Well since my Diabetic check up and the none too impressed nurse telling me to change my ways I spent a couple of months getting my head in gear, the I can't go on living like this to the but I love chocolate and biscuits thoughts, chocolate and biscuits is a mighty foe, I started c25k on Jan 5th, finishing Wednesday last week which coincided with a start of a change of diet, less carbs more protein, cut down on the sarnies and increase in salads, so far so good.Doing c25k was never about losing weight, if I do, I do. During my journey my appetite increase shocked me, I could not get enough food into me, no choccy or biscuits though, which can only be a good thing. But now beginnings to seriously consider what I am consuming not giving up a lot of what I am eating but have a lot less of it. I have a sweet tooth but I am back in control of it.
What meals/foods do you eat post run?
What treats do you have to re fuel after exercise? And what do you avoid?
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Post run I go for protein. I usually run before breakfast on an empty stomach then come home to fried egg, toast, maybe avocado on the toast, hash browns and, depending on what's in the fridge maybe some sliced French/Spanish sausage, bacon or mushrooms.
If I run mid morning (an hour or two after breakfast) I'll have a small glass of semi skimmed milk to rehydrate and give me some protein to keep me going until lunch time. Then I'll have an early, protein rich lunch - cheese or meat sandwich maybe.
Protein is very filling so less temptation to snack.
Regarding the sweet treats, I'm lucky enough not to have a sweet tooth so chocs and cakes are just an occasional indulgence. I keep dark chocolate for when I really get a craving. I worked with someone who was a member of a chocolate connoisseur's club who opened my eyes to the pleasure of dark chocolate and now a lot of milk chocolate just tastes insipid.
I've trained myself to look at all cakes and biscuits with a very jaded eye. For example, I'll see a chocolate cake and think back to the dullest, dryest, blandest, most chemical tasting chocolate cake I've ever eaten and remember the disappointment. I fix on that and the urge for a slice goes away. Of course, sometimes it doesn't work, like when I was out for the day last week and saw the world's most amazing courgette cake (google the one with the citrus buttercream frosting) but that doesn't happen very often thankfully.
For me it's quality rather than quantity. If I have something sweet that's delicious (like the courgette cake) I enjoy every scrap of it. If it looks mundane and run of the mill I give it a miss. You just have to change your mindset a little bit. The less sugar you eat the less you'll want.
I'm a runner not an athlete so there's no refuelling, no special foods.
I did briefly, in the beginning, delude myself (not helped the lovely Laura of the podcasts) that I needed a post run banana, or one of those bijou snack mixtures from Graze that were so popular at the time, but I very much did not.
It's more about the timing. I can't run hungry and I don't want to end up eating twice so I have almost never run before breakfast. A while back I had a revelation when, due to circumstances, straight after (carb heavy) lunch... one of my most comfortable runs yet. I stopped once on a long run (13k) on a hot day for a drink and a slab of Christmas cake, and a drink and a dog chew for Google.
I ran before my diagnosis in October of T2 and always ran on an empty stomach and breakfasted when I returned and that suits me, however we are told as T2 to move after eating to burn off the hideous glucose ?
I just can’t change my running pattern, so much has had to change food wise I need to keep something the same. So I run, then come back to scrambled eggs and avocado with some seeds on top and a glass of kefir and sometimes a dip in the ice bath but not today I’m not completely bonkers it’s 🥶 so weights as us diabetics need to do resistance training !!
It’s a real struggle isn’t it but I have kicked the cakes and chocolate my treat is a date with peanut butter on top yum!
I run before breakfast... and then, whatever I fancy.... porridge...
Weetabix, avocado on home made bread... and I do love eggs, poached, or scrambled or boiled...treat is scrambled egg with smoked salmon !
Home made smoothies... and unlike many, chocolate I dislike but CHEESE !!!! I am a Cheese-aholic!
Like Yesletsgo Cake and sweet treats are not part of my diet...but the cakes I would make, as she has mentioned, courgette cake... beetroot cake etc... you can make the treats but use natural sweetener if you need to, like apples, figs, spoonful of raw honey and remember that fruit adds its own sweet taste.. so home made scones with sultanas.. no sugar needs adding!
I run before breakfast with just a small glass of water. I come home and usually have scrambled eggs on toast, oj, coffee and vitamins. Sometimes it's oats and fruits. I'm working on drinking more water during the day and that is having benefits.
In the 10 years I've been running, I think I've only ever 'treated' myself, literally, couple of times. I enjoy running, it's no hardship for me.
For my long runs , usually on Sunday morning, I run them 'fasted' and then I enjoy and really apppreciate my post-run breakfast after I'm showered. Apart from that, no 'treats' as such.
No real treats here. For a run of 90 minutes or more, something with a mix of starch, sugar and protein (eg. jelly babies) every few km over about 10km, with possibly a couple of slices of toast beforehand to provide a bit of starch based energy.
However, I have done 10 mile runs without any fuel.
There are several sources that recommend taking in some protein after a longer aerobic run, where you might have burnt off some fat and protein. A run of less than an hour's duration is very unlikely to get into that zone.
I don't often treat food as treats. I love good food as much as anyone but rarely think of it in terms of a treat. A good meal out at a restaurant might be a treat but more for the company and the night out as anything. Cakes so often don't live up to their promises that I am not often tempted to bother.
There is so much info out there. If you are on Facebook there are hundreds of groups that will help you. The best way to control the cravings is to have no sugar... bear in mind your body converts all carbs to sugar, bread, pasta, rice, anything made with flour or other cereals, as well as sugar itself and honey., and of course fruit and root vegetables. All sources of sugar.
Don't think of it as "giving up" the things you love, think more about what you CAN have than what you can't.
I don't do treats, and I don't think of refuelling after runs, you might need something before or during a run, but not afterwards, and certainly not until you've reached far greater distances than you might cover on C25K. If you're hungry it's probably thirst not hunger. Have a drink and see how you feel in half an hour.
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