Motivation to eat well, lose a little weight and run faster (Read 124 times)

I feel like I've made great progress on my running over the last year. Before that consistency was completely lacking and it was always a struggle to stay motivated. I lost 10 pounds last year in the spring and then magically running became easier (how about that!) and the consistency has been relatively easy since then. I've slowly increased my mileage and feel really good. I still feel like if I lost 5-10 pounds, I could run faster and easier yet (this is still well within normal range, currently I'm 5'5" at 128). My problem is my diet! I'm not gaining weight and I eat relatively well....sometimes, but with marathon training and feeling so hungry all the time I find it a bit hard to control how much I eat, especially knowing that a lot of it will be burned off with the longer runs during the week. Doughnut here, onion ring there, beer, cheese.... so tasty but I need to get it under control. I feel like this is the last major step to really good fitness and athleticism. I know the principles of good eating but the implementation! I need some motivation and I hope you guys can help.

So, I guess the questions are...

Does anyone else have trouble eating right even if they are running well?

If you are eating well, any tips to avoid the junk and eat to lose body fat/weight for better race performance?

How do you get/stay motivated with your diet?

Thanks! I appreciate the help 

My problem is my diet! I'm not gaining weight and I eat relatively well....sometimes, but with marathon training and feeling so hungry all the time I find it a bit hard to control how much I eat, especially knowing that a lot of it will be burned off with the longer runs during the week. Doughnut here, onion ring there, beer, cheese.... so tasty but I need to get it under control. 

I have this problem, too. It seems easier to manage healthy eating patterns when I am not training. Somehow when I up the mileage, my body is telling me that am hungry all the time. I have learned a few things that seem to help.

1. When I up my training, my body seems to go into a tailspin demanding food all the time, but after a few weeks, seems to adjust to the change. So some things work themselves out with time.

2. I have made myself a pact to eat when I feel hungry, even if it is more frequent than I would normally think would be healthy, but to (try to) always eat healthy foods. So I have stocked my fridge and pantry with greek yogurt (yum!), fruits that I like, whole grain breads and crackers, cheese, hummus, peeled baby carrots, non-sugary whole grain cereals, small packages of nuts and so on. I avoid sugary foods because once I start, it is hard to stop. I also do more cooking and prepare enough so that I have leftovers to snack on instead of eating processed foods.

3. I never go to bed hungry. I used to think that if I had reached my calorie "quota" for the day, I shouldn't eat anything more in the evening. But then I would have a hard time falling asleep and would sometimes wake in the middle of the night and need a "snack" which usually involved eating something not so great like several spoonfuls of Nutella. Now if I am hungry in the evening, I have some cheese and crackers, greek yogurt with fruit, cereal with milk or half a peanut butter sandwich and I can fall asleep without midnight snacking.

Good luck. I think the most important thing is to anticipate your increased appetite and have a plan to mange it without reaching for the most appealing food item available at the moment.

Does anyone else have trouble eating right even if they are running well?

I'm particularly stupid with food.  The more miles I'm logging, the worse I eat...I can do a helluvalot of justification eating.  I dropped 15#s this Winter when I busted my wrist and was forbid from doing ANYTHING.  I was 100% mindful of everything I put in my mouth and logged my diet on MyFitnessPal.  I didn't eat any crap, kept my carbs super low, and lost that weight in about 2 months time without any issue.  But I find it MUCH easier to carry a calorie deficit when there is no risk of bonking 10 miles from home.

I'm fascinated by ketogenic endurance athletes.  We have at least one ultra runner here who eats keto.  I tried to remain at that low level of carbs when I started back to running after getting my cast off.  What I found interesting is that I had plenty of energy, but I was so nauseous while running.  Not queasy any other time, but as soon as I was a mile or so into a run I felt mile nausea that wouldn't let up until I stopped running.  And as soon as I started eating bread it led right back to being hungry all the time and eating a lot of junk.  I'm horrid at moderation and find it very frustrating that I seem to only be able to lose weight when I'm not active.  I don't really want to quit doing the sports activities I love to drop the 25#s that I'd like to lose.