Running Lean

Sometimes, I have a bunch of thoughts that I want to share with you here on the podcast and I’ll create an episode for each one of those random thoughts. This is a great way of taking a deep dive into each topic and looking at it from several different angles. However, today’s podcast is going to be a little bit different. Instead of focusing on one topic, I’ve got several random thoughts about we...

Most people come up with all sorts of excuses, reasons, and stories for why they can’t accomplish something hard. You set out to lose weight so you change your diet but you eventually slip back into old habits and your new way of eating goes out the window. When you ask most people why they do this, that’s when all the excuses, reasons, and stories come into play. There’s a different way to approa...

It’s officially the Holiday Season and that means it’s time to gain a bunch of weight over the next 30 days and start the new year feeling like crap, right? I know it seems kinda crazy when I say that out loud, but the truth is, that’s the way most people do it. Most people gain quite a bit of weight during the holidays and then swear a solemn oath that they will get back on track in January. I’ve...

When it comes to diets and dietary advice, there is a lot of conflicting information out there. For every study that shows that one particular food is bad for you, there’s another study showing that it’s actually good for you. It is extremely difficult to make sense of all this conflicting information, and it can feel very overwhelming when you’re trying to decide which diet is best for you. In th...

One of the toughest things about losing weight and keeping it off for good is developing a healthy relationship with food. I work with runners every day who admittedly have a very unhealthy relationship with food. They overeat, they are constantly making unhealthy choices, and generally feel very out of control around food. If this sounds like you, rest assured there is nothing wrong with you, you...

I recently sat down with Dr. Marvin Merrit and had an awesome conversation about what it means to be a healthy human being. In the world of health and fitness, there is a lot of information out there – it can really feel pretty overwhelming. A lot of that information can be confusing and even contradictory, so how do you know what you should do? Well, rest assured that Dr. Marvin and I will...

Today is a very special episode – number 200 – and I wanted to do something a little different to celebrate this milestone. I’ve had a look over the last 200 episodes and picked out the most important mindset principles runners need to know in order to crush your running and weight loss goals. I’ve featured each of these principles on previous podcast episodes and you can easily go bac...

There’s a lot of confusing information out there about how runners should approach strength training. Some people say you should use very light weights and do a ton of reps so you don’t bulk up too much. Other people suggest lifting super heavy weights and doing fewer reps but that seems a little scary and not a very good choice for long-distance runners. So what’s the right answer for you? That’s...

When it comes to running tough races, you eventually get to a point where it’s all mind over matter. Your legs hurt, you’re exhausted, and you just want to quit. This is when your emotional toughness game really has to be on point. You know you can physically keep going, but your emotional state is trying hard to convince you otherwise. This emotional toughness or emotional tolerance is also requi...

Have you ever caught yourself eating something that you know is bad for you, but you do it anyway? Have you ever changed your eating patterns for a period of time and then found yourself going back to the junk food you used to eat, even though you know you probably should steer clear of it? This was me for sure. I found myself going back for more of the junk food I used to eat, even after long per...

No matter how hard we try to control all the circumstances of our lives, eventually, things get a little out of control. Your boss increases your workload, the kids are riddled with extracurricular activities (which means you are too), aging family members need constant care, and you start to feel overwhelmed with everything. Stress and anxiety levels increase until you’re sitting at DEFCON 1 and...

There have been some eye-opening discoveries recently around dietary advice doled out by influencers on social media. It turns out that the food and beverage industry has been paying registered dietitians to promote diet soda, sugar, and supplements on TikTok and Instagram. While this may not come as a big surprise, it speaks to a much bigger issue. The food industry is deliberately confusing us i...

There are a lot of metrics available to runners these days – pace, distance, time, V02 max, recovery advisor, race predictor, stress score, heart rate zones, lactate threshold, vertical oscillation, performance condition, and on and on… It can be confusing and overwhelming to even try to understand all of these metrics much less improve them. Today I want to take a look at a few key metrics...

When it comes to losing weight, there are many, many approaches you can take – some of them will work while others definitely will not. Runners especially need to be mindful of their approach to weight loss because certain methods might help you lose weight but will impair your running performance in big ways. In this episode of the podcast, I go over 5 dieting disasters runners need to avoi...

A LOT of people are addicted to, or have a troublesome relationship with, sugar. And a LOT of people I work with come to me because they want this problem solved once and for all. The problem is that most people don’t know how to break their sugar addiction and never get to a place where they can enjoy sugar in moderation. They continue their dysfunctional relationship, even though they know it’s...

Lots of runners look pretty healthy on the outside. They exercise a lot, maintain a decent weight, have low body fat percentage, low BMI, and generally look fit. But inside there could be a lot more going on that no one really sees. I came across a study recently that looked at low-carbohydrate diets versus high-carbohydrate diets and their effects on athletic performance. The results are pretty i...

There’s a lot of confusion out there these days around carbs, especially in the endurance athlete community. Are carbs good? Are they bad? Do they have a place in our diet or should we avoid them altogether? I think you can probably guess my stance on this, especially from the title of this episode “Carbs Are Not the Enemy”. But if you are one of the many people who are confused about all the talk...

If you are having a hard time sticking with a health and fitness routine, then you might want to have a look at your locus of control. Locus of control refers to where you believe your control lies – either outside of you or within you. People who have a strong external locus of control tend to have a very hard time sticking to a plan and accomplishing anything. On the other hand, people wit...

Most people tend to be pretty motivated when they start something. You decide you want to lose weight so you change your diet, and for the first few weeks, maybe even a month or so, you are super motivated. You’re tracking your food, sticking to the plan perfectly, and feeling good about yourself. You think, “I am crushing this!” But then, over time, that motivation begins to fade. You stop tracki...

I think we all know that eating too much sugar is not good for you. Excess sugar consumption has been linked to all sorts of metabolic dysfunction like high blood pressure, excess weight gain, insulin resistance, and diabetes just to name a few. So the solution is pretty simple – just moderate your sugar intake. But why is this so much easier in theory than in practice? Why is moderating sug...

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on human metabolism and I’ve noticed a lot of inconsistencies in the data available. There seem to be a lot of misconceptions about metabolism, especially when it comes to losing weight. So today I want to take some time to address some of the most common myths and misconceptions around metabolism. I did an entire episode on fixing your metabolism – e...

I work with a lot of runners who are awesome at sticking with their running plans. They get up early on Saturday mornings religiously, regardless of the weather outside. They do the required speed work every week, no matter what. They never miss a workout, even when they are sick and should probably take a day or two off. But when it comes to sticking to their diet so they can lose weight…it all s...

A lot of people set out to lose weight and then quit. They change their diet, start exercising, and then at some point just throw up their hands and give up. This was definitely me and it was probably you at some point as well. While there are a lot of reasons why someone might give up on themselves, one of the most likely reasons is a serious lack of focus. Being focused means more than just payi...

Over the last 100 years or so, we have become a society of pleasure-seekers and pain-avoiders. We do anything and everything to avoid what we perceive as painful and chase everything we deem pleasurable – even if it’s actually harmful to us. This is classic addictive behavior, especially when it comes to how we consume food and alcohol. But what are we really addicted to? Chocolate chip cook...

If you’re anything like most runners, especially if you live in the US, this is most likely the off-season for you. You’ve completed your Spring races and you’re not quite into the next training cycle yet. Most runners approach this off-season as a time to live it up, eat and drink whatever, slack off on training, and “just have fun.” This was always my approach to the off-season, and I figured I...