Middle-Aged men marathon guys with a gut

YMMV wrote:

If you are having to run in order to maintain weight, your metabolism isn't "slowing down", you are more insulin-resistant.

https://thenoakesfoundation.org/nutrition-network/running-on-the-banting-diet-carb-intake-and-fast-runners

I am under 10% bodyfat currently, and I could stop running or aerobic training right now and six months from now still be at the same body comp (I won't, because I Iove to run 40-60 miles/week and be overall fit). At 61 I in no way run for weight management, and despite being insulin-resistant myself, I do not worry about weight and do not count calories or fight of urges. How? At first I counted carbs not calories (kept carbs under 50-75g/day for a few years) until I was in ketosis. Now I have a breatalyzer that tells me each morning whether I am still in ketosis.

Nowadays my carbs are a few pieces of fruit per day, maybe a small side of sweet potato or rice with a meal. I have one evening nightcap of 2 oz vodka or tequila in a mixed drink. I eat tons of veggies and high-quality animal source fats, including meat, fish eggs, along with nuts, avocados, coconut etc.. I also eat in a window of six hours a day. I never have the "hunger pangs" or "hangry" feeling of old.

All of this keeps me in ketosis, and my energy is even and consistent all day, and I can easily run for 2-3 hours anytime with no "bonk" (by running slow enough to be fat-burning). My muscle mass is about 15 pounds greater than when I was a skinnyfat teenager, and yet my waist size is the same. I can fire off 20-25 pullups or climb an overhang for over an hour without getting off it. It took 30 years, but I finally have the body I always wanted as an athlete.

Count the carbs, not the calories. Stop being hungry all the damned time.

An alternative entry point, which I haven't tried but is physiologically sound, is to use a glucometer and test after meals. If your glucose goes above 130, you need to reduce the carbs. By the way this will help your heart health, keep you from diabetes, stroke and likely even cancer. The discipline involved is not loading up on the starchy sugary food that the rest of society considers as "food".

YMMV wrote:

If you are having to run in order to maintain weight, your metabolism isn't "slowing down", you are more insulin-resistant.

https://thenoakesfoundation.org/nutrition-network/running-on-the-banting-diet-carb-intake-and-fast-runners

I am under 10% bodyfat currently, and I could stop running or aerobic training right now and six months from now still be at the same body comp (I won't, because I Iove to run 40-60 miles/week and be overall fit). At 61 I in no way run for weight management, and despite being insulin-resistant myself, I do not worry about weight and do not count calories or fight of urges. How? At first I counted carbs not calories (kept carbs under 50-75g/day for a few years) until I was in ketosis. Now I have a breatalyzer that tells me each morning whether I am still in ketosis.

Nowadays my carbs are a few pieces of fruit per day, maybe a small side of sweet potato or rice with a meal. I have one evening nightcap of 2 oz vodka or tequila in a mixed drink. I eat tons of veggies and high-quality animal source fats, including meat, fish eggs, along with nuts, avocados, coconut etc.. I also eat in a window of six hours a day. I never have the "hunger pangs" or "hangry" feeling of old.

All of this keeps me in ketosis, and my energy is even and consistent all day, and I can easily run for 2-3 hours anytime with no "bonk" (by running slow enough to be fat-burning). My muscle mass is about 15 pounds greater than when I was a skinnyfat teenager, and yet my waist size is the same. I can fire off 20-25 pullups or climb an overhang for over an hour without getting off it. It took 30 years, but I finally have the body I always wanted as an athlete.

Count the carbs, not the calories. Stop being hungry all the damned time.

An alternative entry point, which I haven't tried but is physiologically sound, is to use a glucometer and test after meals. If your glucose goes above 130, you need to reduce the carbs. By the way this will help your heart health, keep you from diabetes, stroke and likely even cancer. The discipline involved is not loading up on the starchy sugary food that the rest of society considers as "food".

elviejo wrote:

I'm just an old jobby hogger that never was any good at running, but I like it so I run. Not a HS or college runner. Started in my late 20's when I had ballooned from 150 in HS to 175lbs. Ran for many years at that weight, doing maybe 30-45 miles a week and sometimes running 2 or 3 marathons a year. I was totally one of those guys the OP posted about. Times were mostly in the low to mid 3's. I dunno ... it never occurred to me that I was even overweight. Who knows, maybe I just didn't want to face that fact.

I got semi-serious when I was 39 and dropped to about 165 and peaked at 62miles and ran a 2:58. Woohoo for me. In my late 40's, fatter'n ever, I started running with club runners and I noticed in pictures I looked like a gawdam Bulgarian weightlifter next to those guys. Disgusting. I went from 185 down to 147 in about 2 1/2 years by cutting sugar and carbs. PR'd every single distance in my early to mid-50's. I've backslid a little to 155 now but I'm still within spitting distance of HS weight at 57 years old. I will never go back to those fatass days. Can't believe I allowed myself to get that way. Now that spring is coming I'll push to get back under 150. I seem to pack a few pounds on in the winter.