<p>I love an afternoon cup of tea with real cream and turbinado sugar. It hasn’t wrecked me yet. Often will add in a cookie.</p>
<p>You can burn 781 calories in one hour doing an 8 minute mile according to myfitnesspal . </p>
<p>MOWC - do you have any research on how diet colas affect running performance? Love diet cokes and my daughter’s cc coach is yelling at me to stop!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Now this I believe…</p>
<p>Miami- You certainly DO like sugar if you are such a donut-hound. What do you think is in THOSE?</p>
<p>I can burn 1000 calories in less than 2 hours of running.</p>
<p>I knew dropping in here would improve my mood. </p>
<p>Having sabadog has definitely upped my activity level, which is good. And he doesn’t care if the mornings are dark and the days are gray. Everyday is a great day when you’re a Labrador. His idea of a brisk walk is a slight jog for me, which is a good thing. </p>
<p>I am guilty of tea drinking with milk and Splenda to alleviate a headache. 2 cups of coffee once in the am with measured quantities of fat free half and half. It is just what I feel like eating now - no more drive through dinners. And my weight has been relatively stable. I was up about 10 pounds but half lost about 5 of that simply by watching what I eat. </p>
<p>I decided that if something was high in fat, sugar or salt I had to really, really like it to eat it. So I’ll pass on those Walmart frosted sugar cookies but I’ll definitely eat one of my mother’s.</p>
<p>I did not get fat because I ate too many apples, carrots or bananas.</p>
<p>[Olympic</a> Athletes Live Longer Than General Population](<a href=“http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/254034.php]Olympic”>Olympic Athletes Live Longer Than General Population)</p>
<p>“There was no difference of survival advantage found between gold, silver and bronze medallists. However, athletes who took part in power sports had a slightly smaller advantage than those in endurance and mixed sports.”</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>"Surprisingly, the athletes who took part in sports of high cardiovascular intensity had almost identical longevity rates as those who did low cardiovascular sports like golf. "</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>“At least 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week can result in an increased life”</p>
<p>I love these long-term studies with large numbers of people so that they can slice and dice the data in many different ways.</p>
<p>More on food later…</p>
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<p>Hiking today. It was a picture perfect day. Bright blue sky. About 34 degrees when I started, low 40s when I got back to the car. Colder up the mountain as there were sheets of ice in places that were showing no signs of melting. In fact, I went down twice on the ice. No harm, no foul. Not even very spectacular falls…</p>
<p>Mt. Major, overlooking Lake Winnepesaukee. Short hike. 4.2 miles. 3 hours 10 minutes, including 30 minutes on a very windy summit. It gets dark here at 4 pm now, so I’m trying to do short hikes and not push my luck. This was a nice workout, not terribly grueling.</p>
<p>I can’t believe how warm this flimsy little lined [Marmot</a> windshirt](<a href=“Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure”>Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure). I put on [another</a> layer](<a href=“Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure”>Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure) while I was sitting in the wind on the summit, but for the rest of the day, I wore just this over a lightweight long-sleeve tech shirt, and was perfectly comfortable.</p>
<p>I changed it up and skipped the McDonalds breakfast sandwich. I cooked three pieces of bacon and three scrambled eggs at home and then ate my apple in the car as a snack before I started hiking. It was nice to not eat a cold Mickey D’s biscuit with unmelted cheese.</p>
<p>dstark, I eat about 1400/day. I make every one of them count. 
Anything more and I gain weight.</p>
<p>Countingdown are you mail or female?</p>
<p>Here is a rule I have found usefull- goal weight x 12 = calories per day. When I do that weight loss is fairly easy</p>
<p>Wow…countingdown,</p>
<p>I think I am supposed to eat at least 1800 calories a day.</p>
<p>I am not that great at controlling myself and I am going to a Christmas-Hanukah
dinner party tonight.</p>
<p>I think I am going to eat 4,000 calories today. I see a lemon meringue pie a few feet
away. </p>
<p>Countingdown, are you tiny? I thought you had weight to lose…</p>
<p>We have one friend that probably eats 1400 calories a day, but when she turns sideways, you can’t see her. :)</p>
<p>Tom, I’m female. I have never been tiny, unfortunately! </p>
<p>I have lost 80 lbs. so far over the past 18 months. I won’t be tiny when I get to my goal weight, either. Being at a normal BMI would be just fine. Being healthy (or at least as optimized as I can get, given all the major medical issues that are going on) would be more than just fine.</p>
<p>The nutritionist at cardiac rehab confirmed that for one lb a week, it’s 1400 calories a day for me. If I turn sideways, you’ll still see me. :(</p>
<p>Countingdown, ok. Good luck. 80 pounds is beyond awesome.</p>
<p>Don’t worry. Most of us don’t disappear when we turn sideways. I personally prefer a little shape. :)</p>
<p>I did not eat 4,000 calories today. Couldn’t do it. Went to the party and behaved myself.</p>
<p>I don’t think I ate 2,500 calories today. I turned down potato latkes, chocolate cake, other so called goodies…only ate a half of piece of lemon meringue pie.</p>
<p>3 miles, 8:52 pace. Went to take a nap earlier and then woke up several hours later for a drink of water. I left my computer on. We have snow this weekend so our scheduled is going to be a little topsy-turvy. Also got in a stretch video early this morning. I need to do these more often if I’m going to be running more.</p>
<p>Today was quite warm (upper 40s) but my schedule had me running after 4:00 PM so no outdoor options (I’m not running in the 30s or in the dark).</p>
<p>There was Red Bull and holiday candies in the office today. I picked up a can of Red Bull to see what was in it but the print was too small for me to read so I left it there.</p>
<p>Red Bull is sugar, caffeine, and water.</p>
<hr>
<p>I hear ya on sleeping. I was out like a light last night, for 10 hours. Not unusual after a hiking day.</p>
<hr>
<p>I wish we would get some snow. I just found out they clear a 3 mile cross country ski and snowshoe trail thru some woods next to a pond and around some apple orchards, just two miles from my house. Sounds like a perfect flat lander place for beginner showshoeing – if we get any snow this winter.</p>
<p>To get caught up on a couple of questions:</p>
<p>Artificial sweetener: The stuff I’ve read on this topic is all over the board. Some say that it might be a problem. Some say that it might not be a problem. Some say that they don’t have any idea. The only consensus is that it probably is less harmful than using sugar. I personally cannot stand the taste, so I’m better just learning to do without. I do use a little sugar here and there in cooking (bar-b-q sauce, etc), but try to cut the amounts bad,</p>
<p>What I eat: Dstark, I eat between 1800 and 2400 calories a day. I tend to lose weight below 2000 calories a day and gain at 2400, although both directions now are very slow drifts that may or may not be mostly attributable to diet. For example, the last time I tracked foot a few months ago and was staying consistently under 2000, I dropped two pounds and then gained it right back, while still tracking calories and eating the same.</p>
<p>I eat two big meals a day. Lunch is usually around 400 to 500 calories. Typically a big salad with 1 ounce of blue cheese and 2 TBS of olive oil in homemade dressing or a full can of Progresso soup to which I add a cup of fresh veggies sauteed in 1 TBS of olive oil and a bit of leftover chicken or beef. The soups have a little pasta or rice. Sometimes three eggs and three strips of thick cut bacon.</p>
<p>Dinner is usually 800 to 1000 calories. Usually a large piece of meat, chicken, or fish (12 ounces) along with a huge serving of veggies, usually sauteed in a little butter.</p>
<p>I also have 200 to 250 calories a day of half n’ half in my coffee. And, snacks might be pistachios, cheese, apples, clementines, or salami/pepperoni slices. The snacks are really the variables in determining my caloric intake.</p>
<p>Most men should never diet much below 1800 to 2000 calories a day. I figure I would be burning 1750 calories a day lying on the sofa, so below that I’m just going to be burning up my own lean muscle – not a good scenario. That’s why just looking at calorie restriction isn’t the best way to “diet”. Maintaining some lean muscle is key.</p>
<p>My success came when I kept a food log and counted backwards from 2222 calories everyday- stopped eating at zero. Ate whatever I wanted. I always had a good exercise regime. I am a creature of habit so I generally eat the same stuff most days.</p>
<p>I should do that again.</p>
<p>Interesteddad, I love the post #21955.</p>
<p>I think we are affected the same way by the calories we consume.</p>
<p>I eat more than 250 calories a day snacking. I am just fooling myself if I think otherwise. That is my downfall.</p>
<p>Because I think your diet can work for me.</p>
<p>Had a nice 7 mile run this morning. Unfortunately, I was doing 10! The wheels really came off in the last 2 miles, especially. I was heading into a very strong wind at that point and my legs were just shot. I had to take frequent breaks and just stand there. Not sure what the problem was- I should have been pretty well rested. I was glad to see the car but- oh wait- I was 1/2 mile short and had to finish up in the stupid parking lot! Big company Christmas party tonight.</p>
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<p>I think the problem was running 10 miles! That’s a long way… I’d have to stop and just stand there, too… :)</p>
<p>I bet that this takes a long time to recover from the marathons you ran this fall. Not just short term, but for months afterwards. Your legs are probably demanding a “deload”.</p>
<p>I had to make frequent “stop and stand there” breaks yesterday going up the mountain. I’ve finally accepted that there is nothing wrong with that. I’m out there just trying to get a little fresh air and exercise. I don’t need to turn it into some kind of a “forced death march”.</p>
<p>You are right about me not being recovered from over-racing this fall. I felt pretty good last weekend in the 2nd half of my daughter’s marathon, but it was at a pretty comfortable pace. For some reason I’m reluctant to walk during my training runs, even though I have managed to embrace walking in my races! I would rather stop the watch and stand for a minute. I need to get over that, because a run/walk is going to serve me better on the longer runs in marathon training.</p>