FitSugar

You Asked: What Should I Eat Before Running a Marathon?

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 03:00:00 PDT

You asked: "I am running my first half marathon in little over a week and I was curious to know your suggestion about what the appropriate dinner the night before would be and also what if any type of breakfast I should have before the race."

Thanks for the question. For the answer I looked to my friends over at CoolRunning.com, the authority on running marathons. To see what they recommend eating,

Week before: This is carbo-loading time. It is an important period to stock your energy reserves to their max, but don't make too much of the process. Some elite runners, for example, will race hard about seven days before the target race day to deplete their glucogen stores, then train normally for three or four days, eating mostly fats and protein to keep glycogen low. Then in the last few days before the race, they pack as many carbohydrates into their system as they possibly can. The theory is that their muscles are so starved for glycogen that they will soak up even more carbos than they normally would, giving them extra energy for the race. We do not recommend this for the mainstream runner -- certainly not without the oversight of a dietitian. Too often, this approach can backfire and leave you out of gas midway through the race.

Instead, follow your normal balanced diet and kick in some extra carbohydates in the week before a race. Fruit juices and sports drinks are good carbo supplements if you're having trouble eating all that pasta. Try not to miss meals, but also try to avoid overeating. Balance and consistency are particularly important as the big run approaches. For the same reason, this is not a time to sample new cuisines or even a new sports drink. Eat foods that you know agree with you.

Two days before: About two days before a race, particularly longer runs, start loading up on fluids. Sports drinks can kill two birds with one stone by letting you get carbos at the same time. Try to stay away from alcohol, however, since it not only dehydrates you but also interferes with proper storage of glycogen and undercuts your carbo-loading.

In the last 48 hours, avoid high-fiber foods like beans, bran cereals, lettuce and broccoli to avoid an upset stomach or other gastrointestinal discomfort during your run. Avoid hard-to-digest foods like peanut butter, fried food and the like. If possible, cut back on dairy products, too. Some runners have a slight lactose intolerance; while they may not even be aware of the condition on a day-to-day basis, the strenuous effort (and constant sloshing) of a race can cause their bodies to rebel against the lactose in the milk, causing gas and bloating.

Day before: By the end of the day before the run, your high-carbo diet should have worked its magic and topped off your glycogen stores. You should snack moderately and frequently on familiar, mild foods. Drink water and juice constantly. For your final meal that night, eat moderately and go for food that contains -- you guessed it -- lots of carbohydrates and only a little fat. Skip the beer or wine and get to bed early.

Source

Nighttime Fasting: A New Way to Lose Weight?

Shape — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:09:52 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

If you couldn’t let anything cross your lips from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., but you were allowed to eat anything you wanted for eight hours a day and still lose weight, would you try it? That’s the apparent bottom line of a rat study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which recently stirred up the weight loss pot.

Top 50 Summer Diet Foods for Weight Loss

Scientists put groups of mice on different diet regimens for 100 days. One group of rodents ate healthy food while animals in two of the groups chowed down on high-fat, high-calorie feed. Half of the junk food eaters were allowed to munch whenever they wanted to while the others only had access to feed for the eight hours they were most active. The conclusion: even though they ate a fatty diet, the mice who were forced to fast for 16 hours were almost as lean as those who ate the healthy fare. Interestingly, the round the clock junk food eaters became obese and developed health problems, even though they consumed about the same amount of fat and calories as the time-restricted junk food fed mice.

See if a nutritionist thinks nighttime fasting works after the break!

Tina Fey Shares Memories of Her Skinny and Chubby Years

Susi May — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:56:14 PDT

Happy Birthday to our fave funny lady! Tina Fey turns 42 today. We've been fans of the actress, writer, and comedienne since her early days on Saturday Night Live. Like many of us, Tina's weight has fluctuated over the course of her career, and to mark her birthday, we're sharing some of her funny quotes from juice cleanses to body image.

Before making the leap from writers room to on-camera talent, Tina followed the pragmatic Weight Watchers program to drop pounds. But that doesn't mean she hasn't dabbled in more extreme techniques to lose weight. She explained to Jimmy Fallon, "I don't really believe in those [cleanses] - your body's not like a purse. You're not supposed to turn it inside out and shake it. But I was like, 'Oh, I don't care. I just need to jump-start this.' So I tried it." After an allergic reaction caused her lips to swell, she abandoned a juice cleanse. Go figure.

These days, Tina works out with trainer when she can fit a session into her hectic schedule, and if she can't, she takes a walk. She's even become a fan of yoga and the superfood kale.

Before settling into her healthy weight, Tina experienced both sides of the weight equation and shared her memories of these phases in her book, Bossypants. In two short, consecutive chapters, she explains the positive and negatives of the different times. Keep reading for a brief excerpt after the break.

How Not to Destroy Your Marriage

The Good Men Project — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:30:42 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Today, Mark Tyrrell offers eight relationship tools to make your marriage work.

"All marriages are happy. It's the living together afterward that causes all the trouble." - Raymond Hull

So how do you make your marriage work? Or do you just blindly hope it'll take care of itself?

Think of a hot, successful date with someone you’re attracted to. You have fun, great conversation and more sexual chemistry than a warehouse full of pheromones. You don’t have to “work at” the date because it’s self sustaining. It runs as smoothly as the gliding hand of a classical guitar maestro and you can’t wait for another rendition.

Teenage Dating in a Twilight-Hunger Games World

But marriage, or any long term relationship; well that’s a whole other caboodle.

If we’re not careful, marriage can deteriorate into little more than a torturous assault course; littered with routine boredoms, frustrations and resentments. Couple all that with external pressures and sometimes marriage feels not worth the effort. But there are major benefits to being hitched or committed, other than just a beneficial tax regime.

Healthy marriage; healthy people.

Being happily married bestows heaps of health benefits. You might be forgiven for thinking that if you’re married you don’t live longer it just seems like it but, no, a good marriage really can help you clock up more years (1) and married people are happier (2) even though they don’t always look it from the outside.

But when marriage doesn’t work it can feel being manacled to a maniac, marooned with a misogynist or nailed to a nag. And I don’t care what the studies say, that’s not healthy. You may hear couples say stuff like: “We are making our marriage work!” but how do we do this?

Making it work.

We pay lip service to “working on the marriage” but what is the work we need to do? Marriage vows such as “to love and to cherish” and “forsaking all others, for better or for worse” don’t really tell us how to make it work, although they give us a clue.

Fortunately a ton of research has been done on what to do and not do to make your marriage, or any intimate relationship work. Follow the guidelines here to become “good at marriage."

Tip one: Be romantic but keep it real.

We are all (force?) fed romance in movies and novels. The handsome man gets the beautiful woman. But what I wonder is what happens after our romantic couple ride off into the sunset together? What do they do exactly? Bicker? Moan at one another? Start to ignore each other?

After all that romance, our beautiful couple is bound to have massive expectations of their life together. But when rose tinted expectations clash with day to reality, watch out!

Romance is vital in any relationship. Always seeing the best in your partner helps to keep things intimate and love should be expressed. But if you have been raised on Mills and Boon Romance novels or feel-good movies, then your own romantic expectations can work against the sustainability of your long term relationship.

When day to day life fails to live up to the giddy, heady lust-filled days of the pre-settled down romance people can become angry, even blame one another: “This wasn’t what I signed up for." They find it hard to take the rough with the smooth because they never really figured there would be any rough.

Expectations not diluted with at least a dash of realism can be a royal road to relationship ruin. Your partner may be an angel, but they have feet of clay. You must learn to love those feet or at least accept them a bit!

Get the rest after the jump!

The Dictator: Ruled by Tasteless but Funny Jokes

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:00:23 PDT

Full disclosure: I laughed out loud many times during The Dictator, knowing full well that I should have been offended instead. But what you see is what you get when it comes to Sacha Baron Cohen, and after movies like Bruno and Borat, you already know whether you'll be able to find humor in film about a horrifyingly ignorant world leader who's as naive, racist, and prejudiced as they come.

I know that sounds hard to swallow, but there is a big difference between The Dictator and Cohen's previous work: this time, it doesn't even feel remotely real. Whereas Borat and Bruno are made to taunt and embarrass what appear to be unsuspecting, everyday people, there's no mistaking The Dictator for what it is: a total farce that comes complete with actors you've seen before. It may sound obvious, but having Cohen's Aladeen interact with the likes of Ben Kingsley, Anna Faris, and John C. Reilly makes the whole story easier to digest - and much easier to laugh at in spite of yourself.

To see what else I enjoyed about The Dictator, just

At the core, The Dictator is really a fish-out-of water comedy, just taken to staggeringly inappropriate levels. Aladeen has ruled his North African country, Wadiya, since he was a small child, and in many ways, he's never grown up. While he's busy ordering execution for anyone that rubs him the wrong way (including the engineer that couldn't make his nuclear weapon pointy enough), his uncle Tamir (Kingsley) is the one that's really making the decisions about how the country should be run. Predictably, Tamir turns on Aladeen and seizes power during a trip to NYC, leaving Aladeen lost, penniless, and unrecognizable on the streets of the Big Apple.

The Dictator then turns into a bizarre romantic comedy, as Aladeen befriends a crunchy protester named Chloe (Anna Faris), who he initially mistakes for a boy. Chloe gives Aladeen his first job in her organic whole foods store, which opens a Pandora's box of jokes about the irony of a world leader wearing a hairnet. Meanwhile, Aladeen hatches a plan to bring down his uncle, and somewhere along the way, you start rooting for the same guy that suggests aborting a baby because it's not a boy.

I'm not saying that The Dictator is sophisticated by any means, or even groundbreaking as a comedy. Cohen spares us no expense of crude humor that pushes the envelope (and literally takes us inside a woman's birth canal), and if you're not a fan for Cohen's brand of humor, you'll probably walk out of the theater before you even get there. But if you've ever found his antics to be funny before, chances are you will again - even if you're slightly embarrassed to admit it when the credits roll.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

8 Cool Uses For Lemons

Emily Co — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:05:41 PDT

You can make more out of lemons than lemonade. In fact, lemon juice is a really useful liquid that can be used to clean your home, can treat cold symptoms, and can even be part of your beauty regimen. Here are a couple of other uses for the yellow fruit:

Wash your hands: When you're serving messy food like crabs or ribs, put out little bowls of lemon water for guests to wash the smell and gunk off their fingers.
Relieve flu symptoms: If you have a sore throat or a cough, mix lemon with honey and water for a drink that will soothe your throat.
Clean a chopping board: Add some lemon juice or use a lemon slice to wipe the chopping board to deodorize and sanitize it.
Lighten blemishes: If you have some blemishes or you notice your face darkening in pigment in some spots, put some lemon juice on it every day until it lightens.
Brighten white loads: To make the whites even brighter, add a quarter cup of lemon juice with the clothes that you throw into the washing machine.
Brighten fingernails: Soak your fingernails in a lemon water mixture to whiten and brighten them.
Freshen household equipment: Make your appliances fresh by adding lemon juice or lemons to them. For example, microwave slices of lemons to freshen it up. Add lemon juice to the dishwasher when it's empty and let it run a cycle and clean itself with the lemon juice. Add a bit of lemon juice to the humidifier or vacuum bag if those appliances are getting a little smelly and old.
Disinfect wounds: Stop bleeding and clean small cuts and scrapes with lemon juice.

Sugar Shout Out: Get Inspired to Ride Your Bike This Summer!

Meghan Rooney — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:55:47 PDT

Save Money, Help the Planet With These DIY Healthy Snacks

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:28:48 PDT

Eating healthy isn't always cheap, but it's a must if you want to improve your overall health. If you choose to buy organic or exotic options like dried blueberries - $13 for a small bag! - snacks can quickly eat up your food budget. Find out how to nosh on healthy nibbles and still have money left in your wallet.

Cheese sticks: Instead of buying individually wrapped cheese sticks, save money and avoid plastic packaging by making your own. Buy a block of your favorite cheese for a few bucks- mozzarella and monterey jack work well - and cut the block into long wedges for a grab-and-go snack.
Nut butter: Nut butters are great on toast, crackers, or sliced fruit, but if you buy organic jars, you can spend almost $8. Try this instead: buy huge bags of unsalted raw nuts, pour a cup in the food processor, and make your own. You can even make mixed nut butter with a few of your fave nuts and seeds. Spoon the creamy mixture into a glass container to store in the fridge.

Keep reading for more money-saving snack tips.

Healthy Dose Link Time: Load Up on Omega-3s With This Easy Salmon Recipe

Michele Foley — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:07:37 PDT

Your easy weeknight dinner: balsamic-glazed salmon - Eating Bird Food
A protein bar battle royale: Nature Valley vs. Clif Mojo - Fit Bottomed Girls
Time to celebrate -a cookie you can have for breakfast! - The Fitnessista
7 reasons to start every day with hot water and lemon - Mind Body Green
Learn how experts cope with the big and little stresses of life - Daily Spark
The healthy trends that are actually worth buying into - FabFitFun
Disabled one day, running the next; how yoga changed one man's life - Prevention

3 Ways to Say Goodbye to Belly Fat

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:53:32 PDT

A nutritious diet and regular exercise have helped you reach your weight loss goal, but you're still trying to get rid of that little extra pooch around your midsection. Here are three things you can do every week to help you achieve a trimmer belly.

When eating: Take an honest look at your diet and your bathroom schedule. Your belly might not be caused by fat, but by air trapped in your digestive system. If you're not getting enough fiber (you need 25 to 30 grams a day), constipation can cause bloating. Here are some common reasons women don't get enough fiber and how to overcome them. On the other hand, overdoing it on fiber or eating too many gas-producing foods like broccoli, apples, or beans can also make your belly stick out. There are also foods you can eat, like blueberries, that are proven to diminish belly fat, so be sure to include these five fat-blasting foods in your diet.
When doing cardio: Studies show that including interval training in your cardio sessions is proven to diminish belly fat. If you find that you normally stick to a consistent pace when running, biking, or swimming, mix it up by adding 10- to 60-second fast-paced or sprinting intervals.
When strength training: Basic crunches can help tone your abs, but they only target certain abdominal muscles. Incorporate full-body exercises like side planks as well as balancing moves on a ball or on one leg to target all the muscles in your core.