Is weight gain necessary while training for a marathon
I’ll be real with yall I’ve been loving marathon training (my first one, I’ve done many half marathons comfortably) and I feel amazing and am enjoying the process.
However, I come from a restrictive eating disorder background (currently in recovery) and I’m terrified from all the things I’ve been reading that insinuate weight gain is inevitable while training.
I understand it’s easy to out eat a run but, if I am watching my calories (I have used a food scale for years at a time and have most foods nutrition facts, serving sizes and calories engrained in my skull) is this weight gain still inevitable??
If so, why do I see plenty of lean marathoners. Am I destined to no matter what gain weight during this process?
I eat extremely healthy, couldn’t tell you the last time I ate pizza and my biggest indulgence is if I don’t weigh out my reduced fat feta cheese sprinkled on top of a salad… I say this to show that I’m the opposite of someone who would complete a long run then eat back double the calories after because I think it all weighs out- I’m hyper aware of how easy it is to eat back calories and that’s not what I do.
Please be kind, I am not trying to garner hate with this question, just trying to understand if, assuming I don’t let running hunger influence my choices, I can avoid weight gain during this process.