I am hungry all the time. Now that I’m running a consistent 20+ miles per week, I’ve been eating like a high school football player, but with the metabolism of a practically (if not unbelievably) 40-year-old woman.
Running can be a great way to lose weight, but longer distance running can be a very tricky balance, a slippery slope if you will. If you eat too little, you will most likely die mid-run, that’s just science. On the flip side, after a run, you feel like you can – and completely deserve – to eat everything.
I’ve had success changing my eating habits when I’ve faced a big weight loss goal, but I’m finding it much more difficult to make changes when my brain is telling me that I’m pretty much an Olympic champion so maybe I should just make a quick stop at McDonald’s mid-run? I mean, they are an Olympic sponsor.
So what do you do when you can’t take the bad habits out of the girl? You take the girl away from the bad habits.
A few weeks ago, I blogged about how running has made me a more adventurous and awesome traveler. That’s still true, but not every trip is created equal. I’m currently on Day 3 of a 12 day work trip in Tampa. There’s lots and lots of work to be done, but also way to much downtime. When I found out about this trip, I knew it was an opportunity to put some focus on my health and ditch some of my bad habits. It took a little planning, but now that I’m an expert bullet journalist, it was easy peasy:
- In lieu of a hotel, I’m staying at an Airbnb with a small kitchen and a washer/dryer (for my stinky running clothes)
- I found a local food service that delivers freshly made breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily – it’s actually much cheaper and healthier than eating out
- I only bought healthy snacks and jugs of water at the grocery store, no junk in the house
- I’m getting up at 5:30 each morning to run before the Florida sun melts me into a puddle
- I have literally nothing to do after 5pm each day, so I am taking classes at a local yoga studio – I really need to be stretching more anyway
I won’t lie, this one is not a fun-filled trip and it’s a long time away from home, but creating a routine that is singularly focused on my health will do me some good.
Of course, I did have a slice of key lime pie the night I landed, but travel days don’t count, right?
When I was in college, I started every semester with brand new highlighters and colored pens, ready to organize the world! I meticulously copied my syllabus into my day planner and highlighted every word in my textbooks. That would only last a week. 
Yesterday, Denver. Today, Chicago. It’s funny that I choose a career path that includes so much travel given that I’m not a great traveler: I have no patience for airports, I always overpack, and I’ve single-handedly kept Dramamine in the black. Running has changed that for the better. 
I ran my first half marathon just under one year ago. This weekend, I completed my third. I didn’t really mean to sign up for three, but here we are. 
There’s a great cookbook designed specifically for runners called “Run Fast. Eat Slow.” That is such good advice…for someone who can run fast. Or eat slow. I am neither.
Eat Fast. Run Slow. 