Running and Diet ?

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boooie1
boooie1 Posts: 13 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi... I try run 3/4 times a week usually 5/6 miles more 8/10 Saturdays.I got my first marathon in April nervous and excited at the same time lol.... Im ok on my training etc I got my plan and will be doing it with my running buddies(any one who can encourage me and me them feel free to add me :)... I am trying to drop a stone before my training starts properly beginning of December, but then lost another 7lbs to stone while training.... right now im just sticking to about 1200 calories to do this but what I wondered was what kinda foods people tend to eat while training for a marathon and what kinda calories etc .... any advice gratefully received Thanks :)
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  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,065 Member
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    I'm thinking that since you are training for a marathon you need to eat more than 1200 calories per day.
  • rahlpn
    rahlpn Posts: 551 Member
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    Running the way you do burns MEGA calories, you should be wearing a heart rate monitor and eating back those exercise calories, 1200 is way to low to sustain that for long.
  • determined2run
    determined2run Posts: 31 Member
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    I'm thinking that since you are training for a marathon you need to eat more than 1200 calories per day.

    ^^^ This!
  • boooie1
    boooie1 Posts: 13 Member
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    I wear a garmin but no hrm on it ,just my own settings etc entered into it... I was going to up the calories once I had lost that stone and start eating some of the exercise calories back, was just trying to give myself a kick start. :)
  • smarionette
    smarionette Posts: 260 Member
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    I burn as many calories running a half as you eat in a day! Eat more!

    From a practical standpoint running depletes your muscle's glycogen stores. You run better when your muscles have stored energy, so you need to keep those stores high, even when you are increasing your mileage. Also you should try not to drop more than a pound a week at your peak of training to prevent post race sickness (its a thing).

    Diet is crucial for distance running. You need to really check your in vs. out and use that instead of some arbitrary number like 1200 calories. BMR + Expenditure - (350-500) calories = Your Intake is one way to do it. TDEE - 10% would be another way. Don't think of your diet as how you lose weight, think of your diet as how you need to eat to do the things you want to do.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    So about 18 miles a week, at ~165 pounds? Should be right about 1800 net calories burned, per week. To me, that's a bit high for a 1200 calorie plan, but ultimately your body will make it very clear if you're not eating enough.
  • pinktoesjb
    pinktoesjb Posts: 302 Member
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    Hello, if you aren't used to that level of running and are not eating back the calories I fear you will hate running and struggle with the energy, I'd up the calories right away you are already eating at a big deficit at 1200 a day so you can afford to eat at least some of the running cals back.

    Good luck!
  • mreeves261
    mreeves261 Posts: 728 Member
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    I personally would up your calories now. I'm not running as far as you are but I moved up to 1550 daily when I started running and have actually seen no reduction in my weight loss. If anything the rate at which I lose weight is faster now than it was.

    I have read several times carbs are a great way to fuel your body for longer runs, like 10+ miles, but I haven't personally gotten that far.
  • Nmt100
    Nmt100 Posts: 36 Member
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    I'm training for a half marathon and losing weight eating 2000 calories a day (I'm 5'5" and 149lbs). I'm in the early stages of my plan at the moment and will up my calories further as training progresses. Definitely eat more and you need to be eating enough carbs for adequate recovery and fuel and enough protein for muscle repair. I would guess that at 1200 you aren't getting adequate nutrition for that amount of exercise at the moment.
  • boooie1
    boooie1 Posts: 13 Member
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    Ok will up the calories..Thank you, it helps to get the advice....I am used to running 5/6 when i'm getting the higher mileage 8 and over I am getting tired quick,especially in the legs...furthest I have run recently is just over 13 and that wasn't easy so really need to learn to fuel better :)
  • smarionette
    smarionette Posts: 260 Member
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    You'll thank yourself for it. Also, look at gels and other ways to refuel during your long runs. I resisted it for months, then my first official half they gave me a gel at about mile 9 and oh my goodness did it ever make a difference!
  • boooie1
    boooie1 Posts: 13 Member
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    I have tried gels a couple of times unfortunately they leave me needing an emergency loo stop lol I done a half in September and I had some jelly beans along the way, but thinking about it and what you all have said If i had fueled better to start with it might have been easier :)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I wear a garmin but no hrm on it ,just my own settings etc entered into it... I was going to up the calories once I had lost that stone and start eating some of the exercise calories back, was just trying to give myself a kick start. :)

    You don't think 1200 is already a big kickstart to what you likely burn all day even with NO exercise?

    You may not understand how MFP works.

    You might as well not waste your time doing the workouts eating what is considered bare minimum just to get proper nutrition for a sedentary person.
    You need more than that if not sedentary, and especially with that kind of training.

    Might look at your Goals page and see what that 1200 already gives you in the way of a deficit and likely fat loss if you don't blow it by thinking more and faster weight loss is better.
  • kaji13
    kaji13 Posts: 172 Member
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    I personally would up your calories now. I'm not running as far as you are but I moved up to 1550 daily when I started running and have actually seen no reduction in my weight loss. If anything the rate at which I lose weight is faster now than it was.

    ^^ this was true for me as well. I went from 1350 to 1650 when I started running regularly, and I eat most or all of my exercise calories back. Still losing weight.
  • Amberlynnek
    Amberlynnek Posts: 405 Member
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    I just finished my 5th marathon last weekend and for the 4 months I spend training my calories start from 2,000 and go all the way up to 4,000/5,000 calories for longer runs and the marathon. You cannot eat 1200 calories and train, you will not be able to support the distance.
  • smarionette
    smarionette Posts: 260 Member
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    Fueling is part of what you practice, and different fuels work for different people. http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/2013/10/21/17-mid-run-snacks-to-improve-your-marathon/ has some other ideas that might help. Also race week I tend to eat VERY VERY bland, few fats, no spice, etc to help prevent those mid run flare ups.
  • boooie1
    boooie1 Posts: 13 Member
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    Right will up the calories, until beginning of training I will be running on average 25 miles a week give or take some miles.Also planning on one session of body pump and hopefully body balance. Once I hit December the mileage will increase slowly week by week .The days I dont run should I eat a lower amount or should I eat a steady amount every day ? sorry for the questions but really do not want to mess this up and get it going properly :)
  • Linli_Anne
    Linli_Anne Posts: 1,360 Member
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    I'm 5'11, and I eat about 1900 calories a day. This includes anything that I burn during exercise, so I eat the same daily and it all evens out.

    I just completed a 1/2 marathon last week-end, and I was training basically all spring and summer for it. I have lost a good 10 pounds eating at this level daily, and maintaining my training.
  • smarionette
    smarionette Posts: 260 Member
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    Right will up the calories, until beginning of training I will be running on average 25 miles a week give or take some miles.Also planning on one session of body pump and hopefully body balance. Once I hit December the mileage will increase slowly week by week .The days I dont run should I eat a lower amount or should I eat a steady amount every day ? sorry for the questions but really do not want to mess this up and get it going properly :)

    Eating the same amount every day does make things easier. That would be a TDEE calculation (this is a good one http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) but I found that eating like that left me feeling ravenous on long run days. I found it better to eat using the mfp model (settings at lightly active, eating back 90% of calories burned, aimed for a max deficit of 500 early on, 300 closer to the race, maintenance race week)

    edited to clarify
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Right will up the calories, until beginning of training I will be running on average 25 miles a week give or take some miles.Also planning on one session of body pump and hopefully body balance. Once I hit December the mileage will increase slowly week by week .The days I dont run should I eat a lower amount or should I eat a steady amount every day ? sorry for the questions but really do not want to mess this up and get it going properly :)

    Depends on if you want to do it MFP style, where you get a deficit exercise or not, by eating back your exercise calories.

    That usually does work better for the type of training you are going to be doing.
    Some days big burn, some days light burn, some days no exercise.

    Because the TDEE Deficit method, eating the same daily from your weekly routine averaged out, can get screwing when you burn 3000 calories on big run day, but eating extra 500 daily doesn't really help out recovery post big run.

    Because after that run is when you need the carbs to refill, to be ready for your next workout. You don't need a couple of rest days to be 500 more than they need to be.

    I'd suggest MFP style.

    Be aware with only 15 lbs to go, you should be at 1 lb weekly loss, or body will likely stress out enough to cause that or less anyway. When you get to 10 lb mark, 1/2 weekly is better option.

    And when you log your workout calorie burn, especially as they get longer, the following really applies.
    Your HRM, or MFP database, or whatever, is giving you total calorie burn for the time done - not what you burned on top of what you would have burned anyway (which they don't know).
    So if you do total calorie eatback, you are eating some you were already expected and given to eat anyway.

    To get, you might say, your net calorie burn, find your non-exercise maintenance on MFP Goal page.
    Divide by 1440.
    That's what you have accounted to burn every minute of the day already, and what your eating level is based on.
    So take that cal/min x minutes of workout, subtract the result from your reported calorie burn.

    Or use something like this, with about 3% grade if outside running, and select the NET option, and it's done already.
    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs.html

    I say 3%, but if your route did not return home, but was say steadily uphill, then use that grade. Otherwise head/tail wind and up/down hill cancel each other out over longer times. But up and down is still more energy than flat.

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