Hobbs

Glad I could help Adding a bit more food little by little is indeed the way to go. Cutting down on training is also a very good idea. You need rest to recover, progress, and avoid injuries. Rest is actually part of a sound training plan. You should be looking forward to your next training session, not dreading it because it's too hard or too time consuming. That was another of my mistakes. Anyway, having a balanced diet and training program will make a lot of difference in how you feel, how you train, and how you look. If you eat enough healthy food and train, you gain muscle, not fat. Now I eat more, take more days off training, and look a LOT better. You can have your cake and eat it too

I hear you, I was banned from giving my blood as I had iron deficiency last year. Issue was solved eating plenty of lentils, with salad of spinach/red peppers - as mentionned by Vegan Badass above. Don't worry about your macros. You need enough calories to function properly. I've been there somehow, I used to be slightly anorexic and control my food intake, so sure you can exist on a 1200 cal diet, but you can't actually live. I was knackered and in a foul mood all the time, did not have the energy to do the things I like, and needed a snooze at 7 in the evening. I was pathetic ahah. So take it from me: eat enough and eat well. With regular meals, healthy unprocessed food, plenty of vegetables, legumes, nuts, fruits, you'll start losing weight and more importantly, feel awesome

Cal intake is probably too low, as I undertand you work out too. You will lose some weight up to a point but also feel quite tired and weak too, and maybe give up. Depending on what your weight is, maybe somewhere around 1800-1900 would be more sensible (and more if you want to gain muscles.) Will take longer, but it's probably better on the long term. If you are already vegetarian, transition too vegan should be no prob. Dairy milk can be easily replaced, plenty of other options that actually taste better! Eggs you can do without, finding alternatives on the web for cakes etc doesn't take long. For your information, my gf just lost half a stone just going vegan, not working out or anything, the vegetables did the trick

Well done!

Never seen anyone doing that, but maybe that's just my gym. Hope you'll find the nutrition that suits your goal, don't be afraid to try things and experiment. It took me a bit of time ahah.

Oh yeah that's black metal allright They are quite good, never heard a bass so high in the mix in a BM band.

Any reason for a work out that is that long? 1 hour of abs? Training legs after an hour of cardio is not the best idea. You can do all 3 in one hour with proper intensity. Anyway, workout nutrition depends on what you do. For example: weight session = protein shake and a banana an hour before (or just nothing), and just after. long cardio session = carbs 4 to 2 hours before training, no or little protein/fat. Protein + carbs just after Experimentation is the best way to find what works for you.

Just tried the organic peanut butter from Sainsbury's. Maybe it's my imagination but I think it tastes better than there cheaper own-brand stuff. Worth the extra quid

Maybe do what I did when I went vegan: simply replace meat and eggs in your meals by an equivalent portion of legumes or tofu (both are about 130g) So my meals are often like that (I'm about 135ibs): - lunch: tofu + a large salad (spinach, red peppers, tomatoes, carrots, avocado) + a piece of fruits. - snacks: glass of soy/coco/rice milk or soy yoghurt + handful of almonds + oatmeal or fruits - diner: sweet potato/rice/pasta + lentils + large salad. Bigger meal as it comes post training. I bought a few books when going vegan, the best one in my opinion was this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0738214930/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 And for recipes: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Veganomicon-Ultimate-Isa-Chandra-Moskowitz/dp/156924264X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397401291&sr=1-1&keywords=vegonomicon Best of luck!

Great work, great gains!

Thanks a lot! Want to do better than that now

Marathon finished in 3.56.57. No pain in the knee during the race, and no pain after, unbelievable Followed the 4h race pacer for about 30k, then went a bit faster for the last 10k. Ok, now it's rest for the knee, then training for another one in september, and see if I can do a 3h45-3h50.

Looks like it's quite high in fat (plenty of almonds and peanut butter - you must put quite a lot in your sandwiches to reach 30g of proteins) Try to add legumes and beans, a cheap source of protein, low in fats, plenty of minerals. Some greens and vegetables as well for vitamins, fiber and nutrients. You can do pretty much anything with tofu, but it's not the cheapest source of protein. Give it a go though. You can make a cheap home-made post workout shake with own brand soy milk, pea protein (look online) and some sugar or a banana. Most interesting thing when I went vegan was to experiment with spices, herbs, and to look into Asian cuisines for ideas. Be curious and enjoy

I recover a lot better when I have some carbs after the gym. My 'recipe': 300ml soy milk + 2tlsp sugar + scoop of soy/pea protein+cinnamon =25g prot/20g carbs/6g fat, about 250cal If you simply need to recover, the amount of protein would depend on how active you are and how many hours you spend at the gym. Somewhere between 1.2-1.5g/k I'd say.

Seems the knee is rolling inward, issue linked to some imbalance in my back muscles. Got plenty of exercices and more importantly, was cleared for the race! Might be in pain for a little while but no risk of permanent damage. Course is said to be the flattest in the UK.

Nah I'd be chuffed to finish under 4 hours, I'm a marathon newb ahah Still get that mild burning feeling in the knee even after a short easy run, thankfully will see a physiotherapist later on today. Think I'll need to give my knee some serious rest after the race!

Thanks for the feedback! I've been indeed having shorter runs (30-40mn) with a bit of rowing/cycling/cross-training, for a total of 1 hour cardio. That plus strength training but not pushing it. I think what triggered the pain was the intensity of cardio, that was too high. Thing is, the minute I slow down the little Hitler in my head wakes up and calls me a slacker A bit pissed off but not worried for the race as I had a solid 3-month training before having to slow down, plus as you say there's always the adrenaline rush!

Fuck, did too much and I've had a mild burning pain above my knee since Monday. Back to rest

Depends on people, find out what works best for you. These figures both look quite high though. Personally I see more results since I cut down my protein intake (plus you save money)

Congrats for your work and your results. You've got more muscles than me!

Feeling ok, thanks. Tested a bit of tempo tonight but not ready for a faster pace yet. I'll keep on wotking on hills and endurance + cross-training, and try not to lose too much strength. Really looking forward to the race

Thanks !

I had a physiotherapy session today for my back, next one is for my knee It's not going too bad though : I stopped all running for a full week, doing easy strength training only. Then started easy cardio sessions, mixing crosstraining, rowing and cycling. Added to that a 30mn run this Monday, then another 40mn yesterday, knee's still fine and getting stronger I believe. I've got 3 weeks left before the marathon, I'll be extra careful and hopefullt able to complete it.

Congrats and nice pics!

I see what you mean, constant contradictions are quite confusing. Probably best just to use common sense and work out what works best for you. That was the point of that book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-First-20-Minutes-Surprising/dp/1848316518/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394292529&sr=8-2&keywords=20+minute+workout "Q: when should I drink? A: drink when you're thirsty Q: but how much? A: until your thirst is quenched" I could have saved a few quids