Why are so many formerly competitive runners huge and fat now?

Raysharp001 wrote:

So I'm not fat anymore, but I was, and I understand how it happens. When you are young, you can't imagine the other demands that gradually take over your life. In fact, when you are young and starting insulting threads like this, you can't imagine any reality other than your own, because you have not developed empathy.

How did you feel when you looked at yourself in the mirror when you were 199lbs? When I was a skinny fat alcoholic who looked at himself in the mirror one day and suddenly hated himself, I finally made the changes I needed to get back to a point of health and wellness. I think it’s important to be tolerant of fat people, but that shouldn’t be confused with condoning them for being fat. Being fat is a choice. When people bring sweets into the office, don’t eat them. Don’t buy ice cream. Go for a walk at lunch. Take the stairs. Stop being a whiney excuse making victim and own your life.

Lack of empathy wrote:

A lot of the solid studs on here that are young don't have the life experience yet. Even if they are sub-17 and sub-2:50 'thoners. But if you are single, wealthy and have tons of free time it's easier to get fast and train all the time, esp. if you have nothing else.

The family life is real. Mornings and evenings with my son remind me every day why I am just thankful to RUN regardless of time. Sure, it's fun to PR or hit a groove in a long run, but burning the candle on both ends is very real.

Awaiting some know it all to counter that point to say, well, I woke up at 330am, 12 miles in before the kids got up, then another "easy" 6 after work, and I beat the wife and kids home. Alright dude, we get it, sweet life.

I ask myself before heading out for a Saturday morning run, 14 long run miles today or 5-8 miles, with plenty of energy left to chase him around after I am done?

Whatever time you can find, just maximize it. Be thankful to run, even at a slower pace, who cares. Running is a gift, embrace it, for what it is, that day.

So, I am a 29 y/o dietician, ironman finisher (just 1x) and hobby-jogger with lofty goals (for me anyways) of qualifying for Boston...who like OP struggled with why/how someone would let him/herself go. That was until I took on more responsibilities at work, my wife gave birth to our first child, and subsequently came home from work to be a stay at home mother....

Before my little girl was born, training and diet came first in my life and that was non-negotiable. Now, even though I still have dreams of running a qualifying Boston time, my baby girl and wife (who I had neglected due to training) has taken #1 priority, and I am so thankful that I realized the importance of being a well-rounded, present dad and husband versus the local endurance that really wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it was.

I am learning how children are demanding and how that successfully balancing quality time with them, quality time with my wife, and doing quality work at my job, can be a daunting task at times. As a result, the pressure to do these things well can override any desire to lead a healthy lifestyle. I now have much more appreciation and understanding of the dads and moms out there who are winning at home and at their jobs but struggling to take care of their health. It is easy to put personal health on the back burner.

At the end of the day, I believe it all boils down to time management, sleep, stress, and will-power... If I have had a rough day, I typically make poor dietary choices. If I have had a emotionally or mentally taxing day, I also tend to make poor dietary choices. If I have used up all my will-power for the day (ex. doing things that require more discipline than normal), I also tend to make poor dietary choices. If I am sleep deprived, then I can forget about making excellent food choices. And stress...stress comes with any of those things. (I also see these trends first-hand with my clients.) Even with my knowledge of the dietary world, it is still hard for me to follow through on healthy dietary practices when one of these four mentioned things is out of sync. SO...if it is difficult for me, then I KNOW it has to be difficult for the general public, especially when they are constantly inundated with conflicting information about smart/healthy dietary habits.

SO I think this helps give a little insight as to why the public has and continues to regress with their health.

As for former athletes, it would seem like that it would be simple for them to cut out some unhealthy calories and fit in some kind of exercise routine into their daily life. But the athletes that I personally know have "all or nothing mindsets" and if they can't compete at a high level, then they would rather not exercise/train at all (and you might as well throw healthy eating out the door as well).

Spotter of fat people wrote:

Runningart2004 wrote:

Define fat?

People called Bob Kennedy fat when a post retirement pic of him was shown and he’s not fat.

At what body fat level would you consider a guy fat?

Alan

Found one!

No doubt. That’s a dead giveaway when someone is asking for the definition of fat.

Cop out... wrote:

Letting yourself go is inexcusable. Don't tell me it is hard to jog 40min a day?

It can be when you get older. I used to think like you when younger. I thought why don't those fat people just run 10-miles/day. Now I know why.

blamb61 wrote:

Cop out... wrote:

Letting yourself go is inexcusable. Don't tell me it is hard to jog 40min a day?

It can be when you get older. I used to think like you when younger. I thought why don't those fat people just run 10-miles/day. Now I know why.

+1

Exactly! When I was young fast dude training like a madman I kept thinking what's wrong these lazy older people? They won't get out there and train like they did when they were younger and all they do is complain about Injuries and their disabilities.

Well the joke is on me: Fast forward a few decades later when I hit the 50's and the injuries starting occurring like crazy. Then came the inability to train, followed by the lack of motivation because you can't train, then followed by the weight gain, then depression and so forth.

I don't think these youngsters have an understanding of just how hard it is for some of us competitive runners to try and stay active in our older years due to the profound destruction the training had on us in younger glory years.

arhight wrote:

As for former athletes, it would seem like that it would be simple for them to cut out some unhealthy calories and fit in some kind of exercise routine into their daily life. But the athletes that I personally know have "all or nothing mindsets" and if they can't compete at a high level, then they would rather not exercise/train at all (and you might as well throw healthy eating out the door as well).

I was once at this point, where I would tell nyself that if I didn't have time to run at least 5 miles, I wouldn't run at all. This was a hugh mistake, because I stopped running completly, believing that I didn't have enough time. Of course telling someone that you're too busy to exercise, subjects you to a lot of skepticism and eye rolls. And I began to think that I might be wrong, and I soon learned to force myself to run 2 miles a day even if I was "too busy" to run at all. Once I got back to this, I realized that I was fooling myself. I did have the time. I just had to readjust my priorities.

You see the world through your cynical eyes

You're a troubled young man I can tell

You've got it all in the palm of your hand

But your hand's wet with sweat and your head needs a rest

And you're fooling yourself if you don't believe it

You're kidding yourself if you don't believe it

Why must you be such an angry young man

When your future looks quite bright to me

How can there be such a sinister plan

That could hide such a lamb, such a caring young man

You're fooling yourself if you don't believe it

You're kidding yourself if you don't believe it

Get up, get back on your feet

You're the one they can't beat and you know it

Come on, let's see what you've got

Just take your best shot and don't blow it

You're fooling yourself if you don't believe it

You're killing yourself if you don't believe it

Get up, get back on your feet

You're the one they can't beat and you know it

Come on, let's see what you've got

Just take your best shot and don't blow it

- Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) Styx

Styx ?

I thought it was Nietzsche sniffing glue .

I lost a lot of motivation to train hard after I hit my genetic limit and plateaued. I now put all my passion into making money in my career instead of lowering my race times. I still run 10-15 mpw but am a lot heavier and slower than before. I still have some resemblance of abs at least.

Dfif

Stick in my craw wrote:

Styx ?

I thought it was Nietzsche sniffing glue .

No, it was based on Billy Joel's song of the same name (Angry Young Man), which came out the year before:

There's a place in the world for the angry young man

With his working class ties and his radical plans

He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl

He's always at home with his back to the wall

And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost

And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on the cross

And he likes to be known as the angry young man

Give a moment or two to the angry young man

With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand

He's been stabbed in the back, he's been misunderstood

It's a comfort to know his intentions are good

And he sits in a room with a lock on the door

With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor

And he likes to be known as the angry young man

I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage

I found that just surviving was a noble fight

I once believed in causes too

I had my pointless point of view

And life went on no matter who was wrong or right

And there's always a place for the angry young man

With his fist in the air and his head in the sand

And he's never been able to learn from mistakes

So he can't understand why his heart always breaks

But his honor is pure and his courage as well

And he's fair and he's true and he's boring as hell

And he'll go to the grave as an angry old man

There's a place in the world for the angry young man

With his working class ties and his radical plans

He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl

He's always at home with his back to the wall

And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost

And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on the cross

And he likes to be known as the angry young man

Cop out... wrote:

Letting yourself go is inexcusable. Don't tell me it is hard to jog 40min a day?

I will definitely tell you that if you are married, and have kid,s and work 8, 9, 10 hours a day, and have a long commute, and the kids have activities, and the lawn needs mowing, and the gutters need cleaning, and a million other things, that yes, it is hard to find 40 minutes a day on a regular basis to go jog. And don't say get up earlier when you're already getting by on 6 hours sleep.

But you'll find this out when you grow up and enter the adult world.

@Cop out wrote:

Cop out... wrote:

Letting yourself go is inexcusable. Don't tell me it is hard to jog 40min a day?

I will definitely tell you that if you are married, and have kid,s and work 8, 9, 10 hours a day, and have a long commute, and the kids have activities, and the lawn needs mowing, and the gutters need cleaning, and a million other things, that yes, it is hard to find 40 minutes a day on a regular basis to go jog. And don't say get up earlier when you're already getting by on 6 hours sleep.

But you'll find this out when you grow up and enter the adult world.

Of course it's not easy to find time to work out (let alone time to train at a high level!), but if being healthy is important to you, you make time. I'm nearly 40, have a family and a mortgage, and work the typical 40-50 hour per week office job. But if you make it part of your life, it's not so bad.

Sometimes I workout on my lunch break (my work has a locker room; I realize not every office has this), sometimes I exercise before the family is up, and once a week I meet up after work with some friends to run. Four nights out of five during the week I'm home for dinner with my family. On weekends sometimes I run while my son bikes along with me. Or we'll go for a family hike. I like showing them that just getting out and moving is fun and makes you feel good.

I don't run at nearly the same volume as when I was training (maybe a quarter of the mileage on a good week!), and I will likely never hit my PRs again, but between the regular exercise and watching what I eat, I'm still pretty close to my college racing weight. Life is all about choices. You can choose to have a fast food hamburger for lunch, or you can choose to pack a healthy sandwich. You can choose to watch two hours of television per night (less than the American average) or you can get outside and be active. Just be sure to own the choices you make.

" I woke up at 330am, 12 miles in before the kids got up, then another "easy" 6 after work, and I beat the wife"

Cross training is important

OP

Can I contact you when you are 48 and see what your waist size is?

asker of fat questions wrote:

You talk to them and find out that decades ago they were scholarship runners, 2:20-ish marathoners, and winners of lots of local races. Then something happened and they got fat.

I don't get this. Even if I had a horrible injury that prevented me from running, I'd find an alternative exercise and watch my diet so I didn't pack on the pounds.

I figure there are lots of fat ex runners on letsrun, so do you let yourself go like that? I would hang my head in shame.

Because, that's why.

Food and Booze. Because as you age you get older and uglier no matter what you do, you probably really aren't chasing the opposite sex as hard as you were , and they for sure aren''t chasing you, and then why does it matter if you are fat? Time to take up your 5 feet wide space on the sidelines and live through your kids

The middle aged, too much work and family time excuses are bs. I am middle aged (have a horrible metabolism), work 40+ hours a week, and have young children. I watch what a consume, run very early in the or late at night, and often push one of my kids in a stroller. I am fitter than I was in my 20s.

The excuses need to stop!!!

I started running again over the summer after 10+ years off. I was getting pretty fat (6'2", 240 lbs) and had some other health problems that pushed me towards really prioritizing getting in shape. After a month or two of consistent exercise the competitive juices started flowing and here I am. I was previously a jumper/sprinter and am now training for HMs and fulls. I have a 2.5 year old and another one the way, a wife and run an organization of hundreds of people at a fortune 50 company w/ hours ranging between 50-70 hours per week.

In order to make running 60 miles a week work with this type of a schedule. I wake up every morning between 4:30 and 5 AM to exercise and still have time to spend time with my kid before daycare, come home from work to spend time with my kid and wife and then work in the evening before going to bed at 9:30. I literally don't have time to take a crap during the day. I suspect that many people can't put up with this type of lifestyle for too long which is why you see fall-off. Especially for folks who can't set PRs any longer as they age. For me, because I am not competing against my former self it is easier to find motivation.