What do you eat when you're trying to lean out?

This is what works for me....

Limit bread, pasta,rice,cereal

No booze

Eat lots of fresh veggies and lean proteins

Snack on nuts to curb huge

Eat to curb hunger, no to feel full

My big cheat is to drink a cup of coffee before some meals, this tends to curb my appetite. Eating slowly help with eating just enough.

22lbs in 6 months without diet:

Run over 45 minutes/day everyday. Slow.

Slow as breathing through nose only.

As I have gotten older - now 37 - I find that I don't want to binge eat as much. Even when I am running high mileage like 90 mpw, I just want to eat normal amounts. I also find myself craving healthier foods. I don't really need to lose weight that often due to a constant need to run at least 50 mpw (I consider it therapy and "me" time), but I find that if I cut alcohol, for even a week at a time, I will lose weight fast.

I don't drink ridiculous amounts of alcohol. Maybe 3-4 beers twice or three times a week (if there is a weeknight event), but that is probably around 1,800/2,000 calories in a week when you consider that I drink heavier IPAs or other similar beers. Cutting that out is significant, especially if I am running higher mileage.

Veggies, fruits, nuts, eggs, lean meats/fish, occasional red meat for the iron. Eat carbs that are fiber filled... Brown rice, quinoa, beans/lentils, oatmeal.

Coffee/green tea helps. Sleep A LOT(8-10hrs). It's more about NOT eating junk/fast food and cutting alcohol like above posters mentioned.

I reduced eggs to 12 a day, increased protein shakes and lost 3 lbs in 5 months, now a lean & mean 403.

Time to get tough and count calories. In the final analysis it is a numbers game. The first 4-5 days are the toughest until you start to see some progress. And to see it, you have to track it. As far as the "counting part," use Myfitnesspal. It is a great tracking and analysis app, and it syncs with Garmin Connect. Short answer: It's not what you eat. It comes down to net caloric intake. Shoot for 500 net calories/day < BMR.

Same food, more miles.

Fast 2 days a week. Eliminate most of your carbs. Skip breakast. Run in the morning before eating.

You can still have a few drinks on the weekend but don't over do it--maybe before dinner to kill your appetite.

Black coffee. Believe me, it works if you can stick to it....and go to bed hungry once in a while.

readrun wrote:

Protein shakes in the AM are definitely a good tool. I'd avoid whey, though.

You can get hydrolyzed beef protein powder for shakes now, though it mixes terribly.

Morning is a shift to a catabolic energy state and not a good time to eat protein.

Set protein at 1g/lb

Set fat at .5g/lb

Rest from carbs.

On 20 kcal/lb bw I will gain weight, and fat gain is noticable

On 18 kcal/lb bw I will gain weight, but mostly muscle

On 16 kcal/lb bw I will maintain, perhaps recomp a bit but not much

On 14 kcal/lb bw I will lose fat slowly but can maintain muscle/strength

On 12 kcal/lb bw I will lose fat faster but lose strength too

On 10 kcal/lb bw everything goes to shit.

It really is all about the numbers.

As for what I eat:

Eggs, salmon, beef, chicken,

Green vegetables, onion, peppers,

Rice and Oatmeal (usually only after workouts)

If I include bread, pasta and sugary bullshit I will inevitably gain fat in the long term-I don't run much anymore and am more of a strength athlete.

Eating at restaurants regularly is a sure-fire way to put on bodyfat-huge portion sizes, carb and fat dense yet fiber and protein sparse dishes laden with salt and additives is trouble.

Mileage has nothing to do with being lean. If you run a lot you will be skinny, but not necessarily lean.

The modern diet is the reason most people don't have six-packs. It requires discipline to avoid the food that leads to fat gain. If you walk into a supermarket, 80-90% of the foods will make you fat unless you are working your tail off with large amounts of training.

1lb fat loss per week is realistically sustainable.

2lb fat loss per week for short periods of time (you will be hungry).

Caffeine helps with fat mobilization and hunger.

I've noticed very low carb diets destroy my energy levels and will to live, I would not recommend them. As runners you can handle a decent amount of CHO but time them well and better sources (low GI) if you are looking to lose weight. Suddenly going super low carb is not a great idea.