Running/Carb Intolerance and my weight loss so far.

Hey everyone....I'm a 31 year old marathon runner from Chicago. I started running in 2010 for Team World Vision at the Chicago Marathon. My wife encouraged us to sign up and I thought she was nuts! I weighed 237lbs at 5'7" and would get winded going up the stairs. 26.2 miles seemed impossible.

I lost 30lbs for just running but made no changes to my eating habits. When I did I just ended up quitting all the different diets. I have run 2 more marathons since and my weight fluctuated from 210 to 190.

I have become enamored with the cause Team World Vision represents. I have been blessed to have raised over $10,000 for clean water projects all over Africa. $50 saves one child. That's 200 kids saved!

I started training for marathon number 4 this year. I am a team captain and have been asked to lead a great group of people. My start weight was 205lbs. I knew that this year, I wanted to be faster. I wanted to run stronger and finally shed that weight off. I was working way to hard (logging 50+ miles a week) to not lose more weight.

I listened to a running podcast (Runner Academy) and their guest, Dr. Tim Noakes, talked about Carbohydrate Intolerance. Many of the symptoms he listed I realized I had. This was all mind blowing since it is contrary to endurance athletes. I have been loading up on carbs these past 3 years. Although they gave me the energy to put in the big amount of miles, I was only seeing minimal weight loss. I had to do something radically different and change the way I look at my nutrition.

I started a low carb nutrition plan which limited me to no more than 75g daily. MyFitnessPal has been the most crucial tool I could ever have to help me track all this data. It has been 49 days and I have lost 25lbs while gaining a lot of lean muscle mass. I have not changed my training regimen at all. I ran a race on May 26th and had a personal best for 10 miles at 1:20:31. I have cut down my 10K pace time from 9:40 min mile to 7:30 min mile.

My goal weight is 160lbs. I hope to achieve this by mid July early August. I just want to encourage you all not to give up. You can work out like a mad man but undo it all with what you put in your belly. Remember, YOU ARE THE BOSS! you tell your body what to do and not the other way around. You don't have to be a victim to your past or your weight or your situation. Don't wait for tomorrow. START NOW.