Running

I love running. It gives me time to clear my thoughts and have a chat with God. I'd love to live by the beach someday and take a run along the shore...

With my school schedule and working at Starbucks it can be hard to squeeze in the time to run. Recently, I've started to get back into it. Not with as much intensity as when I was training for my half marathon last fall, but at least keeping my body used to it. I've been trying to fit in at least one longer run (6-10 miles) each week. Although I'm not obsessed about weight, I wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds while increasing my running. An article in Runners World also mentions how losing weight can make you faster, which makes sense. Hopefully with counting calories and running off the extras that will come true!

For all my fellow runners, and those just wanting to lose a few pounds here's a breakdown of what you need and how much is needed to lose weight.

The Runner's Diet

It seems almost impossible that runners could become overweight. All that running, all those calories burned along city streets and down park paths--it just doesn't seem right (or fair). The problem is that we read about the performance-oriented nutritional habits of ultrathin elite runners (lots of carbo-loading and truckloads of energy bars, gels, and drinks), then assume that as recreational runners we should do the same. But we're not elite runners. We're average people who use running to manage our weight, increase our energy, and lead healthy lives. Think about this scary fact: It takes only 100 extra calories a day to gain 10 pounds in a year. That's one high-calorie prerun snack that you didn't need. Or one unnecessary bottle of sports drink before a 30-minute walk. The extra weight many runners carry around is simply the result of eating for energy or performance--with little regard for total calories. But calories do count, and as runners we tend to underestimate the amount we eat and overestimate the amount we burn. What you need to do is match your eating plan to your running habits. You need to know exactly when to eat those carbohydrate-rich foods that will give you the energy you need to run well.

How many calories do you need?

To estimate your daily calorie needs for maintaining your current weight, take your present weight and multiply by 13. That number covers your metabolic needs for the day, factoring in a bit of light activity. So if you weigh 180 pounds, you need about 2,340 calories per day. To lose a pound a week, you must then create a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day (3,500 calories equals one pound). How many calories you can cut from your diet depends a lot on how much you're eating right now. There's a big difference between cutting 500 calories if you're eating 1,500 a day than if you're eating 3,000. But remember: Weight loss is a lot easier when you factor in your running mileage (1 mile = 100 calories). So your calorie deficit can--and should--be created by eliminating some calories from your daily diet and increasing the number you burn per day through running.