Calorie Myths

Since running involves more awareness of fueling your body and a good diet, I thought readers might find this particular article interesting. I've been doing more and more research lately about what a "healthy" diet really means, and I've also been noticing something about myself. Even though I haven't been exercising much, okay at all, I've been keeping off the weight I lost training for the half marathon and in fact I think I've lost a little more.

Here's a couple things I've noticed in the past several months:

• Even though I was training like a fiend for the half marathon, I only lost 10 pounds. WTF?! All that training and only 10 pounds were lost??? I know I gained some muscle too, but sheesh...
• I had to eat like crazy for that training. If I didn't pretty much eat all day long, I was dealing with major hunger issues. This confirms my belief that you can't cut calories and exercise a lot without some major repercussions.
• Now that I'm not training or exercising, I expected the weight to pile back on. It hasn't (as I mentioned above).
• Careful grazing (I eat on a very specific schedule) with protein packed into each meal has keep my hunger down and keeps me focused.
• Cutting sugars (with the exception of whole fruit) has been a major success. My glucose levels don't spike and my skin has cleared up. Most people don't realize that excess sugars in your diet cause acne breakouts.

Long story short: I gave up calorie counts, caloric burn, and obsessing over weight loss. This has allowed me to just be content, enjoy food, and feel better overall.

I hope this helps if you're trying to lose weight. Weight loss is different for everyone, and there is no "easy fix". Good luck!