Back in April of this year, I made a change to my diet and started eating a paleo / or primal style diet. If you missed my original post about what that entails, you can read it here.
Part of my motivation for overhauling my diet was because I believed it would improve my running performance and allow me to use primarily stored body fat, rather than sugar as fuel. I wrote about my quest to become a fat burning beast back in May. You can read the post here.
I have to admit, despite what I had read and heard about going paleo and what it might be able to do for my running, I had my doubts. Having been a sugar burner all my life, I didn't see how it would be possible to run for 3 hours plus, in a fasted state and not chugging down loads of gels and energy drinks before, during and after the run.
But on Sunday, that's exactly what I did. As part of my training for the Chester Marathon, I ran 22 miles at an average of 7:59 minute miles. That's just under 3 hours of running. What did I fuel myself on? Well, I got up, had a coffee with cream and that's it. On the run, I consumed 750ml of water and nothing else. The statto's can see my Strava activity here.
I'm not going to say it was easy. After all, I was running at PB pace. But I felt stronger as the run went on. I never had any sugar crashes or came close to hitting the wall. Not only that but I recovered really quickly after the run. I didn't get back and feel like I had to eat all of the food in the house and was still able to commit to the list of chores Mrs M had lined up for me!
Without even training for speed, I have PB'd in the 5k and 10k since going paleo. Losing a stone in weight will do that for you. Plus, I am saving a fortune in 'nutritional products' as I am not having to buy gels, energy drinks and recovery shakes.
Obviously the big test will be Chester. Not forgetting the small matter of the High Peak 40 ultra marathon a few weeks beforehand but after eating paleo for 5 months, I do now feel like I can call myself a fat burning beast!
Showing posts with label fat adaptation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fat adaptation. Show all posts
Thursday, 11 September 2014
Monday, 4 August 2014
A quick update on how eating paleo is affecting my running
21 miles, 3 hours 50 mins, 2,439 foot of ascent and 2,726 calories burned. Fuelled by a couple of handfuls of nuts and seeds and 4 dates.
On Sunday I ran the second half of the High Peak 40 route with Mike, Al and David. The plan was to have some fun in the Peak District and recce the second half of the route. Having switched to eating paleo in April, it was also going to be my longest run on this diet and the first real test of how this change of nutrition would affect me on a longer run.
Before I get into that though, I want to thank Mike for organising the run and navigating the route, Al for giving me a lift and David for picking up the navigation when Mikes recollection of the route let him down! As always it was great to run with them and a beautiful day in the Peak District.
Overall, I have been sticking quite closely to the paleo style of eating. I relaxed this whilst I was on holiday, allowing myself more alcohol, desserts and ice cream! That little diversion aside, I am really enjoying what I am eating and don't really see myself changing from this lifestyle.
When I woke on Sunday, I didn't feel hungry but conscious of the day ahead, I thought I better eat something. My breakfast consisted of home made nut muesli with a couple of blueberries and some almond milk. I also had a Nespresso coffee with full fat cream. This would have been about 7:45am. We started running at about 11am and my plan was to just eat when I became hungry. I didn't actually need to eat anything until 2 hours 20 mins into the run, even then I wasn't that hungry or facing any sort of crash. I just had a handful of nuts and seeds.
Over the next hour and a half, I consumed another couple of handfuls of nuts and ate 4 dates. At the end of the race, I drank a home made smoothie consisting of frozen berries, almond milk, Greek yoghurt, peanut butter and honey, and ate a Trek bar. This would have been about 3pm.
We travelled home and I didn't eat anything until about 7:30pm when I had a normal sized meal of home made beef burgers, basmati rice and a salad. About an hour later I had a coffee with cream.
Yesterday was an amazing day of running with great people in a beautiful setting but it also served as a really good experiment and test of how my long run / race nutrition is adapting to the paleo diet. I have to say, I was really pleased with how it went. I never felt like I was going to bonk and whilst I wouldn't say that I had endless energy, I was really pleased with how my body responded both during and after the race. I would usually want to eat all of the food in the house on returning from a 20 mile run!
I am hoping that as a I train for Chester, I will be able to encourage my body to become more fat adapted. Watch this space!
On Sunday I ran the second half of the High Peak 40 route with Mike, Al and David. The plan was to have some fun in the Peak District and recce the second half of the route. Having switched to eating paleo in April, it was also going to be my longest run on this diet and the first real test of how this change of nutrition would affect me on a longer run.
Before I get into that though, I want to thank Mike for organising the run and navigating the route, Al for giving me a lift and David for picking up the navigation when Mikes recollection of the route let him down! As always it was great to run with them and a beautiful day in the Peak District.
.JPG) |
| A great group to share an excellent day of running with |
Overall, I have been sticking quite closely to the paleo style of eating. I relaxed this whilst I was on holiday, allowing myself more alcohol, desserts and ice cream! That little diversion aside, I am really enjoying what I am eating and don't really see myself changing from this lifestyle.
When I woke on Sunday, I didn't feel hungry but conscious of the day ahead, I thought I better eat something. My breakfast consisted of home made nut muesli with a couple of blueberries and some almond milk. I also had a Nespresso coffee with full fat cream. This would have been about 7:45am. We started running at about 11am and my plan was to just eat when I became hungry. I didn't actually need to eat anything until 2 hours 20 mins into the run, even then I wasn't that hungry or facing any sort of crash. I just had a handful of nuts and seeds.
.JPG) |
| Plenty of natural obstacles to negotiate! |
Over the next hour and a half, I consumed another couple of handfuls of nuts and ate 4 dates. At the end of the race, I drank a home made smoothie consisting of frozen berries, almond milk, Greek yoghurt, peanut butter and honey, and ate a Trek bar. This would have been about 3pm.
We travelled home and I didn't eat anything until about 7:30pm when I had a normal sized meal of home made beef burgers, basmati rice and a salad. About an hour later I had a coffee with cream.
Yesterday was an amazing day of running with great people in a beautiful setting but it also served as a really good experiment and test of how my long run / race nutrition is adapting to the paleo diet. I have to say, I was really pleased with how it went. I never felt like I was going to bonk and whilst I wouldn't say that I had endless energy, I was really pleased with how my body responded both during and after the race. I would usually want to eat all of the food in the house on returning from a 20 mile run!
.JPG) |
| Some of the beautiful Peak District scenery |
I am hoping that as a I train for Chester, I will be able to encourage my body to become more fat adapted. Watch this space!
Friday, 30 May 2014
Getting started on the Paleo Diet
As someone who is new to this lifestyle and way of eating, I thought it might be useful to tell you about some of the resources I have found useful.
In my last blog on going paleo and becoming fat adapted, I referenced Mark Sission's Daily Apple website. I strongly recommend signing up to his free newsletter as the information provided will give you a basic understanding and blueprint for going primal.
The other resource I have found really useful are the Run Paleo podcasts, hosted by Aaron Olsen. I have been listening to these from the very beginning and have learned a huge amount about nutrition and the paleo lifestyle. He has some excellent guests that provide a broad range of ideas, theories and information from you to draw on.
I also follow Professor Tim Noakes on Twitter. He regularly posts interesting (and some might say, slightly controversial) articles. He is well worth a follow.
Finally, I have been using the Paleo Primer cookbook for the majority of my meal ideas. The book provides you with an easy to understand introduction to going primal, the basic framework and the theory behind it. Most importantly, the book contains 100's of fantastic recipe's, many of which can be prepared and cooked in less than 20 - 30 mins. This is essential for me because if an evening meal (or breakfast) is going to take hours to prepare and cook, then its just not going to be practical for me and I am unlikely to be able to stick to it. The book was originally released as 'Fitter Food - A lifelong recipe for Health and Fat Loss', before being rebranded as the 'Paleo Primer', I think largely to target an American Audience.
In my last blog on going paleo and becoming fat adapted, I referenced Mark Sission's Daily Apple website. I strongly recommend signing up to his free newsletter as the information provided will give you a basic understanding and blueprint for going primal.
The other resource I have found really useful are the Run Paleo podcasts, hosted by Aaron Olsen. I have been listening to these from the very beginning and have learned a huge amount about nutrition and the paleo lifestyle. He has some excellent guests that provide a broad range of ideas, theories and information from you to draw on.
I also follow Professor Tim Noakes on Twitter. He regularly posts interesting (and some might say, slightly controversial) articles. He is well worth a follow.
Finally, I have been using the Paleo Primer cookbook for the majority of my meal ideas. The book provides you with an easy to understand introduction to going primal, the basic framework and the theory behind it. Most importantly, the book contains 100's of fantastic recipe's, many of which can be prepared and cooked in less than 20 - 30 mins. This is essential for me because if an evening meal (or breakfast) is going to take hours to prepare and cook, then its just not going to be practical for me and I am unlikely to be able to stick to it. The book was originally released as 'Fitter Food - A lifelong recipe for Health and Fat Loss', before being rebranded as the 'Paleo Primer', I think largely to target an American Audience.
The team behind the book are called Fitter London. You can visit their website, which has some great recipes and to find out more about the book here.
Anyway, these are the main resources I have found helpful in adopting a paleo / primal way of eating and hopefully they can help you to. Of course, you are welcome to drop me a line on the blog if you have any queries.
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
My quest to become a 'fat adapted' runner
Disclaimer: The following is purely a personal account of my experience of trying to become fat adapted. Please do not take any of the following as nutritional or exercise recommendations.
I have been aware of the paleo or primal diet for some time now. I didn't give it much attention as I believed that, as an endurance athlete (in the loosest sense of the term!), I required a lot of carbs to fuel my training and races. This is a common understanding/misconception. I didn't really see any reason to change and, let's face it, I like cake!
The thing that really changed my thinking on this was an interview with nutritionist Barry Murray on the Marathon Talk podcast. During the interview Barry speaks about the benefits of eating a higher fat / low carbohydrate diet and, in particular, how this way of eating can be beneficial to an endurance athlete. I won't go into the science of it here but if you are interested in the concept of the paleo way of eating and, in particular, how you can become 'fat adapted', I recommend having a listen to the podcast here.
This interview with Barry and also Tom's (one of the Marathon Talk presenters) account of his experience of becoming fat adapted and his subsequent performance at the Manchester Marathon was a complete revelation to me. The timing of this information coincided with my wife (who is not a runner) wanting to lose some weight. We both thought that 'eating paleo' seemed to make a lot of sense, if only for cutting out the processed foods and the amount of sugar we were eating. So, in early April 2014 we started eating paleo. I don't plan to go into what that involves here as there are people that are far more knowledgeable and better able to educate you on the subject. I would recommend visiting the superb Mark's Daily Apple by Mark Sisson as a great resource for everything paleo / primal.
I didn't make these changes to my diet as a means of losing weight (although I was probably a few pounds over what I believed to be a 'good weight' for me). At the beginning of April, I was pretty much bang on 11 stone and my body fat percentage was around 16%, so not exactly heavy for someone of 5' 10" and 39 years old. What appealed to me, was adopting a way of eating that would have long term health benefits and at the same time, allow my body to become more efficient at burning fat as a primary source of fuel during marathon and ultra marathon races.
Inside of 4 weeks my wife and I noticed an increase in energy levels and felt much better generally. I lost about 6 lbs, my wife (who is sedentary) almost a stone. The other thing to remark on was that I was (and still am) really enjoying what I am eating. The food is really tasty and satisfying. I have had a few 'treats' since and haven't stuck too rigidly to the paleo way of eating if I am at a function or having a meal out. I guess I am eating paleo on a 80/20 basis. Interestingly, things like a take-away curry or a chocolate dessert that I used to covert as a treat, really don't hold the same appeal to me anymore and I am someone who has always had a really sweet tooth! As such, I really don't miss the things that I thought I would struggle to give up.
In the last week or so, I have noticed that I am becoming more 'fat adapted'. I am no longer ravenous when I wake up and I am able to go 6 hours quite comfortably without eating. At the weekend, I only had 2 meals each day and I ran 8 miles each day (one run in a fasted state) and played golf once. My total weight loss, since starting in April is 10lbs (current weight: 10 stone 4 lbs) and my body fat is down to 13/14%. I am eating more fat and losing fat /weight. I wouldn't have believed it possible 2 months ago!
Now, I am not in training for any marathon's at present, although I did run the Dukeries Ultra recently. I wasn't sure about my level of fat adaptation at that stage and didn't feel confident enough to completely go low carb/no carb during the race, instead opting for a more 'natural carb' approach to my nutrition. You can read about my experience here.
I will begin training for the Chester Marathon in June. I am hoping by that stage, I will be more fat adapted and better able to tackle the longer training runs on less carbs. Watch this space to find out how I fair in my mission to become a fat burning machine!
I have been aware of the paleo or primal diet for some time now. I didn't give it much attention as I believed that, as an endurance athlete (in the loosest sense of the term!), I required a lot of carbs to fuel my training and races. This is a common understanding/misconception. I didn't really see any reason to change and, let's face it, I like cake!
The thing that really changed my thinking on this was an interview with nutritionist Barry Murray on the Marathon Talk podcast. During the interview Barry speaks about the benefits of eating a higher fat / low carbohydrate diet and, in particular, how this way of eating can be beneficial to an endurance athlete. I won't go into the science of it here but if you are interested in the concept of the paleo way of eating and, in particular, how you can become 'fat adapted', I recommend having a listen to the podcast here.
This interview with Barry and also Tom's (one of the Marathon Talk presenters) account of his experience of becoming fat adapted and his subsequent performance at the Manchester Marathon was a complete revelation to me. The timing of this information coincided with my wife (who is not a runner) wanting to lose some weight. We both thought that 'eating paleo' seemed to make a lot of sense, if only for cutting out the processed foods and the amount of sugar we were eating. So, in early April 2014 we started eating paleo. I don't plan to go into what that involves here as there are people that are far more knowledgeable and better able to educate you on the subject. I would recommend visiting the superb Mark's Daily Apple by Mark Sisson as a great resource for everything paleo / primal.
I didn't make these changes to my diet as a means of losing weight (although I was probably a few pounds over what I believed to be a 'good weight' for me). At the beginning of April, I was pretty much bang on 11 stone and my body fat percentage was around 16%, so not exactly heavy for someone of 5' 10" and 39 years old. What appealed to me, was adopting a way of eating that would have long term health benefits and at the same time, allow my body to become more efficient at burning fat as a primary source of fuel during marathon and ultra marathon races.
Inside of 4 weeks my wife and I noticed an increase in energy levels and felt much better generally. I lost about 6 lbs, my wife (who is sedentary) almost a stone. The other thing to remark on was that I was (and still am) really enjoying what I am eating. The food is really tasty and satisfying. I have had a few 'treats' since and haven't stuck too rigidly to the paleo way of eating if I am at a function or having a meal out. I guess I am eating paleo on a 80/20 basis. Interestingly, things like a take-away curry or a chocolate dessert that I used to covert as a treat, really don't hold the same appeal to me anymore and I am someone who has always had a really sweet tooth! As such, I really don't miss the things that I thought I would struggle to give up.
In the last week or so, I have noticed that I am becoming more 'fat adapted'. I am no longer ravenous when I wake up and I am able to go 6 hours quite comfortably without eating. At the weekend, I only had 2 meals each day and I ran 8 miles each day (one run in a fasted state) and played golf once. My total weight loss, since starting in April is 10lbs (current weight: 10 stone 4 lbs) and my body fat is down to 13/14%. I am eating more fat and losing fat /weight. I wouldn't have believed it possible 2 months ago!
Now, I am not in training for any marathon's at present, although I did run the Dukeries Ultra recently. I wasn't sure about my level of fat adaptation at that stage and didn't feel confident enough to completely go low carb/no carb during the race, instead opting for a more 'natural carb' approach to my nutrition. You can read about my experience here.
I will begin training for the Chester Marathon in June. I am hoping by that stage, I will be more fat adapted and better able to tackle the longer training runs on less carbs. Watch this space to find out how I fair in my mission to become a fat burning machine!
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