Thursday, February 16, 2012

hunger games

Although I especially loved the books, this really is about my own hunger and the games I play on myself.

Last week I hit 40 miles for the week - only the second time in my running career.  And the hunger that has taken a hold of me in the past week seems to be uncontrollable.

Usually I can make it through the day without over eating or over indulging because I pack my food for lunch and snacks and don't have easy access to junk food.  But when I go home, the real games begin.

I fall apart during the evenings and usually give into the temptation of the cookie jar.  I tried putting the fruit next to the cookie jar in hopes that I would feel guilty and grab fruit instead of cookies.  But it hasn't really worked.


I seem to have a bottomless pit in my stomach and there really is no amount of food that can fill me up.  I had heard about this syndrome from higher mileage but never really experienced it and it is sure is a battle.

I want to eat right and fuel my body correctly but I am always craving candy or cake or cookies.  This week to try and help myself out, I made homemade peanut butter cookies in hopes that eating 4 or 5 or more of these homemade cookies would be better for me than eating lots of the store bought cookies.



I think these games are going to continue as my mileage is not going to decrease anytime soon.  I may have to stop having all the sweets in the house because if they aren't there then I wont eat them.  Or I may have to just keep working at my self control.  It really is going to continue to be a battle!

18 comments:

Rena said...

That's totally me except I have access to snacks ALL THE TIME. It really is cramping my running style to carry so much extra food in my stomach.

Anonymous said...

Cute jar! I try to bake only a few cookies at a time, so there's not huge quantities of cookies lying about. Because I WILL eat them all.

As runners we're so disciplined about training: why can't we be disciplined about eating cookies, too?!

Teamarcia said...

Ugh I feel ya. If there's crap in the house I get into the habit of eating it. The key is to get into a habit of better snacks. Much easier said than done.

Marlene said...

I laughed at the title! Definitely agree with you. It is a constant battle for me to stay out of the sweets and we can't buy them or keep them in the house, generally.

Lisa said...

Yep, me too! And I'm not even up to 40 miles yet! My mantra- out of sight, out of mind. So if I don't have it in the house, I won't eat it!

jess.sims said...

That seems like a good idea, I may try that but as much as I try to get rid of sweets they seem to ALWAYS find me!

Amy said...

I crave sweets at the best of times - never mind when I get into higher mileage! I also try doing my own baking because it somehow seems better than store bought sweets. Recently I've tried making a cup of flavoured decaf tea in the evening, and that's been helping (some days) too!

christina said...

WHen I trained for my marathon I actually gained weight - I was bummed! I was starving ALL of the time!

Christina

Elizabeth said...

I totally relate! Candy, cookies and bread is what I crave the most. And it's quicker to eat that than to cut up a piece of fruit. I like the idea of homemade peanut butter cookies.

BLESS YOUR HEART said...

I am so there. I am trying to loose more before my half marathon march 4th. I cant wait to have something very big and very chocolate! Erica

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

Yeah, the furnace really starts burning when you're running a lot and hard efforts too. A few weeks ago I made some oatmeal, pistachio, cranberry cookies from a Mama Pea recipe using maple syrup and honey for the sugar and stored them in the freezer. THey were great for the hunger and those moments when I needed something to fill the sugar need.

Amber said...

I am so tempted to overeat and eat BAD food at night. I think it's a combo of high mileage during training and also being tired from the work day!

My technique is I DON'T buy the junk food. If it's not in the house I can't eat it!!

Kim said...

Ugh, I hear ya. High mileage sometimes does that to me. I can't leave too many sweets around either!

Nicole Orriƫns said...

I have trouble in the evenings too. There's something about sitting down, and knowing that your day is done, that bring out the munchies!

http://www.momshomerun.com

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

I have the same technique as Amber - I just do not buy junk food nor do I bake sweets because I can't handle the temptation! Good luck figuring it all out. It is tough to balance the extreme appetite and the need to fuel your body!

I might have missed it, but are you training for a marathon now?

Cindy said...

i soooo hear you on this...food is what i find the hardest part whne it comes to training!

Crystal Ware said...

First off, awesome job on 40 miles in a week! I don't really have any advice because I have the same problem. So when you figure it out, be sure to let the rest of us know! :)

cupcakes said...

I don't know you but I am so there! I actually feel like I'm more hungry during the day way after my runs, like my metabolism is just a lot higher after increased milage. It's known that muscle burns more calories and they need to be fed the right type of energy. I always result to cooking/baking to nourish my cravings.
Good luck with your training!