Grandslam Training - The Weight Loss Demon

After a brutal run on the South Downs Way on Saturday I got to thinking how much easier and more enjoyable running is when you've lost weight. Granted being lighter won't reduce the wind speed or volume of rain, but it will lower the force running through my feet with every strike.

So weight loss is now a key factor of my training and not just a side thought. Nor is it something I'm now expecting to happen as a by product of my training. Like everything else in this challenge the weight loss will be hard learnt.

I need to remain thoughtful about all that I eat, drink and when and where I do this.

At the danger of this becoming a rant, although... it is my blog... So I'm going to rant.

Mcdonalds, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut. This little rhyme from school always concerned me. It is a sad indictment of society that Fast Food is a label for junk food and further that Fast Food is synonymous with convenience. As a result we have convenient junk food. If we replace convenient with lazy we are probably closer to the true term for such restaurants... Lazy Junk Food.

I am as culpable as anyone for grabbing a quick McDonald's or Burger King. My frustration has grown from the way the choice is thrust upon me. I spend a lot of time on the road and service stations are the worst. You have to make a considerable concerted effort to not succumb to the plethora of advertising and high calorie junk food. You are then left with an over priced waitrose or whsmith in which you then spend 30 minutes trying to find a suitable lunch. I wonder how many people have headed back out on the road after a sugar fuelled lunch or dinner, only to experience a sugar crash and realise they needed more rest before resuming that journey.

Of course all that is discussed is within my control so I will be using service stations as rest stops and preparing my lunch and snacks at home. The cost and calorie saving is incredible and over the course of the year the money alone makes sense. Factor in the benefits to weight loss and once again preparation becomes the important mantra. If I prepare my food I won't be tempted and I will in turn have more success.

So this week I will be training hard whilst running smart and in turn eating smart. All of course under the umbrella of proper preparation. Nobody said the Grandslam would be easy.