Nutrition: Eating cycles and is running a marathon guaranteed way to shift the pounds?

Had some good sessions this week, 2hrs 15 od this morning aiming to do negative reps (faster splits) every 30mins - It was encouraging to be finishing at a 6min/mile pace as well as a real feel good factor that I'd run for couple hours and finished fast. This is something I'm going to try in my next ultra in three weeks. Negatives every 10 miles just as an experiment really, the most difficult is at the start when all the 'sprinters' :-) fly off and the tempation to go with them.

Moving on, I want to talk about eating cycles. What I mean by eating cylces are adjusting the amount you eat in partnership with the volume or intensity of training. This is important, even if someone is trying to lose weight. Long term not eating more whilst training more disn't fit and will cause a crash, where by it be a stop in training or a stop on the balanced diet.

Maybe short term it would work but in the long run its not maintainable because we all have to work and get on with life as well do are exercise.

E.g. Today I ran for over 2hrs then went to work then after work did a strength and conditioning session which is high intensity. (Notice it's usually one or the other, either high volume or intensity. Both together vary rarely only usually in events or some training days because you just cant recover from it by the next time) I ate 6 slices of peanut butter on wholemeal toast. You may think it's a lot, but one, I was going to train again in the afternoon and two, I had just run for over 2hrs. I wouldn't eat that much if I wasn't doing as much that day. Unless I re-fuel properly how can I keep training for the next target. You must balance it all out.

Sometimes people enter events such as, running, cycling, swimming or whatever it may be which require a fair bit of commitment to training. The mistake people do is use them as a weight loss plan. DONT DO THIS! If you get most of your training in and eat appropriately to how active you have been that day then the weight will take care of itself. The issues arise when people are on some sort of fad diet which restricts there calorie intake each day to a set amount. The 'diet' doesn't take in to account what you may have done that day. If you have for example, run 10 miles then some insane low calorie diet is going to totally exhaust someone. So for example that day eat more, then the next go back to normal. Eating more that day is not 'going off track' - it's eating because you really do need it. Food is not the enemy it's the fuel to achievments.

So when I get asked, 'How can you eat that much and not be 'fat'?', thats why, I don't always eat e.g. six pieces of peanut butter on toast post workout. I eat to meet the needs of the day. You can't do insane cuts and make it last, which in turn is the point of a healthier lifestyle.

If I do a marathon then I'll lose weight? is something I get asked, or told. Then I say ok, do it, do the training, do the nutrition and get the job done. It's easy to say what you could do - like me saying I could be a Homer Simpson style man if I wanted. I wont because I wouldn't do it. Easy to talk, commitment to do.

With that comes this assumption that you will automatically lose weight if you target something like this.

NO! Unless you manage your nutrition correctly which in turn will aid you to get the training sessions done then no you won't. A huge increase in activity levels will mean you need to eat more or you'll burn out. You can do this and still achieve any physique or weight goals.

I know people who have put weight on whilst training for a marathon. It's not uncommon due to the hard training involved as well as the need to eat enough to cover the training as well as feel ok for work and other daily commitments. So like always, the eating cycles need to be varied to match daily activity levels. As well as this people, girls included need to do strength and conditioning to get leaner and stronger, more muscle helps hugely with getting leaner but thats for another day.

Happy living :)