I’m getting tons of requests about how to lose weight. People either want to get into shape in the first place, or get into better shape and try to win the darn race on March 28. I’ll tell you this: Don’t diet!
Dieting is dreadful. It makes you hungry all the time, which in turn makes you break down and eat junk because you’re starving. It leaves you with low energy. Dieting makes your body burn fewer calories because it’s always feeling hungry and it can’t trust you to feed it on a regular basis.
And dieting makes daily life not fun. Counting every calorie, stressing over food, always feeling hungry (or feeling guilty because you broke down and ate a tub of ice cream) and anxious.
Try eating more food instead. Here is what I consider the magic formula: Eat often, eat well, eat good veggie foods, and exercise. It’s easy!
I eat more than anyone I know, yet I don’t own a scale and never think about my weight. I never count calories and whenever I feel hungry, I eat. It’s what I eat, not how much. Here are some comparisons to get you thinking:
You can eat one small order of fries and ingest 540 calories, most of them from fat, and still feel hungry because while your snack was calorie-dense, it wasn’t bulky so your stomach still feels empty and unsatisfied.
Alternatively, you can eat one large baked potato topped with salsa (as much salsa as you want) and you’ll only get 278 calories…zero of them from fat!...and you’ll feel so full you might not finish.
That’s what I think about when I eat.
How about hummus? 2 Tb of hummus will give you 80 calories and lots of fat from the tahini and olive oil in it. Nobody eats 2 tablespoons of hummus. If you eat half a cup, more realistic, you’re going to eat 320 fatty calories!
Instead? Salsa. Regular old tomato salsa, black bean salsa, spicy pineapple salsa…you name it…most salsas have 10 calories in a 2 Tb serving. 10! And no fat! You can sit in front of the TV and eat an entire bag of baked blue corn chips (not the fried ones!) with a big jar of your favorite salsa, you’ll be full (over full), and you won’t feel guilty.
One more: Which would you enjoy more, 9 tortilla chips or 2.5 cups of popcorn?? Who eats 9 chips? That’s crazy. Next time you’re having a mid-afternoon snack attack, grab a bag of air-popped popcorn and go nuts.
Don’t let yourself go hungry. Eat, just eat well. Now that you're running, you need food for energy!
Last example: Let’s talk about dinner. Let’s talk about pasta for dinner. Pasta is a great food on its own—vegan, low-fat, full of energy-giving carbs that are great for runners. But if we smother the noodles in cream, cheese, meat or even olive oil, we turn a great meal into a fat bomb. Instead, try spaghetti with marinara sauce. If you get a vegan marinara sauce (most jars are, just check for cheese), you can eat a gigantic bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce for dinner and go to bed happy as a well-fed runner. Which you will be.
½ cup of macaroni and cheese has 360 calories and half of them are from fat! And you’ll still be hungry after ½ cup. However, one and ½ cups of spaghetti with pre-made, vegan marinara sauce has only 180 calories and no fat!
I’ll start sending recipes in the next few weeks. Lentil soup, roast squash, minestrone, rice and bean burritos, etc. All the recipes will be easy to make, hearty and filling, vegan and low-fat. They’ll be stuffed with vitamins and minerals and energy carbs and protein.
For more ideas now: Check out Dr. McDougall. His main site has general eating information and the newsletters are packed with great recipes. And you should be checking www.vegcooking.com every day for new meal ideas!
Happy running and happy eating!
Alex
p.s.
OK, there may be one person who can eat more than me: Coach Darren! Be sure to ask him for eating tips when you're talking to him.
No comments:
Post a Comment