I do not run so that I can eat (TOL)

 

After my son’s Bar Mitzvah lesson last night, we stopped at Torta Fina (my chocolate fudge birthday cake was from this bakery) for a little something. I wasn’t that hungry so I chose this chocolate-covered strawberry which did not disappoint.

It was the only fruit I ate actually yesterday aside from a banana in the morning.

So every now and again I take a look back at what I was saying and doing a year ago. I was peaking around my posts from September 2015 and found this awesome post that I shared exactly a year ago today for thinking out loud!

I hadn’t totally forgot about this post but it definitely deserves more exposure as the topic of running to eat vs. eating to run is a popular one.

Rather than just share the link to last year’s post I wanted to repost it almost in entirety as I still agree with everything I said!

I am often asked if I RUN to EAT my favorite desserts, how I go about planning my miles around what I feel like eating and when tapering for a race, will I cut my calories since I am running less.

I can’t speak for all runners but if I am speaking for myself, my response is…

I do not run so that I can eat.

For sure everything tastes that much better after a good workout, a long run and most certainly a race. If we look at it from that perspective, yes, running hard so I can better taste and appreciate my food is a given.

But running so I can eat in order to not gain weight? Nah, that’s not why I run.

Eating dessert because I can just run it off in the morning? Nah, that’s not why I eat.

I have been a dessert lover all my life. Even when I dealt with amenorrhea, dessert was never what was lacking in my diet.

No matter the amount of miles I run, I enjoy a good, overloaded with chocolate dessert when I want it but I actually don’t want it or eat it every single day.

I think because I never deny my true cravings, I am more in touch with my appetite and what it is I want to eat, never feeling restricted. Nothing is off limits therefore I don’t feel denied.

Running a whole lot will certainly burn calories and give you some wiggle room in terms of eating more BUT —

You Can’t Out Run A Bad Diet.

You have heard this phrase before, right?

While I don’t agree with labeling foods good or bad, I also don’t believe in using running or any exercise regimen strictly to allow yourself to indulge under the assumption that you can burn it all off (you can’t by the way, it doesn’t work like that).

As you know by now, what I eat on a regular basis is plant-focused, carb-centered, meatless and pretty clean. I balance it all nicely with my love of dessert but overall, I fuel my body with nutrient dense foods.

I do not count calories in or calories out, I pay attention to nutrients instead. It took time over the years to understand this concept and switch from caring about calories to caring about the nutrients and quality of food.

I view food in terms of how it will benefit me. How what I am about to consume will make me feel, how it will help or hinder my ability to run.

My mindset is not on dieting.

It’s not on burning off what I take in or about tapering my diet to fit my mileage in order to stay slim.

The truth is, I don’t know what I weigh so how would I even receive an accurate calorie count on the treadmill?

Maybe I am making this whole diet and exercise thing sound simple but really, it can be that simple. I have learned what foods are both enjoyable and nutritious, I don’t rely on packaged snacks and I choose fresh fruits and vegetables over processed foods.

Keyword right there, CHOOSE. We all have the right to choose what we eat and it’s what we do with our choices on a consistent basis that count. Not one meal, not one dessert, not a hungry day or what you eat during a week’s vacation.

Am I a perfect eater? I don’t even know what a perfect eater means.

All I know is that I like the way I feel after eating freshly prepared unprocessed food. I do not want greasy foods (okay except some onion rings) but I also know how to dine out and enjoy myself and yes, I do enjoy chocolate and cake and cookies therefore I have some, satisfy my soul and move on.

So much is out there on dieting and quick fix approaches which all appear so restricting and limiting, it seems like torture. Same applies to those fitness programs which focus solely on the calorie burn rather than what exercise does for us overall.

I do understand that exercise can be an effective weight loss tool, just like dieting, and I do know that all of my miles combined with what I eat must keep my size in check, it’s just that I wish more people were able to figure out how to switch away from the dieting mindset in relation to their exercise program and enjoy the way fitness (running!) makes them feel.

[bctt tweet=”I do not run so that I can eat #running #thinkingoutloud #health #tortafina #run #fitlfuential” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Favorite type of chocolate-covered fruit?

If you are a blogger, do you often go back to read old posts?

Run to eat or eat to run?