How Running Has Helped Me Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

Here I am in June last year – a lean, mean running machine!
Update: My cold is now pretty much all gone, so I’m finally going to be able to go running outside today!

Since I haven’t been running consistently lately, it’s been pretty hard for me to maintain my same weight. When I’m running consistently, I’m usually able to eat pretty much whatever I want without having to worry about gaining weight. When I’m not running and I gain a little weight, do I worry and think it’s a big deal? No, because I always know that it will come off again as soon as I’m running. But with my sister’s wedding in exactly two months, and a bridesmaid’s dress that is now too small, I’m actually getting little worried. But I have eight weeks to lose weight – if I lose 2 lbs a week, I’ll have lost 16 lbs (trust me, I don’t plan on losing that much weight, it’s way too much!). My main priority is to be in the same physical shape and have the same muscle mass that I was at last year, when I was running/cross-training five days a week. Here are a few ways how my active lifestyle helped me stay healthy all-around:

• when I’m active, I’m always concerned with staying hydrated; I usually drink about 12 large glasses of water a day

• I don’t over-eat, because I’m always concerned with how it will affect me while I’m running. I usually try and eat a full about meal four hours before I go running, and will have a banana or an orange as a snack 30 minutes to an hour before I run.

• When I have a solid running/exercise schedule, my sleep schedule improves a lot.

• I make healthier decisions in general, because I think about how the food I eat will affect my running (ie, I won’t eat a doughnut on a day I’m going running because I know if I do I’ll be tasting it throughout my entire run; or I won’t drink wine because I know it will dehydrate me).

• I make sure I get a good mix of foods, including lean meats that are high in protein and plenty of carbs. I don’t ever look at carbs as being something bad! And I make sure I eat plenty of fruits and veggies high in potassium and other vitamins and minerals.

Your turn: How does running/exercising help you make healthier decisions and maintain that lifestyle?

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