SRC E-News July 26

Sam & Tara take on You Yangs

– By Tara

Signing up for a trail run, 2.5 hours from home, less than a week after getting home from Japan, seemed like a really good idea following a few drinks celebrating Steve’s birthday (for the 25th time this year). Anyway, the reality was that a) preparation was poor ( a trait that is become the norm) and b) the over tired body meant that the post run nap was well needed. 

We left home at 530am arriving into the You Yangs just after 8. Neither Sam nor I had been to the You Yangs, so driving in we were excited to see what new fresh hell awaited us on the trails. We were pleasantly surprised to see mere pimples on the horizon! After a solid 10 minute HIKE to the start line, we picked up bibs, had a coffee, caught up with people we knew from facebook and parkrun, then did some nervous toileting, etc etc… Sam lined up ready to start the 30 km run. He set off and I HIKED back to the car to organise myself, then HIKED back to the start to do more chatting, fire standing by, nervous toileting before we lined up for the start.

The trail itself started really quite pleasantly, all fire trail, wide and easy undulating running. Then the first hill hit, it was tough but manageable, I happened to reach the top just as Sam hit the same point on the return of his run, we had a quick chat

Me: “Well that was [not a very nice]* a hill;

Sam: “ Wait until you get to that [not very nice]* hill”

*insert Kate words

I then descended into some stunning single track and felt like the world was at my feet….then the uphill began…It was gradual, stunning, and steeper than the canoe shed hill at parkrun. Then the hill Sam was talking about hit, this was also the point where my poor intake of calories and water hit me…I was ready for a full-blown toddler tanty. I must have looked spent as this lovely lady, talked me up the hill. I will forever be grateful to her for this, I swear she was a midwife as I am sure I have seen similar techniques on TV!! I made it up the hill and I made it to the end in under 2 hours. Sam finished the 30 km in 3:23. The run itself was well organised, well-staffed, fun, beautiful, and equal parts challenging and achievable. Its definitely a run I would love to do again!

Everyday hero Kate will Run Melbourne

2 sleeps to go and I’m on taper week (for non-runners this means running less) Love my outfit and feel very proud to be raising funds and awareness to help find a cure for brain cancer. You can come on board and help too by making a donation if you can. Thanks for your support in the fight against cancer. Together we can make a difference 
Check out below to get on board
https://runmelbourne2019.everydayhero.com/…/run-for-a-cure-5

A special thank you to the team at Dataparts for donating a headset and speaker to ensure we all hear the park run briefing

Shepparton parkrunners were spotted at the following locations: Reynolds family at Ponań parkrun, Nadine Edwards at Cairns parkrun, the Montgomery family at Bright parkrun.

People to watch

Rory URQUHART smashed out a new Pb this week at parkrun 19:30. Rory keeps impressing and chipping away at his 5 km times.

Kate Dainton with a bubbly personality impresses over many distances and clocks up another Pb at last weeks parkrun 20:56

Norah Armstrong In 2014 Norah’s parkrun time was 30:08 and she has knocked minutes off it every year. Still, in 2019 her Pb is 23:30

Steve Monk ready to go sub 20:00 minutes with a 5 km Pb of 20:23

Race day tips

  • Don’t try new things on race day – like running gear, shoes, or what you eat or drink. You don’t want chaffing, blisters or a funny tummy.
  • Prepare your gear the night before so you don’t forget anything you need in the morning –most runs start early.
  • Plan your trip to the race. Make sure you arrive with enough time to park the car, jog to the start line if you have to, and make that last minute toilet stop or bag. You don’t want to be panicking and late for your run.
  • Pick a playlist with music that inspires you and motivates you to run. Or, decide to ditch the tunes and really listen to the crowd and the atmosphere
  • Get your family and friends to come along and support you. Often seeing your friends and family on course gives you that second wind, especially towards the end of your run when you are really working hard.
  • Run for charity – you won’t give up when you know all that pounding into the pavement is helping out a great cause.

When is the best time of the day to train?

Our bodies are designed to move – to stretch, challenge our muscles and get our blood pumping. Exercise nourishes us, giving us vital energy for each day. And it helps keep our body’s many patterns and processes humming along as they should.

“Exercise helps your body do what it does naturally,” says Accredited Exercise Physiologist Carly Ryan, a spokesperson for Exercise and Sports Science Australia. “For example, it can help improve sleep, boost energy levels and help mood and mental health.”

Our circadian rhythms, or biological clock, influence so much of what happens in our body. Our sleep and wake cycles, blood pressure, body temperature, hormones, hunger, digestion and other bodily functions all move to a daily beat. Getting our heart racing and breaking a sweat regularly plays a role in keeping these cycles flowing smoothly.

So what’s the best time of day to exercise? It’s one of the most common fitness questions, and gym junkies obsessed with ‘hacks’ and ‘maximising’ workouts can debate it endlessly.

But the answer is brilliant news – essentially, it’s whatever feels best for you. There may be some differences in how the body performs and responds at different times of day, but in the end, the optimum time for you will be a more individual decision.

“The best time of the day to exercise is easy – the time you’ll actually do it,” Carly says. “Think about what’s going to be the best time that suits your life and what’s going on that day, and plan around that.

“There is some research that has suggested exercising first thing in the morning is the most optimal time of the day for exercise in terms of things like boosting metabolism. However, realistically the jury is still out on whether this is significantly better than any other time of the day.”

SRC 10km Handicap Results net and handicap results below.

Thanks to everyone who came and participated, we hope you enjoyed the run around the lake as you prepare for the Shepparton Running Festival. Also special mention to our volunteers Sharleen BachelorLydia Monk and Steven Trevaskis for your assistance to make the event happen.

Well done to Aidan Ross, Cate AitkenKylie Monk and Phillip Healeywho were our handicap award winners today, you will take home a $30 voucher from our good friends at Intersport Shepparton

Next Handicap is likely to be in 2 weeks on Sunday August 4th for another go at 10km around Victoria Park Lake

Net Times

Glenn McMillan 37:47
Andrew Sait 38:47
Jackson Neville 40:37
Stacey Barrot 40:52
Trevor Dainton 41:19
Rory Urquhart 45:39
Steve Monk 45:39
Al Parish 46:07
Mathieu Ryan 46:55
Christopher Nicholson 47:25
Tony Sait 47:57
Aidan Ross 48:37
Adrian Jones 49:00
Peter Frizzell 49:08
Shelley Bennett 51:05
Tim Bennett 52:14
Phillip Healey 52:32
Glenys Frizzell 53:09
Vince Gagliardi 55:28
Matt McDonald 56:01
Norah Armstrong 56:14
Sebastian Mangiameli 56:30
Chris Harvey 56:49
Narelle Maxted 57:27
Natalie Hicks 57:30
Sue Olley 57:32
Lee-Anne Kirschner 57:35
Debbie Harvey 58:13
Kylie Monk 59:30
Libby Hadfield 59:58
Peter Urquhart 60:30
Lila Urquhart 60:30
Lydia Stephanus 63:34
Cate Aitken 64:58
Cadel Nicholson 65:06
Jason Hunter 72:43
Chelsea Nicholson 76:20
Justine Ryan 76:34

Handicap Scores

Name 
Aidan Ross -9:23 – 1st Male
Cate Aitken -7:02 – 1st Female
Kylie Monk -5:30 – 2nd Female
Glenys Frizzell -5:06
LeeAnne Kirschner -4:55
Lila Urquhart -3:30
Phil Healey -3:28 – 2nd Male
Cadel Nicholson -2:54
Narelle Maxted -2:33
Peter Urquhart -2:30
Sue Olley -2:28
Peter Frizzell -2:22
Andrew Sait -2:13
Tony Sait -2:03
Chris Harvey -1:41
Seb Mangiamelli -1:30
Lydia Stephanus -1:26
Justine Ryan -1:26
Jackson Neville -1:23
Vince Gagliardi -1:02
Adrian Jones -1:00
Matt McDonald -0:59
Glenn McMillan -0:58
Trevor Dainton -0:41
Mathieu Ryan -0:35
Natalie Hicks -0:30
Deb Harvey -0:17
Tim Bennett -0:16
Al Parish +0:37
Steve Monk +0:39
Stacey Barrot +0:52
Shelley Bennett +1:05
Chris Nicholson +1:55
Libby Hadfield +1:58
Rory Urquhart +2:09
Chelsea Nicholson +4:20
Norah Armstrong +5:44
Jason Hunter +9:43

Man Walk support group goes viral

A walking group for men, founded by a physiotherapist in Kiama 12 months ago, looks set to expand thanks to the power of social media. The Man Walk is much more than an exercise group, it is providing social connection and informal support for blokes doing it tough and it’s been inundated with requests to start new groups after a Facebook post went viral.

Kiama physiotherapist Mark Burns launched The Man Walk after his regular morning stroll around Kiama Harbour expanded to include friends and strangers.  Mark’s friend, school teacher Dave Hoole, decided to try out The Man Walk concept in Wollongong and then took the idea to another level after a post about the group was shared 7000 times and liked by 12,000 people.

SHEPPARTON Walking Schedule and Location This location currently walks Monday mornings at 6am and Wednesdays evenings at 6pm. The walk departs from the Skate Park, Victoria Park Lake, Shepparton VIC.

For more information about the Shepparton Man walk see Steve Ayton. or like the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/1192506150929289/


SRC E-News July 19

SRC 40th Gala Dinner

July 13 the Shepparton Runners Club hosted a 40th anniversary Gala Dinner at the Shepparton golf course. The special guest speaker was Steve Monaghetti.

What a magnificent night was the SRC 40th anniversary gala ball. It was reminiscent of going along to a wedding and everything worked out perfect was the feedback after the night. To Melanie McAuliffe you are an amazing woman. You deserve a massive amount of kudos for the months of hard work you invested to make the Gala night happen.

Below are the thoughts of the night from Melanie and then Grant. Melanie reports on the night and Grant reports on Steve Monnaghetti.

THANK YOU

On Saturday night I was called up to the stage to receive some beautiful flowers from Steve A and Chris A, and I FAILED to thank the following AMAZING people. I’m not a fan of the public speaking BUT in these cases I should have sucked it up and acknowledged these superstars of the SRC Social Committee……..

The SRC Social Committee was established around 2 years ago and have so far organised 2 presentations nights, a few Pot Lucks, the 40th Anniversary Launch and the Library Display, the Gala Dinner and they still have a few other things up their sleeves. It possibly should be renamed as the SRC Wine and Cheese Tasting Committee (with a side of planning).

The Committee consists of: Justine and Mat Ryan, Tara and Sam Daniel, Steve and Sue Trevaskis, Julz Mulcahy, Chelsea Nicholson and myself.

Justine and Mat  – CLUB SUPERSTARS – They deserve so much credit and praise for all that they do for the club, (and there is a lot they have done) we are so lucky to have them as members of the Committee and Club. Justine is always there every step of the way with me for all these events, offering wonderful ideas, as well as being the calming voice of reason when things don’t going to plan. One of Mats MANY contributions is his design skills, which were showcased in every piece of promotional material that was used for the event, and they were ALL spectacular.

Tara – Crafter extraordinaire, thanks for all your crafting skills and help event planning and another member who is there for meetings and brain storming and planning.

Chelsea – Photography Ledged. The framed photo of the tree above the fireplace is one of Chelsea’s magnificent photos and it’s the original tree where the original members used to meet in 1979, before commencing on their runs.

Steve & Sue– For contacting the past members. Along with Sue and Andrew Olly, he was instrumental in us being lucky enough to have 2 tables of original members at the Gala Dinner. And to Sue for organising the classified it the Shep News.

Julz – Although no longer living in the GV, she attended countless meetings and was always the first with her hand up when it somes to collections and delivers (although sometimes they take a little longer than anticipated due to a few wrong turns and vague directions form me)

Special thanks also must go to:

Rob Ryan – Robby sourced the timber and made all the wooden boxes for the centre pieces and the table seating plan backdrop. THEY LOOKED FANTASTIC.

Deb and Chris Harvey – Deb was there for set up and pack up for the Gala and happily offered Chris’s services for returning the decorations we hired for the night. 

Rosie Smith – She was first there on her bike Sunday morning to help pack up. Rosie is always there for you with a smile on her face and a kind word to offer. No wonder Larry has held on tight to her for 40 years.

Liz Connick – Liz from Your Project Partner, kindly donated 2 x Intersport Bennet Gift cards as lucky door prizes. Which was a great way to kick off the night.

Kathy Fuller – Kathy was a fantastic help in setting up on Saturday, and her attention to detail enabled our tables to look amazing.

And lastly to Steve Ayton and the SRC Committee Past and Present – Personally I can’t tell you how honoured I feel knowing that you have entrusted us with all the Social Committee Events, in particular the Gala Dinner. The total faith you have shown in us to put on a good show has been unwavering and appreciated.

THE DETAILS

First Band – Numurkah Ukelele

Second Band – Threes A Crowd

Photographer – AJ Taylor Imaging

Flowers – Avonlea

SRC wood hoop and table numbers (numbers came plain and we painted them with glitter) – Wooden Letters AU (Via etsy – From Bendigo)

THE NIGHT

Wow, well what a night. I could relive it in great detail for you OR I could direct you to the link http://ajtaylor.photos/ and use code src1307.

From a Committee point of view the night ran smoothly and sitting back watching everyone laugh and enjoy themselves was the greatest part of the night.

Grant on Monna.

Firstly, congratulations to all those involved in making Shepparton Runners Club 40th Anniversary Gala such an amazing night! It really was a reflection of how much the club has grown over 40 years and also great to recognise the contributions of those incredibly passionate club members who go well above and beyond to make our club what it is today. A group of inclusive, motivated and passionate runners of all ages and running abilities.

As you know, Steve Moneghetti (4 time Olympian, Commonwealth games legend and pretty top bloke) was our guest speaker on the night and he was able to give us a small insight of what it is like to be completely committed and even obsessive about running. Steve spoke about the dedication that it takes to be able to compete at the very top level of your chosen sport. And it’s nothing short of madness when you think about it! Imagine the things that you are sacrificing along the way to achieve a goal at that level! But when you are totally consumed by and passionate about that one thing, anything is possible.

Steve also spoke about the things that all runners have in common, regardless of experience and fitness level, all runners run because they can. And for all of us, setting a goal, training hard and enjoying the journey to the start line in that goal race is incredible satisfying. The race itself is literally just a snapshot of the journey. You with your medal at the finish line! And as runners we know that’s not the end of the journey. Recovery and DOMs after the credits.

I personally found it particularly interesting when Steve spoke about his commitment to managing his body and keeping on top of those niggles before they become major problems that would force you to have a lay off. And how an injury that stops you from running can really crystallise in your mind that mantra of “I run because I can!” Because we all know that it sucks when you cant. We have people in our club that have overcome some major injuries and other physical obstacles along their running journey and have had to reassess goals along the way, but their commitment to running and love of our sport motivate them to get back out pounding the pavement.

In summing up. It was brilliant to have Steve Moneghetti come to our Gala and speak to us about his amazing achievements and the commitment that you need to “Succeed”. I loved every minute of his dialogue. But, to me the most enjoyable part of what he did on the night is that he put a spotlight on the people that drive our club and said “These people are giving you the opportunity to be part of a great running club!” He highlighted how at any level of running, setting that goal and working towards it, and even enjoying the process, is what running is all about.

Thank you to SRC for a magnificent night and bringing such an amazing group of people together to make our club.

Hicksy.

For the record, Kathy and Narelle’s silent auction raised $1516.00.

All funds go to GVCASA so that we can continue to raise funds and awareness to protect children in our community against sexual assault. So the more we raise the more we can continue to educate. Our awesome prizes have been provided by these superstars 🌟 
FIX Muscle Performance
24 and more fitness
Phillip Chua – Naturopath & Herbalist
EziKinezi
Lakeside Podiatry
McKellar’s Picture Framing
Shepparton Golf Club
River Country Adventours

10km Handicap next Sunday July 21st at Victoria Park Lake starting at 8am – meet at parkrun BBQ shelter

Come along and feel free to include this as part of your long run or have a solid effort over 10km around the lake. We will be doing 2 loops of the parkrun course, a drinks table will be in action as well with water, but you can add your own personal drinks as well if you wish.

No cost involved, 4 x $30 Intersport vouchers will be up for grabs as well.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdPSFkFM730jgSYOS…/viewform

Kate Dainton to run in Run Melbourne

In two weeks I’ll be running the half marathon at Run Melbourne. This run holds a special place for me.. and I’ll be thinking of those who have lost their lives and those who are fighting the fight. Cancer sucks! I’m proud to raise money to help find a cure for brain cancer. If you would like to support this cause click on the link. Thankyou, Kate

The link is here

Why strength training?

A great question. Life is busy. Training for an event can be an all-consuming enterprise that cuts in on your social life, family time, hobbies (what are they again???), oh, and that other time filler called work. so how are you supposed to add in one or two strength sessions each week? The solution is much simpler than you may think. Firstly, we need to look at what you want to achieve from your strength training. I look at strength as serving two purposes:

  1. Allowing you to train uninterrupted without interference from injury
  2. Performance benefits such as improving running economy and delaying muscular fatigue

AVOIDING INJURY

One saying that I really love is that it is better to turn up at the start line 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained. If you can complete your weekly training sessions consistently over a period of months, you will turn up at the start line in much better condition than if you had an intermittent training block disturbed by injury. That’s it, moving on.

RUNNING ECONOMY

Running economy is how much energy each foot strike costs your system. Running is expensive with energy lost as heat, and used by muscles to propel you forwards, absorb forces as you hit the ground, and simply hold your body upright against gravity. The cost of running increases as we become fatigued and start to rely on muscle fibres that are less well trained and as our running form deteriorates. Strength training helps improve your running economy by making our system (muscles and tendons primarily) more resilient against the repeated pounding of placing one foot in front of the other.

HOW MUCH BENEFIT?

As tempting as it is to say, “it depends”, I am going to put my cards on the table and offer a very specific figure. 6-12 weeks of strength training 1-2 times each week for 30 minutes can result in excess of 7.5% improvements in running economy (1). If you would like to know what this feels like, running with your hands clasped behind your back reduces your running economy by about 3% and running with your hands on your head by about 8% (2). Therefore, >7.5% is certainly not to be taken for granted! Especially towards the end of an event when you are either wishing that you hadn’t missed those three weeks with a niggly calf or that you had been a little more consistent with your one or two strength sessions each week.

“There may be no substitute for greater muscular strength when it comes to improving an individual’s performance while simultaneously reducing their risk of injury”

HOW CAN I GET STARTED???

Being a simple man, I take a simple approach that is both effective and accessible. Focus on the 2 key muscle groups that will benefit your running, your calf muscles (calves) and quadriceps (quads). Dedicate any remaining time to our other favourite muscle groups such as hamstrings (hammies), adductors (groin), gluteals (gluts), and core, but I promised you time-efficient results. Single leg calf raises are a little tedious but will pay dividends. Invest time in these over 6-12 months until the only weight that will give you the fatigue you are craving comes in the form of a leg press machine, then move on to skipping. Skipping is a fantastic, dynamic approach to strengthening those calves and serves as an excellent warm up. For our quads I would recommend squats, heavy squats. If you don’t have access to HEAVY weights, then split squats / lunges, rear-foot elevated lunges, or step ups with any load that you can hold or carry on your shoulder. Do not feel obliged to perform all the exercises listed, simply pick one for your calves and one for those quads. 4 sets to fatigue of each exercise, increasing the weight and reducing the reps over 4 weeks until you can do no more than 8 reps before needing to rest. See below table for a simple, time-efficient 12-week quads and calves program. At the RunStrong Facebook Group you can find strength training programs for at home, the gym, and the park.

RECOVERY

Strength training can leave you with heavy legs. To make sure you can apply yourself as best as possible to your strength training and your running sessions, I strongly recommend that you look after your recovery as best as possible. This means prioritising sleep and fuelling well

Further reading (or viewing

The link to the 40th Gala night photos is http://ajtaylor.photos/ and use code src1307.

Have a great weekend and see you back on the track. 🙂

SRC E-News July 12

Norah smashes out a Pb at the Gold Coast.

This years Gold Coast Half the goal was to officially go sub 2 hrs after last year running 2:00:34 at Melbourne in October and just missing out.

The days in the lead up to Sunday were 35km/h winds with light showers. We were lucky the wind had reduced but light showers were likely and around 16 degrees and humid.

Once at the start area, I went for a warm up and toilet stop then it was time for the 6am start. We shuffled into our start area. Go time and off we went easing into a nice pace as it was pretty congested. The sun started to come up around 5km, it was quite humid and we had a bit of a tail wind as we headed towards Paradise Point. We went over a couple of channels then Chris yelled out to cheer Moose and Sinead Diver coming back for home. At 8km I kept telling myself that we were nearly at 10km and to relax and keep going. Another drink station and to the turn around for home. I tried to keep in one line on the road and conscious of the kamber. Time for a gel and water. At 16km my feet started to hurt but I had to lift the pace so that distracted me. I focused on form and tried to latch onto anyone who looked like they were running strong. 18km the breeze felt good and cooling. From here you can see down towards the finish area so it feels closer. We pushed on and turned left onto the highway and 1km to go. I picked people off and kept pushing. The crowds were great cheering everyone on along the club tent area.Left again to the finish chute. Found the gaps and gave anything I had in the legs. Crossed the the line 1.56.54 stoked and stuffed. Big hug for Chris. Woo hoo!!!

Regards

Norah Armstrong

Norah’s half marathon stats

2017

Melbourne 2:15:50

2018

Gold Coast 2:05:57, Melbourne 2:00:27 (previous Pb)

2019

Gold Coast 1:56:45 (New Pb)

Norah’s splits and pace

10 km 55:23 & 5:32

20km 56:05 & 5:36

1km 5:25  &  4:56

My opinion, over years Norah has chipped away at the 2 hr half marathon knocking off 5 – 10 minutes each 6 months. At Gold Coast her pace was unbelievably even, with energy for a final 1 km kick at the end.

Well done Norah!

Easy runs make hard runs easier.

An easy run is not a slow run and yes language matters. It is just an easy out the door run. It’s not a tempo or stride or fartlek. Easy is an effort unique to you. You do an easy run so you can recover from a hard run. Easy runs help to reduce stress and pressure built up during the day.

Too often we look at numbers as the benchmark of success. When you should measure the success of a run in many different ways. Did you enjoy the easy run, did you enjoy the new route? The pace that feels easy one day may not feel easy the next, so don’t attach a number to your run.

70 to 80 percent of your km should be done as an easy run. It’s always good to finish an easy run feeling accomplished.

These 4 running drills are quick and easy to learn and can be done in less than 5 minutes after your run.

SRC E-NEWS July 5

SRC NEWS

Good Luck Nathan.

More good news 
I’ve been told by Athletics Victoria that my running times at the moment are just at the national level and I should consider moving to Melbourne or Geelong in the future.

Good step to maybe being a professional

Q and A with Nathan

1.       How did AV spot you

Seeing my Parkrun times.

2.       Are you getting any other training advice other than Chris at SRC.

Yes I have been getting alot of tips on how slow I should run my recovery runs and my technique.

3.       How are you feeling about the news? Do you intend going/moving?

Yes I plan on moving to Geelong. My dad lives there so it works out well and its my hometown.

4.       Anything else you can add would be appreciated.

 Would like to say thanks to Chris and the runners club crew I’ve loved every second of it since I’ve been here.

Well done on the awesome news.

Some big races I’ve got coming up that I’m possibly doing

6th July-Sandown Racecourse (Springvale)
14th July-Lakeside Albert Park (Melbourne)
27th July-Lake Wendouree (Ballarat)
28th July-Melbourne Half Marathon
10th August-Cruden Farm (Langwarrin)
8th September-Victorian Half Marathon (Burnley)
21st September-The tan track Botanical Gardens (Melbourne)

Shepparton Running Festival

MAJOR SPONSOR: Now’s the time to….get cooking with Campbell’s. Planning your weekly menu and refuelling after a long run is now easy with Campbell’s Kitchen Australia. We are thrilled to welcome back Campbell’s as a Major Sponsor for 2019. Campbell’s have been proudly making products in Shepparton for almost 60 years and are committed to local. They source the best ingredients to make their well-known stocks and sauces and have many new products in their range. 
For inspiration click here to see Campbell’s full range:https://www.campbells.com/anz/

Good luck to everyone who is running at the https://goldcoastmarathon.com.au/

Remember you can live stream it and track those who are sheppresenting.

Ever heard the one about abs being made in the kitchen? It’s a commonly held belief that diet plays a bigger role than exercise if you’re trying to lose weight. So would it be possible to lose weight through diet alone? Or does exercise play a more important role?

We spoke to Accredited Practising Dietitian Kate Gudorf, to get the skinny on how weight loss really works, and why there are benefits to exercise beyond just losing weight.

How does weight loss work – is it simply calories in minus calories out?

“At its most basic level, weight loss is an energy deficit. Which means that the calories we take in are less than the calories we burn throughout the day.

We burn calories in three different ways:

  • The exercise that we do. That includes planned physical activity as well as the activities of daily life, like moving around, standing or walking.
  • Our basal metabolic rate, which is the energy we use to fuel our body’s processes — so things like our heart beating, our lungs expanding and contracting, our brain using energy to think.
  • The thermic effect of food, which is just a fancy term for metabolism. When we eat, our body uses energy to break down and metabolise the food.

So as long as we’re taking in less than we’re burning, in theory we will lose weight. But of course there are many other factors that can affect that balance.”

In what ways is losing weight different for different people?

“This is where it really comes down to the individualised approach. For some people, they can just very easily alter the calories that they’re taking in, increase the calories that they burn and they go forward and they lose weight. But for other people, they might find that there could be a strong emotional component.

They might struggle with emotional eating, they might have certain triggers that cause them to overeat — for example they could have a very stressful day, and the way that they manage that is by turning to comfort foods. Or maybe people have a strong connection with sitting in front of a screen at night and eating, and eating more than what they need to consume.

For other people, they might just find that when they reduce the amount of calories they’re taking in, they feel it’s beginning to affect their quality of life. Because obviously food is connected to so much that we do, it’s connected culturally, it’s connected to our enjoyment and our social life, so for some people, that emotional connection with food can be really difficult to tame.”

More here

Cobram parkrun 3rd anniversary this Saturday.

Link is here.