Cleaning up the diet

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One of my goals for this off season is to get a little leaner, ie lose some weight! I'm a far cry from my marathon racing weight of 2003, but I think I can get close to that range again. Not all the way - I wasn't swimming or cycling at all then and was just running. A lot - between 90-100 miles a week when peaking. The swimming and cycling I've added in since then has built some muscle, which is why I don't think marathon racing weight is a super realistic goal.

In order to do this, I need to evaluate my diet carefully - I know there are areas I can improve in, both in quality and quantity. While I pack my lunch and snacks when I go to work, I bring a lot of food with me. Maybe too much for what I am doing while at work. And when I'm at home, I do a lot of nibbling. Especially when cooking (who can resist tasting the broth or licking the bowl?) The problem is that it's not always good food - chips, crackers and such. A bag of MMs after a run - which wouldn't be a problem if I was running more. So that's my first task, figuring out why I'm eating what and when I do. If I'm just bored, I need to do something besides nibble. Eliminating the mindless eating will go far to reducing the amount I'm eating. So I'll work on a food diary for a while - not a detailed version, just what, when and why. After that, I need to start reducing the amount of cheap food and eat quality snacks and meals. Menu planning for the day and week to ensure quality food that meshes with training and racing will be the next step I think. I don't want to resort to measuring and weighting everything, but if it comes to that...

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