I Gained a Few "Grapefruits" After my Marathon..?

I did it! I ran the Cap City Half Marathon yesterday.
It took me 2 hours and 47 minutes to do it but I finished! It is a bucket list item for me that I can now cross off!
Will I do it again? Maybe.

Twenty-four hours ago I was running the first mile of 13.1 miles so it's a bit too soon to tell. I do want to tell you what I learned from this experience though.

I did not lose weight. In fact, I gained weight while training for 4 1/2 months. Seven or eight pounds. And NO, it was not muscle. I can assure you, it was fat. One pound of body fat is about the size of a big grapefruit. And I was carrying EIGHT grapefruits! Two in my belly, two in each cheek (you know the ones), and two in each thigh. How can that be? Yes, I was running an average of twenty miles per week. You would think there is no way I could gain. Wrong. You still can't eat whatever you want even when you exercise. I was eating like a teenage boy. I burned an extra 800 calories per day running for an hour but I was eating an extra 1500. In the end, it is all about calories in vs calories out. And I was definitely taking in more calories than I was expending.

Why couldn't I cut back on my intake?
It sounds so simple doesn't it?
Why can't all of us just cut back our intake?
I've confirmed through 4 1/2 months of self experimentation that we have a few mental roadblocks on the journey of "just cut back.".
The first one is called self discipline. We have a small bank on this stuff to use everyday. When it gets taken up on other things, like running, there is none left for stopping at one serving! This bank of discipline gets drained by work, kids, school, you name it. We only have so much discipline to go around.
The second roadblock is a close cousin to discipline, it is called entitlement. "I ran 6 miles today." I am going to eat what I want. But it could just as easily be, "The kids are driving me crazy" or "It was a rough day at work". There are times when we think we deserve it. But we deserve the grapefruit size glob of fat that goes with it!

I know for sure that I like being fit. And I know everyone out there can be fit, too. Health and fitness are not reserved for the special. It is within every one's power to become fit (or more fit.)

If I can do it, you can too. It does require a bit of your daily discipline bank and maybe forgoing an entitlement or two :)
But in the end it's worth it. Grapefruit and all.