Advice on Diet/Running

I read the treads every morning, for inspiration, but have never posted.

Need advise on diet. I started running at the begining of July this year, done a 5k charity race in 29 mins and started at a club the week after.

I do the following each week:-

Mon - 6-8 miles steady with intervals of faster pace
Tue - rest
Wed - 1hr hill/track work
Thur - 1hr Body Combat and 1hr Body Pump
Fri - 1hr Track
Sat - 1hr Body Compbat
Sun - 8-10 miles steady ish pace

Done a 10k 2 weeks ago in 1hr and 5 secs.

1) Hoping to do a 1/2 marathan in December. Do you think I will be ready?

2) How many calories a day do you think I should be eating. Want to lose about 1- 1/2 stone. I'm currently 5ft 6in and weight 10 stone 10 pounds.

Do you think it would be ok to follow the slim-fast plan to lose weight a bit quicker?

Any advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

did read somewhere that research had found meal replacements better than faddy diets -but I guess its amatter of personal choice

you look like you're doing a lot of training so you need to keep your energy up- have a look at what your eating rather than get to hung up on calories
10k and 5ks look good for a beginner (well I think so!)
rapid weight loss is not good - 1to2 1bs a week is better and exercise and healthy eating is the best way- just keep up your running progamme and as you step up the distances you should gradually lose the weight
rememeber fit and healthy doesnt always mean skinny!

Slim fast ... been there done that, put the weight back on!
To be honest I would give it a miss ... I never found it satisfied me once I started running so when I stopped I went back to normal habits and then got depressed!
You are doing brilliantly! I started in July too and my 10K best is 77mins sowell done you!

I started training 9 wks ago for next yrs FLM found that just by eating sensibly that the extra traning gave ne the weight loss.
For interest i run 3 time a week and play squash twice a week.
Haven't watched calories justb fat content and have so far lost 15lbs.
Also i totally agree with what bune says

Good luck

with the training youre doing, youre easliy on target for a half marathon
I wouldnt bother with faddy diets
Run for its own sake, if you lose weight then thats a bonus
Im a fat marathon runner, by the way

Don't bother with Slimfast - spend your money on good nutritional foods instead, and I guarantee you'll get more for your money.
Found this formula for weight loss:

655 + (9.6 x kg weight) + (1.8 x cm height) - (4.7 x age) = Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

BMR x 1.55 (moderate activity:4/5 times pw)
BMR x 1.725 (high activity:6/7 times pw)
= calories per day for maintenance

To lose weight deduct 500 (min)- 800 (max) calories per day
Make up these calories with good healthy food and avoid the junk.

Hi there

Seems that you have been given loads of advice on what to do when training wise.

Just posted an article myslef on Aloe Vera. You may want to have a look at it.

What I can say is that is is a brilliant thing to take and it has made me feel much stronger and less prone to illnesses.

Definately worth considering a natural tonic as part of the whole package.

Cheers

Dave

I started training a month before you, doing less work than you, and I ran the Great North Run comfortably and finished in under 2:15. So if you're anything like me a half marathon is *easily* within your capabilities.

Since starting running I'm down from 16 stone to 14. I did this over 4 months mainly by being careful not to eat more because I was burning more. If you burn more and eat the same then you *will* lose weight eventually. I also cut lunch down a bit for the first couple of months.

Now I've hit a bit of a plateau, but I have also started to eat a bit more and to give in to sugar cravings (which I never had before I started running - I used never to eat sweet things at all and now I do quite often). I shall start to be strict with myself again as soon as I have my next target race planned - because I'd like to race a little lighter than 14 stone (I'm 6'3").

If you're thinking about Slimfast shakes for lunch, bear in mind that they're 190 calories and for that you can have a tin of minestrone soup a peach and a banana. Which would you rather eat?

Incidentally, I'm no expert but your training seems to be biased towards speedwork. Many people would say that you should be making a greater proportion of your runs at an easy pace. You may be trying too hard and therefore not improving as quickly as you could at the moment.

HTH,

Millipede

Since cutting out the tubes of Pringles from my diet in June, I've lost nearly 6lbs - and saved ££££s.
So cut the fat out of the diet and any other junk food and the running will soon reduce the lbs from your body.
Have you tried keeping a food diary of everything (and i mean everything) you eat in a week? have a look at it at the end of the week and you'll probably be able to see where you are eating junk - and work out why.
sitting in front of the TV in the evening munching crisps/biccies is the best way to put on way that i can think of.
As most of the others have said: sensible diet, lots of fruit and veg and the running will take care of the inches.

Okay, all you sensible people, thank you for your sound advice. But, now let's have the faddists' points of view, which I have taken the liberty of researching at great length and present for your edification here: follow the Atkins Diet (no carb, high protein) strictly throughout the week, the Scarsdale Diet (grapefruit and something that smells like baby urine) all weekend, supplement it with Bio-En-r-giser 2000mg tablets and mito-chondritialis powder first thing in the morning; drink loads of fennel/echinacea/mahuang/garlic/ginseng/elephantpoo tea whenever you're feeling in need of a boost and, no matter what else you do, make sure to align your running routes with the "dragon-water-paper-light" feng shui meridian - but NOT on the 7th hour of the 7th day of any month (lunar calendar, of course).

According to my research, it seems that this is the optimal way to end up looking like a well-paid Hollywood movie star for exactly 3 seasons (not including re-runs), before you collapse "from exhaustion", get a divorce, adopt a Vietnamese orphan and check into a rehab clinic of your choice.

First timer with what you are doing training wise you should just adapt to a sensible eating plan and don't worry about how much you weigh just concentrate on the level of fat in your body. If you go to a local gym you can get a bodystat analysis done for about a fiver.

I had one done in early spring when I was training for a big race and I got my percentage body fat down from 23% to 11% just by cutting fat from my diet.

Have a good breakfast such as Weetabix, fruit juice, banana and a sandwich at lunchtime (no mayo ever, never) and have a healthy evening meal with plenty of carbohydrates. If you like to snack during the day try bananas, malt loaf, bits of carrot or whatever.

Most important of all drink lots of fluids during the day. Water keeps you hydrated but also prevents you from feeling hungry.

Don't be tempted by stupiid slimming products. They are expensive and they don't work.

One more top tip get some Echinacea tablets from Holland and Barrett to boost your immune system now that winter is on its way.

I reckon you will easily lose a stone in about six weeks if you follow any sort of healthy eating regime

the advice above is good regarding the bodyfat, because you might find you're gaining lean muscle mass at the same rate you're losing fat.

good luck with the half marathon, i did one on 6 weeks training so you've given yourself plenty of time.

Hi,I started running 12 months ago when my weight hit 16 st,i'm 6' 1''.I controlled my diet,cut down on beer and biscuits,crisps etc and began by running 10 m per week.
12 months on,I run 40 miles per week,weigh 12st7lb and have never felt better.However over the last couple of months I've tried getting down to 12 st,but just cant seem to get there.Running more isn't an option so i will have to look at my diet again.My point is keep at it,even when you feel depressed ,as i often did when you think nothings hapening.My race times are now 43m for 10k and 72m for 10m.