Running with Jack

Lot’s of interesting comments coming back on dieting. Rather than trying to answer several questions that came up individually I thought I would just write a new post.

Currently I am just starting a new training cycle, which means less overall mileage. This is typically the timeframe that I use to drop any weight that I put on during recovery and hopefully get a little closer to my “ideal weight”. I try to eat healthy, but less than normal.

I have tried keeping a log of what I eat, mostly to track my eating to see what the best fuel is for my running, but alas I am not disciplined enough to make daily entries. I don’t count calories, rather try to stay away from fatty or high-sugar type foods. This coupled with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables usually works for me.

I usually eat five times a day, twice being just a snack, and the largest meal being in the evening. I know that it would be better if I ate the larger meal at midday, but it doesn’t work for us as my wife's only chance for a warm meal during the week is at night.

When I was younger, e.g. 32 and still in the Army I could increase my exercise level and lose weight almost overnight. Now at 46 my daily caloric intake that I require is much lower, which means I have to exercise a lot more, reduce even more calories, or a combination of both to lose weight.

The other problem is that as my mileage increases, so does my appetite and usually twofold. You would think I would only need to increase my mileage, while keeping the calorie intake the same and I would automatically lose weight. In theory this is correct, but in all actuality this rarely works for me, I just get too hungry and end up pigging-out. I can at least maintain my weight if I increase my caloric intake proportionally to my mileage.

In any case I am most successful at weight loss when my running mileage stays under around 50K/30M a week and my long runs do not exceed 20K/12.5M. So this is where I am at in the moment.

Once I get up to running about 40-45 miles a week I don’t have to watch my calories so much, rather I concentrate on eating healthy and balanced meals.

The worst problem I have is sweets, especially cake. I have been known to polish off huge piles of cake and ice cream with Hersey's chocolate sauce later in the day following a long run. I would probably be better off eating a steak and some potatoes...but I know from experience that I would end up eating the steak and potatoes - and the cake and ice cream with Hersey's chocolate sauce ;-)

Last night was a rest night. We went to dinner with friends of ours from Ohio that were over here in Germany for a funeral. What did I eat? Steak and potatoes, a green salad and I even managed to skip the cake and ice cream. Progress, yes! In any case I woke up this morning full of energy and wishing that I could go do my long run rather than go to work :-) Tomorrow morning I want to get up early (6 a.m.) and do at least 20K/12.5M.