I thought I’d take a few minutes today to talk about eating to stay fit.

I’ve met a lot of women lately who think that eating less and exercising more is the key to staying in shape.

It is true that if you want to lose weight you should be taking in 250 less calories per day and expending 250 more in order to lose one pound per week (3,500 calories). Two pounds per week would be double that, of course, and the most that you would want to lose safely in a week (minus water weight).

So, the idea from some people is if they eat less (and I am talking way less, in skipping meals) and exercise a lot more (cardio) they’ll lose weight twice as quickly.

Unfortunately this is not the case. Not only does this type of activity not promote weight loss but it isn’t healthy for your body.

Your body needs energy. How does it get energy? Through food. What you eat is converted into energy or fuel, and if you decide to abstain from eating by skipping a few meals you are actually telling your body that you are starving it, so what does your body do in response? Holds on to fat reserves, just in case it doesn’t get its next meal. What does this mean to you? Slower weight loss.

Plus, it is just NOT healthy to not eat! Your body needs this fuel, as long as you are feeding it good gas! What is good gas? I’m sure you’ve seen the list, but just in case you are wondering, let me refresh your memory:

Skip the sugar, and this includes creamer in coffee. That flavored stuff is full of empty calories, and if you are trying to lose some weight you’ll want to determine what calories you are willing to splurge on and what you aren’t. Some half and half with a shot of vanilla flavoring works just as well and has a lot less sugar!

How can you tell what you are taking in? I really like the site Spark People for tracking calories. You can keep a food journal, and studies have shown that people who do often experience more steady weight loss. Make sure you are eating correctly, small meals throughout the day so your blood sugar doesn’t go all wacky and so that your body feels full without being overly stuffed. Mix protein with carbs, try to consume less than 30 grams of fat per day if you are looking to lose weight, and include some resistance training in your workout. It will help build your lean muscle mass.

Most of all, do not deny your body food! This is such a bad way to go about losing weight and will only result in your feeling sluggish, holding onto calories, and gaining any weight back as soon as you start eating again.

Keep up the good work!

You may have noticed I have been on hiatus.

MIA.

In South Georgia, on a house hunting expedition, as we prepare for our cross country move. We spent eleven days there, and they were jam packed days in which we got little sleep, trudged from house to house for four days in a row, suffered a lot from the three hour time difference and, thankfully, found a house that we absolutely love! Yes! We did it! We found a house!

The home is in great shape but needs some TLC as it was a bank owned property, but here is the view from our backyard! When we get the front yard cleaned up I’ll post a photo of it.

Here is a photo of our girls as we walked along the St Mary’s Historical area downtown.

We are back in So Cal now for seven weeks and then we will begin the next part of our life. It starts with a cross country drive, car loaded down, kids strapped in their seats! Now, that will be one to write about!

So I had a scary run experience while there. I felt fine starting off at 5 AM, one 17 oz bottle of water, one of Gatorade, some bagel in my stomach, a power bar in my pack. My goal: 8 miles.

I felt the humidity as soon as I stepped outside but I was committed to staying hydrated by drinking those two bottles during the run. I started drinking immediately.

About two miles in I met a guy that has run marathons in 42 states. He belongs to the 50 marathons in 50 states club. I have not looked into it yet, as I had no internet access at the condo where we stayed, but as soon as I do I will post some info. It sounds like fun.

Anyway, my stomach began to rumble about 3 miles into the run. I knew I wouldn’t make it the 8. Even the guy who lived in South Carolina said it was hot, so I knew it must be, and I have always had a sensitivity to the heat so I have to be careful when it gets really hot. Yet he had only one bottle of water, I had two bottles of liquid, and I felt prepared.

At mile 6 I told him I couldn’t go any further. I didn’t feel sick, just tired and hot and I really had to go to the bathroom.

And go I did. I won’t go into any gory details, but if you run distances you know what I’m talking about.

I was so hot I stripped down between trips to the toilet and put some water on my head. I ate a bowl of oatmeal, though I felt like puking, and I guzzled large amounts of liquids to replenish myself.

But I couldn’t stop going to the bathroom. Finally I took a cold shower, tried to eat some pretzels, which I could barely swallow, and laid down again.

We had to go house hunting and I didn’t want to miss the three houses that were first, and that were also located near our condo, so I made it down to the car but I told my husband I might not make it much further. He suggested I stay home but I didn’t want to miss it. I felt very tired, and had a hard time keeping my eyes open. Eventually, I came around some. By nighttime I felt fine.

The next day, while walking down the stairs of our new house, I pulled a muscle in my leg.

Let’s just say that the heat and humidity obviously got to me. I was not only overly hot but then I became dehydrated, and the dehydration caused the sickness to get worse and then the muscle pull the next day.

I think of myself as a smart runner. I had already run in that area a few times, so this wasn’t my first run in the humidity, and I didn’t even feel that sick while running; I just had to go to the bathroom.

It scared me so much that I took tentative runs the rest of the time. The muscle pull got better a few days later. I did a three miler and then a four miler before we left. They went fine.

I think part of the problem was that I didn’t hydrate myself as much as i should have the day before I ran. Once we get there I think I will have to make a really conscious effort of drinking tons of liquid the night before a long run in the humidity. I did go for the run at the early morning time I always do, but it was still hot, hot, hot.

Despite that run, and that scare, the rest of the runs were great. I missed having my weights and my exercise ball and particularly my kettlebell! I did my situps and crunches and push ups but they just didn’t feel the same! I’m glad to be back home with all of my tools. The condo didn’t have a great yoga place either. My new house: Perfect! I can do it right in the living room overlooking the marsh. I can’t wait!

I hope everyone has been healthy and having fun and having good runs. I have some weight to make up. I lost about four pounds, and I’m sure that part of that was how sick I got. I need to get that weight back on, so chocolate, here I come! Today I did a nine miler, and it was great. It was cool here, with some mist over the ocean. It’s going to be hard to leave this weather behind, the coolness of the early mornings, but I can’t wait to get to where we are going, either!

Happy Running!

So I posted the other day about my theory that perhaps I’m slightly dehydrated. I had a horrible Saturday long run, which never happens, and I’ve been so tired every day that I’ve had a hard time functioning by nighttime. My body has felt like led on the pavement, and I’ve been wondering if perhaps something was really wrong. I even scheduled a doctor’s appointment to make sure I didn’t have some dreaded issue!

Then I read about dehydration, and how if you lose more than one pound of weight after an exercise session you are losing too much fluid. I weighed myself at my five mile run on Monday and bingo, I’d lost 2.4 pounds!

Okay, so I’ve made a huge effort to keep hydrated and I think that it has worked. I’m feeling more revived, and my runs have been great. I shaved 11 seconds off my miles today from Monday, and I am back to where I was several weeks ago time-wise. I didn’t feel as sluggish this morning, and I wasn’t putting out full effort, either.

I cut back on the coffee, and minus the afternoon headache as my body screams for a cup of java, everything else has been fine.

I can’t say it was all hydration, but I”m guessing a huge part of my sluggishness both on and off the pavement was due in part to not being hydrated enough. So drink up before and after those runs!

I see a lot of people posting about running or taking up a running program during the brutally hot days of summer. Many have questions regarding running and exercising in the heat. Since many marathon programs run for about five months, those embarking on this journey are now beginning to train for endurance, which means covering a lot of miles when the days are at their hottest.

I always run in the early morning hours, typically starting before the sun even peeks over the mountains. It’s nice and cool, traffic isn’t ridiculous and I can get some quiet time, alone, just to think.

Yet I do see people out running in midday, when temperatures to me are soaring. But then again, anything over 75 to me is hot!

If you are wondering how to tell whether or not you have lost too much liquid during a workout, here’s a good rule to follow:

Weigh yourself before you go out, and then again when you get back. If you lost more than a pound, you aren’t getting enough to drink.

How much should you be drinking?
7-10 ounces of liquid every ten to fifteen minutes during a longer endurance run. If you are going far, shoot for something with a mix (6%) of sugar to keep the energy levels up.

Afterwards, continue to drink, consuming up to 20 ounces of liquid for every pound you lost while you ran.

Seem like a lot? Possibly so, but your body needs to stay hydrated.

So here’s the thing: I began thinking about this over the weekend, when I had the horrid run on Saturday. I have been tired lately, more tired than usual. And yes, I’m a working mother of two daughters under the age of four, but I also get plenty of rest and I eat well. I take a multivitamin since I’ve been known to run low on iron. I do yoga every night to unwind and relax before bed. So, what the heck was going on, I wondered?

Then Chris of Fab, Fit and 40 commented about the dehydration aspect and I thought, bingo! Immediately I knew that this was probably the case. Why?