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263. Why You Need to Ditch the Diet Mentality
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261. Replay: How Your Thinking (More Than Anything Else) Determines Your Results
When it comes to fitness, so much attention is put on your actions - what you should and shouldn’t do. Eat this, not that. Lift this way, not that. Train like this, not that. I’m not suggesting …
Podcast Transcript
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 261 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, The Weight Loss Coach for Runners, and today is a replay of How Your Thinking (More Than Anything Else) Determines Your Results.
So when it comes to fitness, so much attention is put on your actions, what you should do and what you shouldn’t do, eat this, not that lift this way, not that train like this, not that. And I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t do stuff.
Of course, you got to do stuff if you want to get results, but I think you need to stop focusing all of your attention on actions and start paying much more attention to your thinking. It’s your thinking that determines whether you stick to a plan or not. It’s your thinking that keeps you going when the going gets tough.
So in this episode, it’s all about how your thinking, more than anything else, really determines your results. But first, I’ve got something exciting to share with you guys. I’ve created a brand new coaching and training program, and this is going to entail personalized running plans to help you hit all of your running goals in 2025.
This plan is available right now. So whether you’re a beginner runner and you want to do a couch to 5k program, or you’re an advanced runner and you want to crush your fastest marathon or ultra marathon, or anything in between, I’ve got a training plan for you.
You’ll get a custom training plan. This is what’s different between a lot of other running coaching plans that you find out there on the internet, where you just download a training plan, you’re going to fill out a pretty extensive questionnaire that’s going to answer a lot of questions about how you like to train, what you’re training for.
You know, what days of the week you like to run? Like what days do you like to do your long runs? So a lot of information that I’m going to gather from you, and then I will put together a customized training plan for you, so you can pick between a 12 week plan (three months), a 16 week plan (four months), or a 20 week plan (five months).
And these just depend on what race you want to train for and what distance, typically the shorter distances, 5k, 10k, half-marathon, will be 12 week plans, 16 week plans for marathons, 20 week plans for ultra marathons.
And some of the benefits of having a personalized training plan and coaching from me are that you’re going to learn how to become a stronger, faster runner. You’re going to improve your power, your speed, your endurance, you’re going to learn how to train smarter so you can avoid injury and burnout. Nobody wants that.
You’re going to learn how to fuel and hydrate properly for training and for race day, you’re going to train more consistently so you make more progress and get better results overall. You’re going to have someone there (me) holding you accountable so you’re more likely to stay on track.
You’re going to be getting feedback on all of your training runs, so you’re going to get that support of an experienced running coach guiding you every step of the way, and you’re going to benefit from an outsider’s perspective. So I can spot weaknesses in your training. I can spot areas that need improvement.
A lot of times, when you’re doing this stuff on your own, you’re just going through the motions, and you have no feedback on how you’re doing, I’ll be able to look at things, you know, pretty objectively, so that I can make some suggestions on your training and how to improve. And then we’ll put together a comprehensive race strategy for you for your spring race, or whatever time of the year you happen to be running your race, and you’re going to have somebody there that’s encouraging you, motivating you, cheering you on.
And you can find all the information and get yourself signed up. Just go to my website, runningleancoaching.com, at the very top of the page, you’re gonna see a link to Run Coaching. Just click on that and get yourself signed up.
You’re gonna fill out a questionnaire, and then I’ll get your training plan over to you, and you and I are gonna connect. We’re gonna do all of our communication via messaging, and I’ll be able to share lots of great information with you and give you feedback on all your training runs. So go to my website, runningleancoaching.com, click on Run Coaching at the very top of the page, and you can read all the information, and it’ll explain and answer all your questions.
If you still have questions, there’s a place where you can reach out to me on there, but I look forward to seeing you in my new running coaching program, and it’s called the Running Lean Training Project.
So if you want, you know, to really be able to crush your races this this whole year, you know, whether it’s in the spring, summer or fall, go have a look at the website, runningleancoaching.com, click on Run Coaching and lets you and I start working to get you to your goals.
Cool, all right, so today I wanted to talk about some mindset stuff, and I went back through some of my older episodes to see what I’ve talked about and what I haven’t talked about. And I really wanted to talk about this idea that your thinking really determines your results.
And I realized this is one of the very first episodes I did back when this was called The Running Mind podcast, because I was going to really just focus on mindset at the beginning of this whole journey of mine. And I realized that I had a lot of great information in this podcast already, so I’m just going to replay it for you here.
This is also the time of the year when I’m trying to take a little bit of time off and not doing as much podcasting and coaching and things like that. So this is a good one to put out there as a replay for you guys, because there’s a lot of good information in here, and it’s really going to go over how your thinking really determines what actions you take and don’t take, and the results that you end up getting, whether you’re trying to lose weight or get stronger or improve your running, your mindset has a lot to do with that. A lot, a lot a lot to do with that.
In fact, I would say it is probably the most important thing that you can work on, that mental fitness. And this is something that with all of my coaching clients, my private coaching clients, who were, you know, when we’re working on weight loss and, you know, strength training and improving running, that the mindset stuff we work on is probably the most important work that we do together.
And the biggest changes that people make, the biggest shifts that people make is in their mindset, and that’s what determines, you know, whether they’re going to be successful or not. So it’s one thing to know what to do, oh yeah, I should be training this way, or I need to run this many days a week, or whatever. But it’s another thing to actually have the mindset of like, This is who I am. This is what I do. This is a part of me now. This is how I live my life now.
So this is so vitally important. So I hope you get something out of this episode. This one’s, you know, for you guys to help you, you know, get into that right frame of mind as we, you know, round out the this year. As 2024 we’re coming to the end of 2024 and we’re about to start a new year. So your mindset is incredibly important. So have a listen to this one. Let me know your thoughts on this, and as always, I love you all. Keep on Running Lean and I will see you soon.
Okay, so today, we’re going to be talking about how you’re thinking more than anything else determines your results. Now we want to do a quick little recap from last week, in case you’re brand new to the podcast that this is your first time listening. Or if you just want a quick little recap, you know, like when you’re watching Netflix and they’re like, here’s what happened last week on you know, whatever it is and then they show you and you’re like oh yeah, I forgot about that. Well, that’s what I’m going to do here for you. Okay, so here’s what happened last week on The Running Mind podcast.
So you sit, you ration the circumstances in your life, the stuff that’s happening around you, is neutral, it’s always in neutral. It’s your thoughts about your situation that cause you to feel the feelings inside, okay? So you know, if you get a flat tire on your way to work, the flat tire doesn’t cause you to be pissed off. Okay, it’s your thoughts about getting the flat tire that caused the emotions, okay.
And then your thoughts about a particular situation will be different depending on how you experience the world. So whatever your model of the world it is, which is based on your past experiences, your beliefs, your values, your religious views, and on and on, these are all filters that we use to kind of, it’s how we perceive the world around us. And they’re different for everyone.
So we each have our own model of the world. We each experience, quote, unquote, reality differently. Okay, the way you interpret the circumstances in your life, that is your reality, the way that I interpret the circumstances in my life, that is my reality. So we each have a kind of a different reality. We call this the model of the world, your model of the world.
But the empowering part about this is that you get to create your own reality, and everyone else does, too. So what you actually think is like, just the way it is, isn’t the same for me, it’s not the same for everybody else. Just the way it is, is the way it is for you. Okay.
And an example I gave was like, if you are running a marathon, and you get a cramp in your calf at mile 18 and it hurts, and you have to stop and walk. So that’s just a circumstance, that’s just what is happening. You can choose for it to mean nothing, no big deal. I’m going to finish a little bit slower than I thought. Or you can choose it to mean, I’m an utter failure. I can’t, you know, ever be successful at running a marathon. I can’t believe I had to walk. I’m a terrible person. I’m unworthy.
Yeah, the cramp in your leg is not causing those feelings. Okay? This is what you’re thinking about it. All right. So situations are always neutral. There’s just circumstances in your life, your thoughts, you get to choose your thoughts. That’s your thinking, which causes you to feel emotions, and emotions are those one word things like anger, sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, even like joy, happiness, confidence, love. These are all emotions that we feel based on how we think.
Okay, then today, we’re going to fill in the last two pieces of this puzzle, which is actions and results, okay. So your thinking causes your feelings, your feelings, determine your actions, okay? And then your actions, the actions that you take, determine the results that you get. Okay?
So let’s talk a little bit about actions. Actions, our actions are the stuff you do. Actions are the behaviors that you engage in the steps that you take. Actions can also be stuff you don’t do. Now, inaction is a form of behavior, right? Or an action. So every action you take is driven by your feelings.
And you might be thinking, Well, no, I just, you know, I do things because I know I have to or whatever, but think about this for a second. Have you ever gone out? And just like you went for like a 10 mile run? And you’re like, I don’t know, when I did that, I just felt like it. Right? Or if you’re, if you’re Forrest Gump, and it’s like, why have you been running for so long? I don’t know. I just felt like running.
Or maybe you were supposed to go out for a training run and it was like cold and rainy and you’re like, I don’t really feel like it today. So your feelings about the situation are determining what you’re going to do or not do? Okay? Another example is like, people with depression, they often don’t feel like doing anything, you know, and hear me out on this like depression is a diagnosed mental disorder. And I’m not saying it’s something you can just turn on and off with your thinking.
But, you know, depression is caused by things like you know, it’s biological, psychological and social sources of distress cause depression, the definition. You know, the Google definition of depression is a mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life. In other words, if you have depression, you don’t feel like doing anything. You have a lot of loss of interest in activities.
And I’m not saying this is all there is to it, but it’s part of it. It’s part of the equation of depression. But think about this for a minute. If you’re feeling lonely, if you’re feeling sad, or depressed or unworthy, how are you going to show up in the world? What actions are you more likely to take? Or what are you not going to do?
You know, how are you going to show up for work? For your partner, for your kids? What behaviors good or bad do you think you’ll partake in? If you’re feeling lonely, sad, depressed and unworthy? My guess is that you’re probably going to take some negative actions, you’re gonna engage in some negative behaviors, you probably make some poor choices, you might even, you know, start doing some escape-ism stuff, you know, checking out and numbing.
But what if you felt differently inside? Like, what if you felt feelings of confidence? What if you felt feelings of contentment, of peace? What if you were grateful and happy? How would these feelings determine your actions? What do you think you would do if you felt that way?
You know, what actions would you be more likely to take? And then think about how you would show up for work if you were feeling that way? How would you show up for your partner or for your kids? How would you show up for your training runs? What do you think you would do or not do?
So it’s so important to understand that, you know, everything that we do, we do because we are feeling a certain way. And a lot of times, you know, there’s things we do, because we don’t want to feel that way anymore. So this is like in painful situations. We can engage in some, you know, I call it like escapist or escapism, numbing behaviors, you know, overeating, drinking too much. lethargy, you know, spending money.
A lot of people, you know, shop, they have that shopping addiction. And I’m not making fun of that, but I saw this meme recently that I thought was pretty funny. And at the top of it, it just said, you know, therapist says, “Now, what do we say when we’re feeling sad?” And then the patient says, “Add to Cart”. The therapist was like, “No”.
But it’s true, it makes us feel good, we get that little hit of dopamine when we purchase something, or when we, you know, have that drink, or take that particular drug or eat the french fries, and the burger and the milkshake. You know, it makes us feel good temporarily. It does help us to not feel the feelings of pain or sadness, or loneliness, or unworthiness or whatever.
And it does work, it works for a minute, it kind of makes the pain go away temporarily, but then when that little buzz wears off, the pain is back. And then it becomes worse, because now we beat ourselves up about engaging in this bad behavior. And then the cycle just continues. So our feelings can really determine that our feelings really determine our actions.
And we have to be careful about the kinds of actions we take when we’re feeling certain ways, okay. And then these behaviors that we engage in can become habits after a while, and they can actually form new neural pathways in our brains. And so they can become easier to do over you know, over time, they become easier and easier to do these things, they become habits, and they become part of our subconscious.
And this can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the behavior. Okay. So just to kind of summarize what I’m talking about with actions, your actions are the things we do or don’t do, they are the behaviors we engage in, or don’t engage in, they are good or bad behaviors. And then it’s our actions that actually determine all of our results. Okay.
So results are the things that you get in your life, or the things that you want in your life. These are usually tangible and measurable. So results can be things like, hey, I ran a half marathon and under two hours, that’s a tangible measurable result. I lost 10 pounds. I got a promotion at work. I made $100,000 last year, these are all tangible, measurable results.
Something like there’s a little bit of a gray area, but it’s like I have a great relationship with my partner. So that could be an opinion. But you could quantify that by saying, like, oh, we communicate clearly and openly and regularly, we work through all of our issues. You know, we spend quality time together, we speak each other’s love languages, that could be a measurable way of saying that that is a result that you have, okay, but every result that you get in your life is determined by action you’ve taken or your inaction, okay?
So what you do, or don’t do, determines what you get, or don’t get. And if you want different results in your life, if you want something to change, you have to take different actions, right, the definition of insanity, that’s doing the same things over and over and over expecting different results.
And the crazy thing is like, we all do this, we’ve all done this at some point in our life, right? You know, I just, I’m going to keep training the same way, every season for my marathon, and I’m not getting any faster. And it’s still way, super hard. But I’m not changing my diet, I’m not changing my training plan, I’m not doing anything different. And I keep getting the same results. Why is this happening to me?
It’s like, Hey, you gotta switch some stuff up, right? But what we do, determines what we get. And what we do is driven by how we feel. So if you want to change your actions, you’re going to have to change how you feel. First, you have to change the emotions that you’re feeling. And since your thoughts determine your feelings, you’re gonna have to change your thinking first. So basically, what I’m saying here is if you want different results in your life, you have to change your thinking, Okay?
How you’re thinking more than anything else is going to determine your results, how you think about your situation, or how you think about, you know, whether you can do this thing or not, you know, if you think I remember when I sign up for my Ironman, that was a big deal for me back then. I was scared to death.
I hit the, you know, submit button when I paid for it, which was like $700, by the way. So there was fear. And there was like, a sense of like, am I doing the right thing here? But anyway, I was full of fear, like, can I do this? Can I accomplish this really hard thing? I mean, it’s a crazy event, you know?
And so I had to change my thinking, at some point, I had to sort of become an Ironman, like I had to, you know, get into the thinking of like, Yes, I can do this, in order for me to get those results. Because if I thought the whole time, like, there’s no way I can do this, there’s no way I can do this. There’s no way I can do this.
Guess what? When I show up at the starting line, my habitual thought patterns and feelings around this are all going to be I can’t do this. That’s a terrible way to approach something like that. So instead, I had this thought of like, I’m going to do this, I am going to do this, I can do this. You know, I was still nervous and fearful and things like that. But I pushed through that. I thought and felt in my heart that I could do it. And I did. Okay, so here’s a great question. Ask yourself, what do you want? Seriously, what do you want? See, very powerful question. And unfortunately, we don’t really take it very seriously. But think about it, like maybe you want to run a full marathon someday.
Or maybe you want to start your own business. But you’re thinking like, I could never do a full marathon like, I’m just I’m not capable of that. Or I would love to start my own business, but it just seems so complicated. I just don’t know enough. You know, or maybe what you want is a better relationship with your husband, or you want that promotion at work or you want to start your own business or you want to hike the Appalachian Trail you want to vacation in Italy.
Or you want to spend a month on a tiny island in the middle of the South Pacific. Seriously, that’s what I want. I want to spend a month on some remote little island in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. That’s what I want. But think about it, like what do you want in your life? Start asking yourself that question seriously, and figure out the answer, figure out what it is that you want. Because it’s a very, very important question.
So I’m going to give you guys a little writing exercise this week. And this is going to help you to see how this all works. I’m gonna give you an example here in a minute, but it’ll help you to see how this works. But it will also help you to start in creating some new realities for yourself and start getting some results that you want. And when you start doing this work on a regular basis, you will start to create better habits, and you’ll start to create those new neural pathways like I was talking about.
So here’s the exercise I want you to do, I want you to think about something that you really, really want, okay? And just write it down. And then write down all the thoughts you have about that thing, just brain dump everything out on the page doesn’t matter, good, bad. Otherwise, just break down everything you’re thinking about. It’s really interesting, when you start doing this, to see what it is, your thoughts are around something like that, you’re going to surprise yourself with what you’re actually thinking.
And then write down how those thoughts make you feel. You know, some might make you feel good, some might make you feel terrible, but just write down the feelings you’re feeling. You know, the emotion words, those one word emotion words. And then think about the actions that you’re taking or not taking because of those feelings. And then are those actions going to get you the result that you want? Are those actions going to get you what you want or not? Okay?
So that is like step one is to write down all that stuff. And then what you want to do is on a separate piece of paper, you know, write down that thing that you want again, but then, you know, write down what you want to think instead, the thoughts that would make you feel differently. You know, a lot of times, it’s going to be kind of the opposite of some of those thoughts that you had that maybe the negative thoughts.
So write down the thoughts you want to think instead. And then write down the emotions that those thoughts cause you to feel. And then write down the actions that one might take, because of those feelings, and then see if that is going to move you closer to that thing that you want. And I think you’re going to find some very interesting results from this. So here’s an example. I want to spend a month on a tiny little tropical island in the middle of the South Pacific. Okay, that’s what I want.
My initial thoughts when I just think about it is, oh, my gosh, that’s gonna be really expensive. I don’t think I can afford it. I don’t know if I can be away from home for that long. I would really want somebody to go with me, but I’m not sure who so I don’t know, do I just go alone? That sounds lame.
And I just don’t know if you guys need to know this or not. I’m going through a divorce right now. It’ll be finalized soon. I’m doing good. I’m doing pretty good through all that. But when I talk about things, like, you know, maybe I should go alone or find somebody to go with me. I’m not cheating on anybody. Just so you know. Okay.
So those thoughts are like, it’s expensive. I don’t know if I could be away from that long. Who should I go? You know, who would want to go with me? Do I just pick a friend? I don’t know. Maybe I go alone? What are those thoughts cause me to feel well, they caused me to feel fear, like financial fear, like, oh my gosh, I don’t know if I can spend that much money. You know, there’s that fear of the unknown of uncertainty.
Then I’m feeling things like loneliness and sadness about it. Because if I go by myself, is that lame? Does that make me feel sad? Maybe? And then what actions would I take? Because of those feelings? Probably nothing, I probably wouldn’t do anything.
And what are you thinking about this right now, as I’m saying this to you? Are you thinking like, do you just go? It’s going to be so much fun. What a fun adventure. I know, that’s what you’re thinking. And I’m kind of thinking that too. And I’m looking at this and going like, I don’t want to feel those feelings. You know, if this is something that’s important to me that I want to do, I need to take some different actions, I need to feel differently, I need to think about it differently.
So the results I would get would be nothing. I wouldn’t go on this trip. I just wouldn’t do it. Now. Piece of paper number two. Let’s say I write the same thing on there. I want to spend a month on a tropical island in the middle of the South Pacific. What thoughts would I want to think instead? Well, first of all, I can probably save money for this. It wouldn’t take that long. You know I can work, get out so that everything is covered from a work perspective, you know, get all that stuff covered. Because I don’t think I’m gonna have access to the internet in this place. I think I just want to be unplugged.
You know, workout, social connections and meetings. And although I can get my schedule figured out, my schedule is flexible on purpose. So I can do things like this. And I bet I could find someone to go with me. I mean, who wouldn’t want to go to a tropical island for a month with me? It would be amazing. Are you kidding me? So oh, my God, he’s so amazing. I could even go alone and just make it an opportunity for me to like, really discover myself. I mean, that sounds right there.
When I say it like that. It’s like, Whoa, that sounds so cool and empowering. And how does that make me feel? Oh, my God, now I’m feeling excited and adventurous. And it sounds like fun. I’m feeling joyful, and even grateful. Grateful for my schedule, grateful for these kinds of opportunities. And I’m even feeling a little bit of fear. But it’s okay. It’s like, it’s fear. But I know, it’s like, the fear of like, of the unknown. And that’s okay, like, I can handle that.
All right, then what actions would I take based on those feelings? Well, oh, my gosh, I’m gonna start planning this thing, I’m gonna start a savings fund, I’m gonna grab a map and start figuring out what island I want to go to and figure out how to get there, gotta take all these little planes or whatever, and I’m going to talk to some friends and find somebody to come with me.
And then, you know, the two of us will start talking about it and planning together and all that into anticipation. And all the planning just sounds so fun. Like, that’s the kind of action that I want to take. And then the result would be that I go on this life changing adventure to this little island, you know, and it all starts with thinking about it differently. You know, so that result that I want in my life, that thing that I want, I can get that and I can see how I can get that by changing my thoughts by changing my feelings and changing my actions.
I feel I want to go on this trip now. I’m gonna have to do that. And like keep you guys posted as to what is happening with that, because this would be amazing. So here’s a quick recap. circumstances in our life, the situations where it’s always neutral. Okay, we get to choose our thoughts about how we feel about each situation, okay, choose our thoughts.
And then our thinking determines our feelings and our emotions, our emotion. Our emotions drive our feelings. I’m sorry, our emotions, drive our actions or inaction. And then those actions determine the results that we get. And if you want different results, you got to change your thinking, okay.
So there’s like five little components to this, these little five things, you learn these five things, and you’re gonna learn how to master your mindset, for running and for life. Okay, I hope you’re seeing how this all fits together. This is the secret to the universe.
Seriously, if you understand this, and you start to really grasp these concepts, and understand how this works, you are going to live a more empowered life, you’re going to start getting what you want in your life. And you’re going to start feeling amazing. And you’re going to start doing amazing things and start getting amazing results. Cool.
You can always drop comments on my posts there too, or send me a message or whatever. I’d love to hear from you. I love connecting with you guys individually. I love hearing how you’re thinking about this stuff and how it’s changing the way you’re thinking and seeing the world. And I would love to hear about the results that you’re getting. Cool. I hope you all have an amazing day. Much love to each and every one of you and I’ll see you next time
260. 10 Hard Truths About Fitness No One Is Talking About
There is a lot of information out there these days on what it means to be healthy and fit. My social media feeds are full of health and fitness experts spouting all kinds of opinions and ideas and …
Continue Reading about 260. 10 Hard Truths About Fitness No One Is Talking About →
Podcast Transcript
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 260 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, The Weight Loss Coach for Runners and today, 10 Hard Truths About Fitness That No One Is Talking About.
So there’s a lot of information out there these days on what it means to be healthy and to be fit. My social media feeds are full of health and fitness experts spouting all kinds of opinions and ideas and principles that everyone should be following. But in my years of training and coaching runners on weight loss and building strength and improving their running, I found a few things that really stand out.
So these 10 concepts I’m going to share with you today are not what most of the mainstream experts are talking about, but they are critically important to your health nonetheless. So yes, I decided to make a list. It’s the end of the year, and everyone’s making lists, so I’m getting in on this action too. Just like Santa, he’s making a list. So in this episode of the podcast, I’ve got 10 hard truths about fitness that no one is talking about, so you can become the healthiest and most badass version of yourself yet.
But first, if you’ve been interested in working with me as your coach. I can help you to get leaner, to lose weight, to get stronger, to build some muscle, to run longer, to improve your endurance and to run faster, to run your fastest race. Whatever that means for you, or it could just be that you just want to improve your time. In general, you don’t like running races and you just want to get faster. All of that is possible for you.
You can actually become the healthy and healthiest and most badass version of yourself. It just takes a little bit of work. It takes a little bit of guidance, some direction, some feedback. You need support. You need accountability. You need somebody there that’s kind of showing you the way, and I can do that for you. So if you’re interested in working with me, you just got to go to my website, runningleancoaching.com, click on Work With Me, and you and I can work together to get you to that place, to get you to become the healthiest and most badass version of yourself.
Also, starting in the new year, I’m going to be offering a new type of coaching. This is going to be personalized running plans. So this is strictly going to be running coaching, and anybody can sign up. You can go to my website. I don’t have the page up yet, but just know that this the way that it’s going to work is you can go to my website. You can pick a plan; half marathon or a 5k or a full marathon or ultra marathon. You can sign up for coaching.
You’re going to fill out a questionnaire, answer a bunch of questions. I’m going to send you a customized training plan that’s written up just for you. How many days a week you’d like to run? You know, what types of workouts you like to do, what types of workouts you want to avoid. We’re going to work towards a particular event. So if you have a particular race that you want to train for, you’re going to tell me about that, and then you’re going to get this customized plan, and you’re going to get coaching from me. We’re going to be doing all this over texting.
So you’re going to be able to message me with questions. You’re going to send me runs. We’re going to stay in touch about how you’re progressing. This is a great way to become a more badass runner. So if you’re interested in running coaching. Be on the lookout. I’m going to be talking more about this in the coming weeks.
I should have everything ready to go for you by the first of the year, so that you can start your training for spring races and have a customized plan and have me as your running coach, helping you to achieve all of your running goals for 2025 cool, so just be on the lookout for that. I’ll be talking more about that very soon.
Okay, so today, I was thinking about the topic that I wanted to talk about for this episode. And we’re coming towards the end of the year, and I always start to think about lists. And I even thought about putting together an episode where I compile a bunch of tidbits from some old episodes, and I decided that I just wanted to share some concepts with you today. And the concepts are truths, hard truths about fitness that nobody’s really talking about.
These are things that are very important, and I just don’t hear many or any health and fitness fitness experts out there on the internet really talking about this stuff. You know, my social media feeds are full of health and fitness experts. You know, I follow a lot of different people, and I do that because I want to get other perspectives. And there’s some things that I just don’t hear a lot of people talking about, and I think they’re very important. And these things work for the people that I work with.
So my clients are going to follow a lot of these principles that I’m talking about here, if not all of them, and they get amazing results. So I wanted to share these with you guys here today, and I just want to say this, that I had some dentist work done this morning. I had an old cavity filling that was coming loose, or something like that, and so they needed to replace the filling. So they had to, like, numb my mouth and do some drilling, and everything’s good now, but it has taken me all day for my mouth to be not numb anymore, because when I was talking, I sounded like, it’s like cotton in my mouth or something like that. So if it’s if I sound weird today, that is why.
But I think I’m finally feeling like I have all the sensation back in my mouth and stuff like that. But oh my gosh, I haven’t had drilling in my mouth in decades, so this has been like an experience. Anyway. Okay, let’s get into this, 10 Hard Truths About Fitness That No One Is Talking About.
Number one, fasted training will turn you into a fat, burning machine. So this is we’re talking about training fasted that means fasted cardio, so fasted running and fasted weight lifting, for example, could be fasted cross training as well. But the benefits of fasting and working out in that fasted state is that you’re burning more fat. It helps you to lose weight. It helps you to increase energy output.
A lot of people think, oh, you have to have something before you work out, you need to eat a bunch of sugar or, you know, a pre workout drink with all this, well, sugar and stuff in it, and you really don’t need that. Your body is really good at producing more adrenaline when you’re in that fasted state, adrenaline is what’s going to give you that more energy.
The other cool thing about working out in a fasted state is that your body during that fasted state produces more growth hormone, so this helps you to recover faster and more effectively from those harder workouts. So not only can you train harder because of more adrenaline output, but you actually recover faster. And if you’re somebody that is a runner and you want to lose weight training in the fasted state. Running in the fasted state is going to help you to get fat adapted. It’s going to help improve fat adaptation, speed up fat adaptation, and so you’ll be able to fat burning machine a little bit faster if you do more workouts fasted. And you’re going to find that as you run the longer distances that you run, you start running 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 miles fasted, and you feel amazing doing it. There’s something to that.
You know, using fat as energy, using fat as fuel, is a very effective way of improving your endurance. It can actually help you to improve your higher end running to like the faster, harder running that takes more time to get there. But if you just want to improve your endurance, start training in that fasted state. It helps break through weight loss plateaus. You know, if you’re somebody that’s trying to lose weight, and you’re finding that you are, you hit a stall. Work out in that fasted state. It helps to improve mental and cognitive function. You know, you can think more clearly. Your brain loves fat as fuel. It helps to lower blood cholesterol levels. It helps to decrease inflammation. Glucose levels go down.
Something else people don’t understand is that they’re like, oh, you have to eat all the time so that you keep your metabolism going. And training in that fasted state actually increases metabolism. Studies have shown that fasting up to 48 hours, I’m not suggesting you fast for 48 hours, but up to that number, then you start to get diminishing returns. But up to 48 hours actually boosts metabolism by up to 14% so this is pretty amazing. So not only can you train harder, recover faster, less inflammation, more weight loss. You break through weight loss, plateaus, more cognitive function, lower cholesterol, decreased inflammation, like there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be training in the fasted state. Okay, so this is one thing that I want you guys to think about and maybe try. So that’s number one.
Number two, talking about fasting. Do a 24 hour fast every week. This is something that I’ve been doing for years. You want to improve fat burning, then this is an awesome way to get your body into fat burning. I pick a day every week. Usually it’s Mondays for me, because on the weekends, I tend to do my longer runs like on Saturdays, Sunday’s kind of an off day, but I may the weekend is usually when I might have like a what we call like a cheat meal, okay? And I’ll talk more about that in a minute.
I’ve actually got that on my list here, but Monday is a day where I feel much better if I just don’t eat anything until like dinner time. So I’ll eat dinner on Sunday night, and then I work out in the morning on Monday. I run in the morning on Monday, and then I won’t eat anything until dinner time on Monday evening, so I’ll go about 24 hours with nothing. And this helps.
What this really helps with is not only energy increased and decreased inflammation and stronger workouts and things like that. So you get all those benefits I just mentioned for working out in the fasted state, but also you get into autophagy. Autophagy starts to happen around 17 hours of fasting. So once you get into that 16-17 hours of fasting and beyond, that’s when you start to increase autophagy.
So autophagy is a natural self preservation mechanism where your body removes damaged parts of cells and recycles other parts of cells. And it’s basically cellular repair. It’s like out with the bad and in with the good. So it’s your body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. So this is one of the best things that you can do to improve autophagy. Is just do it a little bit of an extended fast I don’t really go past 24 hours. I’ve done 36, I’ve done 48, I’ve done 72 hour fasts. And they’re good for different reasons. And some people like those. But personally, I like to do the 24, I’m pretty good with that.
I want to have a certain protein requirement and certain energy requirements. So I’m trying to make sure that I’m eating enough every day. I don’t want to do a 48 hour fast or something like that. That might have some diminishing returns on some of my workouts. So for me, anyway, I prefer not to do those longer fasts, but 24 is awesome. You can get a lot of great benefits from doing that. I feel leaner on those days. I feel lighter. You know? It helps me to keep my weight in check. If I notice my weight going up a pound or two, I just do a longer, fast like that, boom. It’s like, right back to where I want it to be. And I have lots of energy on those days. I’m kind of buzzing with energy on those days. Okay? So that’s number two.
Number three, another hard truth that no one is talking about is, quit drinking alcohol. I know this is a hard one for a lot of people, because they think, Well, you know, I don’t drink that much. It’s okay. You know, I’m drinking in moderation, and that is fine. And if you want to do that, I have no problems with that, but I’m just going to tell you that a lot of new studies have come out that have shown that the amount of alcohol that is actually good for you is 0. Zero amount of alcohol is good for you. It’s not healthy, it’s not a health food. It’s a poison. Ethanol is a poison. They use it to, you know, strip, you know, oil off of driveways, stuff like that. It’s not good for you.
It disrupts sleep. It impedes detoxification. So if you’re trying to, like, get into autophagy and things like that, that’s going to stop that process. It causes weight gain. Makes it very difficult to lose weight. If you’re somebody that wants to lose weight, I’m going to tell you right now, you have to stop drinking alcohol, because that is just going to totally thwart your progress. Alcohol impedes recovery. It’s addictive. There’s a lot of people that get addicted to alcohol, and a lot of times, the more you drink, the more you need and it can be a really vicious cycle and very hard to get out of.
When you’re drinking you also make bad decisions or not ideal decisions. You know, you tend to be a little more loosey goosey with your plan, with your rules, with your food plan. So people that drink more tend to not make very good decisions around food either. Okay, and it degrades your performance.
So as a runner, alcohol is going to degrade your performance even a couple of drinks a week, if you had one or two drinks a week, you’re never fully removing the alcohol from your body. And you’re never going to really get a good night’s sleep. You’re always going to feel stressed. Your workouts will suffer. Running is going to suffer. Weight loss will suffer. Your recovery is going to suffer. So just keep all of that in mind. If you want to drink, fine, but just know that it is not good for you, and if you want to become a healthy, fit individual, alcohol really should not be part of the plan. Okay.
Can you drink occasionally? Yes, will it affect you for a few days afterwards? Yes, you know, it takes your body about 48 hours or so to metabolize that alcohol during that 48 hours, you’re not burning fat. Your body has to process that alcohol first, so you’re not going to be burning fat. So if you’re trying to lose weight, zero, alcohol is the right amount for you. Okay, sorry to be a buzz kill, but literally, this is not good for you, all right.
Number four, I adhere to the 90/10 rule. And I think this is something that a lot of people can do pretty successfully. The 90/10 rule is where 90% of the time you are eating some sort of a healthy, whole foods type of diet, you know, and 10% of the time you can just kind of do whatever for the most part. Okay, so I try to stick to this. 90% of the time I eat, you know, high protein. So I’m eating, you know, beef, chicken, steak. I’m eating salmon. I’m eating some dairy, some fruit, some vegetables, some, you know, yogurt and cottage cheese, high protein type of things like that, eggs, bacon, things like that. So real foods, food that still kind of looks like food.
And then 10% of the time, which works out to about a meal a week or so, I can do just kind of whatever, because I’m 90% of the time, I’m sticking to a really healthy diet, and then 10% of the time, if I have some pizza or some tacos, then that’s okay. It’s not going to affect me. It will hinder my progress a little bit, you know. But at this point, I’m not trying to lose weight. I’m trying to just maintain and actually get some, you know, bigger muscles and get a little bit stronger. So for me, that 90/10 rule works really well.
Some people say, Oh, 80/20 you know, 80% of the time you do the 20% Listen, 20% of the time is not good. That does not work for me. That’s too much. That’s too much junk food, honestly. So I kind of fall into the 90/10 rule. And again, this has to be something that’s sustainable for you. It will affect you. It won’t affect you for too long. You know, a couple days later, you’ll be back on track and stuff like that. But this is how I choose to live my life. It’s something that I do on occasion. It’s not every day. If you want to live your life more strictly and you want to be 100% on some kind of diet, then perfectly fine. Do that. I love the occasional pizza or some ice cream or whatever, and I want to do that every now and then. But it’s not the norm. It’s not something I do every day, because if I do it every day, I feel terrible. Okay, so practice the 90/10 rule. This is going to really help you a lot.
Number five, you need to get sunlight in the morning, so sleep is incredibly important. It’s where you recharge your body battery, you know, and all the running that we do, all the training that we do, it breaks you down, sleep is how you build back up again. And according to the CDC, about a third of the adults in the United States don’t get enough sleep every day. So that’s like one in three adults in this country do not get enough sleep.
So one of the best things you can do to regulate your sleep is to get sunlight in the morning. So this is where you get outside, and that light is hitting your eyes. So ditch the sunglasses. Don’t wear the sunglasses. Get that. Don’t stare at the sun. That’s not what I’m saying. So please don’t do that. Oh, Patrick said I should stare at the sun. No, do not stare at the sun. Don’t do that.
But when you’re running outside, or you’re walking outside, or just, you know, hanging out outside, and that light is, you know, hitting your skin and your eyes, then you are increasing a hormone called serotonin, and serotonin actually makes you feel better. People that get more serotonin tend to be in better moods.
There’s a lot of depression in places like Alaska where people get very little sunlight. You know, there’s times of the year where there’s like, zero sunlight, places like that, people tend to have poor mental health. And then places like, let’s say San Diego, where it’s very sunny a lot of time, or Florida, people tend to be a little bit happier. And so that’s not just a coincidence. It has to do with sunlight and your mental health, and serotonin is a big role to play there.
But something that’s also interesting is when you create serotonin in the morning, this is linked to an increase of melatonin production at night. That’s what helps you to get a better night’s sleep, okay? And also getting that light in the morning helps to, you know, regulate your circadian rhythms, right? So sunlight, it’s how your body makes vitamin D too which helps to improve bone health, bone density. And you know, too much sunlight, you gotta be careful with this, though, right? Practice moderation. Too much sunlight can contribute to skin cancers.
But a moderate amount of sunlight actually has preventative benefits when it comes to a lot of different cancers. So those people who live in places like I mentioned, like Alaska, tend to get more cancers because of the lack of daylight. So more colon cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer.
So just keep that in mind that you actually have a little bit of an immune response, and you can prevent some of these cancers just by getting regular sunlight. We’re made to get sunlight, especially in the morning. It helps improve bone density, it helps to improve your mood, and it helps you to prevent some of these cancers, and it helps you sleep better at night, so definitely get sunlight in the morning.
Okay, number six, you’ve got to prioritize rest days. If you want to avoid burnout and you want to avoid injury, you’ve got to make sure you’re getting enough rest. So too much training can lead to fatigue, to burn out injury into chronic stress. So training is a stressor and this can be a good thing if it’s acute. So acute stress is where you have an amount of stress that is high in the high amount of stress, but it’s short lived. So it’s, you know, like lifting weights, you go lift weights for an hour. That’s an hour of stress on your muscles, but it’s acute, and then it’s done right?
What we don’t want is chronic stress where you’re just putting yourself at a higher level of stress consistently over time. We don’t want that, because when that happens, your workouts start to suffer. Running feels harder. Your endurance tanks. You can’t run as far. Your race day is going to suffer. You’re not going to have as good a race.
So you’ve got to prioritize rest and recovery. You actually have to make those days as important as your training days. When you do this, when you actually make rest and recovery a priority, then you give your body a chance to rebuild, repair and recover from those hard workouts. You’re able to go harder on hard days, so that means you’ll improve even faster. You give your body a chance to adapt to the training load, which means you get stronger.
So you improve your cardiovascular system, you improve your skeletal muscular system. You’ll increase intensity and duration of workouts. You can go longer without feeling fatigued, and you’re going to feel better. Your workouts will actually feel easier because your rate of perceived exertion goes down. There’s positive mental benefits to getting enough rest. You’re going to feel more clear headed.
You can focus and concentrate better, and improve cognition. You’re going to feel happier, you’re going to be less moody and less negative, and then you’ll have an optimal performance on race day. So just keep this in mind, that you got to get rest, and I suggest taking at least one full day off each week. And then as you get into some higher training, you might want to take off more rest days.
You know you might need more rest as your training increases. So just keep that in mind, especially as you get closer to a race, a lot of people are like, oh, I need to train harder. No, you want to like, actually, you can train harder on some days, but also balance that out with more rest, okay.
Number seven, supplements will not make up for a crappy diet. Okay, so we gotta stop looking for some kind of a magic pill. This should be common sense, but so many people are looking to supplements to get healthier, when, in reality, your diet is like 95% of your health is related to what foods you’re eating. Honestly, so many people think that I just need to start running and I’m going to get healthier. I just need to start taking this supplement, you know, whatever it is, and I’m going to get healthier.
And really, if you got to change your diet more than anything else, right? Supplements won’t make up for a crappy diet, so stick to a whole food diet, like I talked about healthy proteins, vegetables, fruit, dairy, eat food that our ancestors would recognize. You know, I think there are some supplements that are okay, like protein. I take protein. There’s there’s two supplements I take because I know they work for me. I’ve taken a lot of supplements that do nothing, that I’ve literally saw zero results, okay, like so. So the two supplements that I take now are protein and creatine. Protein for muscle synthesis, like protein, I need a certain amount of protein each day that just helps me to get there, and then the creatine for muscle building and muscle repair helps you recover from hard workouts.
So these are all the only two supplements I really take anymore, you know, maybe a multivitamin, and that’s about it. So we want to ditch supplements just eat real food like stick to eating real food.
You don’t need all these supplements. We didn’t need supplements for like, two and a half million years as human beings, like we just started doing this, you know, within the last 30-40, years, maybe much, much more since, you know, the internet and all this other stuff. So just keep in mind that we don’t need all these supplements. Just eat real food. You know, just eat real food.
Okay, number eight, eating healthy is just as easy as eating crappy. So I hear from people all the time that it’s too hard to eat healthy. Oh, I want to get fit. Patrick, I want to lose weight, but eating healthy, it’s just too hard, you know? They’ll say it’s hard to find healthy options when they eat out. It’s hard to find healthy options that are quick and that are easy to make.
You know, it’s harder to shop for healthier options at the grocery store. And honestly, these are all just excuses. You want to know what’s easy. Whatever you do consistently is going to be easy, all right? It’s hard because you’re just not used to it. You just are not doing it, so you got to just do it and get used to it.
Get the junk out of your house, throw away all the garbage, food that you have in your house, and stock it full of healthy options. That’s step one, because, listen, you do that, and now the only choices you have in your house are healthy options. Okay, so that’s not hard to get rid of all that junk, fill your house with healthy foods. Okay?
When you go to restaurants, ask them to make something different for you. I go to places and I’m like, hey, I want this. But take the bun off this burger. I want an extra burger patty. So give me a big stack of meat over here, some cheese, you know, all the veggies and stuff like that. Skip the fries. I’ll do some broccoli instead. Boom, I love this one restaurant that’ll make this perfect burger for me with eggs on it or whatever. Find the healthy options at restaurants, and then just go there more often.
And then every time you find a new one, write it down. I have a little list on my phone. I know I’m kind of a nerd in this way, but I have a note on my phone with all these restaurants. And anytime I’m thinking, like, oh, what should I eat tonight? I’m like, ooh, that barbecue place makes that awesome, those dry rub wings that I love, that don’t have any of that sugary, you know, barbecue sauce all over them. Ooh, yeah, I’m gonna go there, right?
And then when it comes to, like, making food at home for your family and all this stuff, there are literally, and I say that, I mean that word literally, millions of websites with hundreds of millions of healthy, easy, quick recipes. All you got to do is do a little Google search.
I just did a Google search earlier today on healthy, quick, easy recipes. Oh my god. There’s so much that came up. There’s no shortage of information out there. So stop saying that eating healthy is hard. It’s not hard. You just don’t want to do it. You’d rather eat junk food. So you say it’s hard, so you can be off the hook, right? This is a blaming mentality. You’re not taking responsibility for your own food choices, so start taking responsibility. Start making better choices for yourself. Hey, this is about your health. Healthy Eating is not hard, right? You’re just using that as an excuse. So stop doing that.
Okay, all right, I’m done with that little rant. All right. Number nine, you’ve got to prioritize protein at every meal. So when it comes to runners, there are two things that they are notorious for. One of them is not strength training, and the other is not eating enough protein, right? Running is a catabolic activity. That means it breaks down muscle tissue. You need protein to build back muscle tissue, you need to be doing some strength training as well. That’s for a whole nother episode.
But you got to do strength training consistently, and you got to get enough protein every day. Not getting enough protein can cause muscle loss. Listen, sarcopenia, that’s muscle loss begins around age 30, for most adults, most adults start losing muscle mass when they hit their 30s, and you can lose up to 8% of your muscle mass every decade from 30 on. So by the time you’re 80, you’re gonna have lost if you don’t do anything to offset this, you’re gonna have lost like 40% of your muscle mass. That’s crazy.
Loss of muscle mass is one of the leading contributors to early death. Because people lose their muscle mass, they can’t ambulate properly, they can’t stand up, they fall. They break a hip. Now they’re bedridden, and then they degrade really fast at that point. So once you’re, like, laid up in bed and you’re, you know, in your 80s or 70s or whatever, like, you’re gonna degrade really fast. Okay, I don’t want to be that person.
So get enough protein, strength train, keep up your cardiovascular health. I want to be able to pick up my grandkids and, you know, run a 5k until I’m 100 years old, whatever. Okay, also listen, when you eat a lot of carbs and sugars, you’re going to be really hungry all the time. You’re never going to feel full, so you’re always going to be craving more carbs and sugar.
When you’re eating more protein, you’re basically going to be full. You’re going to be like, very full all the time, which means that your body will be able to metabolize that nutrient dense food that you’re eating. Protein is very nutrient dense, so you’re going to be getting more nutrition from the food that you’re eating: A. B, you’re not going to be as hungry all the time, and then C, you’re going to burn more fat because you don’t have all this sugar, raising insulin levels and causing your cells to hold on to all that stored body fat.
Okay, protein means you’re probably going to be eating a little bit less, but you’re going to be getting more nutrition from the food that you’re eating, so just make protein the priority at every meal. Okay, all right, that was number nine.
Number ten, this is a hard truth for all of you. There is no finish line, okay? This is a lifestyle. The stuff I’m talking about right here, it’s not a short term thing. You must commit to this as a lifestyle. There is no finish line. Your Health, being a healthy, fit individual, being the most badass version of yourself. It’s not a destination you’re trying to get to. It’s how you live your life. Every day.
Everybody wants to go on a diet. That means you’re going to probably go off the diet at some point. Right? Everyone wants to lose weight fast. Very few people want to commit to a healthy lifestyle. Why? Because it’s hard. It takes hard work. It takes commitment. The people I work with, though, this is where they are different from most people, they get it. They are in this for good, not for some quick fix.
So this is all about sustainability. And the people that I work with are in this because they want to live their life in a different way. Sustainability is really the key, or it has to be something that you can do from here on out. And that’s why, for me, I like that one meal a week where I can eat some pizza or something like that. That’s sustainable for me, what does that look like? For you? It might be a little bit different. That’s okay, what? But that works for me. It helps me to stay fit, helps me to stay healthy, and it’s something that I can sustain easily from here on out. I don’t want to have FOMO all the time thinking that I’m missing out on something amazing.
So I’m going to eat that pizza at that new pizza place down the street. But I’m not going to do it all the time. I’m going to do it every now and then. Okay, but you have to commit to this as a lifestyle, and this takes making a real commitment. That means you’re going all in on yourself. You can no longer blame anybody else or anything else for your results or your lack of results.
You have to take responsibility for all of your outcomes, whether they’re good or bad. It’s the only way you’re going to stick with it. You have to be responsible for your own results. Your success cannot hinge on anyone else or anything else. It has to come from within. So you have to decide who you want to be. You have to make a real commitment to becoming that version of yourself. And then you get to work, and then you never, ever stop.
Every day you want to say to yourself, This is who I am. This is what I do. This is how I live my life from here on out, okay, all right, that’s all I got for you today. Love you all. Keep on Running Lean and I will talk to you soon.
257. Replay: Handling the Holidays Like a Badass
The holidays can be a very difficult time of the year for a lot of people. Shopping for gifts, planning social events, spending more time with family, and the added end-of-year demands at work can …
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Podcast Transcript
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, sports nutritionist, Master life coach and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you, properly fuel your body and your mind so you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 257, of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, The Weight Loss Coach for Runners and today, Handling The Holidays Like A Badass. So, the holidays can be very difficult for a lot of people. You’re shopping for gifts, you’re planning social events, spending time with family, and then added end of year demands from work, this can all make all of us feel more stressed and overwhelmed, not to mention shorter days, colder temperatures, lack of sunlight.
All this makes getting outside to exercise more challenging, and exercise is our happy place, right? So it can be very easy to just say, “f it” and blow off all your diet, all your exercise plans, stay indoors, watch Netflix with a big old glass of wine and just hibernate until the new year, right? But if that’s not how you want to roll into 2025 I’ve got an alternative solution for you.
In this episode of the podcast, I’m going to share a few simple tips for handling the holidays like a badass, so you can slide into the New Year feeling good about yourself, which is not the way most people do it.
But first, if you’ve ever considered coaching, I’m going to tell you right now is the perfect time to take action. For most of us. This is the off season. It’s time for you to kind of scale back your running and focus on things like your diet and nutrition. If you’re somebody that is interested in losing weight, this is the perfect time to make those changes to your diet, start losing the weight, so that when we roll into 2025 you can start your training, you know, feeling good about yourself and having developed some good habits and stuff like that.
It’s also a great time because you know, your running is a little bit less of your volume of running is a little bit less, so that it’s a good time to focus on other things, like getting stronger, and again, losing weight and things like that. So if you want a little bit of help with all this stuff I got you. I can help you get leaner, I can help you get stronger. I can help you run longer and run faster.
All you gotta do is go to my website, runningleancoaching.com, click on, Work With Me, and I’ll show you exactly how to start the new year feeling like the most badass version of yourself, yet cool. Just go to runningleancoaching.com, click on work with me, and let’s do this.
All right. I wanted to share a little bit of how to handle the holidays, and I realized I had recorded a couple of different episodes about getting through the holidays and maybe some good tips and stuff. And I was looking back through my notes on this particular episode, and I really like the content here, so I’m not going to talk too much about it, but this is a replay from a couple of years ago, I think. But this is called Handling The Holidays Like A Badass.
I know that this episode is going to come out the day after Thanksgiving. So just keep that in mind that if you’re somebody that wants a little bit of help with all of the stuff that’s happening between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, then I’m here for you, okay, but this is going to kind of focus on that part of the the year, this end of the year, these last few weeks of the year, and it’s kind of a short time.
There’s only like 35 days this year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, and usually it’s a little bit longer than that, so it’s a good time to really focus on taking care of yourself and deciding on how you want to show up in the new year. And I’ll talk about all that in the podcast.
One other thing I wanted to let you know about is that if you’re interested in a challenge during the holidays, over in the Running Lean Podcast community on Facebook, we’re doing the running through the holidays challenge, which is basically just a challenge to run every day, from Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day. And I’m, you know, you can go on the Facebook group and join the group, and you’ll, you’ll see all about it, but basically, it’s just run at least one mile each day, between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day.
Try to do it outdoors if you can, and you don’t have to. There’s no real rules around this or anything. It’s not super strict, but if you can just run at least one mile each day outside, that’s kind of preferred. What we’re trying to do is focus on getting outside, getting in the sunlight. If you have sunlight where you live, even if it’s cloudy, you’re still getting some of that sun in your eyes.
It’s really important, but it’s a way of like, getting that endorphin release and that that dopamine and the oxytocin, all those feel good hormones going through this typical dark and dreary part of the year, especially with all the holiday stuff that’s going on, a lot of stress that’s happening, it’s a good time to focus on just being outside and running and doing something that’s good for you, mentally, emotionally, physically. So check out the Facebook group, Running Lean Podcast Community.
You can just type that in to Facebook, and you’ll find our group. Join the group, and then you can participate in the challenge. You don’t really have to do anything to participate. You can post pictures and comment on other people’s posts and things like that. It’s a fun time of the year where we’re all supporting each other and getting through the holidays feeling good about ourselves.
We want to roll into 2025, feeling good about ourselves. So join us over there and join us for the running through the holidays challenge. Okay, I’m going to stop yammering on here, and I’m going to play this episode for you, and I hope you all have an amazing holiday season this year. All right?
All right on to this topic today, which is all about handling the holidays, like a badass. This time of the year, it can be very hard for people, right, we’ve got more stress this time of the year than any other time of the year collectively, right?
The days are cold, it’s dark, work is a little busier, you got to get all this stuff done at the end of the year. You’ve got more social events, you’re spending more time with family, you got to plan more meals, you’re buying gifts, you’re wrapping gifts, you’re sending out Christmas cards, maybe you’re traveling.
And all of this stuff can really feel overwhelming and cause a lot of people to really struggle. You know, this is supposed to be a fun time of the year, right and everybody looks forward to it. But at the same time, it can be very challenging for a lot of people, okay.
So when you find yourself feeling this stress, it can be very hard to stick to your diet and exercise plans, it can be very hard to want to get up and go to the gym when it’s cold and dark outside, it can be very hard to want to stick to your food plan when everybody around you is eating a bunch of junk and cookies and candy and all this other stuff, right?
So if you just want to stay inside and hibernate, like during this time of the year, that is perfectly fine. You’re allowed to do that, right? But if that’s not how you want to spend the holidays, then you get to decide what you want for yourself, okay, if you want something different, this episode is for you. Okay?
If you want to be able to stay on track, stick to your diet, keep up with your runs, keep up in the gym, whatever it looks like for you. You are allowed to do that. By the way, you don’t have to just fall into this habit that most people fall into, which is just kind of giving up a lot of this stuff during this time of the year.
How many people do you know to say, well, you know, the diet starts on January 1. Well, why? Why would you wait? Right? Why do you want to wait until then, to start improving your life? Why do you want to wait until then until you start doing something that’s good for you? Why do you want to wait until then, to start improving your health and your fitness?
I say start today, if that’s what you want for yourself, it doesn’t matter that we’ve got the holidays coming up, it really doesn’t. There’s always something going on, right? I want you to think about how you want to show up on January 2, you know, who do you want to be when you start the New Year? How do you want to show up for yourself?
Do you want to feel shame and guilt remorse and regret? Because you’re going to be starting from like a health and fitness deficit? Like you got to make up a lot of ground because you gained some weight you got a little softer?
Or do you want to feel proud of yourself and confident and happy with your choices? Do you want to start the new year with momentum? Do you want to start the new year ahead of the curve, like feeling like you had your back during this period of time, right? It’s a choice, it is a choice, you get to decide.
So here’s what I’m going to do, I got three tips for you today. And I’m gonna break these down a little bit. But the first one is step number one. Or tip number one is that you get to decide who you want to be on January 2. And you should get very detailed with this, right?
And I tell people all the time to like do these writing exercises, like write it out. Write out who you want to be. And I know a lot of people that listen to this podcast are just like, yeah, whatever. I’m not gonna write that out.
But you know what, it makes a difference. It really does. The people that take the time to do this work and actually sit down and do the writing, when it comes to things like this, they get better results I’m just going to tell you, they do.
So if you want to get better results, I want to encourage you to do a little bit of writing around this. Who do you want to be on January 2, you know, I want you to envision this version of you and write down what it will look like and feel like to be that person on January 2, right.
Now you get to decide if you want to keep losing weight, maybe you’ve already started a weight loss regimen and you’re kind of losing and you’re like that and you want to continue to lose weight. Maybe you want to just maintain your weight through the holidays. Or maybe you’re okay if you gain a little bit of weight during the holidays.
But you’ve probably never thought about it like before, right, but really, it’s a choice, it’s a choice that you get to decide how you want to show up for yourself in January if you want to gain a little bit of weight, that’s fine.
But I just want you to make that decision now. Because this decision that you make today is going to drive your behaviors over the next few weeks. So let’s say you decide you want to gain weight, that means like, you’re probably going to eat more food, drink more alcohol, indulge in a bunch of, you know, sugar, and, you know, processed foods and go a little bit crazy. Maybe you’re gonna, like, stop running for a few weeks, or, you know, not go to the gym. That’s fine. If you want to do all this, it’s totally awesome.
Just know that you will probably gain weight in this process. And if you’re okay with that, if you’re okay, showing up in January, you know, five, eight pounds heavier, whatever, awesome, more power to you. Okay, you get to decide if that’s what you want for yourself, maybe you want to maintain.
Maybe you’re the kind of person who is like, you know, what I’m gonna stick to my healthy eating plan. For the most part, I might make some more exceptions than normal, you know, I might have a little more wine here and there, I might be drinking some more beers, I might enjoy a dessert or two, but for the most part, I’m gonna, you know, kind of stick to the plan.
And maybe you back off the running and the strength training a little bit, but not entirely. So this is a way of maybe maintaining your weight. Okay, totally fine. Again, all these options are available to you.
You’ve probably never thought about it like this before, though, right? Most people just assume that they’re gonna, like, just continue to lose weight or whatever, during the holidays, but they don’t change anything. Okay.
And then let’s say you decide you want to lose during the holidays, you want to continue to lose weight, this is going to require that you keep planning your meals and keep sticking to your plan, right, it’s just going to require that you stick with your running schedule, you keep up with some sort of resistance training. And this plan is awesome. And I’m super proud of you if you decide to do this.
But just know that it requires a commitment, it requires a little bit more discipline and a little more motivation. It doesn’t require as much motivation if you’re okay, gaining some weight over the holidays, right. So you get to decide, do you want to gain weight, maintain your weight or lose weight, make that decision.
So here’s what not to do. So most people go into the holidays, thinking that they’re going to keep losing weight or stay the same, but then they eat a ton more food. They’re eating all the sugar, they’re drinking alcohol, they’re slacking off on their exercise regimen. This is the way most people do it. They don’t have a plan, they just think they’re gonna stay on track.
And they think they’re just gonna, like maintain their weight, but they’re not. Their behaviors are not in alignment with the goal of wanting to maintain their weight. And then they show up on January 2, and they’ve gained weight, they’re like 10 pounds heavier.
And they’re like, I don’t understand what happened. It’s like you didn’t make a plan. You didn’t decide how you wanted to show up. So step one is deciding how you want to show up on January 2, who do you want to be, write it down, decide today, who you want to be, and decide if you’re one of those people that wants to gain weight, maintain or lose weight, make that decision now, and then act accordingly.
So if you’re the kind of person who wants to lose weight, you’re gonna have to stick to your plan. You’re gonna have to be diligent and not eat the cookies when everybody else is eating the cookies.
Maybe people are drinking around you and you’re not. You’ve got to make that decision. If that’s what you want for yourself. Okay? Just be honest with yourself, who is it you want to become? And then act accordingly. Okay, so that’s tip number one or step number one to this process.
Okay, step number two is to make a plan and stick to the plan. So now you have a very clear picture of how you want to show up on January 2. So now you just need to make a plan and stick to it right? It seems so simple, but most people do not do this. Most people just wing it. Right? Don’t wing it. Make a plan.
So making a plan means that you’re planning out all of the events that are coming up, you plan out your meals, you plan out your workouts, you got holiday parties, family events, weird schedules, whatever.
Your kids are gonna be out of school, maybe you work from home and your kids are gonna be home with you. You’re gonna have a house full of people. All this stuff can be an excuse for just blowing off your diet and exercise routines.
And I hear this from people all the time, oh, well, you know, the kids are out of school. So that means I have to eat a lot more cookies. No, it doesn’t, it really doesn’t mean that at all. Right, don’t use that stuff as an excuse for not sticking to your plan. This will require a little bit more, you know, work a little more thought work a little bit of more discipline on your part.
Yes, it will make a plan and stick to the plan, you get to decide what’s on your plan. Just make a plan. Decide what’s coming up, like you know what’s coming up, you know that there’s going to be this holiday event, you know, there’s going to be this work thing, you know, there’s going to be kids around, whatever you got to make cookies for this thing, cupcakes, whatever, plan for all of it.
Decide what you’re going to eat and when, decide when you’re going to get your runs in, decide when you’re going to go to the gym to get your resistance training in, and get it all planned out in advance. Right, so simple, and then just stick to that plan.
Over in the coaching group, I have an entire course called Getting It All Done, where I show you exactly how to plan everything in your life so that you can make it all work, because I get it. We’re all busy. We all have busy lives, we’ve got work, we’ve got kids, we’ve got school, we’ve got all kinds of things going on, right?
And I make these suggestions like, hey, you should probably get outside and exercise every day, you should probably be doing some resistance training. You know, you should probably do some stretching and some yoga and things.
People are just like, dude, I can’t. I don’t have time for all this stuff. And I don’t want you to use that as an excuse. I don’t want you to use the I don’t have time as an excuse, okay? Because time is just a mental construct. It doesn’t truly exist.
You make the time for whatever is important to you, you absolutely do. So make the time for what’s important to you decide what’s important to you make the time and get it done. But I have this cool course right, it breaks it all down and shows you exactly how to do all that. I
found this quote when I was preparing for this podcast, and it might be from Ben Franklin. It’s kind of you know, the internet, who knows what some of this stuff. But anyway, it’s this quote has been attributed to Ben Franklin – “If you fail to plan you’re planning to fail.”
Boom, I love this, quote, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. I want to encourage you to not skip this step. Don’t skip the planning, make a plan. Most people just don’t do it. They just wing it. And if you don’t have a plan, you’re going to inevitably fail. Okay.
And just so you know, starting in January over in the coaching group, we’re going to be focused on starting the New Year, the right way. And I’m going to show you exactly how to plan your meals, what you should be eating, what you shouldn’t be eating, and most importantly, how to stick to that plan. Right, anyone can make a plan. It’s the sticking to the plan that’s the hard part.
Here’s my best advice for achieving greatness in any area of your life. Are you ready? Here it is. Make a plan. And then stick to that plan, even when you don’t feel like it. That’s it, make a plan and then stick to the plan. Even when you don’t feel like it.
You can accomplish just about anything with that kind of attitude. If you want to lose weight, make a plan to maybe you quit eating sugar and you quit eating processed food, and then stick to that plan, even when it’s hard. stick to that plan.
Even when you’re surrounded by cookies and candy and pastries. Because you’re gonna want that stuff. It will be hard in that moment, you will not feel like sticking to your plan in that situation.
You know, maybe you’re making Christmas cookies with your kids and the whole house smells like sugar cookies, right? How do you stick to your plan, that’s going to be hard, but you can do it. I know you can.
But that’s what it means to stick to your plan even when you don’t feel like it. If you want to get stronger, make a plan to lift weights a few times each week. And then do that. Work that plan. Even when it’s cold and dark outside.
You don’t feel like getting up and going to the gym because you’d just rather sleep in, get your butt out of bed and get to the gym. Even though you don’t feel like it, do it anyway. That’s how you get stronger.
Right? So make a plan and then stick to the plan. That’s my second best advice for getting through the holidays like a badass.
And then step number three. Listen. You might fail. No big whoop. Do not beat yourself up if you fail. Do not beat yourself up if you fail. What happens if you fail? What happens if you don’t stick to the plan? What happens if you eat the sugar cookies or you just skip the gym or you skip that run because you decided to stay inside watching Netflix?
Like what happens in that situation? And by the way, here’s a little sidebar for you. Netflix, is not bad. Netflix is not the worst thing in the world. People talk about watching TV as being the worst thing you can possibly do. So much so that like, it can feel very guilty and shameful.
When you just sit down to watch a show I say enjoy your TV, but just like anything else, the dosage matters. So just do it in moderation. Right?
And by the way, I just started watching Succession on HBO – holy cow, that is an awesome, awesome show. So enjoy your Netflix, enjoy your streaming TV, whatever, enjoy your movies. It’s a great way to spend some time and you know, snuggled up on the couch with a loved one or something like that. End of rant.
Okay, that was a little sidebar. So what happens if you, if you fail, you eat the cookies, you just don’t get to the gym, whatever. What happens if you don’t stick to your plan 100%? Do not beat yourself up. Just get back on track as soon as you can.
If you screw up one meal, it’s not going to ruin everything for you just get back on track at your next meal. If you miss a workout, don’t freak out about it, you’re not going to lose all your fitness. Just make a point to get back on track at your next workout.
A good rule of thumb is to not have two bad meals in a row and never skip two workouts in a row. What we’re after is consistency, not perfection. It’s more important that you put weeks and months together of consistency. Rather than sticking to some plan perfectly every single day. It’s just not practical to think that way. Right?
The same thing goes for our running through the holidays challenge. If you miss a day, it’s no big deal. Just pick it back up again the next day. It’s not about doing it perfectly. It’s about doing it consistently.
And this all might make common sense. And, you know, it can be very easy to slip into the habit of beating yourself up over this stuff though. It can be really easy to just feel guilty or shameful or talk smack about yourself. Right? These things do not do you any good whatsoever. Right?
What happens is, a lot of times people will have a cheat meal, or they’ll miss a workout. They feel terrible, ashamed, and guilty. And this can very easily spiral you down into an attitude of like, just screw it all. Why should I even bother with any of this, I always mess up. Don’t do that.
Right, indulging in these negative thoughts and negative feelings. And we call these indulgent emotions. When we do this, we indulge in this negativity and worthlessness and shame and guilt – don’t do that. It’s very detrimental to your success. Okay?
Because what happens when you feel bad? What happens when you beat yourself up like this? Typically, you just want to feel better. Typically, you just run to find something to make yourself feel good again. And a lot of times that means using food or alcohol.
So it just makes the situation worse. It completely compounds feeling bad, right? So I plan on failing, it’s part of the process, not a big deal. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Okay. Strive for consistency, rather than perfection and get back on track at the very next opportunity.
Okay, so quick recap. My three tips for handling the holidays like a badass, first of all, decide who you want to be on January 2. Do you want to gain weight, maintain your weight or lose weight and then act accordingly? Who do you want to be on January 2?
Who is that badass version of yourself? What does he or she look like and write about it? Write what it would feel like to stay consistent through the holidays right about what it would feel like to show up on January 2. Feeling good about yourself feeling confident, feeling like you had your back this whole time and decide who you want to be.
Step number two. Make a plan stick to the plan even when you don’t feel like it. Remember, if you fail to plan you are planning to fail.
And then step number three is don’t beat yourself up. If you do fail, no big whoop. Get back on track at your next meal or your next workout. Don’t ever skip two workouts in a row. Don’t ever eat two bad meals in a row. Okay, we’re striving for consistency, not perfection.
And I know you got this. I know you guys have absolutely got this. Love. You all keep on Running Lean and we’ll talk to you soon.
256. Why Runners Need Help Losing Weight
I’ve received a lot of comments on my social media posts over the years basically saying that if you are a runner, you shouldn’t need help losing weight. Comments like, “If you want to lose weight, …
Continue Reading about 256. Why Runners Need Help Losing Weight →
Podcast Transcript
My name is Patrick McGilvray, and I’m an experienced marathoner, ultra runner, Sports Nutritionist, Master Life Coach, and weight loss coach for runners. I’ve dedicated my life to helping runners just like you properly fuel your body and your mind. So you can get leaner, get stronger, run faster, and run longer than you ever thought possible. This is Running Lean.
Hey there, and welcome to episode 256 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners and today, Why Runners Need Help Losing Weight. So I’ve received a lot of comments on my social media posts over the years, basically saying that if you’re a runner, you shouldn’t need help losing weight.
Comments like, “if you want to lose weight, just run more” or “I lost all the extra weight I needed to when I did this couch to 5k training program.” Or, “if you’re a runner, you shouldn’t even need to lose weight.”
And the main thought behind all these types of comments is that if you run, you shouldn’t be overweight, and that running, in and of itself, is all you need to do in order to shed those extra pounds. These are nice ideas, but they just don’t hold up in reality. So today, in this episode, I’m going to address all the reasons why runners need help losing weight and why it doesn’t involve running more miles.
But first, if you’ve ever thought about coaching, if you can, if you’ve considered having someone like me help you with your weight loss journey, with improving your strength, your overall health and fitness, your running performance, then this is a great time to take action, because we are in the off season, and this is the time where you want to make changes.
We can get you started on the right track now, so that when your training starts in January, you’re going to be all set, you’re going to be stronger, you’re going to be leaner, you’re going to feel better, you will have changed your diet, and you’re going to be setting yourself up for success for a spring race.
Coaching gives you all kinds of things that you don’t really get on your own. So you get guidance, you get knowledge. You get direction. There’s a feedback process. The way I do my coaching is all about you getting results. If you’re getting results, awesome. We keep going. If you’re not getting results, if something isn’t working, we make a change somewhere, until we get things working. All right.
Coaching is all about support. Supporting you. It’s about accountability, holding you accountable. It’s about motivation, giving you the motivation that you need to keep going. It’s about encouragement, making sure that you’re, you know, praised for doing well, and sometimes I gotta dole out a little tough love here and there. But really, you don’t have to figure all this stuff out yourself.
Coaching gives you what you need to be successful, helps you to stay on track so that you can get your results much faster than doing it on your own. So if you’ve ever thought about coaching, now is a good time to have a conversation with me about it. Just go to my website, runningleancoaching.com, click on work with me, and I’ll show you exactly what you need to do to become the most badass version of yourself yet. So go to my website, running leancoaching.com, click on work with me. We’ll have a conversation. We’ll talk about coaching. I’ll answer all your questions. We’ll see if this is a good fit, and we’ll get you started right for the new year. Cool, awesome.
Okay, so this topic came to me recently because I have been seeing some comments on some of my social media posts about runners. The gist of it is this, runners shouldn’t need help losing weight. Runners should just run more, and that’s all you need to do in order to lose weight. And this is not just stuff that I see on social media.
These are comments that I hear from people in real life and around the web, and from, you know, other coaches who are running coaches and things like that. And the sentiment out there just seems to be that runners shouldn’t need help losing weight. They shouldn’t be overweight. If you’re running and you’re doing it right, then you shouldn’t be overweight. Like running is all you need to do.
And I think this is such a huge misconception for people that some people truly believe this first of all, and the other thing to understand is that this is not true for the vast majority of people out there. I’ve been involved in running for many, many years. I have run many, many, many races where there’s tens of thousands of people in these races, and I can tell you a lot of those people are not super skinny and lean.
You know, there are a lot of runners who are, you know, pretty lean, and those are the typically anyway, the faster runners. You’ll see a lot of leaner, faster runners who fit that sort of stereotype of what you would think of when you think of a runner, you know, see these like Olympic athletes, and you think that’s what runners should look like, you know, these marathoners or whatever.
The reality is, runners are all shapes and sizes. There’s all kinds of people who run marathons and half marathons and 10k and 5k or whatever. And lots of runners are overweight, and they struggle with their weight, and it’s like some sort of taboo that you’re not allowed to talk about it, or it’s like something that people just don’t want to acknowledge. You know, it’s like there’s something wrong with you if you’re a runner and you’re overweight, and I just want to say that this is a bunch of BS, and that everybody, regardless of what you do for exercise, everybody has not, I shouldn’t say everybody, most people struggle with their weight.
You know, at least here in the US, the vast majority of people in the US are somewhat overweight, and it’s okay. You know, there’s things we can do to help with that, but just understand that just because you’re a runner doesn’t mean you’re gonna fit that stereotypical look of an Olympic athlete that you see. You know, that’s probably the the rarity, the exception, not the norm.
The norm is just like everyday people, you know, and we’re all different shapes and sizes, and it’s okay, but if you’re somebody that is a runner, and you feel like, I don’t know, maybe you’re feeling like you’re talked down to, or you’re bullied or something like that online, or you feel misrepresented because most runners don’t look like me. You know, you have this mentality, most runners don’t look like me.
Just know that there’s lots and lots and lots of runners that don’t fit that typical stereotypical look. Okay, and so there’s a lot of runners out there that need help in this area. That’s why I do what I do. And the reason I started doing this.
The reason I started helping runners with their weight is because there are so many runners that I see and that I have experienced and that and I was one of them that struggled with their weight, and I just wanted to bring it out into the open and talk about it openly and say, hey, listen, if you need help, I’m here for you, and when I decided I was going to call myself the The Weight Loss Coach For Runners, that was really scary for me, because I’m putting myself out there and saying like, I’m addressing this issue that people don’t want to talk about.
I’m addressing this issue that is very important to me, that I’m very, very passionate about, that I’ve devoted my life to solving this problem for people, helping people to become their best selves, and if that means losing some weight and getting to a more ideal weight for them, that’s my goal in life. That’s what lights me up. That’s what fulfills me. T
his work that I do is incredibly important to me. I’m incredibly impassioned. You know, this is something that is fulfilling for me to help people to overcome these stereotypes and these struggles that they’ve had for a lot of times it’s their whole life. Like a lot of people have struggled with their weight for most of their life, and nobody has been able to really help them.
They may have started running because they wanted to lose weight and it didn’t work. Maybe they gained weight in the process. I can’t tell you how many people I talked to say, Oh yeah, Patrick, I started running because I thought I could lose weight that way, and I just started gaining more weight. Why is that? Well, there’s a lot of reasons why.
One of the reasons is that when you train more, when you exercise more, your body is burning a lot of energy, and your body is going to want to replace that energy. Your body is going to want to replace the calories that you’re burning when you’re exercising, you know. And so your hunger signals go up, your desire for food goes up. And if you’re eating a lot of sugar and high carbohydrate foods, which a lot of runners do, you know, runners are told they should just eat the all carbohydrate diet all the time.
When you’re eating a lot of that stuff, it messes up your hunger signals, and you’re just generally more hungry. And so when you combine being generally more hungry and a diet that’s mostly carbs, you’re going to be hungry for more carbs. That stuff just tends to keep the fat on your body, as opposed to a diet that helps burn the fat.
And then, you know, your exercise intensity goes up, you know your volume of training goes up, and so you’re more hungry, and this is a bad situation to be in, because you’re more hungry, you’re more hungry for carbohydrates. You’re already eating a ton of carbohydrates, and your body is just holding on to all of that extra energy, and no amount of running is going to really fix that.
Okay, so that’s that’s one thing to just sort of consider that a lot of people have this misconception that all you have to do is run more, just run more, and it’s going to fix everything. Well, not everybody, not everybody’s body works that way. I think the vast majority of us, our body doesn’t work that way. Some of us are more sensitive to carbohydrates, some of us are more sensitive to overeating, and we have to be careful, and we have to be more mindful about what we put in our body and how much we eat, and no amount of running is really going to fix that.
You know, my story is that when I was training for, what was I training for my 100 mile race and and then I was doing other ultra marathons. I did a summer where I did, like, four or five different ultra marathons and I did my 100. That was back in like 2017 and during that period, there was about a two year period there where I was doing all this training. I was running a ton, and I remember like a peak week for me when I was training for my 100 was like 85 miles for a week. And some people run more than that.
But for me, that was crazy, because normally my marathon training, you know, I’m like, at 40-45, miles a week, something like, that’s like half of that. So my running increased, like double what I was used to. And during that two year period, I gained like, 40 pounds. I gained a lot of weight because I was telling myself, and my brain was going like, hey, you’re running a lot, you’re training a lot, you’re running a lot of miles. You can just eat whatever you want.
And I did, you know, full pizzas, pints of Ben and Jerry’s all the time. Like I was just, I was going to town on all that stuff and and it caught up to me after some time, and the weight just started piling on.
And finally, I was like, I really have to do something about this. Like, this is getting crazy. I’d been pretty overweight, and then lost a lot of weight, and then, you know, started running more, and then started gaining the weight back again, and I didn’t go back to where I was before, you know, back in the early 2000s I was really overweight, smoked cigarettes, drank a lot of alcohol, just ate a crap diet, you know.
And I was super overweight and had a big like, pot belly kind of thing, like, I carried my weight in my belly, and I was just really unhealthy and really unhappy, and I had to make changes in my life. And once I started, you know, eating better, and I started exercising more and started running, the weight did come off, but I had to really be careful.
One of the big things I did was quit drinking alcohol. That made a huge difference, but I had to be careful about not slipping back into old habits, you know. And so the food was a really big thing for me. And once I changed my diet and stopped drinking, a lot of the weight started to come off, and I did get pretty lean, and I felt much better. And then, you know, started running more and all this other stuff. And I was okay for a while there, until things started to catch up to me again.
And this was like, in the 2016-2017 something like that. And so for me, it was like I really got to this place where I needed to make some big changes to my life and and I needed to really address the fact that all this running wasn’t working for me, and that I needed the help, and I needed the help figuring out what to eat so that I could continue running, you know, I was told, like, if you’re a runner, you need to eat all the carbs, you know.
So that meant donuts and pasta and pizza and ice cream, like, that was my diet, right there. That sounds amazing, right? It was amazing. I was like, I was in heaven. I was like, This is so great. But then it stopped, stopped working for me. It just started to catch up to me. And I was like, Okay, I can’t do this anymore. I’ve got to start eating better.
So I know a lot of other people that are listening to this right now, if you’re somebody listening to this, and you’re like, yes, Patrick, I can relate. That’s me as well, then please reach out to me and let’s just have a conversation. I can help you. I want to help you and and this is, like my life’s passion is to be able to help people that were in that position that I was in.
You know, this is why I do what I do, because I want to help end the struggle for other people, because I figured some stuff out. And really what helped me more than anything else was just having somebody show me the way. I had a coach, and, you know, I had some guidance and some direction and some feedback. And, you know, kind of took a personalized approach to this whole thing, and that’s what really worked for me. And so that is one of the main reasons why I do what I do.
But understand that if you’re a runner and you’re somebody that has struggled with your weight, you’re not really doing anything wrong. You know, it’s just you’ve been given bad advice. You know, you’ve been hearing from a lot of you know, normal sized runners who, honestly, they don’t have a problem with their metabolism. They don’t have a problem with carbohydrates. They can do whatever they want.
I know people that can eat whatever they want, and they never gain weight, and it just seems to be like they have some crazy metabolism. I always tell a story about this friend of mine who was the same age as me, and this guy was about 145 pounds, soaking wet. He was a skinny little guy, and this guy would out eat me and out drink me like he could eat more food than me and drink more alcohol than me and never gain weight. It was crazy.
So people like that do exist, and some of them are runners, and that’s awesome. If you’re one of those people, you’re probably not listening to this podcast, but if you’re one of those people, more power to you, like, keep doing what you’re doing. That’s awesome. I love that. But if you’re somebody that does struggle, then we got to start doing something differently, right?
Like, because what you’re doing is not going to work for you. Doing that like eating whatever you want is probably not going to work for you. And I talk about food so much because, listen, I’m going to say, like, 90% of the problem is going to be your diet. It’s not about exercising. You know, there’s things you should be doing from an exercise standpoint.
You want to be lifting weights, you want to get stronger, you want to improve your cardiovascular fitness. You know, running is a great form of exercise. I’m a big fan of running. I’m a big fan of getting stronger. But those things, in and of themselves, aren’t going to be the solution for you to burn the fat and lose the weight. It’s just not like you gotta fix the diet.
So, you know, one of the things that runners struggle with is changing anything really, but changing their diet is because they’re so ingrained with this one way of doing things. And if that’s you, and you’re shaking your head, yeah, I totally understand, then you’re not alone, because so many people struggle with that.
So many people struggle with, you know, being told all this advice about how they should be eating all the grains and all the sugar and all the carbs all the time, and it just doesn’t work for most people. And taking a different approach is kind of scary, because you’re like, well, this isn’t what normal people do.
Well, guess what? Most normal people are overweight. You know, most normal, quote, unquote, normal people are unhealthy. You know, there’s something like, you know, over 70% of the population here in the US. I’m, I don’t have this number in front of me. It’s probably higher. I know it’s higher than that. It’s like 78% or something like that, of the population is, like, overweight or obese, or, you know, has some sort of, you know, chronic metabolic illness, you know, some sort of chronic metabolic disease, you know, whether that’s like heart disease or type two diabetes or pre diabetes, or something like that.
So the norm, what’s normal is not being healthy, it’s not being fit, it’s not being lean. What’s normal is to be overweight and diseased. So to me, it’s a no brainer. It’s like, I don’t want to be normal. I don’t want to be one of the quote, unquote, normal people out there, you know, I want to be somebody that is fit and healthy and lives a good, long life with a lot of quality years in there. It’s not about how many years I live. It’s about the quality of life during those years that’s important to me.
You know, I want to be strong until the day I die. I want to be running till the day I die. I want to be able to lift weights and open up jars and, like, walk upstairs and do all these things when I’m like, 100 you know? I want to just be like, fit and healthy until the end, and whatever that is, and the only way I know how to do that is that I have to watch what I eat, and I have to exercise, and I gotta lift weights like I gotta, you know, improve my cardiovascular health, improve my strength, and stay at a lean body weight like those are the things that are important to me and that are going to facilitate a long quality of life for me as an individual.
And I’m going to say for you too, like these things are proven to help you not only live longer, but have those quality years. You know, the last 10 years of our life or so should be high quality years like that’s what we want for ourselves, and just running more is not the answer. We’ve got to get stronger. We got to, you know, be at a healthy body weight, and we have to have a good cardiovascular system. You know, we need good cardiovascular health. Health as well.
So improving your VO2 max, getting stronger, you know, being able to do all sorts of strength exercises, and then, you know, being at a healthy body weight, those are the things are going to help you to live longer and feel great as you get older. You know, one of the main issues that people have, and one of the main reasons why people die early is that they lose muscle as they get older.
So they lose a lot of their strength, they lose a lot of their cardiovascular fitness, and they become more sedentary, and then something happens, like they fall and break a hip or something like that, because they’re not strong. They don’t have the muscle mass to be able to even hold themselves up, and so they fall down. And once they become sedentary like that, like once you know something like that happens, and they’re bedridden for extended periods of time, then their quality of life goes down dramatically, and their death becomes much faster. It just becomes imminent, unfortunately.
So that’s the reality for a lot of people, and some data that I was just reading came out recently where they’re showing sarcopenia starting to happen. Muscle loss starting to happen in people, starting in their 30s. So people start losing muscle mass, beginning in their 30s, until whenever they die. Like that is not a good situation, so we need to reverse that.
And you can start today, get stronger, starting today, improve your strength, start lifting weights, improve your cardiovascular health, and then get to a healthy body weight. Those are the three things that you can do that are really going to improve your quality of life more than anything else. And if you’re a runner and you need some help losing weight, then get the help. Like, there’s, don’t, there’s no like taboo about this, you know what I mean?
And you know, don’t let these people that say like, oh, you should just run more like that doesn’t make any sense. It just doesn’t make any sense. There’s so many people that have tried that and it doesn’t work for them, and I’m one of them, and I talk to people every day who tell me this, like, oh, yeah, I started training, and I thought, you know, running, training for this marathon, was going to help me to lose weight, and it didn’t. I actually gained weight. And I’m like, Yeah, I get it.
I remember working with a guy who was on this running streak, and he ran at least a 5k every day, and he had done this for seven years. When I was working with him, he had been running a 5k every single day, never missed a day no matter what, for over seven years, and gained 50 pounds in the process. So that’s another just example of saying, like, this doesn’t really work. All this running just doesn’t work. So thinking that you know, if you’re if you’re a runner, you shouldn’t be overweight, that’s just stupid. Like, let’s stop thinking that. Okay.
And if you are a runner and you feel like you have some weight to lose, then don’t be ashamed of that. Just start doing the work. Change the diet. That’s number one. You got to change the diet. Keep running. Yeah, running is great for you, but it’s not going to help you to lose weight. So definitely change the diet and then start becoming that best version of yourself, that version of yourself that you ultimately know that you can become.
You know, we all have this idea of who we should be. We have this like vision inside of us, in our mind, of like who we want to be and what we should look like, and what we should how we should act, and you know, the things that we want to do in our lives, and a lot of times, what we’re presenting on the outside is not the same as this vision that we have of ourselves on the inside, and so what I want for you is I want that vision that you have on the inside to match what’s on the outside.
That means changing what you do and getting you to become the healthiest and most badass version of yourself from the inside out. Okay, that’s the work. That’s the work with just become the best version of yourself, okay? But this is something that we should all be striving towards, that we should all be moving towards every single day. We should be taking little, tiny actions that are moving us in that direction.
So think about that this week, what is that best version of you? And if it is somebody that is 20, 30, 40, 50, pounds lighter, then keep that vision in your mind, but then start doing what you need to do in your day to day actions to move you to that in the physical presence. Okay, that’s all I got for you today. Love you all. Keep on Running Lean and I will talk to you soon. Bye.






