Mar 17, 2010 7:04 AM
Quick Nutrition Question
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I am upping my Saturday running distances by one mile every week, this Saturday will be an 11 mile run. In addition, I run a 5k distance on Mon and Thurs plus half my Saturday distance on Wednesday. So this weeks total is 22.5 miles. My question is how should I handle my calorie intake. Last Saturday I burned 1400 calories, which put me with negative calories for the majority of the day. I ended the day with about 700 calories to the good, I ate when I was hungry but stopped when I was full. I don't like to force myself to eat.
I eat mostly carnation instant breakfast or oatmeal for breakfast, apples and bananas for snacks throughout the day. For lunch I usually eat some kinda of soup, or a pb sandwich, and dinner is usually some sort of chicken and vegetables. Occasionally I will eat some fast food, but not very often.
I am 5' 11" male and I weigh 185 pounds. I am not really overweight, but I have a little tummy, however it is nothing sit ups could not fix. Should I be trying to make up the calories I am burning during these runs or so I should I continue my current habits of just eating until I feel full.
Are you trying to lose weight or maintain where you are now? I think you have some good habits established by making healthy choices, but I think you should focus on breakfast. I think oatmeal is a good choice but maybe you should add some protein. Maybe a hard-boiled egg or whole wheat toast with peanut butter.
Are you drinking any calories (sweet tea, soda, juices, etc)? If so, you should really look at that and see what makes sense. Sugary soda pretty much doesn't make any sense to me. Same for sweet tea (although it's probably a better choice than soda). Many juices are loaded with calories as well. Drink plenty of water. I carry a camelbak better bottle and sip from it throughout the day. I probably drink 4 24oz bottles of water throughout the day.
Keep a journal of everything you eat throughout the day for a couple weeks. Be honest and total up the calories as well as the balance of carbs, proteins, and fats and the time you eat throughout the day. You can then calculate what you take in, and it looks like you have an idea what you burn and that should give you a range of how much you should eat. Keep focused on eating the right foods and I can't see how you could go wrong. I also try to balance my intake throughout the day. 300 or so calories for breakfast and about 200 every three hours or so for the rest of the day.
As for having some belly fat, depending on your age it can be very hard to get rid of. Doing sit-ups will strengthen the muscles under the layer of fat, but you still need to get in your cardio training to lose the fat. There are calculators online you can use to determine what heart rate you want to target based on your goals...fat-loss, heart health, endurance training, etc.
If you're not doing and kind of strength training already, you should start doing it. Building strength in your core is a great place to focus, but don't forget about your legs...keeping them strong will help you avoid running related injuries.
Yeah my breakfast is definitely my weakest meal of the day. I use to have a whey protein powder drink mix in addition to my oatmeal, but I ran out the powder and have not bought any since.
I do not drink any sodas or sweet tea. The only things I drink are water, skim milk, and gatorade rain on my long runs. I've actually kept a food journal for over one year now actually and I usually average between 1800 - 2400 calories a day. 1800 or so on the days I do not run. Now like I said there are occasional times when I get fast food or dine out with my wife, but it is infrequent.
I would not mind dropping a few more pounds, but I am having a hard time doing so. I have averaged 20+ miles a week for about a month now, before that it was 15+/week. I have not noticed much a change really, my top two ab muscles are barely visible and have been for quite some time. I thought for sure the rest would come off in time, but so far nothing has happened.
I have not done any strength training beyond push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups. I have been thinking of joining a gym, but running 4 days a week limits my time, and I would hate to lose a running day.
My primary concern is keeping my body healthy enough to continue my running, and if the weight loss comes along with it that is a plus. Can I keep my body healthy enough to continue my running, while slowly increasing my distance without making up the calories I burn?
Thanks for the reply!
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