I'd say it is moderately high....

2) you don't have to each as much as you think you do to recover from that training load.

3) Big workouts days, hard long runs, fast intense workouts.... yeah focus more on getting recovery food in immediately. - You are making a mistake if you re getting "recovery foods/drinks" after every run that is not specific.

Other than that you really shouldn't be thinking too much about it. Stay away from sports drinks.....

+1

Despite running 90 mpw I eat less than my siblings who are couch potatoes.

gbgb wrote:

Make your diet a higher percentage of healthy fats and protein. Cut down the percentage of carbs.

Don't listen to anyone who spouts rubbish like this, and who doesn't list their current height, weight and mileage.

One definitely needs a high carbohydrate diet to run best.

My advice ~ wrote:

gbgb wrote:

Make your diet a higher percentage of healthy fats and protein. Cut down the percentage of carbs.

Don't listen to anyone who spouts rubbish like this, and who doesn't list their current height, weight and mileage.

One definitely needs a high carbohydrate diet to run best.

Ugh....ok then, back to my original question. WTF am I supposed to eat?

Honestly it's not even the weight gain that's bothering me the most, it's the constant hunger that is the worst part. How can I get my hunger under control? My current diet obviously isn't working.

reductionist wrote:

The Voice of Wisdom wrote:

All of these answers are wrong. Calories in, calories out is all you need to know. The idea of being an endurance runner on a low carb diet is retarded.

Not really. What*is* retarded is to treat the body as a bomb calorimeter with no regard to age, muscle mass, hormones, ambient temperature, and all of the rest of the variables.

No, what is retarded is not understanding the equation.

It's summer. We gain water weight to help us run more in the heat.

Here is my experience over more than 30 years of running: losing weight and high milage don't go together. I know it is counter-intuitive but it is what it is. What I have found works best for me is to first lose weight by moderate easy running and getting most of my calories from protein and fat. Once I get to within about 10 pounds of my target weight I start adding miles and gradually adding carbs through things like fruit, veg, and quality carbs like brown rice, oatmeal, potatoes, etc. All the while keep an eye on your total calories with something like MyFitnessPal. I usually get to my target weight after about six weeks.

Another counter-intuitive thing I have found is that I lose less weight if I restrict calories. My best weight loss comes when I am eating right at or very near my recommended calories given my lifestyle and amount of miles I happen to be running. I know it sounds weird but that has been my consistent experience. I read somewhere that it had to do with a physiological starvation response. I don't know about that. I only know that if I am way below my calories then my weight loss begins to stagnate.

Hang in there. Ultimately, it is the miles.

Everyone's an experiment of one - sounds to me you possibly have to much emphasis on "what" - so try "when" instead.

Can't help eating in the evening because of hunger? Then place the central meal of the day there, as late as possible, and minimize breakfast to a single protein bar and maybe coffee. You might even try skipping breakfast altogether once in a while, get out running with that protein bar in your pocket and only eat it during the run if you absolutely have to.

Run more eat more

5000kcals used in a day, eating 4500 you will lose 1 pound of fat per week. You can do distance and intensity, lose weight and stay strong because you are getting 90% of your calories and your body will easily convert adipose tissue into intra muscular tri glycerides which you need to run well and be generally healthy.

4000 kcals used in a day eating only 3000 you will be wrecked, that's only 75% of your calorie intake, not enough to be strong and healthy and train well or race well.

snow blow wrote:

Thanks for all the responses. Several of you asked my age, I am 29. Around age 25-26 is when I noticed that I had to really start being careful with food intake, otherwise I would easily gain weight. I'm also a software engineer, so yes I sit a lot during the day, although I do have a sit/stand desk. Sounds like I need to switch out some carbs for more fat and protein, and do some weightlifting.

What are some good sources of fat? And how would I incorporate this into my diet? People are telling me to cut carbs but then when they share their diet they're having rice, oatmeal, and beans lol.

I've found certain cuts of meat, eggs, pb, avocado, nuts and my weekend post long run indulgence, bacon. Genetically, we're all different, so we all have our unique needs. To some of the posters saying 80 mpw is NOT high mileage, I mean who are we comparing this to? If you're comparing that to elites then sure, 80 mpw is not high, but to the family man, working full time, 80 mpw with workouts sprinkled in, that is quite a commitment. It's all relative, whether we're talking diet, mpw, diet needs, strength work, running history, etc.

snow blow wrote:

Thanks for all the responses. Several of you asked my age, I am 29. Around age 25-26 is when I noticed that I had to really start being careful with food intake, otherwise I would easily gain weight. I'm also a software engineer, so yes I sit a lot during the day, although I do have a sit/stand desk. Sounds like I need to switch out some carbs for more fat and protein, and do some weightlifting.

What are some good sources of fat? And how would I incorporate this into my diet? People are telling me to cut carbs but then when they share their diet they're having rice, oatmeal, and beans lol.

Do you entertain the idea you are consuming more calories than you need?

Dude you’re way over complicating this

Cut back on the carbs... there is no need to eat a ton of carbs when you’re sitting at a desk all day

That’s a recipe for weight gain, which is exactly what happened to you.

Cut back to like 100g of carbs per day - that’s plenty to fuel you through relatively low mileage

Doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you’ll get fat if you eat a lot of carbs and sit at a computer all day

Honestly it's not even the weight gain that's bothering me the most, it's the constant hunger that is the worst part. How can I get my hunger under control? My current diet obviously isn't working.

Learn to live with it. There's no rule stating that you have to be 100% comfortable all the time.

I agree that in my experience 100 grams of carbs a day is plenty. That is about 25% of total calories. The next thing is to dial in the protein you need. Most recommend about .8 grams per kilogram of weight. So figure that out and that is the %age of calories you need for protein. The rest is fat. Butter is a good source of fat. Also things like olive oil or coconut oil. My pre-morning-run routine is to have a banana, then coffee with a tablespoon of butter and another tablespoon of coconut oil all blended up.

As someone said, we are an experiment of one. So, I recommend again you use some sort of food tracker like MyFitnessPal. Be obsessive about logging your food and tracking your weight for a month. You will be surprised at the findings. In my case for example whenever I dine out I can expect to see about a 3 pound bump in my weight the next day. Same thing with prepared lunch meat from the supermarket. Whenever I eat that I see a jump in my weight the next day. Much better to buy chicken or beef, fix it at home, and use that for lunch sandwiches.

Hang in there. We are all on the learning curve figuring out how to maximize our fitness. Enjoy the journey. Don't forget, it is about the miles! Error on the side of caution so you don't end up bonking multiple runs and seeing your mileage drop.