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Running to eat?

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  • KathleenMurry
    KathleenMurry Posts: 448 Member
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    I'm the opposite.... I eat to run. I fuel my body all day so that I can have an amazing run after work. And then I refuel my body with good food after so I can do it again the next day.

    :D
  • WannabeStressFree
    WannabeStressFree Posts: 340 Member
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    However, I also do eat more carefully now to make sure I recover from runs and things right. I also am more aware of how foods affect me, either pre or post-run. It's funny. People always say "But you're a runner, you can eat whatever you want!" and I think "God, if only that were true!"

    I agree with this. I used to think that running was my weight loss cure all and I could eat the world because I run...
    now that I'm carefully studying my calorie intake and burn
    a whole new world is open to me. I realize that I'm now eating to fuel my runs not running to let me eat a whole cake or piza pie (seriously). I'm paying more attention to my hunger levels related to my runs, it's pretty cool to be connected this way with my body. I'm becoming friends with my body rather than enemies as before.
    My bad eating habits are not gone, but I'm working on them.
    Good question to ponder. My Dad says he used to run to be able to pig out but he stopped because it wasn't sustainable.
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
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    Yes, I run to eat...but that doesn't mean to eat anything I want (unless it is the post race dinner, because then that is a victory dinner and those don't count lol).

    I run so that I can eat much more nutritious foods, so that on that long run tomorrow when my blood is flooding my legs with nutrients, my muscles are getting good quality blood rather than sugar filled gloop.
  • lcvaughn520
    lcvaughn520 Posts: 219 Member
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    I definitely did start running as a way to lose weight (because it is more difficult for me to simply eat less); however, when I do get in a good routine of running pretty regularly, I find that my eating habits tend to automatically become better. I make better choices because I don't want to mess up a run I have planned. So in some ways it's a Catch 22. I do like that running allows me to be a little more lax in my food choices, but at the same time, it kind of takes away my desire to be!
  • plateaued
    plateaued Posts: 199 Member
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    This thread is making me hungry. I'm gonna go run.
  • LittleCulturedPearl
    LittleCulturedPearl Posts: 71 Member
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    For me it was a "eat to live" life style. I exercised hard enough so that I could enjoy whatever I wanted, however much I wanted. But then I realized that what I was eating also affected my ability to perform as well as I wanted, especially when running, i.e., time trials. So I started eating to live, and now I'm sort of in the middle. I don't eat too much, but I also don't avoid any type of food just because it is believed to be bad for one's health.
    Now, I run/bike/swim/lift because I enjoy the feeling I get from it, and I eat until I am satisfied, although I do find that it is easier to enjoy a bigger piece of cake if I workout for longer!

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