Why Running Doesn’t Help You Lose Weight the Way You Think

[00:00:00] Most runners think nutrition is about eating healthy, but here’s the truth. What works in the gym doesn’t always work for the long run. In this episode, we’re talking about macros, micros, supplements, and why eating more might actually make you faster. I’m gonna be going over. How to balance carbs, protein, and fat, like a real runner and not a bodybuilder.

[00:00:23] Which supplements actually help you based on science and my own evidence and experience? Why running more doesn’t always mean losing weight and how to fuel without gaining that weight back and a bunch more. And if you stick around into the middle, I have a bonus free. Triple, not one, not two. Triple cheat sheet, which is my Hydration plus meals download guide, all these cheat sheets and a whole bunch more.

[00:00:46] It’s like the biggest bundle I’ve ever given for free, so that you can actually transform into the runner that knows how to fuel your runs. Recover smarter and stop overthinking what you eat. I am Darren D Lake, certified running and nutrition coach, sub three hour marathoner and 10 hour Ironman finisher.

[00:01:02] Since 1996, I’ve been helping all the self coach runs. Not all of them, as many as possible, get 1% better each day because the 1% better runner focuses on lifelong tools for lasting success, not hype. Not hacks, no quick fixes. Let’s get into it. Balancing macronutrients, micronutrients, and supplements. What is it?

[00:01:24] What is all that? Alright, we’re getting into the weeds a bit with nutrition, but I’m sure most of you know what macronutrients AKA macros are from all the health and fitness influencers on social media. ’cause this stuff is super popular right now, talking about meal prepping and getting your macros right, et cetera.

[00:01:40] Quick refresher, it’s the building blocks for a running diet Carbs. Protein and fat, those three things. It’s that simple. Getting the mix of all these right helps keep you energized for your runs and helps you recover so you can come back and do more to repeat the cycle. And this is slightly different for distance runners than it would be for sprinters.

[00:02:00] That do running that it will be for a general person that actually doesn’t really train that much versus a bodybuilder versus someone that does high rocks versus even a soccer player or a basketball player. It’s slightly different from that. So this works like a blueprint for building something mechanical en large.

[00:02:15] Let’s use the metaphor analogy like. A house. Carbs are the scaffolding and the protein is the bricks, wooden, steel and fat. Is the truck delivering all of those supplies. ’cause without them coming there in the right way, you, you can’t do anything micronutrients. They’re the nuts and bolts supplements, emergency backup insurance, if you wanna put it that way, of when you’re out of stock and you might not be getting enough and you just want a bit of a top up.

[00:02:43] So how to do it all gonna get into the. Weeds a bit more with numbers and I’ll have them on the screen. So if you’re listening, please go and watch this on Spotify app or check this out on YouTube. You just go to the link in the show notes and go straight to my website and get it. Alright, so you want to, as a distance runner.

[00:03:02] An endurance runner. Prioritize carbs. Yes. All you keto low fat people, if you’ve gotten this far, it doesn’t work that well. So it works. I’ve done it. I’ve done the keto, I’ve done the low fat, I’ve done the fasted runs. It works until a point if you come from a not being fit at all. Fast runs are fine. Low carb runs are fine.

[00:03:20] Keto runs are fine, but the minute you try to start going for your best time, you start going really far. It really, really does fail. So you can do it, but will you run your best time? Will you recover? Well, that’s what people don’t talk about anyway, so back to the numbers. They should make up 50 to 65% of your calories as a runner.

[00:03:37] That’s about five to seven grams per kilo. Or for the Americans, that’s about 2.3 to 3.2 grams per. Pound. Uh, it gets really messy that way, but you can figure that out. I personally have found I can go on the lower end of carbs, uh, medium to lower end. I go more. Medium is acceptable and do fine with the type of running that I do.

[00:03:58] So it’s more faster. 5K stuff and interval stuff. Yo two max. I’m a hybrid athlete, as they call it. I like to be in the gym, so I do fine. I like to do, I’ll get into protein a bit more like high protein, slightly more fat, but that’s me. Do as you need to. Everyone is different. It’s individualize this whole nutrition thing, but, uh, I do ramp them up on longer days.

[00:04:18] My carbs and I’ll ramp them up as I’m training for a marathon, and especially the week before marathon, the three days out for a marathon, the day, the night before marathon, the the morning before marathon, during the marathon after marathon. Carbs are my, my everything, and I’ve learned to really embrace them.

[00:04:35] Simple, sugary white carbs. Those are the best ones. When you start running along, you can experiment with brown carbs and more of a, uh, the, the complex carbs, so sweet potatoes and brown rice and all that stuff. Protein is second important. Very, very close second. This should make up. 15 to 20% of your calories.

[00:04:56] I’d say that’s about 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilo of body weight. Some people go as high as two grams per kilo as I would, and for Americans, that’s about half to one gram per pound. So how would that look? I am 73 to 74 ish kilos, so I like to eat 150 ish grams of protein per day, and I think I’m a hundred, I don’t know, 160 pounds.

[00:05:23] Maybe 165 pounds, 0.9 grams per pound, 160 grams per pound. This helps with recovery from the hard and long workouts and repairs, muscle and tissue damage. Eating foods high in collagen protein. Little bit of tip is great for older runners or runners with tendon and ligament issues, which is me. I’ve had Achilles issues for going on like 10 years now, and collagen.

[00:05:45] It helps with strength training. That’s the caveat. You have to strength train. There’s some, uh, very new studies the last couple years that say collagen plus vitamin C, 30 to 60 minutes before your training session, your run or your strength session, and it does help with preserving the Achilles tendon. I have an Achilles tendinopathy and some people in the states call that Achilles tendonitis, but that’s actually wrong.

[00:06:09] Conversation for another day. Episode on that. I’ve actually done that. You can actually check that episode out right here where we talk about Achilles issues and how to fix that. So let’s get to the last macro fat. That matters a lot because it helps move around the micronutrients, the vitamins, and all that stuff in your blood and get to the right areas.

[00:06:26] But focusing on healthy fats for most of your diet is best if you can. Staying away from as many saturated fats for most meals is best. So you don’t gain unnecessary body fat, you don’t have cholesterol issues. I have some cholesterol issues and I need to very much make sure that my saturated fat intake is not too high.

[00:06:44] So I won’t go into too much detail about that as this is a very broad view and you can Google oa. You can email me Darren at one Better run, the number one better run.com, and I can help you out with any of those needs as best I can. I usually take in whatever fats I can get with my protein as it’s hard to get.

[00:07:03] High protein without high fat. When you eat natural food sources, so meats, cheeses, eggs, and nuts, they have high fat and also high protein and that’s great. You can get leaner meats that have less fat, but it’s still hard to get like zero fat when you get. Protein, but there’s a bit of a trick to do that with supplements.

[00:07:23] So this is why supplements like protein powders are great, especially whey isolate and whey concentrate. And I’ll go into supplements in the next section because the supplements, the protein supplements they have little to no fat, which makes it easier to hit your. Protein target without blowing up your calories and gaining unnecessary weight as a runner.

[00:07:40] ’cause we do that and I talk about that actually in the last section of this, about gaining weight. Losing weight and all that with running. ’cause it is a mind FUCK. It is so hard to do both for me actually. And I see a lot of runners do that. They run a lot, they gain weight. But we’ll talk about it in a second.

[00:07:57] Micronutrients could be a whole episode on its own, but I’ll go over why they’re important and how not to overthink them. So micronutrients, again, like vitamins and minerals, are essential for energy production, muscle function and recovery. You still need them. You can’t have a diet without fat. Fats do help.

[00:08:13] Fat does not make you fat in moderation, and you can get them naturally through colorful fruits. This is the micronutrients, vegetables, whole grains instead of relying solely on supplements. But supplements can help with a proper diet, which I’ll agree. Into second. Overall focus on whole minimal processed foods to get your micronutrients as much as you can as a runner.

[00:08:34] We have all the packaged stuff, we have all the, the colorful supplements, we have all that stuff. Just, just try to eat a balanced diet with real food unless you have other health issues. And a balanced plate could look like one third carbs, one third protein, and one third veggies. Why is all this important?

[00:08:49] So runners often obsess over macronutrient ratios when they should be focusing. On consistency that is right for them with their food and balanced meals, again, gives you all that so your body can recover, run longer, feel better, get your gut moving when it has to digest real foods, et cetera. So you got your macros dialed in, you supplement sorted.

[00:09:07] But here’s the thing, none of it really works if your overall intake is absolutely misaligned. If you’re constantly eating too little too much, or just confused by how nutrition fits in your bigger picture, I made something for you. It’s a free download with two simple guides. One is a hydrate perfectly pre-race and never pee during your actual race or long run, uh, cheat sheet.

[00:09:27] It’s a mouthful. And the second is a five Best no fridge foods for pre and even post-run recovery. That’s another mouthful. Mouthfuls, nutrition, running, et cetera. So you can dial in nutrition to be ready for the next workout. That’s all of it. And, and, and there is more. There’s always more. I’m giving you a base training plan, six weeks and a 1% better daily habits tracker that comes with that and so many bonuses.

[00:09:52] This is the, the five part bundle. When you grab that, you’ll get my weekly five minute. Email, you can read it in less than five minutes. That breaks down high impact topics that you will love. VO two max lactate threshold to talk about sprint strides, mental fitness training and more stuff that actually helps you train smarter, not just harder.

[00:10:12] So make sure you get that the QR code right here below in the video description, or if you’re listening. Open up your podcast player and there’s a link right there in the show notes. If you’re still already eating well, do supplements actually help or are they just expensive? Placebos supplements for runners.

[00:10:31] So supplements add to an already proper diet. I think of it as insurance. You shouldn’t need it, but when you need it, you’re very happy that you had it. Supplements are like kind of in case the food that you’re eating, the whole foods, hopefully that you’re eating isn’t enough in a few areas and you know your micronutrients, you’re not getting that.

[00:10:48] Since everyone is different and has different objectives. I won’t go down this rabbit hole as I did an episode on that, and you can check that out right here on supplements. But a few key supplements that I think most runners should take regularly that. I have been taking myself four years, and there’s studies backing all of these up with, uh, mostly no issues from, for most people.

[00:11:07] Again, consult a dietician or nutritionist if you have specific needs. This is all general information just for fun. So creatine, a naturally occurring compound that helps supply energy to muscle cells, enhancing strength and power output. During high intensity exercise. Fun fact about creatine, new studies are finding that endurance athletes, people that are out there for 1, 2, 3 hours doing racist runs, et cetera, actually need creatine more than bodybuilders.

[00:11:33] Creatine has just been this like bodybuilder thing in the nineties and two thousands, and now it’s like actually runners need it because they’re breaking down so much muscle and they need so much more protein, and creatine is a protein and they need that. So much more to just maintain their, their, their muscle and their strength and all the a TP production.

[00:11:53] So Cine does help with a TP production. A TP is how we go forward, not to get too sciencey. Uh, another supplement protein powder. It’s a concentrated form of protein, which is usually whey. Casein or plant-based, which is soy hemp or ah, pea protein. Uh, that helps with muscle recovery and growth Collagen, loving collagen, as I said before, pro tip, if you’re using collagen for tendon or joint health, I’m gonna say it again, taking with vitamin C about 30 minutes before your run or strength session will help you.

[00:12:24] And that has been scientifically proven, very new evidence as of the last few years. I find that taking collagen with strength chaining has really helped the slow down the, the degenerative nature of my Achilles issues. Magnesium glycinate, magnesium’s, fine. A lot of people talk about magnesium. It’s really good, but, but look for the glycinate, or glycinate, however you wanna say it.

[00:12:44] Uh, it’s a highly absorbable form of magnesium bound to glycine known for better bioavailability, which means that your stomach just. Takes it in better and then gets it to the place it needs to go. And fewer digestive side effects compared to other magnesium forms. Magnesium’s, great post-recovery before run, after run.

[00:13:01] Just taking enough, uh, I think 500 grams should be enough for most, most people, any antioxidant and. Antioxidants are compounds that help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals. So free radicals are what your body produces when you are going long or going fast or both. So when you’re racing or when you, uh, again, you’re just training a lot, your body produces free.

[00:13:24] It’s like the exhaust fumes as I call it. And those free radicals cause a lot of damage. Antioxidants help. With the damage that it does to your cells. So example is green tea extract. If you want, you can obviously drink a lot of green tea. I don’t like the caffeine, so I do green tea extract, decaf, tart cherry juice are my two.

[00:13:41] You can do echinacea, you can do, uh, pomegranate juice, you could do obviously berries and all that stuff. That’s like real stuff. But I’m a big fan if we’re talking about supplements, if those pills pop them in most days and I’m good to go. So macros, micros, and supplements, we, we know they’re powerful. But none of it matters if you’re stuck in a cycle of eating too much or too little.

[00:14:01] What if the real nutrition problem isn’t what you eat? But how and why losing weight and overeating while running? Alright, I’m gonna quickly touch on a topic that most runners think about weight loss. So many runners, even super fit runners. A guy I am coaching, Brenton, uh, I’ve coached him with his marathon.

[00:14:19] If you wanna check those episodes, you can check out actually that episode out. Where we did the marathon trying to go sub three, almost got there. And he’s super fit, super muscular, and he’s like always, always. And now Brent, if you’re watching, uh, I’m sorry if I gotta put you on blast, but he’s like, I think I need to lose weight.

[00:14:33] I’m like, bro, you, what weight are you gonna lose? You’re gonna lose all the muscle. You need the muscle anyway. And something that runners don’t think of and isn’t talked about enough is overeating. And something I’ve been thinking about the last five. Six years because I’ve been having, I lose weight. I gain weight as I run a lot.

[00:14:46] Alright, so what is this whole overeating and just the whole thing we’re talking about? Running to lose weight could work for some, but it doesn’t work for most. Again, myself included. And the reason why anecdotal thinking for most new runners is that. When you run more, you burn more calories, therefore you lose weight.

[00:15:01] Duh. But what you’re doing is you’re actually increasing your appetite and you end up eating more and choosing not so great food options. ’cause your stomach and your brain, they don’t have an exact amount button. It’s not like, oh, I have eaten a lot. You know, people sit there and they have their spreadsheets and all that and they calorie counts.

[00:15:17] Uh, some pro runners do this, and I tried it and it just, it drives me insane. So I eat too hunger, which sometimes puts me in a. Bad place and I have a solution for that. So the, the solution is, and get ready for this, it’s eat not to be full, but instead to feel not hungry. Two vastly different things. They seem the same.

[00:15:38] I used to always eat to get that full belly, like I need to feel super, it’s called satiated and ah, I don’t need to, you know, gluttonous and all that. But I actually just go, you know what, I’m not hungry. That’s fine. I don’t want to be. Hungry, but I also don’t wanna feel full. And you gotta find that place.

[00:15:54] So everything in nutrition and mostly running is super individualized, especially with nutrition. Figure out where that point is for you. So, uh, a tool that I found is portion control and counting calories for one to two days. It’s not glamorous, but knowing how many calories you need on an easy run day or off day, and how many you actually eat on a hard run day is critical.

[00:16:16] It’s so like knowing how much it looks like or weighing it if you need to, or writing it down one. You know, like that’s how much I need on certain hard days. You can adapt and adjust as you need to ’cause you’ll go, oh, I actually am more hungry. That’s fine. And you can also run this through a basal metabolic rate calculator, BMR, not to be confused with BMI Body mass index, which is something that we don’t.

[00:16:38] Need to be using. I don’t think most people need to be using, I personally don’t like using it. Some people like using it, but I don’t think it really helps me. Uh, you can use the BMR calculator online to find out what your macros and calories should be to gain weight. Let’s say you want to gain weight, if.

[00:16:53] Whatever reason. I don’t think most runners wanna gain weight, but let’s say you’re in the off season, you’re like, I wanna bulk up, I wanna jack up. Cool. Uh, what? You need to lose weight in a smart matter consistently over time. You don’t wanna lose a lot real quickly. And how to maintain the weight, which is probably what most people want to do.

[00:17:08] I’m always trying to maintain weight in the off season, in the on season, the race season, et cetera. It’s not perfect. Like nothing is perfect, but keep experimenting and go about two weeks to see if you’re gaining or losing weight. This is best done in the non run slash off season because trying to lose weight while training for your fastest marathon are usually mutually exclusive activities.

[00:17:28] For most runners, myself included, I am included in this whole thing. Some of these episodes I do, most of them, they actually, for me, you need to be eating a lot. When you’re going the fastest you’ve ever gone or the farthest you’ve ever gone, you’re gonna need the calories to propel you forward. So I did a whole episode on that.

[00:17:45] Right here, actually, again, if you’re ready to finally align all your training, your fueling, and your race goals or life goals or whatever, go and get my free bundle, which is made up of my five No Fridge Recovery Foods cheat sheet. The no Mid-Race Dehydration Guide. That’s number two. Number three, the 30 day base and habits training plan.

[00:18:04] Number four, bonus, you’ll be signed up. To the newsletter that is five minutes or less each week, write in your email inbox. Get it out the QR code right here. But while you’re going to download that, if you ever felt like you’re doing everything right, you’re training consistently, you’re eating clean, and you’re not seeing the body and the composition changes that you want or that you expect ’cause you’re like, I’m running a lot, you’re not alone.

[00:18:25] I figured out why so many runners run more and still gain weight, myself included, and how to fix it without burning out. Or starving yourself. Two ends of the spectrum. Watch that at the episode here, the link below in the video description, or open up the show notes in your podcast player if you’re listening to go check that out and learn more.

[00:18:43] Peace.