Fitness Friday: Fueling Your Fitness

I know it’s been awhile since my kick off post but life has been getting away from me lately! I hope to do these more frequently and of course, if you have any pressing fitness things you want me to feature one of these months, let me know!

This time on Fitness Friday, I want to talk all about what fuels your body during your fitness activities and journey! It’s common when people want to get fit that they have a weight loss goal in mind or simply a strength goal (stronger or more toned). Whatever the case may be, not eating in order to lose pounds can be detrimental (obviously) especially when introducing extra exercise! I know a lot of people want ideas or a direction to go in when they decide to change their eating habits and I hope my story can give you suggestions and be helpful in some way!

Lifestyle change without giving up the foods you love

What I want to talk about is being aware of what foods you’re putting in and having that benefit your fitness goals. I hate the word diet and will swear by “lifestyle change” because 1) it really is a big change in way of thinking and living and 2) diet implies something that can be dropped or stopped at anytime. I’m very passionate about food (seriously the world’s biggest foodie) and strongly believe in putting in good things so that I can reach my fitness goals while staying at a healthy goal weight and NOT excluding things I love eating forever.

My Turning Point

I’ll start off by sharing a bit of my start as far as finding that food balance goes. I started running and getting into a regular work out routine in 2016. I was running twice a week, going to a group fitness class once a week and rock climbing three times a week. I could tell that my cardio was improving and I was getting stronger but that number on the scale was solidly not moving. I would complain about this because “oh my gosh, I’m working so hard and I’m not losing anything” while at the same time getting home from a run, be starving and eat half a party size bag of chips. (I’d just burned so many calories running, right?)

It took me a year of this until a good friend suggested My Fitness Pal to count calories that things changed. I was always SO against counting calories because “it’s too hard” or “I eat healthy anyway”. Two important concepts I hadn’t grasped then: 1) once you get into the habit of it, counting calories especially on an app like My Fitness Pal is EASY PEASY, 2) healthy food can still make you gain weight if you’re eating a lot of it — which brings me back to #1. If you count your calories then it’s simple math – if what goes in is less than you burn, you have a net negative calorie count and you lose weight. It’s the QUANTITY of what I was eating. And probably a ton of chips isn’t the best to fuel my body after a run. It’s true what they say… abs are made in the kitchen!

The life changing eye opener

So basically I started using the app and tracking how much I was eating. Eating the correct serving size and keeping track of just how much I was consuming was so eye opening! I had also NEVER realized how many calories certain foods were, especially in relation to how much I should be eating. It’s such an eye opening experience and made so much sense why I wasn’t losing anything. If I had burned 600 calories on a 6 mile run, I had basically negated almost all that by eating half a bag of chips. For a visual: below is me after the half marathon I ran in summer of 2016 vs 2017. That’s about a 17 lb difference after I started tracking what I was eating while following a very similar work out regime!

And for another comparison, here I am wearing the same shirt and in similar “about to eat” poses, haha – I told you, I am a foodie! Left, fall 2015. Right, Feb 2018. I reached my goal weight in 2017 and food tracking helps me maintain it!

My Fitness Pal also lets you see your macros and as a runner who quickly became very conscious of what macros I was eating, it’s very helpful. I want to make sure I’m getting enough carbs for the easy to access fuel for my body to use during physical activity and also enough protein for my muscles to rebuild after a hard workout. Healthy fats will keep you feeling full longer and fats are also necessary for certain vitamins and minerals to be absorbed into the body. All this works together to make sure you have the energy to DO your physical activity and recover afterward. Then, counting the calories to make sure you have a deficit OR you have the right amount to maintain current weight makes the whole thing turn like clockwork.

So how do I make sure I’m getting everything in and the math works out? I plan out my meals so I know what I’m eating ahead of time and know when I’m making it, what days are leftovers, etc. Bad things happen if I’m starving with no readily available food because then you are way more likely to eat something unhealthy because you need food and you need it NOW. Meal planning is a whole other subject I will tackle another day though.

So what do you do when you finish a work out and you’re just so hungry? Eat something that won’t make you go over your calorie count and has both carbs and protein. A lot of Clif bars or Rx bars do the trick if you’re on the go and I usually love a piece of toast with peanut butter. Greek yogurt with granola or eggs in a tortilla with some cheese for a breakfast burrito are some of my faves too. All of the above are around 200 calories for reference.

Fueling during long runs is a whooole other can of worms and I think I’ll save that for another post to come.

And that’s it. Just being conscious of what and how much food is going in vs how much you are burning every day. A simple equation and keeping track of that is key! Of course, what sorts of foods are important to make sure you are getting the energy you need to do your physical activity too! But the best part about this is that you don’t have to give up things. If I want ice cream, I just know I’ll have to cut back somewhere else during the day in order to have a serving of ice cream (ONE serving does not equal one pint – serving sizes are crucial!).

Was this helpful? Tell me about your fitness goals! Do you currently use a tracking app? Tell me about your fave healthy snacks! What are your go-tos?

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