Running Is an Imperfect Sport

Perfection doesn't exist in the world of running. There are great runners, great venues, great weather, great competitors, and great races. There are no perfect days. The secret to running and racing is acceptance, perseverance and positivity.

We can run anywhere. Intervals don't have to be done on the track. Hills are made from treadmills, bridges, and piles of almond husks. To run, we only need the will to train and the space to move.

If the local track isn't available, move your workout to the open roads. Olympic marathoner and running legend, Meb Keflezighi does this intentionally. In his book, Meb for Mortals, he says "Doing interval workouts and tempo runs on a bike path or road better prepares me for my races." The imperfections of the road and trail are what make us stronger.

In preparation for the 1982 Boston Marathon, Dick Beardsley knew he needed to master Heartbreak Hill if he was going to defeat  Alberto Salazar. He left the warmth of Georgia and flew to Boston, Massachusetts where he was greeted by an epic Nor'easter. Frigid winds howled and heavy snow blanketed the roads. Beardsley was undeterred. He convinced his coach to let him attack the hills as planned despite the worsening weather conditions.

Photo Credit: WBUR.org

Beardsley left fresh tracks in the snow as he climbed up and down Heartbreak Hill eight times that day. Each time he grew stronger and more confident knowing that his opponent was somewhere warm and comfortable. When he finished his workout he told his coach the hills belonged to him.

In 2014, I ran the New York City Marathon for the second time. My goal was to run faster than ever before, and qualify for the Boston Marathon by running under 3:25:00. I did everything right and felt very confident before the race.

On race morning, the winds howled through the staging area in Fort Wadsworth. Runners huddled in groups under blankets and in between UPS trucks to stay warm. Crossing the Verrazano Narrows bridge, I was blown sideways by wind gusts reaching speeds of over 40 mph. Winds would continue to blow at a steady 20 mph. It was not a day for fast times and personal records.

As I ran, I thought about my long training runs along the New Hampshire seacoast. I was used to battling winds that could steal the breath from your mouth and make you feel as if you were running in place. I crossed the line in 3:20:01.

Perfection is an illusory concept. We chase perfection, yet we know it is unattainable. Running is an imperfect sport that rewards those who adapt and persevere regardless of the conditions. To paraphrase the words of poet and author Margaret Atwood: "If I waited for perfection, I would never run again."

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3 Things I Needed to Hear When I Weighed 300 Pounds

The size of my body was a daily burden to me.

Some days, it was the frustration of not being able to find clothes in my size at department stores. It was an epic excursion just to find a simple white button down blouse and black slacks to wear to work as part of the required uniform.

Other days, it was the physical exhaustion and pain of doing manual labor at my workplace and carrying around an extra 150 pounds all day (every day) while my average-sized co-workers assumed I was lazy for taking more breaks than them.

And on especially low days, it was the feeling that the only kind of man who'd ever be interested in me was a freak or total loser. Who could be attracted to and fall in love with a woman who couldn't even see her own vagina without a handheld mirror? I accepted that any flirtation that happened with the opposite sex would never end with a real relationship.

These were just a few of many reasons I sought comfort in food and alcohol and suffered from mild depression since the age of 10. It was the judgment from others, how much harder life felt for me because of my size, and the fear that I would grow old alone.

At that time in my life, it was impossible to hear messages that claimed I just needed to love my body more, be nicer to myself, and trust the process. I was in such a low place of despair most days that it only made sense to either accept my body size as a life sentence or bully myself into trying fad diets and damn near starving myself in the process.

When I started my last weight loss journey seven years ago (weighing 300 pounds), I wish someone I trusted and respected had told me these three little-known truths that would have saved me a lot of heartache and frustration:

Everyone thinks they have it the hardest.

All of us have something that holds us back and makes life harder. For me, it felt like I was destined to be morbidly obese for the rest of my life because my entire family was. I wasn't a genetic rock star. I also felt like I couldn't get healthier because I was living paycheck to paycheck and couldn't afford a gym membership or healthier foods.

Some folks have family responsibilities that take up a lot of time and energy, the stress of studying for school exams, hormonal issues with the thyroid or PCOS, or other genuine physical limitations and disabilities. We all have something that makes reaching our goals more difficult. It's easy to forget that when you're in the trenches of trying to improve your life.

When you're ready to start making big changes, barriers will come up left and right. Sometimes, they will seem like the truth and sometimes they'll just sound silly. It's a test. You have the choice to allow those obstacles to continue to hold you back, or you will find creative solutions around them.

The best thing you can do is be truthful with the excuses you make for yourself right now, instead of thinking about what your ideal self can do. I know my ideal self would be able to workout in front of her television to a fitness DVD, prepare all of her meals fresh each day, and have a never-ending supply of energy. My real self needs to join a gym for variety and accountability. She also needs to prepare some of her meals ahead of time or rely on a few pre-made meals from the freezer section of the grocery store. She's also going to be tired at the end of the day, so she needs to recognize that her willpower will be depleted and will need to set up a plan to avoid making poor decisions after 5 p.m.

Some days, just showing up is good enough.

Fast sells. Complicated sells. A good majority of people have an all-or-nothing mindset--that's why quick results are favorable and complex techniques are viewed as superior to what's simple. It's all about the marketing. It will also leave you feeling worthless when change doesn't happen overnight, and you can't keep up with the complex routine you're supposed to follow.

Despite popular belief, you don't have to plan out every little thing about your weight loss journey. It never goes according to your plans anyway. Unexpected events will come up, and you'll need the flexibility to handle them. It's okay to fail and even momentarily give up. The very best thing you can do for yourself is to get back up and show up again and again. You don't have to give 110% at what you do. You don't have to go hard or go home. The truly successful person knows this.

Perseverance can sometimes be painful, especially if you don't see any noticeable rewards. It really is a lifestyle change. You have to be willing to be in it for the long-haul. Some days will be amazing. Some days will suck. The more you learn to enjoy what you're doing, the easier it is to tolerate the crappy days and the lack of visible results.

By the way, this also applies to starting a business, becoming a new mother, going back to school, etc. Keeping it simple and sticking with it is the best advice for any challenging endeavor.

It's OK to try.

I never wanted anyone to know I was trying. Trying to lose weight, trying to diet, or trying to exercise. To me, trying meant that I acknowledged I needed to change, and I needed help. And needing help was a sign of weakness. Just the thought of awkwardly pushing my big sweaty body through workouts in front of others made me squeamish and I dwelt on, "What will they think of me?" So, I foolishly delayed getting that gym membership for years.

When I finally took the terrifying plunge of joining a gym, I realized very quickly that no one seemed to care what I was doing. No one rolled their eyes at me. No one commented that I was sweating too much. No one said I should be lifting weights instead of walking on the treadmill. No one stared at my naked body in the locker room as I changed. No one said a damn thing. Everyone was focused on their own workouts and their own bodies.

Eventually, you'll no longer see trying as a vulnerability. You will realize that it's important for you to continue showing up and allowing people to see you're trying. It helps others understand they're not alone, and it's okay for them to try, too.

Are you working on a weight loss journey and need to hear some words of encouragement? Leave a comment and let us know what you need to hear!

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Photo credit: Naomi Teeter

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How Many Calories Do You Actually Have to Burn to Lose One Pound?

By K. Aleisha Fetters for GQ.


(Getty Images)

Years ago, scientists played around with a pound of squishy, slimy human fat and found that it contained 3,500 calories of energy.
But--sorry to break it to you--burning a pound of fat isn't as simple as burning through 3,500 calories.

Consider the following and infuriating (at least for thin guys) scenario: Two men go on an exercise and eating plan so that they consume 3,500 fewer calories per week than they burn. One man has five pounds to lose; the other has 50. At the end of one week, the leaner guy might lose about half a pound--and a third of the weight will be from muscle. Meanwhile, the obese guy will have lost more than three pounds, mostly from fat and water.
From the Editors of Details

"There's tremendous variability in how a 3,500 caloric deficit affects different people," says Pamela Peeke, M.D., M.P.H., senior science adviser at Elements Behavioral Health and author of The Hunger Fix.

Why's that? Well, one huge factor determining the results of our dieters is body composition. "The more fat a person has to give, the quicker he will lose weight and weight from fat," Peeke explains. Meanwhile, when you get closer to your body weight, your body holds on to fat stores for dear life and sacrifices muscle over fat, she says. The body is perpetually afraid that it will starve; it's perhaps biology's least-sexy-ever survival mechanism.

Meanwhile, how you try to hit your caloric deficit (which is a necessity to lose weight) has a huge impact on whether you lose weight from muscle, fat, or just water.

Read more: How to Get Six Pack Abs (Without a Single Sit-Up)

The faster you try to achieve a deficit, the more weight you will lose from muscle as opposed to fat. As will be the case if you diet alone, she says. However, exercise--and most markedly, strength training--and protein consumption promote muscle growth so that you will not lose as much muscle. In fact, if you consume an adequate amount of protein (the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends getting 20 to 30 grams, four times a day and after exercise), you could potentially increase your lean-muscle mass while reducing your body-fat percentage.
What's more, if you are cutting calories from carbs, you will also lose water weight. In the body, every gram of glycogen (carbohydrates) in your body is stored with a few grams of water. So when you go low-carb, your metabolism breaks down those glycogen reserves for energy, and you end up peeing out the accompanying water. That's another reason why, calorie per calorie, obese people tend to drop weight drastically: They have a lot of water to lose.

You also need to realize that your calorie-cutting strategy does alter your metabolism--and what it takes to take in fewer calories than you're consuming over the long haul. Contrary to popular opinion, people's metabolic rates slightly decrease as they lose weight. That's because it takes more energy (a.k.a. calories) to fuel a 280-pound human than a 180-pound one, she says. And if you lose most of your weight from muscle, your metabolism will plummet--which is one more reason why extreme diets suck.

CALORIE MATH
Now that all that's settled, if you want to determine roughly how many calories your body burns a day, check out the Mayo Clinic's calorie calculator. Aim to take in 300 to 500 fewer calories per day to lose weight.

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10 Habits of Skinny People

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9 Habits Successful MyFitnessPal Users Swear By

Photo: Pond5

By Sarah Elizabeth Richards for Life by Daily Burn

You've heard it before: Research shows that the daily act of recording every bite and step you take is a useful tool to maintain your weight over the long term. "It keeps me accountable," explains Kristin Miller, 31, a Manhattan mom and skin care consultant who lost four pounds with popular food-tracking app MyFitnessPal in February. "It helps me understand how much I'm eating in a day and what portion sizes are."

But just because you've downloaded the app, doesn't mean the pounds will start melting away -- you've got to use it right. That's why researchers at MyFitnessPal's parent company Under Armour took a deep dive into the habits of the app's 420,000 top members (defined as those who came within five percent of their goal weight) out of their database of 4.2 million users. And the results might surprise you.

Despite the current popularity of low-carb, high-protein diets, top users ate less meat and eggs than their less successful counterparts -- and more cauliflower, yogurt, almonds and olive oil. Perhaps the most compelling indication of success: The users with the best results ate about 30 percent more fiber daily. One surprising stat: Top trackers also ate 17 percent more cereal than general users!

Before you reach for that box of Cheerios, check out these trends -- and tips from loyal trackers -- to learn what the weight loss winners did differently.

The 9 Most Unexpected Habits of Successful MyFitnessPal Users

1. They don't skimp on calories.
No juice cleanses here! The top users didn't have to resort to extreme measures to successfully lose weight. Women consumed about 1,300 to 1,400 calories daily; and it was about 1,800 to 1,900 calories for men, according to the data. They enjoyed their healthy fats, too. The most successful users all ate roughly the same macronutrient breakdown: 46 percent carbs, 35 percent fat and 19 percent protein.

2. They always log in -- even when it's not pretty.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that successful users logged into the app more frequently -- six days in a row, instead of just three days for the tracking slackers. They even logged in over the winter holidays. "Successful users are twice as likely to log in on Thanksgiving and Christmas," says Rebecca Silliman, director of communications for MyFitnessPal.

Antoinette Pierce, a Daily Burn 365 user who's lost 20 pounds since January 2015 using MyFitnessPal, even forces herself to chronicle her slip-ups. "I don't cheat. If I have a beer (or two or three) or Prosecco or cake or ice cream, I include it all, even if it pushes me over my daily calorie allowance," says Pierce, 43, a stay-at-home mom from Charleston, South Carolina. "The only day I don't use it is on Sunday, which is my rest day."

3. They figure out how to maximize their calories.
Using the app to compare the nutrition in a boxed macaroni and cheese meal to what she'd get from a giant salad left Miller astonished. "If you're trying to lose weight, you become very aware of how you can get the most bang for your buck in your diet," she says. That means choosing foods that help you stay fuller longer. "I knew I'd feel better with the salad," she says.

4. They use the "repeat meal" function frequently.
If you eat the same thing nearly every day, MyFitnessPal has a feature in which you can add an entire meal without having to look up every single ingredient again. That helps Miller when she wants to log her favorite salad and doesn't have time to re-enter each portion of cucumbers, peppers, carrots, onions, chicken and olive oil.

5. They plan out their eats in advance.
While Miller documents her food intake as she goes, Pierce enters everything she plans to eat first thing in the morning. "I realized that if I added all the meals and how much water I should drink right away, I was more likely to actually stick with it," says Pierce. Also, the ability to see her projected food intake helps her re-adjust, if needed. For example, if she observes that her planned lunch is high in calories, she can scale back her dinner plans.

6. They store their favorite recipes.
Successful users cook more, too. They logged twice as many recipes than the less active users. "We know from other data that users who logged in recipes lost 40 percent more weight than users who didn't," says Silliman. The recipe feature helps Pierce plan out three to four dinners for the week ahead. "I create my own entry for my favorite turkey meatloaf recipe, and I make that on Sunday," she says.

7. They do a little more cardio.
Both the successful and not-so-successful users logged strength and cardio workouts. Yet those who lost more weight tended to squeeze in a little more cardio, research shows. But what's surprising is that they didn't engage in epic sweat sessions. The average length of a workout among successful users was just 25 minutes!

8. They don't regard every walk around the block as a license to eat more.
MyFitnessPal regulars know the app allows you to increase your daily-allotted calories by exercising more. But the best users know not to get carried away by tracking every single step. "I don't count my walk to the subway or walking with my son or dog as an excuse to eat an extra 100 calories," explains Miller. "That's normal everyday activity that your body is used to burning."

9. They look up everything.
On a recent trip to a famous Brooklyn pizzeria with her husband, Miller logged a long run beforehand so she'd have enough calories to spare. Still, unsure of portion sizes, she looked up thin-crust pizza on the app while waiting for their food to arrive. "I had two slices, some salad -- plus a cookie from a nearby bakery -- and I was really full," she says. "The app gives you permission to really enjoy your food because you know exactly what you're eating."

More from Life by Daily Burn:

Why You Might Want to Rethink Weekend Cheat Days
The One Thing That Helped Me Lose Weight
Gym Time or Meal Time: What Matters Most for Weight Loss?

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The Easiest Way To Reduce Your Student Loan Payment

You don't need income or a job to remain current on your federal student loans.

It's one of the little-known facts about the government's student loan program, from which some 42 million Americans have collectively borrowed more than $1.2 trillion to pay for higher education.

More than 1 in 4 of those borrowers, or at least 11 million people, are either behind on their monthly payments or in default, federal data show. Millions more are struggling to make their payments, with nearly half of Americans recently reporting that they've had to curb their spending due to their student debt.

It needn't be this way.

Every former student who took out a student loan backed by the U.S. government -- more than 90 percent of all student loans are either owned or guaranteed by the federal government -- is eligible to make payments based on her monthly earnings.

And if a borrower has little income, or none at all, her payment can be as low as $0 for up to 12 months, a year-long lifeline that can be renewed annually.

That's because the federal government offers what are called income-driven repayment plans, which link borrowers' required monthly payments to their monthly earnings. While most household loans -- think car loans and home mortgages -- require payments based on the amount of the loan and the date it needs to be repaid by, federal student loans offer a bevy of plans that allow borrowers to make payments based on their income.

There are four of them: Income-Based Repayment, Pay As You Earn, Revised Pay As You Earn, and Income-Contingent Repayment.

Each carries different terms, with payments ranging from 10 percent to 20 percent of discretionary income, which the federal government defines as adjusted gross income (taxable income minus specific deductions) minus 150 percent of the federal poverty level by household size.

After years of steady payments, usually 20 or 25, whatever is left over is forgiven. The amount forgiven is taxed, unless you work in public service (such as for a government agency or nonprofit organization). In fact, for borrowers who work in public service, they only need 10 years of payments (120 monthly payments total) before the remainder is forgiven tax-free.

About 3 million Americans with loans direct from the Education Department are making monthly payments based on their earnings, data show.

In 2013, an executive at an Education Department loan contractor boasted that more than 40 percent of borrowers his company enrolled in income plans had a zero dollar monthly payment.

If you are struggling with your federal student loans and need help, click on this link to connect to an Education Department website that will estimate your payments based on your financial situation. Separately, check out this website run by the National Consumer Law Center and this one by the Institute for College Access & Success for more information.

You also could call your loan servicer (here's a list of their names and contact information) and demand they determine what your monthly payments might be, based on your household size and monthly earnings.

Remember: The federal government is paying nearly one dozen companies to help you make your payments. They're paid by your taxes, so demand that they work for you. If you qualify for an income plan, demand that they help you enroll.

Income plans won't work for everyone. For example, federal loans that parents took out for their children generally aren't eligible for income-driven repayment plans (there are exceptions).

Also, there's a good chance you'll end up paying more for your loans in the long run if you elect to stretch out payments over 20 or 25 years rather than equal monthly payments over 10 years, thanks to interest accumulation.

But if you've got federal student loans, and you're struggling, there's little reason not to check out how much you'd save if you enrolled in an income plan. Visit this link or call your servicer.

Would you like to improve your relationship with money? Sign up to join our 30-Day, More Money, Less Stress Challenge to demystify one of the most important and empowering areas of your life. We'll deliver tips, challenges and advice to your inbox every day during April. Sign up here! 

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