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“You run so you can eat, right? So if you run more, you can eat more. You don’t have to worry about what you’re eating.” I nodded my head as Jim, a fellow runner, sipped his coffee.
Running is a tool to stay healthy and burn calories, especially the calories you take in from beer, a weekend pizza, or a few snacks.
After all, you enjoy taking the family out to dinner and crushing a pint of ice cream. (I’m guilty, too.) And you pound the pavement to eat the foods you enjoy. That makes sense, right?
But here’s the problem:
Runners may eat to run but still struggle with weight gain. They don’t get the results they want.
It’s all about making the right choices when it comes to your food intake. Here’s how
Understand Why You Are Not Losing Weight
Your metabolism is extremely versatile. Its primary objective is to keep you alive, so it needs to be ready for a change. A sudden decrease in food and water can throw things off.
Eating 1400 calories a day is teaching your metabolism to operate all bodily functions on the 1400 calories of energy. Your body learns to depend on that each day. Your metabolism cannot rely on more energy coming in because it is has learned to expect 1400.
Let’s say you are a 40-year-old woman who is 5’5 and weighs 145 lbs. Your base metabolic rate (BMR) or the number of calories you will burn a day without doing anything is 1380. Let’s say you work a regular desk job but are consistent about getting in your 8,000-1000 steps per day, and you run 3-5 times a week. Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) will be right around 2300 calories per day.
To recap:
Calories burned = 2300
Calories consumed = 1400
Now a good rule of thumb for weight loss is to aim to lose 1-1.5 lbs per week. To do so you need to put your body in a deficit of roughly 500 calories a day. Our runner is at a 900 calorie deficit, so the weight should be melting off, right?
This may be the case for a few weeks. But after a few months or years?
Eventually, your metabolism adapts.
Understand Metabolic Adaptation
Your metabolism has learned to function on a deficit of 900 calories a day. Your body needs to conserve all the calories that it can get. Your body is operating at such a small number it thinks you are in a dangerous situation.
Now your body is in conservation mode instead of burn mode you are more likely to gain weight.
And that’s how you gain fat while running a buttload and eating salads
When you go over your expected caloric intake of 1400 a day, your body will rejoice. It will store those calories like it is preparing for the apocalypse. Your body stores calories as fat as a reserve of energy.
This is why someone in this situation can’t just go out and enjoy a monster brunch even once a week without gaining weight. Your body is on high alert for extra calories because it is starving.
Most runners land in this camp. A survey conducted by Timex concluded that running is the most popular form of exercise across the United States. The US continues to be plagued by an obesity epidemic, and there are plenty of overweight runners out there.
Understand That You May Be Starving
Most runners believe they have a slow metabolism.
Or that with age it is harder to lose weight.
Or they think they gain weight because they eat cupcakes from time to time.
But the real reason they are not losing weight is that they are starving.
Learn how you can calculate your own macros here.
What To Do Instead.
Eat more. 
But that’s scary; You know that you gain weight quickly, so why the heck would you eat more?!? Gaining weight even for a few days is tough.
It may be what you need to do. If you are consuming 1400 calories a day and increase to 2300 calories a day, you will gain weight.
Your body would be grabbing and stashing the calories like a game show contestant in one of those money machines that blow dollars bills in the air.
Understand How To Eat More Without Gaining Weight
There is a concept called “reverse dieting” that will slowly increase your calorie intake to allow your body to adjust to change.
As your calories increase, you need to monitor your weight to know when to add more calories. To start, you will need to track your caloric and food intake.
Start by downloading MyFitnessPal or track your food in a spreadsheet. It is essential to monitor because you need to know how much food you are taking in right now and how much food to add when you start to reverse diet. It can be a pain to track your food, but you get the hang of it and start to learn what is in the food you consume.
Understand How To Reverse Diet
Add in 40 calories every other day and monitor your weight. If you hit your food targets for the day and your weight stays the same or goes down, then add in 40 more calories the next day. If you it goes up slightly then eat the same amount of food until you hit your original weight.
Eat more. Got it. But what foods should I eat? It depends.
Let’s talk about macros and how they will make you faster.
Your macronutrients are carbs, fats, and protein. Each macro has a purpose in your bodily function. All must be included in your diet.
Let’s be clear. There is no magic bullet for diet. You need all of the food, so, therefore, eat all of the food.
Understand Carbs, Fats, and Protein
Carbs
Carbs are your body’s preferred energy source. They are the quickest to convert to energy. Carbs also are pivotal when it comes to recovery as they replenish your glycogen stores which will help you feel ready to rock your next workout. Carbs also aid in your hydration and electrolyte balance which are very important to runners. Research has shown that Glycogen is stored in a hydrated form (three to four parts water.)
However, carbs will store as fat if you are not working to convert them to energy. This is why carbs are notoriously connected to runners. Runner’s burn a lot of calories, so that is why “carb loading” and “pasta parties” are part of runner culture.
Fats
Fats are another fuel source for your body. They are used at a slower rate than carbs which makes them ideal for longer sustained energy. The slower sustained energy is why ultra-endurance athletes have been excited at the prospect of a low-carb/high-fat diet
Fats also play a pivotal role in hormone production and balance. If your fats drop too low, you can experience side effects such as insomnia, lack of sex drive, and fatigue.
Fats get a bad rap because they are calorically expensive (9 cals for every gram) and historically food marketing has convinced us that fats are our biggest enemy. We all need to change our mindset about fats. We need fats to live and thrive. , So get used to them and enjoy them.
Protein
Protein helps rebuild and repair our muscles. They have the highest concentration of amino acids which are the building blocks of muscle. Protein will help rebuild your torn muscles after exercises which will bring them back stronger for next time.
Protein is a macronutrient that is often underutilized in the runner community. Again, marketing, has us thinking that protein is for bodybuilders and meatheads. But runners inflict damage to their bodies every run and need protein to recover and improve.
Protein has also been scientifically proven to reduce your appetite. If you are snacking on carbs all day and can’t seem to stop eating, try adding in more protein to your diet.
Understanding How Much To Eat
We briefly touched on the concept of your Basal Metabolic Rate and Total Daily Energy Expenditure. These are two formulas that will help you determine your optimal caloric target.
Your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR is the number of calories you burn each day, just by being alive. Your age, height, and weight will be factored into determining your BMR.
Once you have your BMR, you can then determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE. Your TDEE is the total amount of calories you burn based on your activity level.
You will consider how active you are all day and not just the time you spend exercising. If you run for an hour, but sit at a desk all day, you are inactive most of the time. Knowing your body fat percentage is not necessary, but it is helpful to get the most accurate TDEE.
Then you need to understand how many calories are burned during your exercise.
You can get a free copy of my Nutrition Calculator for Endurance Athletes here.
Now that you have a caloric target, you can then determine what Macros will work best for you. There is no one “best” macro target and if can be trial and error to determine because everyone responds differently to certain kinds of foods.
For runners, I typically recommend a 50%/25%/25% with carbs, fats, and proteins. These numbers are flexible and can change over time, but I have found this to be the best place to start.
Using our Above example female runner in her 40’s we can figure out her macros and daily target quickly.
BMR 1380
TDEE 2300
Macros 50/25/25
Daily Macro Targets
Carbs: 288 g
Protein: 144 g
Fats: 64
Calories: 2300
Your macro targets will help you determine what foods you should eat. What foods are better than others is the most confusing thing about nutrition, so knowing what YOU need specifically for your goals helps clear up all of the confusion.
Understanding What To Do Next
When To Eat
The first thing you should do when it comes to your nutrient timing is to decide what to eat before and after your workout. Eat 30-50 grams of carbs before and after your workout with 10-20 grams of protein. Fats are fine to eat pre and post-workout and are not to be avoided, but make sure you get your carbs and protein first.
With the remaining macros, it is easiest to split your calories evenly throughout the day in three to four meals.
Choosing Your Goal
The entire process is flexible and is about finding what works for you. It is not meant to be rigid or dogmatic so your goals and targets can change. Most runners have one of two goals, run faster or lose weight.
Fueling For Performance – Run Faster!
To run faster, you will want to stick to hitting your numbers every day, except a planned “refueling day” where you will go over. Your TDEE numbers and assigned macros will help you fuel for the amount of work you are putting in. Continue to monitor your weight while fueling for performance to make sure there are no shifts up or down. If you are training hard, eating right, and maintaining weight, then you should add in some more food to continue to fuel the fire.
Losing Weight
To set yourself up for healthy weight loss, you should put yourself in a deficit of 500 calories a day. This should facilitate about 1-1.5 lbs of weight each week. Remember: less is not better and can be dangerous. Stick to -500 a day and be patient, the weight will come off, but it is a slow process. A deficient state should not be held perpetually. Aim for an 8-10 week deficit schedule and then add more food to reset your metabolism.
Learn how to calculate fat loss macros in this video.
The Takeaway
- Track your food with MyFitnessPal or other
- Get this calculator to determine your TDEE
- Chose your goal
- Eat foods that you like!
Knowing how to eat is a secret weapon when it comes to your performance. Put these principles to work to lose weight and run faster.
Do you still have questions? I would love to help you get started. Fill out this form below and tell me about your history and goals. Then I’ll be in touch to see if I can help.
