RunningAHEAD - Topic: Marathon Diet

kah72

Philly Curse

posted: 8/9/2007 at 10:39 AM

I am starting to train for a Marathon in Nov. I ran in High School and sporadically through the first 2 years of college. I was wondering what type of diet i should have while training. I hope to lose about 15 lbs over the next 3 months also to help with running.

Bonkin

posted: 8/9/2007 at 12:01 PM

There are lots of opinions on this, but for me personally, I aim for around 100g+ of protein (1g protein/kg bodyweight), 50-60%+ of my calories from carbs, and I try to reduce my intake of saturated fat. I don't look at this as a diet, rather it is just my fuel mixture so to speak. When I want to lose weight - I eat less. When I want to maintain - I eat more.

When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

btb1490

posted: 8/9/2007 at 12:14 PM

Congrats on taking on your marathon endeavor! Training for a marathon while trying to lose weight is tricky, so be careful. You still need a good intake of calories to meet your new higher energy espenditures. I personally love Nancy Clarks stuff on marathon and diet. She provides a lot of good, practical no nonsense info. http://www.nancyclarkrd.com/books/marathonerfoodguide.asp Good luck!

Running the 2016 Boston Marathon for Children's Hospital

Etapli61

posted: 8/9/2007 at 12:20 PM
modified: 8/9/2007 at 12:21 PM

Well congrats on making the decision to take on a Marathon. I stared off by replying in novella form, but will try this shorter approach. Make sure you eat plenty of carbs as Bonkin said and log what you eat. I found keeping track of my daily food intake very useful in loosing some weight. Just take it slow and easy- you don't want to negatively affect your running by not eating enough. (Aww btb beat me on this one, so close) Good luck with the training. And I will lend you my mantra- slow and steady wins the race (unless you're posting on RA!)

t_runner

posted: 8/9/2007 at 10:05 PM

When I ran my first marathon, I actually gained about 5 lbs. I was not watching it closely (here's where the logging will help), and I was just STARVING after my long runs. First time I hit each of the distances over 10 miles, I was constantly hungry for a couple days afterwards. This hunger has slightly decreased as I got more and more used to long runs. So I echo what everybody else says, it will be tough to try to lose a lot of weight and steadily increase your distance. Good luck!!

Ed4

Barefoot and happy

posted: 8/13/2007 at 3:49 PM

The answer is, "it depends". Smile

For example, unlike Bonkin, I definitely benefit from more saturated fat, not less. Mostly in the form of high-quality butter from pastured cows (I really do think Weston Price was on to something), fatty fish, and eggs. Without enough fat and protein, I'm constantly hungry and start losing weight, even if I feel like I'm eating carbs every waking minute. And I don't want to lose weight. The only general advice I have is to stick to natural foods in their whole state as much as possible, and avoid processed crap with unpronounceable ingredients. Especially avoid highly-refined sweeteners (like high-fructose corn syrup) and highly-refined oils (like soybean oil, or anything hydrogenated or hydrolyzed). You may be surprised by how much difference this makes.

Curious about running barefoot? Visit the ~~new~~ barefoot running group.

Trent

Good Bad & The Monkey

posted: 8/13/2007 at 4:00 PM

Previous thread related to diet, running and eating properly...includes Pollan's NYT article

I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.

Poor baby

Mississippi

posted: 8/13/2007 at 4:02 PM

This thread is just in time for me. I just started getting very nervous about my upcoming marathon (Sept 9th).

Michelle

Run To Win

#2867

posted: 8/16/2007 at 1:14 PM

If you want a good, easily accessible, nutrition book for athletes, I recommend Eat Smart, Play Hard by Liz Applegate. The last third or so of the book has sample diets for different types of athletes, from the weekend basketball player to somebody spending the day on the greens to a runner or century rider.

Run to Win
25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

RunFree7

Run like a kid again!

posted: 8/18/2007 at 4:51 AM

Does a good website exist like this one to log your food intake? I think that would be a very cool feature to have. Not just for us runners but for dieters everywhere. Has anyone seen one? If not I might seriously create one.

Bonkin

posted: 8/18/2007 at 10:48 AM

Quote from RunFree7 on 8/18/2007 at 4:51 AM:

Does a good website exist like this one to log your food intake? I think that would be a very cool feature to have. Not just for us runners but for dieters everywhere. Has anyone seen one? If not I might seriously create one.

I've used FitDay for the past six months or so and like it a lot. I know several others around here use it also or use Sparkpeople.

When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

Marathon Diet (Read 901 times)