Healthy Eating, Healthy Living!

If you are like me you might have foods that you absolutely love, and unfortunately those foods are rarely the healthy ones. I have a list of foods that are terrible for you that I love: Ice Cream, French Fries, Fried Chicken, Pizza, Cheeseburgers, and COOKIES. When I was a student at South Dakota State University often times the foods I loved won out over the foods I should be eating. Combined with really poor lifestyle choices the results were pretty dangerous. When I left school I weighed 305 pounds and seriously needed to get control of my bad habits.

Working at a specialty running outfitter it should be obvious that I strongly believe in healthy activity. Unfortunately, to lead a healthy lifestyle I needed to gain control of my eating habits in conjunction with participating in the healthy activities I now promote. For me when I combined both healthy activity and healthy eating my body began to change and I found myself with more energy than I previously thought possible. That is the driving force behind my weight loss story.

I want everyone to understand that I’m not just a guy that was unhealthy and then lost a bunch of weight. I continue to go up and down in weight, from year-to-year. I didn’t lose all of my weight in a short amount of time, and as I’ve added a few pounds on again it also didn’t happen overnight. Making healthy choices and leading an active life style is a life long endeavor, not just a passing moment. 

On the left SDSU Greg tipping the scales at 305lbs and on the right the same Greg on his honey moon at 225lbs!

Here are some healthy eating tips that changed the way I look and feel.

·      Embrace the joy of fresh fruits and vegetables (I like apples, bananas, sweet peppers, snap peas, and broccoli)
·      Avoid fried food as much as possible
·      Don’t drink soda
·      Water is amazing, odds are you need to drink more than you think
·      Eat sweets in extreme moderation
·      Lean proteins like chicken, fish, and turkey are wonderful
·      Stick to whole grain breads if at all possible

What are some things that work for you as a runner? Do you change your eating habits in preparation for a race? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments section of the blog.

Cheers,

Greg Koch