Maintenance Meets Marathon Training

Weight loss maintenance on it's own is a tough beast. I think many that have gotten to their weight goal can agree. Maintaining is a whole different world/struggle than actually losing the weight. Many think you will lose the weight and everything is magical and perfect ... NOT (at least for me)!

I have been working through that this summer as I have mentioned before...

As I continue to find the balance between being social and sticking to my healthier lifestyle, I also started marathon training.

With the increase of miles, I have found myself STARVING all the time.

So on top of learning how to maintain, I am also working on how to best fuel my body during this grueling training process and not succumb to the "Hungry Horrors" that can occur after a looong run.

But it is tough and I am tired of beating myself up over and over again during this learning process.

Because fitness wise I feel great, strong and lean ... but then I see the number on the scale and it is a few lbs higher than I want!

The Steps I Am Working On Now:

I am getting back to tracking all my food which is really helping ... especially since I am really listening to when my body is truly hungry or just feeling dehydrated.

I am keeping my water intake up and trying to stick to my 100oz water challenge (drinking at least 100oz of water a day) to help quelch the "horrors."

In Weight Watchers terms, I am trying to save the 49 Weekly Points for the weekends of my long runs so when the carb monster hits ... I can satisfy him! ;)

I am also reminding myself that it is normal for people to gain a few pounds during marathon training since you are really teaching your body to hold on to enough water and fuel to survive the 26.2 miles and hours of running.

So to my fellow weight loss friends, healthy eaters and runners, help!

Please share your wisdom with a new-to-maintenance friend!