Training

Chocolate bar? I’ll run it off later…

October 4, 2011
By Samantha Durnford

As I sit here slowly making my way through a bag of chocolate my boss has left on the table, I felt guilty for eating the junk but thought, “Oh well, I’ll run it off later.”

I’m ashamed to admit that the “run it off later” excuse is what I’ve been using a lot lately. So, I’m now confessing.

I have just recently moved to Toronto a little over a month ago and have found the transition tough at times. I can’t seem to get into my grocery store groove (can’t find time, can’t find one I like, too busy, etc.) and I’ve definitely put eating on the back burner.

Frying up perogies at 11 p.m., drinking that bottle of Coca Cola my friends left in the fridge as I watch a movie, grabbing pizza because I didn’t make lunch the night before work. None of it matters, because I go for a run daily, right?

WRONG!

I’m emotionally eating with the excuse that I exercise so it’s okay! And I’m not trying to lose weight, so why watch what I eat?

I’m being an idiot. Is it not the age-old words of wisdom that healthy food and exercise come hand in hand? Not, “eat a bag of chips and then run up and down the stairs to make up for it.”

I guess it’s pretty common. I mentioned it to my friend, and she said she had the same problem.

“I wanted to lose 10 pounds before a trip,” she said. “So, I’d work out and I’d come home and think ‘well, I just worked out, I can totally eat a box of Kraft Dinner.’”

She does it. I do it. A lot of us most likely do it. But I realized that if I plan to be a long distance runner, a serious runner, and a healthy runner, something has got to change. I feel horrible about my habit.

Here are some of my emergency ideas:

• Don’t keep junk in the house.
• Don’t keep small amounts of cash, so buying an unhealthy snack would be a hassle.
• Bring lunch, even if it’s just PB&J.
• Buy lots of fruits and veggies to munch.
• When meeting up with a friend, suggest just grabbing coffee instead of dinner out.

Eating crappy food is cheap and easy, which seems to be the one thing in my life I don’t need to think about. That frozen pizza just needs an oven, but a salad takes time to plan, cut up the veggies, and then pack to take to lunch.

When everything else in my life is so new and up in the air, food has been taking a back burner.

I’m asking the Canadian Running community for HELP! What are some realistic goals to eating healthy when you don’t have a ton of time, live alone, and really, just want the comfort of a grilled cheese on bad days?