monitoring total calories vs. monitoring fat or carbs (Read 1096 times)

If you're eating the proper amount of calories for the amount of exercise you do, and maintaining your weight, how much does the content of your diet come into play? Here's my situation: I eat a rather balanced diet (or at least I'd like to think so). I don't eat much junk food, other than a few cans of Coke a week. My wife's a good cook and makes pretty healthy meals at home, and I bring in left-overs for lunch. I'm upping my running this year from 1000km to 1000mi/year (about 20mi/wk), and I'm already at a good weight, don't want to lose any more. Obviously, I'm going to have to eat more than before in order to maintain my weight. The question is, how 'good' do I have to be? As long as I'm getting enough nutrients (vitamins, protein, etc), do I have to worry much about whether the other calories come from carbs or fat? I mean, I don't plan on supplementing with junk, but how closely do I need to monitor these things? I'd like to think that, so long as I'm exercising enough and my weight is staying the same, I can eat those burgers, put mayo on my sandwiches, etc. Or should I be more careful?

It's great that you've got a good base diet. My way of thinking about what to eat is that what I first put it me must nourish my body. Which a good base diet of fruit, vegetables, some protein and other nutrients does for us. Then I allow myself treats - can't be good all the time! I take it that you are working through right now is what choices to make to get the increased calorie intake you will need because of your increased mileage. Since you say you eat a good base diet, I would first suggest that you bump up overall that diet by increasing portion size - so if you normally have 2 x 1/2 cup of vegetables for lunch, then make it 3 or 4 1/2 cup portions, eat 3/4 cup of rice instead of 1/2 cup and so on. That would satisfy some of your increased caloric needs and keep that balance. You might even need to snack more - 5-6 small meals throughout the day, given that you will have higher caloric needs. It will take time to adjust, though. For extra treats, I would stay away from extra fatty foods and stick to carbs, and long-acting carbs are the best. Fats, especially trans-fats that are in many of the fast-foods are best just to be left alone. I'd stop the Cokes, though, since they are so sugar-heavy, but, if you really want them, drink small amounts with food so that you don't get sugar highs and lows. Good luck with your goals.

I would make sure your getting enough protein and carbs. If you need to increase your fats, make sure they are more healthy fats (i.e. nuts, salmon). You can always add some weight training into your running so you don't lose muscle mass and weight. A great book and program that I am doing is "The New Rules of Lifting". I have added muscle without much weight gain at all. I have also seen a increase in my strength in my legs, which for us runners is a wonderful thing. I can run longer, faster then before.

Thanks everyone for the advice, especially the note about how little the actual difference in how many calories I'm burning is. It's a little more than a 700 calorie difference, as I'm bigger than the 'average' male, which is where the 100 calories/mile approximation comes from. But it's close enough to that to understand that I don't need to go bonkers looking for extra calories. As rururuner advised, I'll probably just eat a little more of what I already eat, rather than saying 'hey, now I can pig out!'

JoshB, this has nothing to do with the topic, but I looked at your blog and wanted to warn you that spammers are abusing your comments. You should moderate them.

Sounds like you have a classic case of "nutritionism".

Thats a great article! The first line really says it all "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

JoshB, this has nothing to do with the topic, but I looked at your blog and wanted to warn you that spammers are abusing your comments. You should moderate them.

Ah, yes. Hadn't checked those in awhile, and somehow 10 or so of 'em got past Akismet. All set now, thanks for pointing it out.