Jeff Galloway's Blog

Fat Burning Tips

Most runners that I’ve worked with through my e-coaching and running schools feel that they would run better and feel better if they reduced the amount of fat on the body. While researching for my books Running Until You're 100 & A Woman's Guide To Running, I discovered several key tips that have helped runners lose that "last 10 pounds":

* Get a step counter and shoot for 10,000 steps a day—regardless of how much you’re running. Insert your walking during the "lulls of your life" when you’re waiting for a meeting to start, while watching the kids, during a TV commercial, etc. Runners have told me that they have burned up to 20 pounds in a year, by averaging more than 10K walking steps a day.

* Keep a small notebook (your food journal) with you and record everything you eat. This will allow you to learn portion control. Because the journal makes you aware of what you’re eating, most cut back on the "bad" foods when journaling.

* Instead of eating 2-3 times a day, eat 8-10 times a day. Assuming the same number of calories consumed eating each way, you may burn up to 10 pounds in a year from this lifestyle change. You’ll feel better throughout the day also.

* Use one of the many "calorie counting" websites. A site like http://www.fitday.com/, for example, can help you gain control over the intake side of the equation. Not only will it tell you the calorie gain or loss each day—it will give you an accounting of the vitamins, minerals, protein, etc. This is the best tool I know for learning what you are really eating, and what you’re missing.

* Don’t get discouraged if you hit "plateaus" or "bump ups" in your weight. The ebb and flow of fluids will leave you up some days when you’ve been exercising more. Over a week or two, it settles out.

* Don’t ever say "never". If you love potato chips, and suddenly promise that you’ll never eat another one, a psychological time bomb will start ticking. Sometime in the future when the chips are around and no one else is, a starvation reflex can drive you to eat and eat and eat. Moderation is the key.

* Learn to like foods that are healthy. Good recipes, such as the ones in Cooking Light magazine, have seasonings that bring low fat foods to life.

Note: Sign up for Jeff’s free newsletter at JeffGalloway.com. For more training information see Jeff’s books Galloway Training Programs (new!), Half Marathon, Year Round Plan, Walking A Complete Guide, Galloway's Book on Running 2^nd Edition, Testing Yourself & A Women's Guide to Running. These are available, autographed, from JeffGalloway.com.

Gaining Control Over Your Running Enjoyment

Running can be one of the best ways to maintain a good attitude, erase stress, and enjoy sustained vitality throughout the day. When the pace and the walk breaks are balanced, I’ve not found an experience that bestows a wonderful sense of freedom and mental energy.

But many runners let themselves run too fast, increase mileage too rapidly or get too fixated on a time goal. These obsessions can reduce or eliminate the treasures bestowed by each run. Here are some ways of gaining control over every run that you do.

1. Start every run about 3-4 min/mi slower than you could run the same distance if you were really running fast. Slower is better, so you can go as easily as you wish. There should be no huffing and puffing!
   
2. Insert a 30-60 second walk break, after 1-2 minutes of running for the first 10 minutes of your run. Count this as part of your warmup and enjoy.
   
3. Continue to insert liberal walk breaks before you need them. You’ll find a ratio of running to walking, based upon pace, in my books YEAR ROUND PLAN, WOMAN’S GUIDE TO RUNNING, HALF MARATHON, 5k/10k, etc. Click here for details.
   
4. If you start to breathe heavily or feel bad for any reason, back off the pace and take the walks more frequently.
   
5. If you’re accumulating leg fatigue, week-by-week, run every other day for a few weeks. You won’t lose any conditioning and your legs will "freshen up".
   
6. Have fun! Schedule scenic runs, social runs, and special running trips. You deserve it!

Jeff Galloway

US Olympian

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