Food Choices

So, we survived the 2:15 trail run yesterday afternoon - 12.25 miles total. It was a tough one on tired legs, but we got through it with fun conversation and dreams of what we would be ordering for dinner. Which brings me to the topic of this blog...food choices.

Last year, while I ate a ton of food, I was generally careful about what I was putting into the engine for fuel. Now? Not so much.

The menu for Saturday lunch with my brother? Cup of corn chowder, small ham & pineapple pizza and half of an "Oreo Oblivion" dessert. Yah, I ate the whole thing. Not a crumb in sight. Worst part? I was still kind of hungry after. It was probably because it wasn't the right choice for post-4.25 hour workout food. It was yummy though.

Last night, Sam orders coffee, small garden salad, grilled chicken sandwich, grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of cottage fries. The waitress puts her pad away and I say "Oh no, we're not finished ordering." I then order a small garden salad, cheeseburger and bowl of mac & cheese. The waitress' eyes were as big as saucers. Sam gently explains that we just finished running. Now, we didn't eat the entire shared meal, but we polished off a significant portion of it. Sam is all of 95 pounds, so you can imagine the looks of the patrons seated at the table attached to ours.

I went home and later had a bowl of 1/2 fat ice cream. That finally silenced the hunger monster. And, I wonder why I've gained 10 pounds since Ironman?! I was probably a little too thin at Ironman, but still.

It all comes back to food choices. Exercise alone is not going to make a person lose weight (and I'm not saying that is my goal at all). The point is that exercising more makes you more hungry. If you take in more calories than you burn, you will gain weight even if you are working out 10+ hours a week. I think I only lost weight for Ironman, because I was too tired to eat too much. : )

On the flip side, working out with severe food intake reduction is not the right thing either. Your body needs fuel to burn fat. If you don't eat enough, the body thinks it is starving and retains any calorie you put in. The moral? Make sure to eat enough.

So, will I be forgoing the pizza, burgers and ice cream? Nah, that is not for me. "All things in moderation" is the right mantra.