BY: Laura Burk MPH, RDN, LDN, personal trainer, yoga instructor
www.elb-consulting.com
Congratulations on completing your goal race!!! As the weather turns colder and your running mileage drops it is time to adjust your nutrition.
It is common for runners to gain a few pounds after their long race. While the body recovers from the race, the stomach is still screaming for food. The stomach will begin to shrink and sugar cravings will decrease over two to three weeks after the race. During this recovery phase, runners need to become more aware of their running hunger to prevent the extra unwanted weight gain.
A few extra pounds are great for overall health and to boost up the immune system. Be careful that these few extra pounds do not turn into a ten to fifteen-pound weight gain. Not only do we need to become aware of the running hunger but we need to slow it down by letting our stomach shrink.
How to Slow your runner hunger down?
- Eat more fiber!
Fiber fills your belly up and contains a lot of water. Fiber will slow your digestion system down leaving your stomach full for longer periods. Bulky fiber foods will fill you longer and watery type fiber foods will fill you up faster. Choose quick and easy fruits and vegetables to bulk up on fiber and keep you full throughout the day. Great choices are citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, and berries. Easy green vegetables to eat are celery, broccoli, green pepper, and carrots. Other great high fiber foods include beans, and whole wheat food products.
- Watch Portions sizes of grains!
As the mileage increased so did your daily intake of grains to keep up with the high demands of energy. Now that mileage has decreased, energy demands will also decrease therefore the body’s need for less grains. Grains are healthy foods for performance, energy, and recovery, but runners will need less due to the less demands on the body.
During the peak of the long running mileage, carbohydrate intake can be close to 70% of your total calories. As the running decreases, total carbohydrate calories should decrease to 50% of your total calories. The tough part, is your mind and body will still crave sugar and will still crave that immediate energy fix. Have lots of fruits and vegetables handy for that sweet tooth snack attack. Balance your grains throughout the day and consume smaller portion sizes.
- Put Down The cookie!
Let’s face it, we all indulged once or twice because we knew we were running long miles over the weekend. An occasional treat here and there during the peak of your training has very little affect to the waist line. Now that mileage has decreases, those few extra calories may increases the midsection leading to weight gain. Think twice about the vending machine, Starbuck’s latte, or the extra cookie laying around. These little calorie sneaks can add up to 400 to 500 extra calories per day which could lead to an extra pound of fat on the scale per week.
- Cut back on calories NOT water
Some runners do not feel as thirsty in the colder months and do not sweat as much. Keep drinking the water regardless of exercise length and sweat rate. Having a hydrated body will keep the body burning fat and losing weight. Remember to drink at least half your body weight in ounces throughout the day.
- Reset the Brain!
Be careful not to fall into the trap of overeating after runs. After many long runs, your body has created a habit to come home starving and inhale foods to fuel your body. This wonderful habit will now signal your brain to inhale food after every run regardless of the distance. We need to reset the brain to eat only what the body needs to refuel, recover, and to repair after your run. We need to maintain a calorie deficit after each run to lose weight. Try to slow down your eating and choose foods wisely. Pick foods that are minimally unprocessed foods rich in carbohydrates, fiber, and protein. Eat foods to refuel the body not because you deserve it.
Enjoy the winter running season. Train hard, smart, and eat well. If you have any questions, feel free to send an email to lburk@elb-consulting.com.