The Most Important Blog You'll Ever Read.

Calories in, calories out.  Right?  That's what we've been told. If you want to lose weight, eat less and move more.   Makes sense mathematically.  However, there's one problem.  It's not entirely true.

Something you need to know.  You can't out run a bad diet.  No matter how much you try.  Let me clarify, can you lose weight with this method of eating less calorie than you burn?  Yes.  I presume you can.  But is it healthy?  Maybe not, depending on your food choices.   The main takeaway, don't think you can have that extra treat because you are going to run the next day.  Or the worst, don't reward yourself with ice cream or pizza because you worked out today.

I want to keep this as simple as possible which will be really hard to do.  People smarter than I have written entire books about his topic.

Real life example.  In the spring/summer of 2015 I ran about 6 marathons, 10 or so half marathons and several other runs totaling over 500 miles.  In other words, I ran a lot.  I didn't lose any weight.  What?  Right.  I did all that running while burning several thousand calories and didn't lose any weight.  And I had fat to burn!

I'm going to go off the basic assumption that most people exercise because they want to lose excess body fat.  If this is true for you, you have to make the distinction between fat loss and weight loss.  You can lose weight and not lose any body fat.  In fact, you can gain weight and lose body fat at the same time.  This is another reason why it's a good idea to ditch the scale!

Insulin is the fat storage hormone.  When you consume a meal full of carbohydrates, insulin is released to take that energy and store it either in your liver or muscles as glycogen.  When your liver and muscles are full, any excess energy is converted and stored as fat.  Remember, this is the simplified version.  Think about how most people exercise.  They start by "carbing up" either the night before or immediately before a run or workout.   I'm going to make another assumption that when most people "carb up" that their liver and muscles are already filled to max capacity with glycogen.  Commence workout or run.  Insulin (the fat storage hormone), provided the exerciser had carbohydrates that morning, is present in the blood stream taking consumed energy where it needs to go.  Then you eat another carbohydrate filled something usually a GU or other energy bar releasing even more insulin into the bloodstream taking that energy where it needs to go.  All is well as far as carb fueled performance goes. But most people rarely activate the counter hormone, glucagon, to use the energy you already have stored on yourself whether from glycogen stores or fat cells.  So while you have have energy and fuel for your run.....

........you never get your stored body fat.

Ok, so how do I do that?  That's another long answer.  But the short answer is.  DIET.  In order to burn stored fat, your body has to know how to use fat as fuel.  Whether that's ingested fat or stored fat.  FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT.  Ok, well, it does if you over consume it.  Just like if you over consume any type of food.   Fat is an ESSENTIAL macronutrient, there is no need to be afraid of it.  It's never usually high fat that is a problem, more often than not it's a high carb/highly processed food diet that will cause health concerns over the long term.

And the process for becoming a fat burner is for another blog.  And it's exact reason why if you are serious about losing body fat and becoming metabolically flexible that you need a health coach.  Someone that is trained in understanding how the body processes macronutrients.  You shouldn't have to go to the gym multiple times a week for hours to maintain body weight.

80% of your body composition is determined by the foods you eat.

The Comparison Thief

You may have heard it said that comparison is the thief of joy.   So many times we compare other peoples best with our own worst.  Why do we do this to ourselves?

I've done this.  I've seen others post their run times and desperately want to run as fast as them.  I'd do the only thing I knew how to do.  Run more and push myself harder.  But it never worked and I always ended up injured and demotivated.  But why?

The short answer is variables.   There are so many different things involved in increasing your running speeds that I didn't know about.  Heart rate, fueling, recovery, HIIT and many other things you need to pay attention to.  Do you know the differences of the aerobic or anaerobic system?   There was a time I didn't either.  Your nutrition is a HUGE variable in your running.

So what's one way to avoid this?  Having a goal and a plan.  Wanting to run faster is a great goal.  But be more specific.  Do you want to run a 6 minute mile?  8 minute mile?  12 minute mile?  And then work with a running coach (experienced runners do not always make good coaches) to create a plan and make this goal a reality.

Real life experience.  I was ticking off 8:30-9 minute miles and enjoying it.  But to achieve my goals I had to slow my pace down to around 13-15 minutes per mile.  And I'm ok with that.  I'm ok with being the last person at all the group runs.  Why?  I have a goal.  I have a plan.  And I have the confidence in the process.