Eating for Training and Weight Loss

The toughest times for me to lose weight is when I’m training for something. I find that the balance b/w creating a calorie deficit while having the energy to exercise effectively is a real tough one. I’ve tried a few different methods but I find it hard to stick to them b/c I haven’t created that as a habit. I’m trying to be proactive this year with my diet, I’m not really losing weight at the moment (expecting a stay the same tonight on the scale) but I know it is at the fault of my stress eating and not of the above. But the past couple of days I’ve noticed that I’m eating all my APs plus some b/c I’m hungry (and I’m not stressed, well I wasn’t – I need to hear today or tomorrow about the job since they have Friday off, so starting to get stressed!). So back to basics in terms of eating for training and weight loss. There are 2 sources I go to time and time again. This Runner’s World article and Nancy Clark’s Nutrition for Athletes Book. Both state very similar things with Runner’s World actually giving out eating schedules with percentages.

Since some days I’m doing 2 a days I want a schedule that will keep me fueled for both, and neither have anything on how to eat for those days. Plus I wanted a schedule that I can stick to everyday – I think it will make a more lasting habit that way. So here is what I came up with:

Breakfast – 25% of daily points
Lunch 1 – 25% of daily points
Lunch 2 – 20%
Dinner – 25%

One snack – 5% that is moved around. Before Breakfast as a pre exercise. Or in between breakfast and Lunch 1.

My evening snack will be using 50% of my activity points earned. Which means on days I’m not working out I’ll need to sacrifice points elsewhere (probably Lunch 2). The days before long workouts (anything over 1 hour), I’ll use some of my saved up APs for dinner and evening snack.

Last night was a night to remember. I got home, made a simple dinner (buffalo chicken sammies with red pepper strips). Read for a bit. At 7:45, I knew I needed to start getting ready to go for my “hills” training session. Well I really didn’t feel like it. But I really did feel like getting out there. I decided to go for an hour long walk. When I was getting ready I figured, well I may as well just wearing running clothes and my running shoes in case I feel like running! Well pretty much as soon as I was out there my legs were itching to just run. So I played it really simple – let my ipod and mood decide for me! I walk/ran out for 30 minutes and then turned out and came home. On my way out I passed my planned hill, so I ran up. On my back I did the same. My goal had been 5 times, but 2 is not too shabby. Especially considering I ended up walk/running for 7km (no garmin, it was dead, but since I’m tracking mileage here I mapped it out)! Well I really walk/ran for 6.5km in 50 minutes and then slowly walked another .5 km in 10 minutes to cool down. In that 50 minutes I ran about 35-40min and walked 10-15 minutes. Plus the hour just blew by. And I felt pretty amazing when I got home. Will definitely be doing that again!