The Running Thread

[Murrr]

I still have treats, if I cut out chocolate completely life wouldn't be living but if I've had a lazy week I'll be stricter with what I eat and if I've been working hard I'll allow myself to pig out.

 

This is so important. Without a treat here and there, watching what you eat can be a turgid, soul-destroying experience, and I believe that you are far more likely to fail if you don't allow yourself a few indulgences here and there.

 

I lost over 4st over a period of about 12 months by following a paleo diet (low carb, high protein, moderate/high fats). My strictness varied greatly: at the start, my only "treats" would be a portion of rice or potatoes here and there. After a couple of months, I realised that I couldn't really sustain such strictness for much longer, so I allowed myself one "free meal" and one refeed day each week. I'd have the free meal on a Wednesday:typically I'd get a curry, pizza, or go out for dinner. My refeed day was a Saturday: I'd try to take in about 200g of carbohydrates (brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc.) while maintaining a high protein intake.

 

I was 18.5st when I started, and I'm 14st now (I've been at this weight for about six months). At the moment I find that I'm able to eat just about anything that I want without gaining weight (my activity level is very high: an 8-mile walk to/from work Mon-Fri, 2-4 games of football a week, a couple of 10-20 mile hikes each month). However, I still have some deposits of fat that I want to shed, so I restarted my plan last week.

 

Ultimately there are a number of different approaches that will help you lose weight. This is just what worked for me, but Chris' post is absolutely bang-on as well. I can legitimately say that paleo has changed my life, though. I feel far more energised and full of life after cutting-out unnecessary carbs, and it's not like I eat like a pauper. Today, for example, I had a big mug of the infamous BUTTER COFFEE for breakfast, a spinach and chicken salad for lunch, a protein shake after walking home from work, and I've just finished a plate of pork chops, broccoli and green beans for dinner. I feel fantastic, and absolutely stuffed. I'm going to structure my refeeds/free meals on Thursdays and Sundays: that way I'm never any longer than a couple of days away from a "treat."

[Adam Easy Wishes]

My absolute main problem with any kind of weight loss is motivation, I've lost about two stone myself in the last eighteen months or so, but that's through phases of more intense exercise/watching what I'm eatnig, followed by other phases of putting some weight back on.

 

It's hugely frustrating and I know I only have myself to blame.

 

Where did alcohol fit into your approach, Murrr? Or did you give it up?

[Murrr]

Cutting alcohol wasn't a massive problem for me, as I'm nowhere near as big a drinker as I was a few years ago. Where possible, I'd recommend drinking only on your reefed/free meal days, so you're getting all of your indulgences out of the way without spreading them out too much. I only really have a couple of boozy nights a month, and I don't drink during the week. The only conscious changes I made were to go for lower-carb beers (ales are yer best shout, generally) and to omit mixers when drinking spirits: fizzy drinks (even "diet" options) and fruit juice can murder your weight loss attempts.

 

Obviously the more you drink, the more your efforts will be hampered, but I definitely think it's possible to maintain a steady weight-loss routine without excessively culling your alcohol intake.

 

And yeah, motivation is an absolute bastard. I tried for years to shift weight, and it just didn't work. I'd go through spurts of attempting to live a healthier lifestyle, but ultimately I'd relapse and end-up gaining weight. It didn't really "click" until Spring last year.

 

Results are a pretty powerful motivator. Once you've been doing things "correctly," for a few weeks and the lbs start slipping away, it's pretty rewarding. A few things that worked for my motivation:-

 

1. Measuring weight in pounds, rather than kilograms or stone. These are a higher unit of measurement. A pound is .45 kilos. So if you lose 10lbs in one month, that's 4.5kgs. It's obviously just a psychological thing, as you've still lost the exact same amount of weight, saying you've lost the bigger figure just feels better.

2. Don't weigh yourself too regularly. Your body weight can fluctuate by a few lbs throughout the day, depending on what you've eaten/drank, etc. You could theoretically weigh yourself at 9am one morning, then weigh yourself again at 5pm the following day and be 3-4lbs heavier. You're not actually heavier: this is almost always water weight. Nonetheless, these temporary weight increases will destroy your morale.

3. When you weigh yourself, do it on the same day at roughly the same time wherever possible. I weight myself once every two weeks after waking-up on a Saturday morning. This will give a truer reflection of your actual weight loss, as your body will be in a similar state every time you weigh yourself.

4. Don't count calories. Most of the science behind caloric intake is complete and utter toot and has been disproven (though I can't pull-up references at the moment). This is a completely joyless way of "dieting," and there's a good chance that it just won't work. For perspective, I've lost weight on 3,500 calorie diet and a 1,000 calorie diet, with minimal activity at times. It's junk science. Count macronutrients.

5. Be kind to yourself. If you cock-up and have a pizza on one of your diet days, don't get frustrated: eat the thing and move-on. I found that when I punished myself to lapsing, I just made myself more and more frustrated, ultimately leading to more lapses. The goal is to be disciplined, yes: but living like a monk is unenjoyably.

 

I'd recommend the MyFitnessPal app if you want to try and track yer macros. It's a fantastic way of logging what you're taking in, and it even has a barcode scanner, so you can directly import your food's data onto your phone. Using it will teach you loads about the nutritional value of loads of different foods, to the point where you won't even need the app after a few months.

 

tl;dr, but that's my take. Again, I can't say that my way is "THE BEST EVER," but these are things that have worked for me.

[Adam Easy Wishes]

Great post, thank you.

 

When you talk about counting macronutrients, I presume you mean fats/carbs/protein etc - in your case keeping carbs at effectively zero, with high scores for proteins and 'good' fats?

 

What about natural sugars in fruit for example?

 

SO MANY QUESTIONS, but I really want to find a way that works for me.

[Murrr]

Let me get to that post when I'm at home and able to use a web browser that allows such revolutionary functions as copying/pasting and inserting hyperlinks and images.

 

Die, Internet Explorer, die.

[Gypsum_Fantastic]

Myfitnesspal is ace, started trying to lose weight last year and that was the best tool I had. Need to get back on it, have zero motivation and i live literally next to a gym.

[ca_gere]

This is so important. Without a treat here and there, watching what you eat can be a turgid, soul-destroying experience, and I believe that you are far more likely to fail if you don't allow yourself a few indulgences here and there.

 

I lost over 4st over a period of about 12 months by following a paleo diet (low carb, high protein, moderate/high fats). My strictness varied greatly: at the start, my only "treats" would be a portion of rice or potatoes here and there. After a couple of months, I realised that I couldn't really sustain such strictness for much longer, so I allowed myself one "free meal" and one refeed day each week. I'd have the free meal on a Wednesday:typically I'd get a curry, pizza, or go out for dinner. My refeed day was a Saturday: I'd try to take in about 200g of carbohydrates (brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc.) while maintaining a high protein intake.

 

I was 18.5st when I started, and I'm 14st now (I've been at this weight for about six months). At the moment I find that I'm able to eat just about anything that I want without gaining weight (my activity level is very high: an 8-mile walk to/from work Mon-Fri, 2-4 games of football a week, a couple of 10-20 mile hikes each month). However, I still have some deposits of fat that I want to shed, so I restarted my plan last week.

 

Ultimately there are a number of different approaches that will help you lose weight. This is just what worked for me, but Chris' post is absolutely bang-on as well. I can legitimately say that paleo has changed my life, though. I feel far more energised and full of life after cutting-out unnecessary carbs, and it's not like I eat like a pauper. Today, for example, I had a big mug of the infamous BUTTER COFFEE for breakfast, a spinach and chicken salad for lunch, a protein shake after walking home from work, and I've just finished a plate of pork chops, broccoli and green beans for dinner. I feel fantastic, and absolutely stuffed. I'm going to structure my refeeds/free meals on Thursdays and Sundays: that way I'm never any longer than a couple of days away from a "treat."

 

That's really impressive, well done! Were you rugby player 18st or flabby 18st out of interest? 

 

I looked into the paleo diet a bit before a) because it seems healthy and b) because I have terrible guts with loads of aversions to certain foods which the paleo diet seems to help you avoid. Good to know it's been so successful for you. I ran out of dinner ideas last time I tried it so i'll prepare myself a bit more and try again.

[Murrr]

Cheers! Definitely a rugby player 18st. A lot of people are pretty shocked when I say that's how heavy I was, because I'm pretty broad-shouldered and my body "carried" the weight well, but I had a lot of fat packed-in there. Stubborn, rock-solid fat as well: not just soft pudge. 'Mare.

 

Regarding meals, there are quite a few really good paleo recipe blogs out there. If you Google 'em, the top few results have served me well over the past year or so. I also have a cookbook called "Primal Cravings: Your favourite food, made Paleo," which is decent. To be honest though, I'm pretty lazy: I tend to just cook some seasoned chicken/pork/turkey (sometimes with a sauce) and two portions of veg. I'll add an egg or two if I'm feeling frisky. Pretty simplistic, but I bloody love meat.

[Murrr]

Great post, thank you.

 

When you talk about counting macronutrients, I presume you mean fats/carbs/protein etc - in your case keeping carbs at effectively zero, with high scores for proteins and 'good' fats?

 

What about natural sugars in fruit for example?

 

SO MANY QUESTIONS, but I really want to find a way that works for me.

 

Yeah, macronutrients are your carbs, fats and proteins. As a guide, I try to aim for 70-80g fat a day, 50-100g carbs, and 100-150g protein. Honestly, the fewer carbs you consume on your "diet days," the better. There are days when I consume as little as 5-10g. On your refeed day, try to hit about 200-250g carbs, maintain your protein intake, but lower your fat intake. If you're having a free meal, my take is to have fun but don't go over-the-top.

 

Generally, you want to avoid all sugars when adhering to a paleo diet. Weight loss is all about hormone control. For males, insulin is the key hormone. Carbohydrates spike your insulin level, which causes fat to accumulate. When your insulin levels are lowered, you don't accumulate fat you burn it.

 

In short: carbs drive insulin, insulin drives fat-loss.

 

Sugar is particularly quick to digest and has a very pronounced affect on your insulin level, which makes it such a brutal thing to consume (if you're trying to get lean).

 

Without carbohydrates, fat is burned rather than stored. Your body turns to it as fuel in the absence of quick-digesting carbs, so you lose weight. Proteins are the body's building blocks, and aid in muscle recovery and growth.

 

Back to sugars: natural sources like fruit are undoubtedly better for you than artificial sources, but only consume them in moderation. I certainly wouldn't eat more than one or two portions of fruit a day. Low-sugar fruits like berries are probably your best bet. Fruits are obviously packed with loads of beneficial vitamins and minerals, but definitely exercise moderation and caution. Absolutely avoid fruit juice, though. The stuff is weight-loss kryptonite because its packed full of fructose, which does awful things to your digestive system.

 

Here's a really good pyramid thing:-

 

 

The idea is to consume more of the foods at the bottom and less of the foods at the top.

 

You may feel a bit groggy after a few days of following such a plan. That's perfectly natural, and is your body adapting to using stored fat for fuel rather than carbohydrates. The feeling will pass before long, and you'll feel like Conan afterwards. Maintaining mid/high fat intake is absolutely vital for cognitive function: I get most of mine from meat, butter and avocados. 

 

I hope that's useful. This is kind of a passion of mine, and I could type hundreds and hundreds of words about it, so feel free to hit me with any Qs, any time.

 

Ultimately, I am an advocate of finding a system that works for yourself. This may or may not be it, but dabbling in it will definitely provide you with some knowledge that'll serve you well in the future.

[Moose]

Has anyone done the Aviemore 10k?  I'm doing it in 3 weeks time.  Sounds like its mostly downhill...

[Scorge]

Has anyone done the Aviemore 10k?  I'm doing it in 3 weeks time.  Sounds like its mostly downhill...

 

Pass, though a friend of mine did the half last year and said it was a quick course so you may be right.

 

Loch Ness just round the corner now. Anything under 5 hours would be a triumph given my lead-in TBH....

[Scorge]

Short summary of Loch Ness Marathon:

 

Miles 1-4: happy days!

Miles 4.1-26.2: not so much, really. Got home in 5hrs52, which should give you a clue to how smoothly things didn't go.

 

Filing this under 'character building'!.....

[Chris]

Short summary of Loch Ness Marathon:

 

Miles 1-4: happy days!

Miles 4.1-26.2: not so much, really. Got home in 5hrs52, which should give you a clue to how smoothly things didn't go.

 

Filing this under 'character building'!.....

 

Oof! Well, at least you finished. That's a long way to go if it's a slog. 

 

How was the course?  Thinking of making this my first marathon next year.

[Scorge]

Oof! Well, at least you finished. That's a long way to go if it's a slog. 

 

How was the course?  Thinking of making this my first marathon next year.

 

Suffered from grumbling appendix, ripped the skin off a toe (stupid socks) and finally ricked my back in with 9 miles left. Lucky there was an ambulance round the corner to strap me or I'd have been a certain DNF, could only do 400/500 metres at a time after that before it got sore again. Fun! 

 

Course is beautiful but tough - the undulation is near constant throughout with a couple of real ugly hills at 5/6 miles and the infamous ones out of Dores at 19/21 miles before it levels out into Inverness. I reckon you'd need to incorporate plenty of gradient into your LSR's in the lead up to it to be confident. That said: very rewarding to finish, no matter how slow!...

[Chris]

Course is beautiful but tough - the undulation is near constant throughout with a couple of real ugly hills at 5/6 miles and the infamous ones out of Dores at 19/21 miles before it levels out into Inverness. I reckon you'd need to incorporate plenty of gradient into your LSR's in the lead up to it to be confident. That said: very rewarding to finish, no matter how slow!...

 

Sounds good. I always put hills in my runs when I can so gradient isn't a problem, doesn't make them any more fun at a race though (as Skye half marathon proved)!

 

I've hardly done any running the last two months as we're getting ready to move house.  Bit of a shame as I was in great form at the start of the summer but that's the way things go I suppose. 

 

Will need to figure out some good routes around Stoney for when I move.  Need a 5k loop, 10k loop and a good variable LSR.  Need to find a hilly off road route too.

[Moose]

Managed 48.50 in the Aviemore 10k.  Pretty stoked as I did absolutely no training, but it was an easy route.  You should definitely try it if you want to get a PB!! 

 

It's made me want to get back into the swing of things, I'm just so scared of injury.  My new year's resulotion was to get close to 40 minutes, but that's definitely not going to happen now. 

[KarmaTsunami]

So, it seems races run under Scottish Athletics don't let you have headphones in to listen to music as you're running. Fair dos, I'm not wanting booted off the race for contravening rules. I'm just wondering if I can train with music up to the day then not bother for the marathon and it'll all be hunky dory, or if it's really best to do some long runs sans music beforehand. It seems like it would make for tough running now, but hopefully the closer I get to run day, I'll be a way better runner than I am now where I need 'Omen' by The Prodigy to come on before I can beast the final km.

[Chris]

So, it seems races run under Scottish Athletics don't let you have headphones in to listen to music as you're running. 

 

If it's a big race you'll probably find shitloads of folk wearing headphones anyway because the public don't bother reading mundane things like rules

[KarmaTsunami]

I figured I could probably bung my headphones in once I've got a bit more room and there's plenty of room for runners to get past me, but having no past experience I don't know how strict the marshalls are likely to be.

[ca_gere]

Just signed up for the Brooklyn Half Marathon here in Poland. I'm scared.

 

I'm fairly confident I can take the next step up to about 7-8 miles a run (from my current max of like 4-5). It's the next level i'm really concerned about. I just googled half marathon training programs and they all seem pretty much the same. Any tips appreciated though.

[ca_gere]

Half marathon is Saturday. Pooping my breeks but i'm sure it'll be fine.

 

I did a trial run of just over half the route last weekend and the remaining half is a straight line slightly downhill. I still don't think i'll be able to comfortably run the whole way, will probably need to take a few walk breaks towards the end, more because my feet get numb after about 6 miles than anything else. We had a long winter which made running outside a bit difficult so i'm not as prepared as i'd have liked but fuck it.

[Chris]

Half marathon is Saturday. Pooping my breeks but i'm sure it'll be fine.

 

I did a trial run of just over half the route last weekend and the remaining half is a straight line slightly downhill. I still don't think i'll be able to comfortably run the whole way, will probably need to take a few walk breaks towards the end, more because my feet get numb after about 6 miles than anything else. We had a long winter which made running outside a bit difficult so i'm not as prepared as i'd have liked but fuck it.

 

Good luck!

 

Try and enjoy it as much as possible. Best tip I can give you is to slow down, especially in the first half. You will be amazed how good you feel and you will bomb off a lot faster than you intended and then wonder why you're fucked for the last 3 miles.  

 

I need to get some races entered for later in the summer. Really struggling to get back into a routine at the mo with family commitments.

[ca_gere]

cheers!

 

yeah, starting as slow as possible is my one main goal. I'm gonna try not get carried away by the fact thousands of people are zipping by me.

 

Apparently there's loads of free beer and a dip in the ocean waiting at the finish line so i'm hoping the prospect of that will keep me ticking in the latter stages. I'm doing it with 2 other people, one of whom is an experienced runner and the other who is in the same boat as me (threatening to tip over into being in shape but still not fully equipped to deal with long distances). I'm hoping we keep each other going.

[Chris]

Apparently there's loads of free beer and a dip in the ocean waiting at the finish line so i'm hoping the prospect of that will keep me ticking in the latter stages. I'm doing it with 2 other people, one of whom is an experienced runner and the other who is in the same boat as me (threatening to tip over into being in shape but still not fully equipped to deal with long distances). I'm hoping we keep each other going.

 

Free Beer! 

 

If you can find someone of a similar pace to you to chat to and help pull you round it'll definitely help.  At my first half I caught up with a clubmate after two miles and we did the rest of the race side by side.  She basically dragged me through the last mile as all I wanted to do was sit down for five minutes.

[ca_gere]

Well, I ran the whole way. 2:30. Paced myself really well at the start and probably could've pushed it a bit more than I did in the last 4 miles because I had a fair amount of energy left. I was so concentrated on not having to slow down to a walk so I was really cautious and didn't gauge how fast I could go properly. About 800m before the finish line you get herded up onto a boardwalk and there were loads of people cheering everyone on, was a really cool feeling. 

 

There's no way in hell I could've done it 6 months ago so i've got to be pleased with that. I don't think i've caught the runner's bug quite yet though. Maybe once I start actually considering times and PBs it'll catch on. For the most part I found the actual running pretty boring. After the race I was thinking a full marathon just seems ludicrous but with a bit of time and more intensive training it doesn't seem so impossible anymore. Still... the thought of the race I just did being ONLY HALF WAY ROUND is mental. Hats off to you proper runners.