Yesterday, I talked about how important running is to me, for my physical, spiritual and mental health.
However, for weight loss, even running is not enough. It is necessary, but not sufficient on its own. I've learned this through some seriously painful trial and error.
I trained for and completed the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon while about 20 lbs overweight. My sweet husband Ron jumped in to run with me at mile 18, to try to encourage me on. "You can do it, babe!" he cheered, just as I was hitting the wall. I couldn't even reply- I was just holding it together. "Babe?" he asked, concerned that perhaps I was experiencing some sort of exhaustion-induced deafness. "Don't be so nice to me right now," I croaked through a tear-tightened throat. "I can't handle it."
I actually GAINED weight while training for the Ironman- a period during which I was completing nearly 20 hours a week of intense physical activity. It was infuriating, to put it mildly. (I'll talk about this more tomorrow.)
For myself, I think weight loss is about 90% diet, and 10% exercise.
I need the exercise, for the emotional health reasons mentioned previously, as well as to speed along the process. But I am completely capable of eating up all of the calories I've burned off, and some extra for good measure, if I'm not also careful about my diet. This is not solely my lunacy- there are lots of studies and papers about this phenomenon- you can find a nice short one here, for example.
I am fully enjoying not training for an Ironman this year, and have built shorter runs, one long run, along with maybe a bike ride, a swim, or some yoga, into each week. In short, I am active, but not a crazy person.
Anyway, I will keep all of this as consistent as I can through each new diet I try. This steady-state will let me zero in on the impact of the diet, while (hopefully) helping to keep me healthy and sane.
However, for weight loss, even running is not enough. It is necessary, but not sufficient on its own. I've learned this through some seriously painful trial and error.
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On the upside, I didn't poop my pants.Image from blog.opentable.com/tag/tori-tsu |
I actually GAINED weight while training for the Ironman- a period during which I was completing nearly 20 hours a week of intense physical activity. It was infuriating, to put it mildly. (I'll talk about this more tomorrow.)
For myself, I think weight loss is about 90% diet, and 10% exercise.
I need the exercise, for the emotional health reasons mentioned previously, as well as to speed along the process. But I am completely capable of eating up all of the calories I've burned off, and some extra for good measure, if I'm not also careful about my diet. This is not solely my lunacy- there are lots of studies and papers about this phenomenon- you can find a nice short one here, for example.
I am fully enjoying not training for an Ironman this year, and have built shorter runs, one long run, along with maybe a bike ride, a swim, or some yoga, into each week. In short, I am active, but not a crazy person.
For a NSFW but highly entertaining take on Ironman training, may I recommend the following:
Anyway, I will keep all of this as consistent as I can through each new diet I try. This steady-state will let me zero in on the impact of the diet, while (hopefully) helping to keep me healthy and sane.
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