• FreeTrainers.com Forums
• Specific Diets & Nutrition
• Nurtition Weight Loss For Runners

Group: Specific Diets & Nutrition

Nurtition Weight Loss For Runners

Ravenbeauty Posts: 3,755 Joined: 2002/09/24

2006/06/21, 09:48 PM Nutrition Guidelines for Weight Loss From Jesslyn Cummings, Your Guide to Running / Jogging. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! A Guide for Runners: The Calorie Game Slimness and beauty are so closely related these days that it has caused a rash of fad diets and eating disorders to plague even the most "normal" and adjusted citizens. It is becoming nearly impossible to go to the grocery store and buy "regular" or "real" foods. Everything has something added to it, like supplements, or something taken from it, like carbs. Is that really the best way to lose weight? Why is it so much work to be healthy? The good news is it really should not be that much work. Amazingly, nature is perfectly suited to keeping us healthy. Our problem is working a variety of natural foods into our daily life and eating the right amount, not too much or too little. Lifestyle change is the hard part. Most people do not want to change the way they eat or the way they live. Sponsored Links Lose 25 lbs in 30 days Foolproof Diet Plan Does Not Fail Look Great Naked! Immediate Results www.FoolproofDiet.com Healthy Eating Review restaurants ratings in our Citysearch Seattle Guide. seattle.citysearch.com Biggest Loser Club Lose Weight And Keep It Off! An Easy Diet Plan That Works BiggestLoserClub.com Because of that, the diets that work best are the ones that make the least amount of change and that work with the individual. The other hard part of lifestyle change is learning to be active. Thankfully, runners have a headstart towards being healthy since we are already active. However, if you are a runner who is trying to lose some weight, you may soon realize that most diets on the market are not made for active people. Most diets are aimed toward sedentary people, as that is the biggest market for diet products. This means that, as a runner or athlete, most diets are not going to meet the nutritional needs your body has. This article strives to help runners understand their bodies' needs and provide guidelines to allow individuals to make the best decisions about their personal needs in a diet. Let's start with calories. There are a lot of misconceptions about calories. No adult (or teen for that matter), except those under a doctor's supervision, should consume less than 1200 calories a day. That does not mean that Mr. "240 lb, 10 miles/week" should eat 1200 calories a day. The correct procedure is to use calorie calculators to find a range of calories for your average day. Example 1: If Ms. "25 y/o, 5'5, 135 lbs, runs occasionally" looks at 3 calculators, her results might be 1829, 2166, and 2054. So, she should eat between 1830 and 2150 calories per day to maintain her weight. Since she wants to lose weight, she should eat 250 - 750 less calories per day, making her daily target calorie range 1200 - 1900. Example 2: Mr. "35 y/o, 6'0, 200 lbs, runs daily" looks for his calorie range. His results might be 2982, 3242, and 3976. His range, then, is 3000 - 3900. This makes his daily target calorie range (for weight loss) 2250 - 3550. Remember, you should subtract no more than 750 calories from your daily calorie range. Obviously having a target range gives more flexibility to a diet plan. Where there is more flexibility, there is usually less stress, and less stress means the plan is easier to stick with. An important thing to know when considering calorie expenditures is to underestimate your activity level. For whatever psychological reason, humans tend to overestimate their activity level even when they feel they are being conservative. Light activity would includes people who run for 30 minutes to 1 hour two to four times a week. Moderate activity includes people who run 1 hour daily. Also, when considering calories you need to realize that eating a large portion of your daily calories at a pizza buffet for lunch and then having a diet milkshake for dinner is not going to help you lose weight. When you eat and what you eat matters as well as how many calories you consume, as we'll see when considering the 3 W's. Three important questions for runners to ask themselves are why (do you eat), when (should you eat), and what (should you eat). Why Considering why you eat is a big part of controlling your intake. The reason we should eat is to live. If you eat just because there is food, you may eat twice, or more, what you actually need to consume. Eat to run, don't run in order to eat. Food is fuel. You've probably heard it before, but it is the way we were built. We were built to take in food in order to provide our bodies energy and we need to realize this and allow it to take part in how we look at food. No, you don't have to stop enjoying food or eating, but you do need to see food for what it is: fuel for your body. (If emotional eating or other eating disorders are a problem for you, please seek help. Sponsored Links Oprah Has Spoken "You're going to want to take this test" - the free RealAge test! www.RealAge.com Complete Diet for Kids Custom meal plans included. Custom exercise plan available. 45Pounds.com Healthy Eating Customer ratings for veggie places. Citysearch guide to Seattle. seattle.citysearch.com Millions of Americans have untreated eating disorders that harm them more and more everyday. Even if you feel your problem is not serious, you may find that researching eating disorders will give you a new perspective on your own problems.) Without proper fuel your body does not function at its best. The better your body is fuelled, the better it feels and works. But just controlling how much you eat is not enough, you also need to think about when your body needs refuelling. When Once you get a handle on some of your bad eating habits, like emotional eating, and you see that food is fuel for your body, you can start to see how important it is to eat when you need it most. It is unlikely that you would get very far in a car that had no gas and the same goes for your body. Of course, we have a second tank on us, our fat stores, so it is unlikely that you would not be able to run at all if you haven't eaten. However, your performance will not be the same because your body is having to work overtime to find fuel and is, thus, not running or burning fat efficiently. Our food also provides other needed nutrients (like oil and coolant to a car) so even if you are still able to fuel yourself you may be missing important nutrients that help your body work well. The moral here is that if you are very active during the morning and afternoon and not very active in the evening, you need to eat more in the morning and afternoon (to keep you fueled and healthy while you are active) and then eat less at night (when you are less active). Of course, what you eat is equally important. What The keys to what to eat are moderation, balance, and variety. Skip any diet that is no-fat, super-low-carb, and/or high-whatever. The idea of these diets is correcting your eating habits. If you eat 85% carbs and feel it is normal, then telling you to go on a low-carb diet would make sense. You might see low-carb as eating 8 servings of carbs a day (which is a healthy amount). However, for people who generally have a good idea what healthy eating is like, low-whatever or high-whatever diets are a bad idea because you already have the knowledge you need to have a good diet. Moderation is the key. If you crave sugar, fine, but just have a little. One small piece of chocolate every day or two is not likely to be a problem. Balance is very closely related to moderation. The same idea applies that you should eat a healthy amount of protein, fat, carbs, even sweets. A healthy balance of dairy, meat, veggies, fruits, grains, and treats is much easier to continue eating than a diet that is keeping you away from certain types of food. Any diet that suggest you eat a tiny amount (or none at all) of a food group is unlikely to be healthy for your body (or your mind). Going cold turkey on sodas (if you are a soda addict) is not going to be very good for your mental health even though it may be very good for your body. So, if you do have a bad habit, cut down slowly. Know, also, that not all bad habits need to be completely annihilated. Sometimes the bad part of the habit is how often you do it. (Remember, moderation.) Variety is also a key because the more types of foods (especially fruits and vegetables) you eat the more likely you are to get all the nutrients you need. Variety will also help you stick to eating healthy because you are less likely to get bored with your choices. Even if you just try one new recipe (that includes something you don't eat much) every week or two, at least you are getting a few extra nutrients and keeping yourself from burning out on your diet. You may notice that diet foods are not on any of these lists. Many diet foods are not as good for you as they seem. If you want to reduce your carbs, low-carb bread is not what you should eat. You should eat regular bread, but just eat less of it. Many diet foods have added saturated fat or other chemicals that are bad for your body. Keep it real, ok? For more information on why, when, and what, check out these nutritional guidelines. By using these guidelines, and your new calorie range, weight loss should be very attainable. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions when it comes to a healthy diet. For instance, it is not true that the more water you drink, the better. 64 oz - 100 oz (8 cups - 13 cups) per day is enough for most people. (When you workout for 45 minutes or more add another 8 oz or so.) Liz Applegate, Ph.D., wrote an article, Setting the Record Straight, debunking several common diet myths. Myths are not the only problem with understanding healthy diets. These days it seems like there is always another breaking news story about a new miracle pill or the perfect eating plan. It can be hard to tell what is right and what is wrong without better understanding of nutritional science. Sponsored Links Try eBay Browse a huge selection now. Find exactly what you want today. www.eBay.com Lose 18Lbs in 4 days Yes you have read it correctly, I will show you how step-by-step www.18in4.com Weight Watchers Visit the official site to learn how to lose weight & keep it off. www.WeightWatchers.com Well, never fear, Suzanne Girard Eberle, MS, RD, has written a brilliant article, Beyond the Headlines, to help us sort it out for ourselves. Now that you are armed with the basics of what you need to know to lose weight and keep your body healthy for your active lifestyle, Let's Sum It Up No less than 1200 calories a day, unless under doctor's supervision. Find your calorie range, then subtract up to 750 calories a day. Try to keep your carb/protein/fat ratio between 50-55% carbs, 20-25% protein, and 20-30% fat. 8-10 servings of grains per day. 7 servings of vegetables per day. 2-4 of fruits per day. 4-6 oz lean meat or 2-3 servings of soy per day. 2-3 servings of lowfat dairy products per day. Try to drink 64-100 oz of water daily. Eating disorders are common and serious. Moderation, variety and balance are key. A Sample Day (Stats: 25y/o, Female, 5'8, 160, lightly active) (Calorie Range 1950-2200, Weight Loss Range 1200-1950) Wakes Up Eats Breakfast: 2 pieces of toast w/ peanut butter and jelly (100% fruit), orange juice, coffee (black), water = 400 calories, 2 grains, 2 fruit, 1 protein Goes to Work (desk job): more water Lunch: 10" sub sandwich (w/ meat, cheese, and veggies), chips, tea (unsweetened) = 800 calories, 4 grains, 2 protein, 1 dairy, 2 veggies More Work: more water Snack: carrots with ranch dip = 150 calories, 2 veggies, 1 dairy Goes Home Runs 30 min: more water Dinner: salad with turkey bacon and olive oil/raspberry vinegarette, garlic toast = 350 calories, 3 veggies, 2 grains, 1 protein Does Light Housework Relax and Snack: Hot Cocoa = 150 calories, 1 dairy Sleep Total: 1850 calories, 8 grains, 7 veggies, 2 fruit, 4 protein, 3 dairy -------------- Bettia.... You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. -Mark Twain ravenbeauty@freetrainers.com