Jess is participating in the Little Rock Half Marathon and is scared out of her mind. She’s never done anything like this, but is chronicling the whole process, blisters and breakthroughs, right here on Little Rock Soirée. Start with the first installment here.
If you’re reading this, then the apocalypse hasn’t happened yet, and that means I’m probably hungry.
Eating habits are a strange thing. Sometimes I could just snack my way through a weekend and think nothing of it. Other times I need a chicken fried steak sandwich with gravy for lunch and a $5 Hot-N-Ready from Little Caesars for dinner, all washed down with a gallon of Dr. Pepper.
Now that I’m up to running five days a week (what?), those old light snacking habits died harder than Hans Gruber. I’m hungry. All the time. I can’t get through my day without second breakfast, elevensies and afternoon tea.
I’m not a rocket scientist, but I had an inkling the box of Junior Mints in my desk wasn’t cutting it, so I stopped by Go! Running to talk to Erin and Gary Taylor about what a human body should actually be consuming.
Your energy storehouse is like a bucket with a hole in it. It leaks all day, even if you’re just sitting around. If you expect to do any sort of physical activity, you have to top off the bucket so you don’t fall short and flop over, crying for a Big Mac.
The goal is to keep your metabolism in gear by eating more often throughout the day, which probably isn’t news to you. What might be a surprise is that if you expect to cut out calories, sugar and sodium from your active diet, you’ll end up right back in the flopping position.
Your body needs these things at reasonable levels to function. Ever heard of hyponatremia? It’s when your sodium levels get super low, usually from drinking too much water, which washes out all the essential electrolytes. It’s a life-threatening problem in endurance sports, so you might want to take a step away from the faucet and set down the repurposed milk jug for a second, there, Rocky.
So what guidelines should a runner follow to keep the bucket full? Glad you asked. Aim for the Fab Four: carbohydrates, protein, sodium and fluids. Stock your desk with snacks like almonds, granola, protein bars, string cheese, fruit or Gatorade to help get you through the work day without emptying your pockets for those old pork rinds in the vending machine.
Everybody’s looking for ease, for sustainability. Whatever change it is that you decide you need to make to your eating habits, make sure it’s something feasible enough to uphold, but challenging enough to make a difference. It’s a balancing act. Restricting yourself to a kale-only diet is just an awful idea all around; it will kill you from boredom and that’s a fact.
All this to say: It’s not you, Junior Mints, it’s me. Mama needs some almonds.