We drive to Columbus a lot which is about 2.5 hours. Drove there on Friday. So, twice during the ride my “buzz” goes off. In my head I’m like, “LISTEN, we’re driving! There is nothing I can do about this! I KNOW I have missed two hours - hang on, I’ll get 1000 steps in another half an hour!!!” Luckily I don’t say any of this out loud or my family might get concerned.
abasket, negotiating with your Fitbit?? Oh, we are all in such need of therapy! 
I talk back to mine, too. One Friday (which is a lighter running day) it advised me “Uh oh. Friday is your least active day!” I said, “Give it a rest! I’m running a half marathon tomorrow!” I need a life! I feel like I put enough pressure on myself without my devices scolding me!
It’s all good. 
I am not a fan of the 250 steps an hour - I want to say, don’t you see what I did this morning? I need to sit for a few minutes!
Congrats on your race, @dmd77 - I’d find that really annoying about the Garmin especially since yours has been trouble free. Grumble! I thought of you this weekend when I got an email from the AKC promoting their new “Link” collar - I haven’t looked at it extensively but it almost sounds like a Fitbit for pups. I don’t think your dog or mine need it! https://www.linkakc.com/
Went to a good nutrition workshop yesterday - making optimal smoothies and jar salads. Really helpful as we got a nice sheet describing the different types of components and the importance of each one. She really emphasized the importance of adding fat to maximize absorption of nutrients. I really enjoyed it. I also asked her about carrageenan, commonly added to nut milks - she told me that it can cause inflammation so if you are seeking to reduce foods that can trigger inflammation, avoid it. But otherwise no definitive link to cancer. I’m going to avoid products that contain it as I do follow an anti-inflammatory diet.
Three really slow miles this morning. I did not pick the best route as I just ran from home this morning. Legs were really tired. It was 48, which felt great, but still misty as it was 100% humidity.
I have a FB friend who I swear lately ONLY eats her meals out of mason jars - breakfast concoctions, lunch, snack…
The salads do look appetizing!!!
I get you on the 250 steps Sabaray - but I’m not very good at sitting for long periods of time - for me, even an hour can be long! - so I like the reminder to get up and at least get that 250. Now, if I had just run 20 miles…
How about this article from my NYTimes Running "newsletter I get weekly? Comparing exercising on an empty stomach in the morning vs. eating (quite vigorously) before and after: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/phys-ed-the-benefits-of-exercising-before-breakfast/?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ru_20160929&nl=running&nl_art=1&nlid=73146837&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
I mostly enjoyed reading the comments. So interesting to see everyone’s take or methods. Your thoughts MK?
OK, after being somewhat of a sloth last week, I’m back to running. 3.75 miles; felt as if I was really dragging, but I made myself do it. (I actually didn’t think it was going to be that bad and was unpleasantly surprised that it was.) Will be taking the pup for a walk a little later to get the rest of my steps.
Re: eating breakfast before or after exercising – I either exercise on an empty stomach, or just have an orange and 1/2 cup of coffee before my workout. Plus, if I don’t exercise first thing in the morning, it doesn’t happen.
Last day of my ladies golf league tomorrow. I was really excited to see my handicap came down another 2 strokes on Saturday. (New handicaps come out on the 1st and 15th of the month.) I’ve dropped a total of 8 strokes since the start of the season. Yes, I’m bragging …
abasket, I have a lot of questions and thoughts about the article and the study. I haven’t yet read the actual study nor seen any peer review comments on it but here are my initial reactions.
- First, I'm not sure how the study findings concerning timing of meals and insulin reactions, fat storage and weight gain would hold up when applied to normal nutritional patterns. The essential crux of the study was based on the timing of a meal where the subjects ate 30% more calories than the norm and a meal consisting of 50% fat. Also, the article did not address what controls were in place for the subjects' meals during the rest of the day. Did they eat what they normally ate at other meals, did some attempt to compensate for their breakfast excesses, did some eat excessively at their other meals because they felt "liberated" by having permission to eat excessively at breakfast. Were the fat gains due to some metabolic process tied into the timing of breakfast or just regular, old well proven laws of thermogenics?
- The article doesn't discuss how far in advance of training breakfast was eaten by those who ate and then trained. It takes 2-4 hours for ingested food to get into the blood stream for use during exercise. It also doesn't discuss how long after training the fasting group ate breakfast. Questions abound about how this could influence the outcomes and findings. If the pre-exercise breakfast group ate too close to the time of exercise, their meal was not utilized as an energy source during the training. For those that ate after exercise, they may have eaten during a window when your body's metabolism is geared towards replenishing glycogen and balancing the nitrogen/protein cycle involved in repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue.
- The article doesn't discuss actual intensity levels so its not clear what was actually done. Moreover, were there any controls over subjects exercising outside of the test protocols i.e. during the other 3 days in the week or at other times of the day?
- Related to this, the running and cycling sessions lasted either 60 or 90 minutes. The group given the sports drinks with carbs during exercise probably didn't need the carbs. It isn't until about 2 hours of cardio activity that you start to deplete your body's glycogen stores and anything eaten while exercising needs time to get into the blood stream. Given the duration of the sessions, what was consumed probably was not used to fuel the exercise.
So, I think the study created contrived conditions. I question whether the findings and conclusions have any value to whether as a general matter, for those who are eating on a sound nutritional plan, there is any benefit or detriment, in terms of body composition and weight, to eating before or after a morning workout. And what about for those who work out in the afternoon or evening. Should this study be applied to lunch and dinner too? Or would none of it apply because a person would have already eaten 1 or 2 regular meals? I think what’s also interesting is that the article backed far away from any claims about athletic performance and even suggested that not eating a morning meal could have an adverse impact on performance.
My pet peeve about all of these studies that rely on extreme test parameters is that they create extreme conditions that are just not healthy, balanced approaches to diet, nutrition and exercise and then come up with results that tend to be promoted as the next best approach to diet and nutrition for the general public. When you do a study under extreme conditions, you get results that at best are applicable only to those conditions and often the extreme conditions themselves skew the results and findings.
At the end of the day, why don’t these studies instead focus on how to help people not eat to excess during the holidays rather than suggest you can eat to excess as long as you skip breakfast before your morning workout. Is that really the message we should be promoting to help people live a mindful healthy lifestyle?
For me, I’ll continue to eat breakfast a couple of hours before a morning bike ride. I’ll eat a light snack of carbs and protein before a late afternoon or early evening training session if I feel hungry. But most importantly, I will be a mindful eater during the holiday season. And stick to the well established science of an energy balanced nutrition plan.
Walked 3.5 miles today. Yoga challenge starts on Wed. 9/6. It is 25 days. I am 99% sure I will commit.
“At the end of the day, why don’t these studies instead focus on how to help people not eat to excess during the holidays rather than suggest you can eat to excess as long as you skip breakfast before your morning workout. Is that really the message we should be promoting to help people live a mindful healthy lifestyle?”
Amen to that! I think I read something that said that this time of the year is the time of the year that most people will be at their lowest weight. Hmmm…
I was amused by the study being re-reported by the NYT–the original article was from 2010! That said, if you look at the Racing Weight program, one of the things they suggest doing if you want to scrub some weight to get leaner is to do a long run/ride/swim (whatever) once a week without eating first. I’ve been experimenting with running before breakfast (because otherwise I feel queasy, so I have to wait until two or three hours after breakfast and sometimes I just can’t do that) and find it works just fine for me. But I’m not doing long distances and I’m not doing them before breakfast every day.
If you’re interested in the studies that are about weight maintenance, they’re mostly reported at the National Weight Control Registry http://www.nwcr.ws/
A good article that popped up in my Twitter newsfeed:
http://womensrunning.competitor.com/2014/04/training-tips/if-you-run-slow-who-cares_22791
That is a really good piece Bunsen, thanks for sharing it. Every morning I start my run by reminding myself I am training, not racing, and the work will pay off. But there are so many things that could happen on race day - Saturday it was drizzly and there was a lot of traffic - so I was more cautious and probably not as speedy as I could have been, but you know what? I didn’t want to fall. It could be drizzly race day. It could be 100 degrees. It could snow. All of those things could happen and of course it’s going to impact whether I’m a “fast” or “slow” runner. In my mind’s eye though, on race day I’m going to be Shalane Flanagan (okay, maybe Joan Benoit is more appropriate) - because if I tell myself I’m slow, that’s what’s going to happen. I may be slower than my first marathon, but it’s really important to me to do this race and finish. Finishing is the only goal.
I went to Pilates this afternoon - I had crossed paths with my trainer on Saturday while I was running at mile 14 and she is also the instructor for this class. We chatted briefly before class and then after, a young woman told me she was training for her first marathon and could she ask me some questions. I told her I’d only done one and she was like “my mom would never do that!” So I felt good being able to offer some encouragement to her and be the voice of (limited) experience.
I don’t eat before I run. One of the benefits to the training I’m doing is that I’ve had a very limited need for fuel. My body really is using fat. Saturday I had a piece of toast with butter before and I used one Huma gel and water during.
What a great post, Sabaray! I wish I could be there to see you finish!
Thanks for the good link, Bunsen.
That article really spoke to me Bunsen. As you all know I haven’t been running long and yes I am slow. One of my goals is to run a 5K in 30 minutes and while I can’t do that yet I’m getting closer. And while I am likely the slowest runner here I have gotten only encouragement.
Still beating the 80% on the couch.
No matter, one person’s slow is another person’s “I wish!” speed.
Great job, Sabaray! 20 miles, 50k steps, wow! I just love your attitude and outlook about your running.
I’m sorry I haven’t been more responsive but I feel like I’ve been overwhelmed with a case of a small, multiple things to do compounded with minor irritants and pleasures pox. Whew. Thanks for the supportive comments about my toe. My appointment with the dreaded podiatrist is later this week. The antibiotic has cured the infection, but I’m glad to finally get some professional advice about my feet and the blisters I get around my toenails after running. My husband’s back is improving, thank goodness, but it’s been a slow and steady process. We seem to have a raccoon or possum sized creature living between the first and second floors of our house. The critter people come tomorrow. EEK! Yesterday I hiked in a very soggy park and today I ran 6.3 miles. Although we’ve gotten the tiniest break in the temperatures (low 70’s for today’s run) we’re keeping our eyes on the hurricane that may approach. Fingers crossed that it’ll head out to sea without slamming any of us.
Your animal is my nightmare Plantmom! I hope the critter guys get that critter OUT!
Good luck at the foot doc! Glad your H is finding some progress and relief.
Yikes about the hurricane, PlantMom. Hope it goes away. Fingers crossed that the critter people will take care of the mystery pest.
Thanks, everyone, for the winter running info! I really appreciate having all of you here to ask about things. Even though I’ve only posted a couple of times on this thread, I read it all.
@dmd77, I’m in NJ, but we spend a lot of time in Vermont, too. Not sure how much I’ll be able to run on those VT dirt roads in winter. Good thing there are lots of mountains and trails to hike. I also have a felted old cashmere sweater that I wear on bitter cold days!