What I Ate Wednesday is a chance for bloggers to share a day in the life of their diet. It can be insightful to look at how someone else eats on a day-to-day basis. Today, readers, I’m asking for your help.
As you know, I’m training for a marathon. Let me tell you, guys–running this much makes a girl hungry. Especially on long run days. I feel as though I could eat and eat and eat and still never get enough. Now, you guys know I track my calories like it’s my job. I’ve also described to you what I’ve learned recently about the need to eat enough calories, and how eating too few calories can actually reverse the effects of other weight loss efforts. Well, I’m really struggling on my long run days, guys. Take this past Saturday, for example…
I ran 13 miles on the treadmill. (This was a tapering week, even–my long runs in the next few weeks will be 17 mi. or longer.) Two hours of straight running for me, at my weight, burned about 1400 calories (1,398 according to MyFitnessPal). Now, I don’t wear a heart rate monitor when I run, so I’m just going by MyFitnessPal’s estimation. But I think that seems like a pretty fair number.
Since my daily calorie goal is generally about 1400 calories, I know that it’s necessary to eat a little extra on days when I do a long run. Here’s how I went about trying to do that on Saturday:
Pre-run fuel: Designer Whey Protein Bar
Breakfast: Starbucks’ Reduced-Fat Turkey Bacon, Egg White, & Cheddar sandwich + a banana
Mid-morning snack: Jason’s Deli cracker that I happened to have in my purse since I was starving while waiting in line at the pharmacy
Lunch: leftover chili + apple + carrots
Afternoon snack: Fro-yo topped w/ granola, fruit & chocolate chips (day date with the hubby!)
Dinner: Spinach salad w/cucumber, mushroom, chicken sausage, feta & croutons
Movie snack: trail mix of Trader Joe’s salty snacks including air-popped popcorn, pretzel slims, raisins, and banana chips + glass of wine (or 2)
Pretty full day, huh? Well, by the time we finished our movie and were ready for bed, my stomach was literally still growling. Like, physical signs of hunger, guys. And so I ate a spoonful of almond butter on a mini pita. Then, after tracking that last nibble, I took a look at MyFitnessPal. Here’s what I saw:
Now, I know it’s not necessary to eat back every single calorie you burn during a workout, but honestly, guys, my stomach was still growling that night. And I was ravenous for all of Sunday, as well.
So my question for all of you runners out there is… How do you eat back your long run calories in a healthful way? As you can see, I tend to go for frozen yogurt and wine as splurges on days when I burn an insane amount of calories. I know that’s not necessarily bad, but I’m guessing it has something to do with why I was left feeling so hungry at the end of the day. What can I do differently?
Maybe not enough protein and good fats.
That’s kind of what I was thinking, too. I just need some ideas about where to add it in!
Fat is fairly easy to add to breakfast and can help keep you feeling more full during the day. Try some coconut oil in your coffee or a few slices of avocado.
That’s a good idea, Mark. I actually played with increasing my fats/proteins today, and found I was able to have almonds for a snack, top my salad w/shrimp + black olives, add beans to a soup… lots of places to add it in! Just have to be creative
Great idea. Good for your heart, reducing inflammation, your brain, etc.
I love whipping up a greek yogurt and peanut butter (and even some honey) dip for fruit. It is a great way to get protein in.
Your myfitnesspal may be overestimating your burned calories as well. I have been using it too (after reading your blog) and was just relying on their calculations of calories for a while. I have a heart rate monitor though that I wear sometimes so I tried it one day recently to see how accurate the site was…on a 6 mile run it was overestimating my calories by over 150. This is probably because I am pretty fit which is (from what I read) something that you are too. Just something to keep in mind.
That’s a good point. However, I still know that on long run days I need more than 1400-1700 calories! Especially when I go to bed with a growling stomach
For sure!! I usually didn’t have much of an appetite that day and had to make up those calories over two days which you could try too
Good point–I guess they don’t always have to be eaten that very day!
after i have a long run,…i typically indulge in hearty bread with peanut buttter and frozen yogurt
Mmmm. Sounds like my kind of treat, too!