Run to Win

Should the government have a say in how much you weigh, or what your maximum BMI is, or how large your waistline is allowed to be? How many personal freedoms would you be willing to give up in order to have a chance to lead a healthier life, reduce the risk of diabetes and other degenerative diseases related to weight loss and to reduce the strain on the nation’s health care system?

For the Japanese, this is not a rhetorical question. At their annual checkups, Japanese men must have a waistline less than 33.5 inches around, and women must have a waistline of no more than 35.4 inches around. If the fail to meet those guidelines, then they need to have a second physical 3 months later at which time they are forced into taking a class on dieting and after six months may need to take further education on how to lose weight. Companies with overweight employees may face additional taxes if they can not maintain a healthier balance.
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Nancy Clark will be featured on 20/20 today on ABC in a segment about food vs. supplements. She is one of New England’s premier nutritionists and has clients such as the Boston Celtics, the Red Sox, multiple Olympic athletes, as well as collegiate and elite competitors from multiple sports.

She has just published the 4^th edition of her bestselling book, The Sports Nutrition Guidebook. She details the latest research in sports nutrition and diets and lays out some simple plans for better fueling without providing any hype or fad diets.

Nancy Clark has a regular column in New England Runner magazine.

This week last year, I had food on my mind and was starting to notice that winter was quickly coming on.

• I shared some research that found that dieting may not be the right solution to obesity. The study compared obese women who partook in a fitness program compared to those who limited what they ate.
• I tried a new recipe, which I have used many times over the past year. I cooked some rolled tilapia, which is a very tasty but invasive fish.
• I shared some advice about how to run safely in the winter with some do’s and don’ts. For those in the southern hemisphere, there was also an article about different workouts to do on the beach.
• Many runners would rather HTFU than quit during a workout or race, but you should never be afraid to quit. You should run through annoyance, but not through pain. Sometimes quitting a workout in the short term can be more beneficial to your long term goals and your seasonal calendar than working through and being too fatigued or injured for the next workout.
• This week two years ago, I also had food on my mind. I shared my thoughts on intuitive eating and shared how I cook egg sandwiches so that they fit on the muffin and are perfectly round.

I responded quite a bit to other websites in the neighborhood this week last year, including Straight to the Bar and Run Mystic.

• I continued my animated series by demonstrating how to do a seated calf raise on a machine. I also suggested that you stroll about between sets when working out.
• I pointed out that a healthy diet does not need to be expensive, and linked to a few cheap and healthy recipes that I had written about on the site.
• I explained how I keep myself from losing focus after completing a goal.
• I reviewed The Quotable Runner.
• A group of Chinese elite triathletes were hit by a car. Chen Lihong was killed.

Merry Christmas!

2006 has been a really busy year here at Run to Win. The website has really grown. I have written a total of about 750 articles so far, with around 900 comments and trackbacks on those articles. I have been taking a look at some of the most popular content over the past year, and some of it surprises me a little bit.

Based on total traffic throughout the year, my most popular topic that I wrote about is Dean Karnazes and his announcement to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. His announcement back in April and the coverage this Autumn as he ran it drove quite a bit of traffic through the site, as did Sam Thompson’s 50 marathon feat which finished up as Dean was starting.

The next most popular article was just a one off workout tip that I wrote about eating before and after working out last March. I have touched on diet quite a few times this years, giving my views and offering advice; I even hit on some zany ideas like intuitive eating. None of those articles were nearly as popular, though, or had as much time to be popular.

My series of articles on The New Rules of Lifting was also extremely popular. I hope that a few people decided to pick up a copy of the book, because I have been using workouts from it all year and have been very happy with my results. It probably did not hurt that one of the book’s authors, Alwyn Cosgrove, responded to the review. I shared my thoughts on all 20 new rules of lifting for those that wanted a preview of the first half of the book. The best part was definately the workout plans, though.

The series of articles that I wrote about Marathon Preparation this Autumn did not really have time to get enough eyeballs on it to make it to my official list, but I have no doubt it will be one of my most popular topics over the coming year. The past 2 or 3 months have shown that the tips in this 9 article series is very much in demand.

After reviewing Coast to Coast, I held a contest for a free copy of the book. I was rooting for a friend of mine to win the free copy, but I didn’t rig the system so somebody that I did not know wound up winning. By coincidence, it was somebody that is currently going to RIT. I also discovered that a current teammate of mine had also done a relay from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean about 20 years ago. That was when I discovered that transcontinental relay record.

I was a little bit surprised that my series about shoe maintenance was not more popular. I wrote all 12 articles ahead of time and had them appear on this site while I was on my honeymoon. My video about how to keep your shoes tied, however, was also very popular. It was helped in part by being a part of a group writing project over at ProBlogger, as is this article, for that matter!

I am looking forward to 2007, and have a lot of plans on ways to improve this website and provide even more valuable content for you. Until then, enjoy your holidays, and check out a few more retrospectives and looks ahead over at the ProBlogger group writing project.

UK Researchers are finding the same thing that I have believed for a while; eating less is not always the best way to lose weight. Their research studied obese women and the effects on their physiology, self-esteem, and weight after beginning a fitness program rather than trying to limit the number of calories that they consume. Not all of the women lost weight. Some even gained a little weight. However, they were all much happier and much healthier people, whether they lost weight or not.

Women who took part in the scheme lost a small amount of weight from a average 17st (108.4kg) to an average 16st 7lbs (104.6kg) after the first three months whereas women in the control group put on an average of 7lbs (3kg). But, despite only a small amount of weight loss, the women in the programme ended up significantly fitter. Blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol fell and respiratory fitness increased. Women also felt better in terms of general well-being, body image, self-perception and stress.

A significant part of the study did involve teaching the women how to cook healthy meals and how to moderate what they ate, but they were not limited to the types of food available to them.

I believe that a well balanced diet (not dieting) and exercise are key to living a long, healthy, and happy life. When you restrict the number of calories that you eat, you are more likely going to force your body to store extra fat no matter how much you work out. Your body is programmed to recognize a famine and to do everything that it can to weather the lack of food. This usually means losing metabolically-expensive muscle and storing fat which can be used to keep you alive longer.

(Source: BBC.com)

Are vitamins and other supplements worth taking? Or should you rely solely upon your diet to supply all of your dietary needs? If you take enough vitamins and supplements, can you stop worrying about your diet? The short answers are yes, maybe, and no. The long answer is that you should always work on an optimum diet before you begin worrying about supplements.

Vitamins and supplements should never replace a well balanced diet. When you eat vegetables, meats, and other natural foods then your body will be able to better absorb the vitamins and minerals that are present. They tend to be present in ratios that are ideal for quick and efficient absorption by the body.
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This week last year was centered almost entirely upon football, with the exception of my getting engaged and a tip on how to help yourself lose weight.

• Listed first but coming at the end of the week was my description of the best marathon training run ever, where I proposed to my wife after I caught up to her on a 17 mile training run. That was a lot of fun.
• My thoughts on cutting out sugar water from your diet, and when you would and would not want to do that. Soda and sports drinks can make it more difficult to lose weight over just drinking water.
• I described UMaine’s loss to Nebraska last year, but I neglected to mention that I got pulled over for an OUI after that game. Since I hadn’t been drinking anything but water I had no problems, but the cop did not believe that I could come out of a bar after 3 hours and not have had any alcohol. The folk I was driving home were definately not sober enough to drive, though.
• Two NFL careers ended this week last year. Jerry Rice retired and Thomas Harrion had a heart attack. Despite hurting his ankle, Brett Favre still started though.