Have you ever watched an Ironman or a Marathon?
Did you notice that not every athlete was lean and strong?
Maybe the professionals but the majority of age groupers are fit but not lean.
Can you be fit and unhealthy?
Let’s start with WHY people register and participate in these long events that require many hours training.
Many athletes that train for an endurance event as a triathlon or marathon or cycling event may sign for the race/event for a big goal as crossing the finish line at any event is a huge accomplishment. Some people may hope to lose weight while training for an event. But do they lose any weight?
Some people may actually gain weight when training for an endurance event!
Why?
How?
A few thoughts… Metabolic Efficiency. Gut Health. Chronic Stress. Leaky Gut- LPS toxins. Overeating. Insulin Resistant. High carb diet. Vegetable Oils. Refined Sugars and Processed Foods. Carbage.
Well, I don’t think it is accurate to say if we burned 3500 calories in a workout session then we would lose 1 pound of body weight. If so, I would have lost tons of weight in my many long training hours for Ironman on the bike and running.
Exercise is an essential part of being healthy and for our mitochondria but too much is not beneficial. Too little exercise doesn’t give us enough of the physiological benefits. Read my last blog post on The Goldilocks Effect.
We choose to do a big event like a triathlon, marathon or cycling event hopefully because it makes us feel happy, thriving and alive in the fresh outdoor air. I do think many people, including myself, enjoy the side benefits of exercising- improved muscle tone, metabolism and hopefully losing fat weight. BUT why are so many athletes fit but unhealthy and overweight? 
My theory…
- We tend to reward ourselves for a long workout with food – and let our food rules slide because we did a four-hour bike ride or 2-hour run. We end up eating more calories than we burned in our training session!
- Most endurance athletes are still following the high carb program leading them to be sugar burners and not metabolically efficient- or metabolically flexible athletes. We should be fat adapted – not sugar burners as endurance athletes.
- Excessive carbohydrates including refined sugars, processed foods, and vegetable oils lead to sugar burning metabolism as well as inflammation in the body.
- Gut biome is often destroyed with chronic stress, high carb/sugar diet and lack of diversity- as well as the use of antibiotics and more. Listen to my podcasts with Kiran of Megasporebiotic.
- Lack of prebiotics – fiber to feed our microbes.
- Eat sugar and you will burn sugar… eat fat and you will burn fat! Switch to a more LCHF food plan with lots of organic vegetables, clean proteins, and healthy fats.
- Experiment with fasting and intermittent fasting- train the body to burn fat for fuel and provide more time to digest, rest and repair.
- Stop eating 3 hours or more before bedtime so your body can focus on detoxification and repair.
Learn more about how to become a fat adapted metabolically efficient endurance athlete with my 30-day online group challenge- The WHOLESTIC Method Total Transformation Challenge or sign up for individual coaching for 90 days to work on the WHOLE you!
The WHOLESTIC Method Coach,
Debbie Potts
