Run, Eat, Drink, be Merry…With Moderation!

I’ve never been on a diet and hope I’ll never have to be. I’ve never had a serious weight problem, but I do pick up weight very quickly if I don’t run. Luckily I’ve been running most of the last 29 years! I’m currently on a comeback after the longest running layoff I’ve ever had and yes, I’ve got weight to lose.

When I was in my late twenties and early to mid thirties, I could eat and drink what I want and as much as I wanted and still lose weight, as long as I ran 40km or more per week. Now that I’m 46 this has changed completely. I only started losing weight worth mentioning when I reached 60km – 65km per week. The chart below shows my weight loss from May 2009 to Feb 2010 (in kilograms). It looks good, but it’s not that much for 9 months. I weigh myself on the last Friday of every month.

Although it’s been a slow process, I’m actually quite happy with this. I’m not dieting at all and eat pretty much anything I feel like having. I believe my body tells me what I need, so if I get a craving for red meat, I’ll have red meat, if I crave cheese, I’ll eat cheese. I do however eat and drink with moderation. I’ve always been very disciplined when it comes to moderation. That’s been the case my whole life. I never eat or drink too much.

I still believe this is the way to go. The more I run, the more I eat, but I still do so in moderation. If I eat chocolate cake, I’ll have one slice and that’s it. I also drink alcohol only once per month at most and often only once in three months or so. When I do, it will be one beer or two glasses of wine. I don’t drink any other alcohol, only beer and wine. Other than that I stay away from any fatty or oily food and only use low fat milk, yogurt and anything else that comes in low fat. I never go for fat free. I believe if I train a lot I must take in some fat.

So I eat just about anything but always stick to moderation. I’m losing weight a bit slow, but at the same time I’m running injury free and haven’t had a cold or flu for a very long time. I know as I increase my weekly distance my weight will drop much quicker. The secret is to do this and stay cold, flu and injury free at the same time. For me this means run, eat, drink and be merry…with moderation.