We have no control over our height, but it is only one factor of many and weight, smoking, exercise and diet are other factors which we can do something about.

Keep on running!

Source BBC website

European Heart Journal

The draft report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition says that the recommended daily intake could be upped by 16% and provides a much more accurate assessment of how energy can be burnt off through physical activity.
Now, to be fair, it is reported that the panel stresses that people should only eat more if they exercise more, given rising levels of obesity. You don’t say…………..

To be fair, there’s probably something in the way this is reported and the BBC article  didn’t provide a link to the actual report. 
If you’re really keen you can read the full report here.

We are served up so many conflicting “research” findings these days with regards to healthy eating and exercise that there comes a stage where we nearly switch off from these messages as we go into information overload. It can all seem so complicated and sometimes we can’t see the wood for the trees.

You could read this article and take various messages from it. If you want an excuse to stop exercising then you could maybe find it here. 

The question is – why do we exercise – what do we want to get out of it – is it simply a means to an end?

My brain is becoming so numbed by so many conflicting “health” messages that I need to simplify it down for myself or I’m in danger of going mad! For me the bottom line is still – moderation – cutting out food types completely, banning certain foods only leads to unhealthy obsessions. BUT if you eat more than you need you will not lose weight.  It’s as simple as that. And we need to move more as I think we often grossly over estimate how much movement we do in a day and how many calories we actually burn. Also using food as a reward is always a dangerous and slippery slope.

For me running is about so much more than weight loss (and a good job too!).  Running is about freedom, empowerment, relaxation, de-stressing, challenges, pushing limits, exploring new places…..

And yes I still want to lose weight – to do that I think I need to take my own simple advice – move more and eat less.

The problem appears to be based on the method used to calculate calories – burning small samples of food in controlled conditions and measuring the amount of energy released in the form of heat – whereas our bodies don’t incinerate food, they digest it and digestion – from chewing food to moving it through the gut and chemically breaking it down along the way – takes a different amount of energy for different foods.

Read the full article in the New Scientist

Entitled “Hanging Tough – having a long hard think can help you through a long hard run”, it grabbed my attention in light of my near-exit from the Lochaber marathon a week previously.

I still feel sick in the pit of my stomach thinking about how I would have felt afterwards if I had given up. And realising that I’m not as tough as I should be and just how important mental toughness is in keeping going.

As John Shepherd says in the article ” Whatever distance you run, the tougher your mind, the better your performance.” The article continues “Mental toughness is not a standalone quality though. It comes from being physically fit, confident and motivated. It’s not just about overcoming pain.”

The good news is that you can train yourself to be mentally tough although, as the article points out, the bad news is that the best way to learn mental toughness is through tough experiences.

• train well
• train hard (sometimes)
• train for yourself – intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic benefits
• talk to yourself – at the hardest part of the run
• find help if you need it

“Limiting the calories you consume and burning off more calories with exercise is key..” 

It’s what we already know but still interesting article on research from the Harvard School of Public Health Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Read the article here

• Sleep, sport and health
• Sleep deprivation can hinder sports performance
• Exercise and sleep
• Exercise prevents cancer only with sleep

I struggle to sleep solidly for 7 or 8 hours, often waking at least once during the night, so I’m not convinced that the hours that I do sleep are good quality sleep. One of my new strategies just now is to try to cut down on the amount of time I spend on the computer in the evenings especially just before bed as I think often the problem is that my mind is still working overtime and not shutting down when I go to bed.  I was therefore very interested to come across this bit of research today on computer use before sleep.

• Bedtime computer use stops sleep

Finally, at the end of the article on Sleep, Sport and Health there were some useful tips on improving your sleep patterns

bananas

FYI here are just some of the benefits:

• gives instant energy and also supplies sustained energy too
• fibre protecting against bowel cancer, lowering cholesterol and stabilising blood sugar levels
• vitamin C (1 banana gives 17% of daily requirement)
• potassium (minimises risk of stroke / keeps heart healthy)
• magnesium (helps body recover from fatigue)
• vitamin B6 (helps transport oxygen to muscles)

Go on…. have a banana – you know it’s good for you.