Eating more due to running/running to combat overeating
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Like the chicken or the egg question, which came first!
This is something I battled for a LONG time. I've made a few changes that have helped me. I think of it as my running sandwich. I load my heavier carb meals before and after my runs. I run late afternoon so lunch is my opportunity to fuel up on carbs for a solid run. I eat a lot of sweet potatoes, but brown rice, quinoa, things like that work well, too. This is balanced out with some protein and veggies. If I am going to be running for an hour or more, I top off my stores w/ a little bit of quick carb from either a banana, vega energizer, 2 dates, or a few Clif shot blocks just before I run. After my run I immediately fuel up with quick absorbing carbs again, usually in the form of a shake or vega recovery accelerator.
I also can't stress enough how much tracking my intake here helps me.0 -
I love to run. I love to eat. I admit I run a lot so I can eat, drink, and be merry. I'm not one of those persons who "eats to live", I "live to eat". LOL.
Before starting MFP, I gained weight during marathon training by giving myself a free pass to eat as much as I wanted. I've been here on MFP for almost 3 years and maintaining my weight by tracking. When I wasn't tracking, I'm sure I ate as much as 4000 calories during those long run days.0 -
Thank goodness for running. I think it's the only way I've been able to maintain a weight I'm happy with. Instead of wanting 2200ish Cals/day but only needing 2000 (=weight gain), I want 2500 but burn at least that much :bigsmile:
I've just kind of accepted that I'm a fat kid at heart and need to be extra active to compensate. So I guess I'm not much help re: what to do about it.
ETA: But I do love running for the sake of running, too. The eating is just a side benefit
Ahhh, a fellow fat kid at heart! You better believe I enjoy my giant pieces of breakfast pizza after those long runs!0 -
I've read alot on MFP about TDEE, but never implemented it myself. I've calculated it and it seems like an insane amount of food, I'm sure as fellow runners you can agree. I only average 30 - 35 miles per week and my TDEE recommendation even with a reduction of 20% to reduce fat is around 2500. Curious how many people follow the TDEE and if it helped you lose weight.0
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I need to look into this TDEE. Looks like I'm not only running every training run too fast, but also not really watching what I eat. Those are a combination for success in running, right? Lol0
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I've read alot on MFP about TDEE, but never implemented it myself. I've calculated it and it seems like an insane amount of food, I'm sure as fellow runners you can agree. I only average 30 - 35 miles per week and my TDEE recommendation even with a reduction of 20% to reduce fat is around 2500. Curious how many people follow the TDEE and if it helped you lose weight.
When I follow it (and stick to it ) yes, it definitely works. Mine isn't nearly as high as yours though. 0 -
That TDEE stuff makes running and eating too complicated for me.... when I'm training for a race and get my weekly miles up over the 45 mark, I just eat as much as I feel I need to get ready to run the next day... MFP is just a gentle reminder to not get so medieval on the fridge....
I think I mostly run to drink....0 -
Whether you are using the MFP (count exercise calories) method or the TDEE method, it's going to require the same amount of food. It's six of one, half a dozen of the other.I've read alot on MFP about TDEE, but never implemented it myself. I've calculated it and it seems like an insane amount of food, I'm sure as fellow runners you can agree. I only average 30 - 35 miles per week and my TDEE recommendation even with a reduction of 20% to reduce fat is around 2500. Curious how many people follow the TDEE and if it helped you lose weight.
I personally have stuck with the MFP method, but that's because it works better for me because my TDEE changes regularly. I do go by my weekly average for intake and do not eat the same every day though. I typically eat more the day before/the day of my long run day and on the weekends.0 -
I personally have stuck with the MFP method, but that's because it works better for me because my TDEE changes regularly. I do go by my weekly average for intake and do not eat the same every day though. I typically eat more the day before/the day of my long run day and on the weekends.
Yeah... that is what works best for me...0 -
I love running and I love eating and I think it's great that the two activities complement each other so well, but I don't have any hang-ups about either. OP, I think you just need to keep doing what you're doing until running is so much a part of your life that you don't have to mentally balance it against food.
100000000% this.0 -
Whether you are using the MFP (count exercise calories) method or the TDEE method, it's going to require the same amount of food. It's six of one, half a dozen of the other.I've read alot on MFP about TDEE, but never implemented it myself. I've calculated it and it seems like an insane amount of food, I'm sure as fellow runners you can agree. I only average 30 - 35 miles per week and my TDEE recommendation even with a reduction of 20% to reduce fat is around 2500. Curious how many people follow the TDEE and if it helped you lose weight.
This! I do TDEE because I don't like to feel "punished"/"not allowed" to eat on rest days or shorter run days. By allowing yourself an opportunity to "indulge" only after doing a long run or a hard workout, I feel like you are "rewarding" yourself with food, therefore it might seem as if on a rest day "if I could just go run 5 miles then I could eat that bowl of ice cream" or whatever it may be. It's a little restrictive in my opinion.0 -
I tried shifting to TDEE but I started gaining weight so I went back to the traditional MFP method. Now that soccer season has started for my kids I am running twice a day 3 times a week and am eating more, I worry about what will happen when their soccer season ends and i can't justify 3000+ calories a day.0
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I tried shifting to TDEE but I started gaining weight so I went back to the traditional MFP method. Now that soccer season has started for my kids I am running twice a day 3 times a week and am eating more, I worry about what will happen when their soccer season ends and i can't justify 3000+ calories a day.
Quick!! Sign them up for football or basketball or hockey or wait--- cross country??? That would be prime ;-) lol :P0 -
I am trying to stick to the 2300 calories per day that my dietitian recommended for me. As I am approaching 6 weeks until my marathon, I find that I am not losing weight and I am also hungry as hell. Staying within 2300 calories and feeling satisfied, like I did before marathon season, is nearly impossible. The worst is Saturday and Sunday. So, until race day I will at least maintain my weight though I would prefer to drop some more weight. The taper will be most critical to not let weight gain happen. While running takes care of calories, we all know we can't outrun overeating. I started MFP simply because running never fixed my weight. Eating less than we burn is the truth that will determine our weight.0
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Ultra marathon training?I tried shifting to TDEE but I started gaining weight so I went back to the traditional MFP method. Now that soccer season has started for my kids I am running twice a day 3 times a week and am eating more, I worry about what will happen when their soccer season ends and i can't justify 3000+ calories a day.0 -
I've read alot on MFP about TDEE, but never implemented it myself. I've calculated it and it seems like an insane amount of food, I'm sure as fellow runners you can agree. I only average 30 - 35 miles per week and my TDEE recommendation even with a reduction of 20% to reduce fat is around 2500. Curious how many people follow the TDEE and if it helped you lose weight.
My TDEE is a little over 2800 and I am averaging around 2150 cals a day. I also run 30-35miles a week, plus cross training and weight lifting. As you can see from my banner as a method its working for me 0 -
Even taking other factors into consideration, I think it takes the same level of dedication to combat overeating while running regularly as it does without.0
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Even taking other factors into consideration, I think it takes the same level of dedication to combat overeating while running regularly as it does without.
I agree.0 -
If you run enough you won't have time to overeat. At present I'm running 60-70 miles a week, I couldn't overeat if I tried. In fact, I don't have much of an appetite most of the time. I assume this is partially because I feed myself enough proper food accordingly (especially during runs and staying constantly hydrated in the 100% humidity here).
Furthermore, I've found when I was cycling 200+ miles a week the duration of training was longer and I needed to eat much more (2,500+ cals per day). At 60ish running miles per week, I can easily get by on 1,600-2,000 cals per day. In this summer heat I would not want to be overeating. I'm plant based and eat 80-10-10 and most of that is fruit.0 -
Even taking other factors into consideration, I think it takes the same level of dedication to combat overeating while running regularly as it does without.
I agree.
Me too! I think when you are someone who struggles with overeating then the reasons you run and what you eat around this get muddled, or at least they do for me hence my initial post. I have had too many runs where if I'm honest they have been because of eating too much the day before (I even entered a marathon on this basis in the hope it would help focus me), so the motivation and enjoyment of running for it's own merit is key for me, and then eating food to support my health and body around this, with the odd treat thrown in (I like cake and bread too much it must be said). I do love running and the freedom of running, plus I love the feeling of being fit so I need to remind myself of this from time to time. Antistu, you have some good advice and I like the idea of not having time to overeat because you run so much but I don't think I can commit to that much running on a weekly basis and having a job which is office based means there is always time to eat unfortunately.0
