Long distance runners - what do you eat?!

[teaandcakeat8]

I'm a fairly experienced runner (been running 30 ish miles a week for a couple of years). I'm currently training for my first marathon and have a time goal, so have upped my training quite significantly.

I'm currently covering 45-55 miles per week including LSR of 15 plus.

Since upping my mileage I'm losing weight like no tomorrow. I'm not a huge eater anyway and really have to force myself but I am struggling to come up with a diet that goes with my training.

I have lost a few stone in the last few years and although I loathe to admit it, I'm scared to overeat and put it back on. But I think eating too little is affecting my health. I often feel dizzy and sick in the afternoons and I wake up in the night starving hungry.

I'm 5'8 and weight about 8 stone 10 but I have a muscular build.

So I need help to get the balance right between staying slim and nutrition!

If anyone could share their meal ideas/plans/any help at all/ it would be much appreciated.

The above is, BTW, from concern, and in a tone of ‘swift boot up the arse’. I’m not having go

Ok today I have made a huge effort to eat. I have had:

Breakfast: handful of granola with three tablespoons of fat free Greek yoghurt

Snack: banana

Lunch: leftover pasta from yesterday

Snack: Sunbites

I just ran 8 miles and it felt much easier - managed 8 miles @ 8:05 MM up some pretty steep inclines and I didn't feel sick or lightheaded.

My boyfriend is cooking me dinner and he shares the same concerns as you () so it will most likely be fairly calorie laden.

Thank you for all the advice. Maybe I needed a wake up call.

Bfast: 150 kcal? Depends what a "tablespoon" means
Snack: 100-150 kcal
Lunch: depends how big...
Snack: 134 kcal

It reads like you got to 7pm on less than 800 kcal. Your supper will need to be enormous to get you to 2400 kcal for the day.

It’s good your boyfriend is concerned. It took a drunken conversation with my husband to make me see that I couldn’t keep restricting and running/exercising. I’ve always been very open to call out problematic eating that I see with my friends (long history of friend with anorexia that made me promise myself never to ‘keep quiet’) but I didn’t see it when it was me. I was tottering around BMI 18.5, I had all these rules about eating, I was pale, tired, snappy. And I had a lollipop head

A year on, I don’t calorie count anymore. I rarely weigh myself but I know I’m nearly 2kg - 4 whole pounds - heavier than last Christmas I’m also a better body shape - my clothes are still getting looser. That’s because I can lift heavier weights, attack my sport with vigour, and I enjoy running again - I feel strong doing it.

Buy a bag of nuts and nibble on them through the day. Eat full fat Greek yogurt and add some more seeds to your breakfast. Swap the banana for an apple + peanut butter or add a chunk of cheese.

You want to be fit, not fragile.

It takes me a while to feel hungry after a very long run (in fact it's usually the day after that I feel the calorie deficit).

Try having a banana milk shake/smoothie as soon as you are back.

That will give you the boost you need. Then after a shower and a pootle have egg on toast.

You need to shake off the old thoughts you had when you were trying to lose weight. Listen to your body and nourish it and it won't let you down.

Read this article - it's aimed at parents/coaches etc supporting high school athletes but the same applies to adults as well.

And this - a post called eating yourself out of overtraining.

The runners world cook book is good. Do you like nuts? They’re good to carry around to snack on. Try smaller amounts more frequently if you’re feeling sick

Don't forget that if you are stressing your body immensely through intense exercise, and don't replenish through sufficient rest and nutrients, your system will react as if to a crisis and suck energy out of processes that are considered non-essential for immediate self-preservation in order to fuel your survival. Those non-essential processes are things like maintaining immunity, fertility, cell renewal (ie healing) and also growth, so you won't even be gaining strength through the extra activity, and will also be effectively fast-forwarding the aging process. Your hormones will be a mess.

The likely consequence is that you will feel exhausted and depressed and eventually hate running. It's really no good.

I've been through similar stuff, although I'm nothing like the athlete you are. Don't lose that positive passion and all your work so far by overdoing it. Let everyone see your health and strength carry you far!

Oh I didn't realise how late I was to this thread - apologies!

Which marathon are you targeting OP? Porridge is great fuel - I mix nuts, seeds and cinnamon into mine. Chia Charge flapjacks are also great (peanut butter favour is amazing). Post run I chuck a frozen banana with milk, nut butter and protein powder in a blender or choc milk also v.good. I need to eat solid food on my long runs and not just gels as my stomach gets sore! Tailwind is also good