Using injury to defeat being a lard arse #PodgyRunner

I’ve had over a year of near continuous injury in one form or other and it’s been hugely frustrating but the worst part was the slow but steady gaining of weight. It meant that when I couldn’t run at all I was putting on weight because I simply wasn’t burning off the calories.

I’d find I was starting to spin myself into frustration and feeling mentally fatigued by it and therefore put more weight on and so on and so on.

Just a day or two before I was due to volunteer at the NDW100 I made the mistake of weighing myself. It was then that I rocked in at a terrifying 81.1kg – this was the tipping point literally. I’ve never been 80kg, even when I returned from living in Asia and I was pretty unhealthy and podgy but I was never 80kg.

So on the eve of the NDW100 I dropped my daily calorie intake from too much to 1560, I reloaded MyFitnessPal on my iPhone and I disposed with all the delicious chocolate and bread in the house.

I decided that the best solution in eating terms was an increase of fruit and vegetables coupled with a reduction in high sugar foods like biscuits and the almost total eradication of bread from my diet. However, I also needed to be sensible and was very aware of the fact I don’t really like fruit and vegetables so would have to increase my nut and pulse intake to help stop me feeling hungry – lentils are my new favourite food. Finally I reintroduced tea and coffee which although not awesome in great quantities do serve to stave off hunger – well it does for me!

The other part of the puzzle would be easier – more exercise. Despite injury I increased the amount of exercise I was doing by going to the pool and ensuring that I rocked out at least 45 minutes of cycling each day, periodically I was even managing to run! The exercise bit was awesome, it felt really good to have a target again and I was back in training with my eyes firmly focused on the Winter 100.

I’ll be honest it’s been incredibly hard to get started but with the bit between my teeth I felt believed I could this and make it stick.

Week 1 was a nightmare and there were moments I could quite cheerfully have purchased a large Meat Feast Domnio’s Pizza with BBQ sauce and extra crispy onions and pepperoni but I didn’t. Each day I stuck within the calorie limit and I exercised.

At about week 4 UltraBaby began the process of showing up and in the days between my weigh ins I lost almost nothing – but I did still manage to lose. Had I gained during this period this might have destroyed my mental strength but the 0.3kg that dropped off gave me a lift you can’t imagine.

I’ve now managed to drop about 5kg in the first 6 weeks and I’m pleased with this but know I’ve got a long way to go yet. The best bit is that all my trousers are feeling that much better and a lot less tight. The aim now is to have dropped to about 70kg before the Winter100 as I figure that carrying less weight around that hundred miles will do me no harm whatsoever.

I suppose the conclusion to this is that you’ve got to mindful of your body all the time, show some restraint, don’t punish yourself when you don’t and do enthuse yourself as much as possible and you’ll keep healthy. I let myself put weight on because I blamed injury for my lack of exercise and need to comfort eat but it’s the very same injuries that have forced me back onto the road, the trail and the pool and it’s those same injuries that stopped me pigging out. Ultimately losing weight and staying healthy are a bit like ultra marathons – play the long game, keep positive and don’t stop.