Thursday, May 10, 2012

You eat a hamburger, you run like a hamburger...

"You eat a hamburger, you run like a hamburger." -Steve Riddick, sprinter













It's true: you've got to watch what you eat.  Although you burn up lots of calories when you run or workout, you can't just eat anything you want.  You've got to have a balanced diet and all that. When I trained for my first full marathon (26.2 miles) I put on 10 pounds.  How is that? It is simple...I was eating crap food and eating a lot of it.

I felt that since I was running up to 8 hours a week that my body could handle extra calories.  First, it was going out after every long run.  Then, it was treating myself with something really tasty every day.  Ice Cream, cookies, chips.. you name it I had it during my first marathon.  I was putting the miles on my feet and putting the calories in my mouth.  My body showed it too.

The main message here is, treat yourself but treat yourself with the good stuff.  I did not need to go out after a long run and get a hamburger, fries and a chocolate shake.  I did not need the ice cream after my short runs.  I been training pretty hard the past few months and it is showing.  Most importantly I been only allowing myself 1-2 treats a week.  One ice cream snack a week will not make me fat but 7 ice creams snacks will certainly show up sooner or later. 

I have said this before.. You can't out exercise a bad diet.  You just can't! It all starts in the kitchen and honestly that is the hardest part for many of us.  Throw the junk out but treat yourself.  Soon you will be happy with the way you look and not so upset you are not eating a super size meal from McDonalds.




No comments:

Post a Comment