April 2019 Monthly Running Challenge
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So finally read through, didn't realise how appropriate my jumping in comment was! I just wrote that up before heading out the door to work.
Diets are so hard. and there is so much bad information out there (like anything I guess). I am embarrassed at the amount of money I have spend on various "guaranteed to work" diets to fail after 3 months. When I started losing the weight, I didn't do anything different, other than stop eating every meal at that satisfied mark. That worked really well for 6 months and I lost 10kg (about 22lb). then I plateaued and I turned to MFP to help me through that plateau. it was as simple as picking up small habits like having a sandwich every night before going to bed. I ploughed through and ended 2017 having lost 20kg (around 44lb). I used MFP on and off, but not religiously. ETA just realised I made a typo in my brag post, I started Jan 2017 not 2016
Last year I basically maintained. My goal was running, not weight loss, I joined this group in July I think and promptly found a new group of friends. I gained and lost the same 5kg over the year and ended the year about 5kg heavier - to pretty much just maintained really. So this year my goal was to get into the middle of healthy range for me. I've been logging pretty consistently since the beginning of the year. and am having fits and starts with running and weight lifting though now finally feel like I've hit my stride (groan), but have persevered and I'm half way there!
I eat chocolate every day. I eat cakes. ATM a LOT of cakes haha. I am a complete sugar addict. Heck the other week, I ate an entire packet of biscuits (cookies? chocolate macaroons which are kinda like a coconut cookie covered in chocolate) in an afternoon - but I still ended the day on a deficit. I am proof that - in general, no pre-existing medical conditions - you can lose weight eating what ever the heck you want.
wow sorry guys, that was a bit of a soap box moment. Um, running. I ran 4k this morning. I was going to stop at 3.5 but my legs wouldn't let me. Nice when that happens haha15 -
Just noticed the wrong ticker got posted on my earlier post. I had tried to put one for the month's total and then one to indicate where I am on my Running Across TN challenge. It kept showing the monthly one twice, so I deleted one. Of course, the one that finally posted was the TN one. LOL3
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runnermom419 wrote: »Well, my original goal in March was 80 miles and I ended the month with 101 miles. I'd like to be in for 100 miles again as goal #1 with a stretch goal of 110 miles for goal #2.
We shall see!
April 1 - 5 miles
Miles until Goal # 1 - 95 miles
Miles until Goal #2 - 105 miles6 -
@Elise4270 Happy Birthday (its the 2nd here)
Thanks!!! I'll take it! Whoo! You have any cake??? 😁
Always got cake! I wish they invented a teleport machine. seriously!
It must have worked. I came home from class and MAGIC!, there’s a lemon cake in the oven! How about you wish me some good juju!
ETA unselfishly, please wish us all good juju. Namaste 🙏10 -
@Elise4270 I love santa Clarita diet! Just started the new season last night. About 3 episodes in so far!
@Avidkeo Congrats! It's a big accomplishment, for sure. I felt exactly the same way about being "normal" for once!!
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8.5 miles this evening. Such nice weather, didn't want to stop. Started with 1xWU, 7xEasy, 0.5xCD. Never really tried a true cool-down jog. Felt pretty good.
Thanks again everyone for answering the monthly question. I am just going to reduce my carb intake, but just be smart about it. Try to increase protein (and calories) a bit too.
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Well, I think I'm in for 70 miles this month. I actually went back and counted it again because I though that surely I made a mistake in there somewhere. Nope.
I am starting a new base building plan this month to give me something new to do before my HM plan kicks in. That is a lot of miles for me. We'll see, I guess. I definitely like having a training plan. I feel like my mileage drops off when I'm just going out for a run with no real plans in mind.
Not starting the month off great. I got out of work late and just didn't have it in me to run tonight. Also, I am sore from head to toe from my marathon climbing session plus 7 mile run on Saturday. Doing some stretching and rolling tonigt and back to climbing tomorrow night!7 -
Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
04/01/19 :::: 3.8 :::: 3.8
Made it to group speedwork tonight - it was 1 minute intervals x 9 with 1 min recovery between. That's one of my "favorite" workouts, I mean at least it goes fast! I stopped my Garmin during the recovery intervals and now it thinks I ran my fastest 5k ever tonight when adding in the sprints and warmup and cooldown. If only you could stop and rest every minute during a 5k. I mean, you can, but they will probably want to count those too.
Tomorrow starts the super busy time, so I'm going to bed!
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Thank you ALL very much for the monthly question input (@elise4270,@rheddmobile,@avidkeo,@eleanorhawkins,@noblsheep,@Squish815,@quilteryoyo,@7lenny7,@kgirlhart)!
I 100% agree that cutting out an entire food group is not realistic, at that is not my desire. I just want to significantly reduce the amount of processed food (and specifically carbs) that I take in a day. My average has been between 170g - 230g per day (my calorie intake is usually less than about 1400). I have been concentrating on reducing that in the past 6 days, and have been in the 60g - 90g neighborhood. It is hard, but I have been staying away from the cracker snacks, oatmeal
, high sugar fruit,etc. I have never been a consumer of soda, sweets, chips, candy. So really my only 'junk' food is crackers, bread, rice, high sugar fruit. Reducing those, and increasing consumption of meats and cheeses SEEMS to have reduced my hunger between meals. But am going to see if it can also reduce my 'bloated' feeling.
Thanks again y'all! This is such a supportive and informative group!
@Scott6255 On a 1400 calorie diet, 170g to 230g carbs is roughly 50% to 65% of your calories from carbs. That's quite reasonable for a runner, I wouldn't want to cut it any more. You might want to avoid sugars, and go with less processed carbs; oatmeal instead of cheerios, for example.
On the satiety front, I lost weight the last time on a 1900 calorie regime, which is way low for me even when sedentary. I found that the key to being satisfied wasn't cutting carbs, it was getting enough protein while controlling total calories. The lower your total calorie number is, the more challenging that will be. In many cases, foods with lots of protein also have lots of fat, and the fat drives up the total calories.
The standard recommendation I've seen is that males should have at least 75 grams of protein per day, regardless of percentage from macro recommendation. That goes up for athletically active people. I find I do better physically if I get 150g of protein per day; getting more doesn't seem to have any particular benefit. With your rather low total calorie limit, perhaps you should try for 90 grams of protein.
I also found that if I controlled total calories, I naturally gravitated to eating less fat. This went so far as to drive me to affirmatively choose some foods like almonds just to get enough fat in my diet. Bottom line, I strive to get enough grams of protein, enough grams of fat, control total calories, and let the carbs take care of themselves. In marathon training mode, I also need to watch fiber; too much is not a good thing. At 1400 calories per day, too much fiber is almost certainly not one of your issues.11 -
8 miles on the Greenline - felt much better than last week’s terrible run. My sinuses are draining down the back of my throat and trying to drown me, but otherwise I may be getting over this virus.11 -
I'm in for 40 miles this month! Hello spring running!!
4/1 4.00 Miles
April TOTAL: 4.008 -
1.2 miles today before yoga. I wanted more but I got off of work late and didn’t pack my gym bag well, so had to stop at the house. In other news, I realized today I was intentionally “warming up” and stretching BEFORE yoga... if that tells you how bad I am at yoga.... but work on your weaknesses.
1.2/407 -
@scott6255 good question.
@ContraryMaryMary I know calf raises are something all runners should do on a routine basis, but like most things runners should do, I don't do them very often. I did try a couple of them and after I felt a sharp pain, I quit. No more of that for a while.
Ouch. That's no good. Physiotherapist?0 -
I ran in the heat (85F!) today and got 4.72 miles in with my pace starting to improve more and more. I felt like Mother Nature was playing a cruel joke and making it feel like summer way too soon! Fortunately the rest of the week is supposed to cool off until next weekend when it is supposed to hit 90F! I am going to keep my run walk intervals at 5/1 for the next few weeks and then towards the end of the month try dropping to a 30sec walk. If that works I will use it for the May HM, otherwise I will stick with 1min.
Congrats @avidkeo! That is an awesome accomplishment!
Happy Birthday @Elise4270 - you should be having some cake, with candles too!
Monthly Question - How many of you have Keto or low-carb lifestyle? How has it benefited (or harmed) your running / day-to-day life?
I may be one of the few here who have had issues with cutting back on carbs but it was as much about cutting back on calories and the carbs just pushed me over the edge...
I decided a couple of years ago that I wanted to reduce my % body fat and that the way to do that was to cut back on carbs and increase my protein. What I didn't realize was that I a) wasn't eating enough to begin with to fuel my runs and b) not eating enough carbs left me no energy for running or weight lifting. I finally saw a nutritionist because I was having so many issues that the doctors had no answers to. I had cut back so far as to have some pretty major issues (adrenal fatigue) and my cortisol levels were close to 0. The nutritionist had me increase my calories to 1500 on a rest day, 1900-2000 on a normal run day and 2400 on a long run day or when I have multiple workouts in one day. The macro split she gave me was around 45% carbs 32% protein and 23% fats. She also gave me lots of information on the right kinds of carbs and fats to have. I did gain some weight but not nearly as much as I feared I would. I still do not eat enough and I struggle to get enough carbs and protein but it is much better than before and best of all for the most part my runs are no longer suffering.
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@Elise4270 Happy birthday!!!
This morning's run got off to a bit of a chilly start as I didn't figure out until I was 5 minutes into my warm-up walk that as the clocks changed here last weekend it was an hour earlier than usual and so colder. So I was marching along in my short-sleeved T-shirt with steaming breath like a dragon as people in thick winter jackets and inside warm cars all looked at me like I had lost the plot and I tried to look nonchalant as opposed to freakin' freezing!
Luckily once I got running and found myself a couple of nice hills to run up I warmed up.
Still loving the 2 min/30 sec run/walk intervals and my overall pace is still a little quicker than straight running yet I feel much better afterwards. In fact I'm having to stop myself from going further than what the training plan dictates!
April goal: 40km. Run so far: 4km9 -
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Well April is definitely starting well, starting to feel like I'm nearly back to normal! I had been down to 8.30s per km now I'm back to 7.50s!
Currently on 10km training, should be on week 5 but only on week 3… hoping to squish in a bit of extra time but unfortunately the actual run is on 11th may so I've used up my buffer time already with that viral illness..
Target - 80km
01/04 - 4.24/ 75.76km
02/04 - 4.18/ 71.58km
Have decided that I will start training towards a marathon in October! They release more spots in July so I'm thinking I'll just start working towards it and see where I'm at by the end of June. If all is going well I'll sign up!
Planned races
11/05 - Kungsholmens runt, (10km) Stockholm
27/09 - Dublin city marathon
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Happy birthday @Elise4270! Love the kick-a** pic @katharmonic!
Thank you @Mobycarp and @shanaber for your comments and insight! I definitely am going to up my protein (and calories) a bit. That might even have me being less grumpy! Well, we'll see.3 -
Happy birthday @Elise4270!3
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AS FOR THE DIET QUESTION
tag: @Scott6255
First, there are some like @JessicaMcB who are essentially no-carb and doing great. Not for any required medical reasons, just some ultra runners and the like find "fat burning" more efficient for endurance sports. I am not going to debate that point, I do not have all the facts. Ask one of them.
All I know is they are winning races and are healthy and strong. Works for them at least.
Personally - I lost all my weight the first time by doing Atkins back before Keto, Plato, and South Beach was a thing. Way back when Dr. Atkins was still alive. The diet as it was originally envisioned I think is a healthy and good way to eat long term. Today's version of it is way heavy on manufactured foods and marketing. I no long longer recommend it.
For ME... MFP tells me I am 40-50% carbs. That is a bit higher than my target, but it is hard to lower that and still keep up the travel all over the city that my life requires. Simply put, carbs travel better than meat and cheese. Though my lunch most days is provolone, cheddar, and baloney - no bread.
In general, I tell people that ask me, "Try to eat natural foods, avoid sugar and additives, and eat a variety. Drink water, herbal tea, and other zero calorie drinks when you can." I fall in the camp that for most people, it is their lack of activity that is the biggest factor in their health, and less so their diet.7 -
@Elise4270 - Happy Birthday! Eat cake! And Pie!
Pretty sure I eat way too many carbs and I've been trying out being a vegetarian since August so still figuring out the protein. I am not good at posting my dinner - but pretty sure I am around 2000 calories a day. 5'7" - and try to weight between 145-150. I know it sounds high but I feel good at this range. If I go lower I can't seem to bike with my group. I just don't have the energy. I truly amazed at how big some of the cyclists are that are much larger than me -- all genders. It doesn't seem like it's the same with runners.
4/1 - rest day
4/2 - 4.5 miles
4.5/ 70
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In for 50 miles, 4/1: 2 miles.8
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This!PastorVincent wrote: »AS FOR THE DIET QUESTION
In general, I tell people that ask me, "Try to eat natural foods, avoid sugar and additives, and eat a variety. Drink water, herbal tea, and other zero calorie drinks when you can." I fall in the camp that for most people, it is their lack of activity that is the biggest factor in their health, and less so their diet.
I think people do try to over complicate weight loss, but at the end of the day it is "technically" simple. The difficulty comes from our emotions, mental state, hormones, our economy (I can buy a big bag of chips and a box of fish fingers or I can buy a bunch of bananas) etc etc etc. How your parents dealth with food can be a huge influence too, I was always taught to finish my plate, regardless of how full I was, I'm still trying to stop when I'm full....
Medication also can play a part but only to a certain degree. I just had my implanon removed and I dropped about 2kg within the week! I had also noticed my taste had changed and my appetite had gone up with it! But that could just be a placebo effect?
It's a case of finding what works for you and sticking with that. At the age of 37 and still 25kg over weight I still haven't found my solution, but I will!
Another big thing is an inability to cook from scratch anymore! Every meal has to come in a box with instructions, we are sold this concept of being "time poor" despite also "binge watching" Netflix and having a load of gadgets in the house designed to save time. Our lives are simplified so much that they are now more complicated than ever!
In essence the equation of weightloss,
calories in < calories out = weight loss,
is simple. Putting that equation into practice is the difficulty!6 -
@Elise4270 Have a wonderful birthday!1
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Truer words have never been spoken! I find when I "have the time" to cook from scratch, I do much better. All of those gadgets just give us something else to spend our time on. No matter what we do, we will use up 24 hours a day....no more, and no less.Another big thing is an inability to cook from scratch anymore! Every meal has to come in a box with instructions, we are sold this concept of being "time poor" despite also "binge watching" Netflix and having a load of gadgets in the house designed to save time. Our lives are simplified so much that they are now more complicated than ever!
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i'd like to join..........aiming for 100 miles this month8
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First run of the month in the books! Originally planned on 6 but got out of work a little later than I hoped and I had to make it to a dinner reservation with my friend. Oh well!
Date ----Miles ----Notes
4/1 ----5.5 ----Hoped to do 6 but needed to get to dinner plans w/my friend
5.5/50
2019 Race List
Bill Fortune 5k - 4/6
Run For the Wild 5k - 4/27
Women's Distance Festival 5k - 7/13
South Nyack 10 Miler - 9/8
Marine Corps Marathon (1st full) - 10/27
WDW Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon - 11/35 -
happy birthday @Elise4270
welcome @mikebuffont
as far as the monthly question, i just eat what i want and i try to be well rounded staying in the general range of my calorie allotment. i cook from scratch and eat packaged meals. it's not my business to judge others how they spend their down time. i work two jobs, have 3 dogs, run, work on remodeling my house. so i have no issue sitting down while i have time and binging on netflix while eating something prepackaged. or something i made. makes no difference5 -
ContraryMaryMary wrote: »@scott6255 good question.
@ContraryMaryMary I know calf raises are something all runners should do on a routine basis, but like most things runners should do, I don't do them very often. I did try a couple of them and after I felt a sharp pain, I quit. No more of that for a while.
Ouch. That's no good. Physiotherapist?
@ContraryMaryMary possibly. I had no improvement Sunday or Monday, but today seems better. I'll see how it feels tomorrow and make an appointment if I feel it's warranted. My running is on hold for the moment. Hoping to run Saturday but my weekend of back to back long runs is not happening. I may go hiking instead.5
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