My Forum

Please ignore - problem solved!

Eh? Genuinely trying to help with my post...why would Craig be tactful or otherwise to what I put? What are you insinuating Sussex Runner?

I'm part way through an OU Degree Course on Sports and Fitness, and much of what I put was stuff I've picked up from that, and I was only too happy to help someone with the knowledge I've gained. Yes, the answer was quite verbose (some may say long-winded!) but whoever reads it can pick out of it what they want.

Anyway, it's everyone's choice to take my response however they want to - all I hope is that it was helpful for Craig who posted the original question.

I tried shifting away from Nike Structure Triax / Nike Pegasus (I flip between the two depending upon weight - if I'm carrying a few extra pounds I wear the structure for the better support / motion control) last year into Adidas - they didn't suit my gait, and I ended up picking up a piriformis injury as a result. The minute I cast them aside and went back to the trusty Nikes the injury went away.

Now I will never consider anything other than Nikes - I too have learnt the lesson 'If it's not broke don't fix it!'

I think it's a myth that various foods go 'straight to your belly'. Everyone should try to eat a healthy split of food, something along the 60% carbohydrates / 30% protein / 10% fat, with this being made up of polyunsaturated fats - by eating oily fish that has some of the essential nutrients that your body cannot synthesise or obtain from other foods.

Don't be fooled by the low carb / high this that or the other diets - they promote immediate weight-loss due to the lack of carbs, as carbohydrate is stored in the body in water at a ratio of 3:1 - so if the body has 100g less carbs then it will in effect weigh 300g less. This isn't good for the body as it needs carbohydrate to be the fuel for exercise - protein only will not be an efficient fuel for the muscles, and fat is only marginally better as the body also struggles to use fat as a fuel.

The simple rule of thumb, if you want to calorie count, is to make sure your energy balance is correct. Keep a log of hte food you eat and the calorie levels, whilst at the same time as keeping a log of all exercise you do - if the exercise totals more than the food consumed then you will eventually lose weight. Conversely if fuel totals are higher than exercise then you'll put on weight - it really is as simple as that. My brother took up exercise (running and cycling) and kept a strict log of his food consumption and lost 8 stone in 8 months.

Obviously steering clear of high fat / sugar foods is a good idea, as you can only eat small volumes of these before you're up to your allowable calorie limits for the day - Weightwatchers used to do a good points system that allowed you 'free' food such as some fruits and vegetables, and put a high points weighting on the food that was bad for you, and you're allowed only a certain amount of points per day. This got my brother to focus on eating stuff that was healthy rather than what was perceived as 'nice' - all foods nice, it's just the manufacturers make their foods appeal to our tastbuds by adding salt, fat and sugar!

My final point is, do you really need to lose much more weight? Being 5'11'' myself, and weighing the best part of 2 stone more than you, I only want to trim off a few pounds myself before I feel more like my racing weight. Don't let your weight go too low, or you'll have no power for running, and you could leave yourself open to illness and injury. I suggest taking a read of the 'Disorered Eating' article that was in Runner's World last month - really interesting view on what and when to eat, and avoiding the trap of getting obsessive about losing weight.

Happy running!