brianj said:Tell me your theories (or knowledge, if you have some).
Oh good, as long as you're OK with theories and not just double-blind
study results, here's what I make of my experience + that of some
other runners, athletes, and couch potatoes:
- Best to combine exercise and diet, so you're on the right track.
- Self-defeating to go overboard on the calorie deficit. As I
understand it, your body will compensate by lowering metabolism, which
means [a] your physical and mental performance suffers, and [b] your
calorie gap narrows anyway so you don't get the benefit of your
starvation, and [c] when you go back to "normal" eating you'll gain
weight because your body has adapted to a deficit.
- If you're counting calories in & out, common wisdom is shoot for a
deficit of ~500. My theory and practice says that most of us with
normally functioning hunger mechanisms and metabolisms and a
reasonable dietary practices probably don't need to count. Especially
if you're running just about daily too. Eat mostly "healthy" foods
with just the occasional splurge as needed/desired. Pay attention to
portion sizes. But don't starve yourself.
- Macronutrient balance matters, though like counting calories you
probably only need to be precise if you're OCD or your body demands it
for some odd reason. Get a balance of protein, fat, and carbs in
every meal (well, the closer to "every" the better). I've had good
success with balances close to The Zone when I wasn't running too much
- felt and functioned better, physically and mentally, than on
otherwise decent but less balance-aware eating prior to that. On
higher mileage add more carbs, but 15-20 MPW shouldn't require major
dietary adjustments.
- Timing matters. Make sure you eat ASAP after each run, ideally
within a half hour. And this meal should ideally have more of your
daily carbs, other meals a bit less. Right after exercise your body
is primed to store carbs as glycogen, other times not so much.
- On the running side, obviously volume matters - rule of thumb is
~100 kcal/M. While I can't prove it, I believe long marathon-type
training runs may help disproportionately, as if your body normally
tries to just get in X extra calories but beyond some threshold it
admits defeat and lets some of that fat burn without replenishing it.
And I even more strongly believe intensity matters - one or more
harder runs in a week (I'd suggest no more than one on a base of 20
MPW) seems to rev up the metabolism.
- If you have the time and motivation, lots of walking is good too.
It'll also burn some calories and maybe even help a bit with your
running (though obviously more running = more specific, intense, and
calorific per minute).
