088: Can You Lose Weight While Training For a Marathon? | How Running Affects Weight Loss with Starla Garcia

If you want to lose weight, training for a 5K, half marathon, or even a full marathon looks like the perfect place to start. And yet, so many runners end up experiencing weight maintenance or even weight gain while training, and in this episode, Starla Garcia and I are talking about why this happens, and why it might even be a good thing to gain weight during training. Starla is a registered dietitian, olympic trials marathon runner, and body and cultural diversity advocate. Connect with Starla Garcia: The Healthy Shine Website Instagram Strava Links mentioned: Free Quiz: Do You Have Healthy Hormones? Free Quiz: Which Fuel Is Right for You? Some key takeaways from this episode include: Losing weight and running a marathon should be two separate goals. In order to fuel your body for intense training and long distance running, you need to eat a lot to avoid injury, which will likely conflict with weight loss. A few reasons you might see weight gain during marathon training are if you were undereating prior to training, high cortisol levels from HIIT workouts or lack of rest, or running fasted and then overeating later in the day because you’re so hungry. When it comes to pre-run snacks, when you get to the 45- to 60-minute long runs, you’ll need to eat more carbohydrates before and during those runs. You’ll want to make sure your meals are roughly 50% carbs, 25% protein, and 25% fats.    Hi! I’m Illa (MS, RDN) and I am a Registered Dietitian who provides weight loss coaching for millennials. There are so many health companies and fad diets out there that want to convince you to buy their products, but I’m here to show you that you don’t need any products to lose weight! It just takes a little behavior change and food tracking. The Millennial Nutritionist is a private practice dedicated to helping people lose weight and build better health habits to support their busy lifestyles. We offer a 3-month Lifestyle Reset Program and a monthly Millennial Living Membership to support you with your goals! Learn more about our programs at https://themillennialnutritionist.com/services.     Connect with us!: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.millennial.nutritionist/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@millennialnutritionist  Website: https://themillennialnutritionist.com/