Marathon Training

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 296 of Running Lean. My name is Patrick McGilvray, the weight loss coach for runners. And today getting lean without going crazy or how to lose weight as a runner without losing your mind. So here’s the deal. Runners are some of the fittest people on the planet, or can be yet.

So many of us struggle with weight, and I get it. You put in the miles, you put in the effort, you put in the discipline, and the scale does not move. Or maybe you train for a race and somehow you gain weight. That was my experience. I talk to people every day that have the same experience, and this can make you feel a little nuts.

So we’re gonna fix that today by walking through a SANE framework, how to think about food, how to plan without feeling restricted, how to make decisions that help you to get leaner. While enjoying your life, I know it sounds crazy. I’m gonna tell you exactly what to focus on. What levers are gonna move the needle without dumping all the tactical minutia on you here.

That tactical stuff is what I do with clients one-on-one. Today, you’re gonna get a big overview on this topic, and I’m excited to share this with you. Um, quick note though, before we dive in, if you want help applying all of this in a way that fits your training, that fits your lifestyle, that fits your preferences, head over to my website running lean coaching.com.

Click on work with me and we will build a plan that works for you. Okay. Cool. Um, so here’s the deal. Runners are fit. Uh, so many people struggle with their weight. Uh, they feel like they’re doing all the right things and then stuff just really does not work for them. They can’t seem to drop the weight and it makes them feel a little crazy and a lot of the.

Uh, diet advice out there. A lot of the nutrition advice out there doesn’t really work for runners. That’s why I do what I do, because there’s dieticians, there’s nutritionists, there’s weight loss coaches out there, and they just don’t understand how to fuel for running. What it takes to, uh, lose weight as a runner or how to maintain muscle mass as a runner and why these things are so important.

Um, I’ve heard weight loss coaches out there that say you should not do any sort of exercise while you’re trying to lose weight. And I just think that’s sort of crazy. ’cause are you gonna do that? No. Am I gonna do that? No. We’re gonna keep exercising, we’re gonna keep running, we’re gonna keep doing our strength training, we’re gonna keep doing all the things that we enjoy doing.

We just have to understand that those things are not the only way to lose weight. Okay, so the first thing I wanna talk about here is that, you know, exercise and running is amazing. But it’s not a weight loss plan by itself. It’s great for your heart. It’s great to build that cardiovascular fitness. It’s good for your mental health, for your emotional health, for your stress, but you can’t outrun a bad diet.

You know, I’ve said that before. I’ll keep saying it because I think it is absolutely true. You have to switch what you’re eating if you wanna lose weight. It’s just not about running more. Then there’s something that we call the hunger and reward drive. So a lot of runners, a lot of athletes out there do long runs, they do hard workouts and you know, some of this can, you know, make you feel a little bit hungry and make you feel like, oh, I earn this piece of cake.

I earned this pizza. I earned this ice cream. And without a plan in place, what happens is we tend to reward ourselves with ultra processed foods, with sugar, um, whatever we feel like eating because we’re, we’re kind of conditioned or we’ve conditioned ourselves that I can eat whatever I want because I’m a runner.

Um, so a lot of that mentality has to shift. We’re gonna talk about how to shift that in this episode here. Another, um, thing I want to address here and, and another reason why runners struggle with weight. So first is, you know, they’re just trying to run more. They have this reward, uh, drive that they’re, uh, you know, sort of conditioned to believe, and then there’s randomness disguised as just listening to your body.

So I love listening to your body. I think that is important. But there’s a difference between listening to your body and then rationalizing eating a bunch of junk food. Okay? If every day is a new experience with food, if every day is some, uh, random, you know, meal plan, random, uh, strength plan, random running plan, your results are going to be random.

You’re not going to get the results that you’re looking for. So. You know, winging it, randomness, whatever you want to call it. Is not a plan. It’s the opposite of a plan. And when you’re just winging it, when you don’t have a plan, you tend to not make good decisions. You tend to not make a lot of progress towards your goals.

You might have this goal to lose 30 pounds and what are you doing every day? Just whatever you feel like. How’s that working for you? Is it moving you towards your goals? Probably not because it’s just randomness. Okay. And then the last thing that, uh, I wanna just talk about and, and kind of. Set up this conversation and talk about why a lot of runners struggle with losing weight is they get to this all or nothing thinking, so they feel like they have to be super restrictive.

And most diets out there tell you that you can’t ever eat sugar again. It’s the worst thing in the world. You can never have a Diet Coke, you can never have a piece of pizza. You gotta stay away from all carbs or all grains or all meat or all dairy or whatever. And so when we have this all or nothing thinking, what happens is we, we tend to rebel against that.

When somebody tells you, you can’t do this, what do you want to do? You wanna go and do it more, right? So that all or nothing thinking, which a lot of diets. Preach and, and the principle, but behind a lot of diet advice is like, you can never eat this stuff again. I can’t tell you how many accounts on Instagram and Facebook, whatever that I follow, where it’s just all or nothing.

Like let’s say it’s a carnivore person and it’s just like you have to eat. You know, rib eye steaks every day, and that’s it. Like, that’s your whole life is just rib eye steaks. You know, that’s the only way you can be healthy. And I’m like, yeah, I, I’m not sure about that. You know, I don’t really think that’s the way I wanna live my life, and I want to eat that piece of pizza occasionally.

Hey, it’s somebody’s birthday, I want to eat the birthday cake and celebrate with that person. So. We tend, when we have this all or nothing thinking, we tend to rebel against that. We, we tend to just binge out on stuff. Um, and, and, and it’s really an unsustainable strategy if you really think about it. So that’s one of the main reasons, um, I wanted to talk about this today, is that I think a lot of us have this.

Idea that losing weight has to be frustrating. It has to make you crazy. You know, it has to be, uh, very, very restrictive. Um, but all those things are very unsustainable and the key with any sort of. You know, change in your nutrition plan. Your diet has to be something that is sustainable for you. Okay? Now, if you’ve answered yes to any of these things that I’ve talked about, or you can relate to any things I just talked about, just to understand that, that’s totally cool.

Nothing’s wrong with you. This is just normal. We all kind of go through this, but what you need. Is a, a better framework. Okay, so before I get into the framework, which I love this framework, um, but um, before I get into that, I wanna talk about a little bit of a mindset shift. So, uh. The mindset shifts that are gonna help you to stay sane, right?

We’re, we’re talking about not going crazy when we’re trying to lose weight. The first is a shift in your identity. You gotta remember that you’re not on a diet, you’re a lean, strong runner in training. You are an athlete. Your decisions today are what an athlete would do. You train like an athlete, you should eat like an athlete, and this is what it means to shift your identity, adopt the identity of an athlete, and then your decisions just become super obvious.

So we gotta make that shift in your identity. The second is. Choices over rules. Okay? Rules can fee feel very restrictive. Choices feel empowering. You choose your plan on purpose. When you have that mindset of choosing your own plan and making your own decisions, you are in charge. You have autonomy, uh, you feel in control, you feel calm, you feel centered.

You’re not. Crazy because somebody says you can’t ever eat oatmeal again in your life, or something like that. So instead of having all these, you know, restrictive rules, make choices. Make choices that feel good for you, ones that can make you feel kind of calm inside. Okay? And then remember that the process beats perfection.

So this isn’t about. Uh, perfection. Nobody does this perfectly. I don’t do this perfectly. I don’t know one person I’ve ever worked with that does all this stuff perfectly. So we wanna remember that it’s more important to adhere to the process, to to show up and commit to the process on a daily basis, rather than trying to, uh, ace everything every single day and trying to be perfect every single day.

When you try to be perfect, what happens a lot of times is you beat yourself up. ’cause you weren’t perfect. I failed because I had a cookie, uh, in the break room at lunch. ’cause they looked good. I’m a failure. Look, I can’t do this. Hey, listen, 90% of the day you did amazing. 98% of the day you did amazing. You had a cookie.

Who cares? Let’s aim for like b plus work here people. Okay? If you put 10 b plus days together in a row. That’s amazing. That’s gonna beat one a plus day, followed by a complete meltdown. And you, and you have a, a D minus or a F for the day, you know? So, um, one of my coaches told me this a long time ago, uh, aim for B plus work, you know, aim for B plus.

And I’m like, I can do that. I can do that. ’cause A plus feels. Very hard to attain. It feels very out of reach for a lot of us. So let’s go for that B plus. Um, remember that. Uh, remember to think about your future self as the person sort of calling the shots. Okay? Pretend your future you is the boss of you before you, um, want to go snack on a bunch of junk food from the pantry.

What’s the future me gonna tell me in this moment? Like, go out into the future, think about your future self and let that future self dictate what you’re gonna do in this moment. Is this something that’s really gonna help me to become that person or not? ’cause future, you knows. They know everything ’cause they’re from the future.

Um, but just like listen to that little voice in your head and say, you know, probably not, probably not eating this whole sleeve of Oreos is gonna help me become. That future me. Okay. Um, and then the last little shift in your mindset is, um, something very simple and, and we talk a lot or I hear a lot of people talk a lot about setting big goals and trying to accomplish 25 things every single day.

This can feel very overwhelming. You know, you’re trying to, you know, get your strength point training on point every single day and get your running plan together and stick with it every single day and get your food plan and be perfect with that. Listen, let’s chunk it down to like making one promise to yourself every single day.

Pick one thing you know you can do. Make that promise to yourself, I’m gonna do this today. Uh, it may be a little bit hard, it may make me feel uncomfortable to do it, but I’m gonna do this one thing today. Keep that promise to yourself. Stack up those wins. You’re gonna build so much trust and confidence in yourself over time, it’s gonna be amazing.

Okay, so that’s kind of the mindset shifts we need to make. Lemme talk about this framework. So. The backbone of getting lean, of, of, of losing weight and eating like an athlete. It’s not a detailed meal plan. I’m gonna tell you that right now. It’s a framework. So instead of thinking that, oh, you know, how many grams of carbs should I eat every day?

’cause I get people that ask me these questions, how many grams of protein should I eat every day? And you know, I will answer some of those questions with people and we’ll talk through that stuff. But instead, I want you to think about this framework, and I’m calling this the SANE framework. Okay? Instead of going crazy, SANE.

So just remember that. So the S is. Simple. Your plan needs to be super simple. Think about few. The fewer decisions you make, the less friction you have in in your day. Okay? So default to meals that you like. Have a short list of go-to proteins, veggies, good sources of fat, some good carbs that you like. Um.

You, you want to get into a predictable rhythm. I’m gonna talk more about that in a second. Um, but your plan needs to be really simple. The plan that I have for daily meals is stupid simple. You know, I have a, a protein shake. I might have some eggs, some avocado, maybe some bacon or something like that.

This is like meal number one. Meal number two. Um, might be some, uh, something I had last night, which was, uh, pre-made skewers with chicken wrapped with bacon. Oh my gosh, how good is bacon? Um, with a little bit of barbecue sauce on there. I just threw those on the grill. And some sweet potatoes like that.

How simple is that? Like that’s so. Stupidly simple, right? Um, now I’m not saying you need to eat those foods, that’s not what I’m saying at all. But what you do for yourself has to be something that is simple. It cannot be complicated. You don’t have to like get all your macros right and try to figure all that stuff out.

Eat what feels good for you. It has to work for you, obviously. And that’s the A in the SANE framework. So that’s gonna be a meaning that you know what you eat, your meal plan has to be aligned with your. Goals, your training, your schedule, your food preferences, your lifestyle. You don’t have to copy anyone else’s plan.

The best plan is the one that you can follow sustainably. So what? Whatever works for you has to be aligned with your goals and it has to work for you long term. So don’t let anybody tell you you’re doing it wrong. I can’t tell you how many people will say, Hey, uh, you know, I’m really struggling with my weight.

Well, here’s what you should eat. Just do this, this, and this. You know, and that’s such a dumb response to that because we’re so different. Like, I don’t even like those foods, or I’m allergic to those foods, or, you know, my culture says I shouldn’t eat those foods. Okay, well then the, you know, they don’t have an answer for you.

My answer is always what? Your plan should be. Simple. It should be in alignment with your goals, and it should be something you can actually follow. Okay? So make sure it’s in alignment with your goals. That’s the A. The nane in my SANE framework is that your food needs to be nutrient dense. Think about real food.

Mini minimally processed foods. That’s easy to say. Protein focused. Get some vegetables in there. Some good sources of fats, some good carbs that actually help you to serve a purpose, not necessarily just junk carbs, you know, some sweet potatoes, some, some rice, some oats, something that you can uh, uh, use around specific workouts.

When you adopt a a nutrition plan that is nutrient dense, you’re gonna feel more full, you’re gonna recover better, your cravings are gonna be lower. You’re not gonna probably eat as much as you used to because the food that you’re eating is very nutritionally dense and your body is getting everything it needs so you don’t have to keep stuffing your face with a bunch of empty carbs.

And that’s what a lot of people do, especially runners. I just eat whatever I want. I’m gonna eat all these Oreos. Well, then you’re hungry an hour later because that didn’t fill you up. All it did was just jack up your hunger signals. So when you’re eating nutrient dense foods, minimally processed foods, whole foods, foods that still look like foods, the foods our ancestors would recognize, this is what’s going to make you feel more full and give you the nutrient nutrients that you need and your satiety will be, uh, much more in check and you can lose a lot of weight this way.

And then lastly, the E of SANE in my SANE framework is it has to be enjoyable. If you hate it, you’re not gonna do it. If I tell you you have to eat nothing but Brussels sprouts and you hate Brussels sprouts, you won’t stick to that plan, I promise you. Now, if you love Brussels sprouts, you are gonna thrive with that plan, but obviously that’s not gonna be a plan that I would ever suggest.

Um, your plan must include foods that you enjoy. And a sane way to eat fun foods is to eat them on purpose, without the guilt, without the drama, without beating yourself up. In other words, you gotta enjoy the food that you’re eating. I enjoy the food that I eat. I really enjoyed my, my dinner last night.

Chicken breasts wrapped in bacon with barbecue sauce on it, on the grill. Come on. That was so enjoyable. I love that so much. Um, or if you’re like, Hey, I’m gonna have a piece of cake, you know, tomorrow when I go to that party, you’re doing that on purpose. You’re gonna enjoy that and you don’t feel like you have to be restrictive while everybody else is eating the cake.

Just eat the piece of cake. It’s completely fine. Okay? So we’re trying to to to live a sane life, but we want food that is simple. Not complicated. It’s in alignment with your goals, nutrient dense and enjoyable. That’s the, that’s the food plan that’s gonna work for you. Okay. So I talked about rhythm. So, um, we want to talk a little bit about a flexible structured food plan.

Okay. So a rhythm means that, um, you want to get into a daily rhythm. So you want to decide ahead of time, you know what you’re gonna do as far as I’m gonna eat twice a day, I’m gonna eat three times a day. Um, you wanna reduce the decisions that you have to make. Throughout the day. So we’re not talking about counting calories, we’re talking about getting into a rhythm of planning your food and then sticking to that plan and planning your food and sticking to that plan.

The other part of a of flexible structure is that we wanna make sure we’re focusing on protein. This is very important. Protein is satiating, helps preserve lean muscle mass. It supports recovery. Um. Uh, how you do this is gonna be different for each person. You know, some people like plant-based proteins, some people like, you know, going with, uh, animal-based proteins or whatever.

Um, so whatever feels good for you, but make that the priority. Another way we can be flexible with our nutrition plan is to do smart carbs on purpose. So this is not about no carbs or. It’s not about all the carbs either. We want carbs that work for you. Okay? Time to support your training. Choose whole food carbs.

Use them strategically around key workouts. Um, we want to use carbs, but we want to use them to help us. To improve our running. Uh, we don’t want to just be eating all the carbs all the time because, hey, I’m a runner, so I get to eat all the carbs, and this isn’t about never eating carbs again, but it’s about timing them mo for the most part, around key workouts.

Um, natural fats for satiety. That fat helps you to stay full. Protein helps you to stay full fat, helps you to stay full. Add enough to, uh, your diet, to make sure your mood and your hunger are stabilized. Um, you know that you’re gonna be on the right track when you’re not constantly thinking about food.

You know you’re eating enough, okay? If you’re constantly thinking about food. You’re probably not eating enough protein, probably not getting enough fat. Don’t be afraid of fat. We don’t need to eat a super low fat diet. Um, but fat is something that will help you to, uh, feel more full for longer. And again, it kind of helps you to not eat as much in general.

Um, things like fiber, micronutrients, hydration, these things are all important. Make sure you’re eating colorful veggies. Drink plenty of water. Get your electrolytes in, especially when you, when it’s really hot out or you’re doing some super long runs. Um, this just needs to be something that is part of our, our diet.

And then plan your joy. You can eat for joy. The key word is that you’re planning it. Decide ahead of time what you’re gonna do, when you’re gonna do it, how much, and enjoy it, and then move on. There’s no guilt, there’s no I blew it or anything like that. Okay? So that’s what it means to be flexible with this and to have some structure, but flexibility around that structure.

So when you’re looking at different food choices. Think about these quick little filters. There’s these three decision filters. There’s is this, is this real? Is this mostly real minimally processed food? Is it purposeful? Am I doing this on purpose or am I just feeling like I have to eat this in the moment?

You know, is this supporting how I wanna feel today? Uh, is this supporting how I’m going to feel tomorrow? Okay, so is it real? Is it purposeful? And then is this plan, did I, did I decide this ahead of time? Or am I just reacting to how I’m feeling in the moment? Oh, I’ve had a, you know, stressful day at work, so I just want to eat a whole pizza by myself.

No, uh, make sure that it’s real food, that you’re doing it on purpose, and that it’s something that is planned. Okay. And, um, something that, uh, I wanted to just kind of touch on really quickly, which is a big fear that people have, which is like, if I change how I eat, isn’t this gonna really affect my running?

And the short answer is not if you’re strategic about it. And this is what I do with a lot of my coaching clients, because we change your diet, but we don’t want it to affect your running negatively. So what to focus on would be make sure that you’re matching your fueling to your workout. You know, if this is an easy effort, you don’t really need to do much, uh, just eat what you’ve been eating, um, during your run.

Fueling can be something that is, uh, something you want to think about, and it’s conditional depending on how long you’re running, how hot the day is, how hard of your effort it is. So you might want some carbs. Post run fueling, though is something that I would say is just not negotiable. You need to eat something after running.

It doesn’t have to be, you know, directly afterwards. It can be within an hour or two, but get some protein in, add carbs when your, uh, session or your goals call for it. You know, some people like to just stay super low carb, which is completely fine. Sometimes adding some carbs in after a run, especially a super long run, can help replenish glycogen stores and help just promote a little faster recovery time.

Um, and then beware of the I earned buffet. Refueling is great, but it’s not a free for all. It doesn’t mean you should go and, and eat all the ice cream that, that you have in the, in the freezer. Okay. So, um, couple things just to kind of recap a little bit. Um. Uh, fat loss and performance, uh, are sort of the, if you fat loss and performance are your goals, you wanna make sure that we’re focused on food quality and structure.

Remember, real food, protein anchored meals, purposeful carbs, plan, joy, consistent rhythm around your diet. Um. Strength training runners need to get stronger, you know, um, focus on lifting heavy so you get stronger. One to two sessions a week is probably, you know, good for a lot of people. If you can get to three.

That might be ideal, but make sure you’re doing, I would say, at least two strength sessions a week. Uh, your running programming should also help you to improve your, uh, metabolism. You know, so if you’re, if you’re doing your runs properly, you’re doing a mix of easy, longer runs, some, some middle distance runs that are moderately harder than some short runs that are.

You know, pretty hard, some high intensity interval type of stuff. Um, making sure you’re getting enough recovery, uh, and sleep and keeping your stress low. All this stuff is gonna help you move the needle. It’s gonna help you to, uh, you know, lose the fat without losing your mind. Okay, so food quality, strength training, run programming.

And then the recovery. Um, couple quick wins. I want you to think about. Uh, here’s a couple of things that are gonna help you change the game for yourself pretty quickly. So these are things you can do this week. So just think about these. Plan your food 24 hours in advance. Write down what you’re going to eat and include something of joy, something that will bring you joy.

And write this down the day before. Focus on protein first at every meal. This is something you can do starting right now. Um, fuel certain workouts on purpose. Decide beforehand, again, what you’re gonna do. What’s your run? How, how are you gonna fuel, what are you gonna use for, for fueling before and during?

Make sure you have at least one or two strength sessions on the calendar. Book it ahead of time. You notice a theme here, right? Um, and then maybe create a, a simple and effective bedtime routine so that you can start to get better quality sleep. So just. You know, focus on maybe a lights out ritual. Start getting the lights out an hour or so before you’re planning on going to sleep.

Dim the lights, maybe read a book or something. Get off your screens, turn off the tv. You know, get the, the room nice and dark and cold, and that’s gonna help you to sleep better and promote, you know, less stress. So if you’re hearing all this and you’re thinking, yes, I want all of this, Patrick, but I want somebody to help dial it in for me, for my training, for my preferences, for my lifestyle, that’s what I do inside my coaching program.

We take this framework, we build your plan. You know, we want make it simple. We want to help you achieve your goals. Uh, we want it to be nutrient dense and. Something that is enjoyable for you. Okay? We also work on the mental side of all this so that your plan feels something that is easy and repeatable.

It doesn’t feel like punishment. So when you’re ready, just go to my website, running lean coaching.com, click on work with me, and we’ll talk about what it looks like for you. You can absolutely lose weight as a runner without losing your mind. You just gotta keep it simple, aligned with your goals, nutrient dense and enjoyable.

Tune these levers, okay? And then make that one promise to yourself today, and then keep it. Okay? That’s all I got for you today. Love you all. Keep on running lean, and I will talk to you soon.