A few days ago, I had my 1 month anniversary from not running. It's kinda funny how quickly things can turn for the better or worse... and in my case it has been for the better (I hope). Let me explain....
Cheryl, who is my office administrator, gave me this time article to read a few months back, and the cover read Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin. I remember looking at it, and shrugged it off... actually I think I even said to her, "This article is probably written by a frustrated, overweight person, who is trying to convince themselves and others that it's all pointless (exercise wise)"... I never read the article. Cheryl still tried to press me to read it, and I think I just told her, "When I have time.." Well my oh my...look how things have turned for me.... A little over 1 month ago, I remember trying to purge through all of our magazines at my clinic to find this article, and I finally read it. Due to reading that article, I am proud to say that even though I have gone from my typical 150-180 miles of running/month to a big fat 0, I have not gained one pound....actually, I think I lost 1-2 pounds.
In a nutshell, the article stated that because we exercise, we almost feel entitled to eat whatever we want. Now, I know that there are some people that don't do that, but I was not one of those people. My eating habits were absolutely horrendous. My typical day of eating would consist of
1. Very little to no breakfast
2. A huge lunch (anything from Burritos, burgers, pizza)
3. Lots of candy
4. Maybe a redbull or two...or three... or four
5. Dinner (Wifey cooks pretty healthy, so that wasn't a problem)
6. Ice cream, especially when watching sports before I go to bed
7. Fruit drinks, usually apple juice diluted with water
Couple that with my 35-50 mpw and my weight stayed stable for the most part.
Well, that has changed radically for me. What I realized is that I was running and eating for comfort, and just soothing my cravings at all times. My marathon readers will understand this when I say this, but running changes your mood, makes you feel good...it's a drug, albeit a positive one....but also, when you are running the distances that I was running, I was putting in a 800-1000 calorie cushion to my typical day, so 2,500-3,000 would not create any damage to my weight control. Then if you add my eating habits, I was eating lots of comfort foods...tons of sugar and salty foods, which would again satisfy my cravings...day after day... it made for a really happy, but honestly not the healthiest person (at least on the inside). So now, Greg and food have a different relationship... it's more of a business relationship. I use it to satisfy my needs for energy, not for cravings... it initially was really difficult, but it had to be done...because I couldn't substitute my running for any other exercise without setting myself back again... and it has been extremely successful.. so far. So this is basically my typical day.
1. Morning (I will have cereal with skim milk and usually cut up bananas)
2. I try to take in about 70-85 oz. or water a day. (I'm telling you, water is the key...it fills you up)
3. My lunches are usually pre made from home, or if I do eat fast food, it's a Turkey Breast sandwich on wheat bread from Subway (300 calories for a 6 in.). I will get a foot long, and then have the other half between sometime between 4-6 pm.
4. I use a power juicer (celery, garlic, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, etc.) or make a protein shake every day.
5. No more coffee
I basically have tried to limit my intake to about 1600 calories/day.
I had to mentally change my attitude toward my food and obviously "detox" myself from running. I truly think I am finally on the road to recovery...
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