Question:

Sitting on your (not you but in general) fat ass and not burning more calories than you eat will make you fat, Why is it always fat people telling thin runners how bad carbs are?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello, I’ve been away from this group for several years until the past couple of months. I’m just getting back into running and for the first time in my life I’m seriously considering dieting to assist in my running program. I’m too heavy and would like to drop some more weight to ease the effort of running and help with my overall program in general. When I was participating in the group about 6-7 years ago, there was no doubt that the recommended diet was high carb and low fat. Many runners were "carbo loading" the day before a race and in general the more carbs you could eat the better. I’ve been studying dieting and it seems that the current thought is that eating too many carbohydrates is the absolute worst thing you can do to lose weight. The very foods like pasta and potatoes and bread that used to be good for you are now considered "bad" carbos which have a high glycemic (?sp) index. It seems that these carbos enter the bloodstream too quickly and cause an insulin reaction which causes the buildup of fat. I’m not an expert on nutrition but I am trying to learn everything I can so I can make better decisions regarding what to eat in generally but especially while I’m in the mode of losing weight and getting back into shape. What is the current thought by the "experts" regarding the best diet for losing weight and running? If I wanted to go on the best diet possible to lose weight and get back into running shape, what would that diet consist of? What is the state-of-the-art concerning current thought regarding diet when it comes to distance running? I realize there likely isn’t a consensus on this but would appreciate your thoughts anyway. What do you think? Thanks!! Doug Gilliam

Response:

Forget the fly by night, flavor of the month, diets.  Go with the diet that I use to stay fit.  It’s called "The Fudge & Whiskey Diet".  The 2 most common side effects to this diet are diabetes, and violent mood swings…….but other than that, it’s a great regimen.

Response:

Go with the diet that I use to stay fit.  It’s called "The Fudge & Whiskey Diet".

This one works a lot better without the fudge.

Response:

Not quite as simple as that, Joe. Yes, if you take more cals in than you use you’ll gain weight.

Agree. But if you take less, just how much weight you succeed in losing will depend on the kind of food you eat. High glyc carbs will lose you less; almonds and protein (pace Atkins), for example, will lose you more.

Sears in his 40/30/30 regimen brought GI( glycemic index) into popularity.  For those with very sensitive systems this explained some peoples eating/weight  problems. While some people can survive on only 40% in carbs the running body finds this insufficient. Adkins, the greedy SOB, took this notion of GI and GL( gly load) as if everyone is an over sensitive insulin machine and GI/L is the latest HIV.  I think I would let my kids stay at Jacko’s house before I buy his theory. In studies with blinds etc. and not 14 700 hundred pound obese menopausal aardvarks, it falls apart. Granted you will lose weight on Sears, Adkins, etc. cuz you input less calories regardless of carb, protein, fat. When you look at who stay on these alleged diets past six months to a year, hardly any. Enter the yo-yo effect. As for the health issues with Adkins it is a   not a pretty sight. And the rhythm method will help you control the number of children you will have. The best notion these two "diets" bring to light is stay the hell away from simple carbs. Now that’s a novel idea, cookies, candy, soda’s are empty. In my not so humble opinion, eat a balanced diet, sans the bad fat and cheap carbs, a little less in total numbers and you’ll lose weight slowly and settle into "YOUR" weight. — Doug Freese "Caveat Lector"

Response:

Losing weight is a simple matter of Physics, calories in versus calories out.  If you take in more calories (be it from fat, carbos, protein or whatever) than your body uses up in a day, you will gain weight, vice versa, if you use up more calories than you take in, you will lose weight.

Not quite as simple as that, Joe. Yes, if you take more cals in than you use you’ll gain weight. But if you take less, just how much weight you succeed in losing will depend on the kind of food you eat. High glyc carbs will lose you less; almonds and protein (pace Atkins), for example, will lose you more. Jonathan

Response:

The tricky part is to do the "performance nutrition" bit in a way that minimises adverse impact on the "weight loss nutrition" part. Reserving high GI carbs for "special occasions" (long training runs, speed work, etc) may be one way to approach this (or it may not)

That’s how I approach it. Works OK. — Brian P. Baresch Fort Worth, Texas, USA Professional editing and proofreading If you’re going through hell, keep going. –Winston Churchill

Response:

I too have been away from running and the group for 2 years. I started the journey back to my former running self back in June. At that time I was 245 lbs. Now, at 192 pounds, I’m running again and it feels great. I am no diet expert, except for being an expert in knowing what works for me. The diet I’ve been using is a 2000 calorie diet composed of 61% carbs, 22% protein, and 17% fat. I have not paid much attention to the ratios; I’ve just been concentrating on the 2000 calorie/day limit. The ratios have just fallen in to place. I lean towards the low-fat foods because it makes more sense on a low calorie diet. I am not going to blow my day’s rations on fatty foods when I can fill up on carbs. Also, another big factor that has helped me to track my diet and stay motivated is a program called DietPower from http://www.dietpower.com. This is an easy way for me to set my goals, track everything that I eat, and figure in my calorie expenditure. You can configure it for your own needs, whether they are high carb, low carb, or Atkins. No matter what form of food you eat, the bottom line is going to be that in order to lose weight, calories in has to be less than calories out.    -Phil – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello, I’ve been away from this group for several years until the past couple of months. I’m just getting back into running and for the first time in my life I’m seriously considering dieting to assist in my running program. I’m too heavy and would like to drop some more weight to ease the effort of running and help with my overall program in general. When I was participating in the group about 6-7 years ago, there was no doubt that the recommended diet was high carb and low fat. Many runners were "carbo loading" the day before a race and in general the more carbs you could eat the better. I’ve been studying dieting and it seems that the current thought is that eating too many carbohydrates is the absolute worst thing you can do to lose weight. The very foods like pasta and potatoes and bread that used to be good for you are now considered "bad" carbos which have a high glycemic (?sp) index. It seems that these carbos enter the bloodstream too quickly and cause an insulin reaction which causes the buildup of fat. I’m not an expert on nutrition but I am trying to learn everything I can so I can make better decisions regarding what to eat in generally but especially while I’m in the mode of losing weight and getting back into shape. What is the current thought by the "experts" regarding the best diet for losing weight and running? If I wanted to go on the best diet possible to lose weight and get back into running shape, what would that diet consist of? What is the state-of-the-art concerning current thought regarding diet when it comes to distance running? I realize there likely isn’t a consensus on this but would appreciate your thoughts anyway. What do you think? Thanks!! Doug Gilliam

Response:

Losing weight is a simple matter of Physics, calories in versus calories out.  If you take in more calories (be it from fat, carbos, protein or whatever) than your body uses up in a day, you will gain weight, vice versa, if you use up more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. Joe

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello, I’ve been away from this group for several years until the past couple of months. I’m just getting back into running and for the first time in my life I’m seriously considering dieting to assist in my running program. I’m too heavy and would like to drop some more weight to ease the effort of running and help with my overall program in general. When I was participating in the group about 6-7 years ago, there was no doubt that the recommended diet was high carb and low fat. Many runners were "carbo loading" the day before a race and in general the more carbs you could eat the better. I’ve been studying dieting and it seems that the current thought is that eating too many carbohydrates is the absolute worst thing you can do to lose weight. The very foods like pasta and potatoes and bread that used to be good for you are now considered "bad" carbos which have a high glycemic (?sp) index. It seems that these carbos enter the bloodstream too quickly and cause an insulin reaction which causes the buildup of fat. I’m not an expert on nutrition but I am trying to learn everything I can so I can make better decisions regarding what to eat in generally but especially while I’m in the mode of losing weight and getting back into shape. What is the current thought by the "experts" regarding the best diet for losing weight and running? If I wanted to go on the best diet possible to lose weight and get back into running shape, what would that diet consist of? What is the state-of-the-art concerning current thought regarding diet when it comes to distance running? I realize there likely isn’t a consensus on this but would appreciate your thoughts anyway. What do you think? Thanks!! Doug Gilliam

Response:

Hello, I’ve been away from this group for several years until the past couple of months.

The reason you got almost no response to your other post is that the topic was covered in a recent thread, which I pointed you to, and you don’t appear to have followed up on. Here is the thread, to summarise, a bunch of people chipped in and a good time was had by all. http://tinyurl.com/x9u2 In particular, take a look at Lyle’s first followup to my post. When I was participating in the group about 6-7 years ago, there was no doubt that the recommended diet was high carb and low fat. Many runners were "carbo loading" the day before a race and in general the more carbs you could eat the better.

Pre race dieting and general training diet are separate topics. Performance nutrition and weight loss nutrition are different goals. Just prior to a race, you want to focus on performance, not weight loss. What is the current thought by the "experts" regarding the best diet for losing weight and running?

Ask them — they’ll each give you a different answer. If I wanted to go on the best diet possible to lose weight and get back into running shape, what would that diet consist of?

Adequate protein, adequate micronutrients (vitamins, calcium, etc), and other stuff. The other stuff amounts to a compromise between performance nutrition and weight loss nutrition. Performance nutrition could mean doing things like taking gel packs during a run, or taking carbs a few hours before speed work. Weight loss nutrition could mean reducing high GI carbs in your day-to-day eating. The tricky part is to do the "performance nutrition" bit in a way that minimises adverse impact on the "weight loss nutrition" part. Reserving high GI carbs for "special occasions" (long training runs, speed work, etc) may be one way to approach this (or it may not) Cheers, — Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

Response:

Hello, I’ve been away from this group for several years until the past couple of months. I’m just getting back into running and for the first time in my life I’m seriously considering dieting to assist in my running program. I’m too heavy and would like to drop some more weight to ease the effort of running and help with my overall program in general. When I was participating in the group about 6-7 years ago, there was no doubt that the recommended diet was high carb and low fat. Many runners were "carbo loading" the day before a race and in general the more carbs you could eat the better. I’ve been studying dieting and it seems that the current thought is that eating too many carbohydrates is the absolute worst thing you can do to lose weight. The very foods like pasta and potatoes and bread that used to be good for you are now considered "bad" carbos which have a high glycemic (?sp) index. It seems that these carbos enter the bloodstream too quickly and cause an insulin reaction which causes the buildup of fat. I’m not an expert on nutrition but I am trying to learn everything I can so I can make better decisions regarding what to eat in generally but especially while I’m in the mode of losing weight and getting back into shape. What is the current thought by the "experts" regarding the best diet for losing weight and running? If I wanted to go on the best diet possible to lose weight and get back into running shape, what would that diet consist of? What is the state-of-the-art concerning current thought regarding diet when it comes to distance running? I realize there likely isn’t a consensus on this but would appreciate your thoughts anyway. What do you think? Thanks!! Doug Gilliam

Response: