Did I mention I love questions?

Thank you Darling Lori.

"Okay megan question. I'm getting ready to run my first half marathon, I am up to running 7 miles, right now I run about 17 miles a week. I'm also still trying to lose weight I have the extra spare tire around my waist and the thighs still giggle. How many calories should I be eating? I think this would be a good time to talk about this because marathon season is upon us. I need your help."

*pre-post disclaimer: "How many calories should I be eating?" is probably one of the most common questions that I get...so this post will apply to the race-trainer and the average mom alike.

Getting the eating part right when you are training for a race can be very difficult. One of the things that I have struggled with the most is the fact that your appetite increases a lot when you are running all the time, and so your natural tendency is to eat...duh. This can create a problem. Mentally you think, "I just ran ____ miles, I can eat whatever I want." You are burning a lot more calories, but you want to be careful not to eat yourself out of house and home because you feel like you can. It is key to look at what your goals are here. Are you running to lose weight? Are you running with more of an athletic goal? If you are running to lose weight you want to be sure that you have a calorie deficit. What does that mean?

Math. That is what it means.

For example. Let's say you have a Basal Metabolic Rate of 1200 calories per day. (BMR = the calories it takes for your body to keep you alive without any movement on your part. Click HERE to find yours.) Now let's say throughout your day you are moderately active, burning about 400 calories doing whatever it is that you do, sitting at your desk, cleaning the house, running errands, you get the point. Now your Burn for the day is 1,600 calories. Well, let's say you put in a 400 calories breakfast, a 400 calorie lunch, 200 calorie snack, and a 600 calorie dinner. This puts your total calorie intake for the day at 1,600 calories. Now let's say you didn't make it to the gym as planned, because the bachelor was on.

Currently your daily math is looking something like this:

- 1,600 calories burned

+ 1,600 calories eaten

= 0

As math would have it you evened out for the day. No extra calories burned, No extra calories eaten.

Now let's say you decided to ditch foolish Jake the bachelor, and did make it to the gym where you ran 6 miles, burning 600 calories. Now your math looks like this.

- 2,200

+ 1,600 calories eaten

= -600 calorie deficit

Congratulations Megan, you can do basic kindergarten math...But what does this all mean?

Well, 1 lb of fat = 3,500 calories. So if you were looking to lose one lb a week you would want to have a total weekly caloric deficit of 3,500 calories, which equals out to 500 calories per day. These calories can come from not eating as much, or from working out more. It is best if they come from a combination of the two.

Figure out your BMR depending on your activity level by clicking HERE. From there you will want to subtract the deficit of how many calories/depending on the poundage per week you're wanting to lose. 1-2 lbs per week is considered healthy, and sustainable weight loss.

Here are a couple things you want to remember.

1. Most people underestimate what they are eating. If you are really wanting to lose weight the best thing to do is to journal your food. I log mine on Fitday.com, which I've mentioned before, but there are all sorts of other free online venues, apps, or even a blank spiral notebook. The key to journaling is not to cheat!

This article is a great one about portions...read it.

2. The key to weight loss and your calorie deficit is consistency. Your body won't change if you hit your deficit for one day, but if you consistently hit your deficit for three weeks it will.

3. Heart Rate monitors, and Body Bugs can be an amazing tool in weight loss success as far as helping you know how much you've burned. The more exact your math is, the more you will be able to see why you are or are not losing weight.

4. If you this is still super confusing to you, and you want more specific help email me at megolina21@gmail.com and i'll help you out!

See Megan Run...The Final Chapter.

I did it. I almost can't believe it. Well, I can believe it do to the fact that I am reminded with every sore step I attempt to take today, but I am still a bit dumbfounded I guess. 26.2 miles later I completed a full marathon, a goal i have had for probably 10 years.

After a carb loading pasta dinner with the family, I slept up at my brother Tyler's house on Friday night, so I could get as much sleep as possible. As I was going to bed I just kept thinking to myself...when I wake up in the morning it is going to be go time. It seemed almost unreal to me that I was finally arriving at what the past 4 months of intense training had led up to. I had everything prepped for the big day. Part of the training process is working out all the bugs before hand so when race day comes you're primed and ready. So...I knew exactly which shoes/clothes I was wearing, what I was going to eat for breakfast, how I wanted my hair to be, what I was going to supplement with, etc. Knowing all of this beforehand makes the pre-race anticipation significantly less. My sweet brother woke up with me at the CRACK of dawn on saturday to get me up to the start line. He made sure I was all prepped to go and took some pre-race photos for me. At the start I just remember thinking..."here goes a loooong morning." I was correct.

and we were off...

My awesome family came to some of the different mile markers to cheer me on and keep me going. It helped me SO much just to know they were there cheering for me! Their encouraging words kept me going. My mom would run along side me for a sec and remind me I could do it!
Here we are at mile 13. I remember at this point thinking...hmmm...had I done the half I'd be done. But, nope. KEEP GOING!
Believe it or not here we are at mile 20. Ty snapped this photo of me giving my dad a high 5, while my mom jogs along side me. I love it. Having my mom and dad fly in from AZ was more than I could have asked for. Thanks so much M&D!! It was at this point in the race that the mental toughness started. My body of course was really tired, but I just had to keep telling myself to keep it up! It was so amazing to have random strangers lining the streets the whole way cheering all the racers on.

Crossing the finish line was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. It was so awesome to have all of the people that I love at the end cheering me on! I LOVE to shop, as a lot of you know, but I don't know if I've ever been more excited to see the Gateway Mall in my life. (The finish line ran down the middle of the outdoor mall.) I was completely exhausted, my legs felt like led, I was pretty sure I couldn't take another step, but I absolutely couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

I got an AWESOME massage after the race while my family chilled and waited for me. One of the race day highlights...besides me of course ;) ... My family met and took pictures with Blane and Dane, cousins from this season of The Biggest Loser. AMAZING, right? Check my sister Lindsey's blog HERE for photos and details. They ran the 1/2 and look awesome! After talking to them for a bit, let's just say...we know who's going to the finale. I'll tell you if you want me to...
We had a bunch of cameras there, so I didn't get all the photos that were taken of everyone that came up to cheer me on. BUT I just have to say thankyou to all my supporters. For my family and friends who to the time to come to watch, it absolutely meant the world to me. For those of you who texted, called, left facebook/blog messages; every single word of encouragement and congrats were SO SO SO much appreciated. This was such a big accomplishment for me, and I couldn't have done it without all of you encouraging me along. My time was 4 hours and 10 minutes. My goal was to finish around 4 hours, so I felt really good about it. I finished 13th out of 52 in my age group. Here's to 26.2 BABY!!! I'm officially a marathoner.
(oh, and please disregard my nastiness in all the photos...I just ran 26.2 miles ok??)

See Megan Run...

This week was a good running week.
My runs during the week went by pretty quickly and proved to be pretty easy. I always feel better about my weekend long run when my weekday runs go well.
I was nervous about the 16 though. It's just a big number, let's be honest.
I decided that I was going to do my long run on Friday night instead of my usual Saturday morning because I had a bunch of stuff going on in the morning and I didn't want to have to get up at 5 AM.
I thought due to the nicer weather earlier in the week that I might be able to venture outside for the first time, but since it snowed all day Friday that was a negative. So, it was back to the treadmill for this week.
I have been wearing my Body Bugg faithfully, and was actually a little excited to see what the caloric burn was going to look life for my 16 mile run. I knew it would be big, and I was excited about that.
I got all my gym stuff all packed up and took it to work with me so I would be able to leave straight from work, go right to the gym, no questions asked. No time to contemplate a change of mind, no letting myself unwind and get tired, no stopping @ go, no collecting $200. You get the point.
*This is a GREAT hint for getting yourself to the gym. Plan a time, prepare for it, and don't give yourself a chance to change your mind. If going home after work to change and then get to the gym is going to lessen your chances of actually making it there, don't even allow for that time to second guess. Bring your gym clothes with you to work, change at the gym. 1/2 the battle is just getting yourself there.
I was sure to pack sufficient water, and some replenishment foods with me so I'd be prepped and ready to go. I think my Shot Blox saved me this go round. I really felt the increase in energy, and ability to keep going. I was also sure to stay hydrated the whole time, which really helped.
I'll be honest. It was long, but I felt so good when I was done. Good in an accomplished, very tired, sweaty, and starving sort of way. The good news was, as recorded on my Body Bugg I burned around 3300 calories for the day. Not too shabby ;)
Next week I get a break, and the mileage dips back down to 12. I'm quite pleased with that news. It's getting close!

I got the Bugg!

I got a Bodybugg! I am SO SO SO excited about it. What is a Bodybugg? It is a device that is worn on your arm that measures caloric burn and steps taken. The basic principle behind weight loss is that you must burn more calories than you intake. By having an exact determination of how many calories your body burns throughout the day you can better determine what your calorie deficit needs to be. The Bodybugg is used with a companion website where your calories burned and food consumed are logged. I have wanted one of these for a couple of years now, and I'm so excited to get serious about my stats!! I'll let you know how it goes.
(p.s. the biggest loser contestants all wear these...seems to work for them, no?)
(p.p.s. shout out to Benita for hooking me up with a sweet deal!! We're partners in crime here.)