Why are so many formerly competitive runners huge and fat now?

snows look of longing wrote:.

Note this is not a judgement against current Americans--they are no less disciplined than previous generations*--it's just the DEFAULT setting used to be less food and more movement in 1820 and 1920 compared to 2020.

*I'm not sure I fully believe this. People seem awfully dissipated these days. The obesity, the opioids, the tattoos--it's a real mess out there.

I liked this whole post, and think that we need more people in the world who can see things so clearly.

One more thing that i wanted to add, is that we are pretty much set up to fail. And if you see this, it seems weird to heap blame on people who have not fully escaped the booby traps.

The “set up to fail” idea, is how there are so many obesogenic elements to our society, that are hard or impossible to opt out of.

Sedentary jobs are the norm, and active jobs are technically available but often pay a tiny amount of money.

Also, millions of kids are fed unconscionable amounts of sugar and grease, and can’t run a mile in the 9th grade. They are fed whatever their parents feed them.

On top of that, only a tiny fraction of americans have good options, logistically, to walk or bike to work/school, because of how car-centric the infrastructure and the culture is.

So, it’s really not a fair fight, and yes, we can do our best, but i think there are many forces spending lots of money to KEEP it hard for us to get our health back.

I also don’t think its a coincidence that there is so much misinformation out there, about how to prepare a meal that is filling but not calorically over the top. Basically, junk food often removes the fiber, and pumps up the fat or sugar, so that you eat three times the amount of calories before wanting to stop.

It is the difference between carrots and carrot cake. One is impossible to get obese on. The other is hard NOT to get obese on.

But there is so much conflicting information (on purpose?) encouraging people to take too little action or to take the wrong actions.

Confirmed wrote:

"Kennedy’s weight ballooned from 142 pounds to 200. He didn’t run for five years, according to The Times.""

So even when he dropped to 172 for his "comeback" Marathon, he was still pretty fat.

Wow!....from 142 to 200?

I wonder what El G weighs these days? I saw a story on him on the Olympic channel a few days ago where he's involved with youth runners in Morroco and oversees an annual road race in his name. He looked maybe 20 - 25 lbs heavier than his glory days - but appeared more healthier than when he was built like a anorexic stick. The guy is wearing a GQ beard and looks pretty slick. ?

I was 140 as a college runner and 215 at one point as a daddy with a job. I started to finish my kids meals. I mean the grilled cheese couldn’t go to waste. Eventually when it started to be hard to chase them cause I was so fat I made a decision to lose weight. I calorie counted and pushed myself to run even though what use to be easy paced felt like a sprint. Got back down to 160. It’s really really hard but it’s just a matter of mental discipline.

PopTartsForHealth wrote:

I go to Walmart to make myself feel better about my level of fitness. The soda and chips aisle is always jammed with scooters and people wearing giant shorts, showing off their red ankles and lower legs..

'Murica:love it or leave it!

Oooh-rah!

You've got some pretty interesting hobbies there with your downtime , Champ !

asker of fat questions wrote:

You talk to them and find out that decades ago they were scholarship runners, 2:20-ish marathoners, and winners of lots of local races. Then something happened and they got fat.

I don't get this. Even if I had a horrible injury that prevented me from running, I'd find an alternative exercise and watch my diet so I didn't pack on the pounds.

I figure there are lots of fat ex runners on letsrun, so do you let yourself go like that? I would hang my head in shame.

I can't speak for the crowd, but my boss (former xc runner & wrestler) told me that "life just eventually takes over; marriage, career, kids...before you know it you're out of shape and although the drive is there to get back what was lost, the motivation isn't." Boss is maybe 2-3 inches taller than me and roughly twice my weight.

Many answers here seem to portray the idea that there are only two possible states :

Run every spare minute of the day and be thin or

Devote all your time to more "worthy" things and be fat.

This is plain stupid and suggests that basic care about your health and appearance is at odds with having a family or interests other than running. Nobody helps their children or puts their interests first by an early death.

It has spread to here too (UK). The difference over the last 10 years is noticeable.

People don't live active lives. And if they do, it's structured in and paid for as 'activities' rather than just being a part of life. Where I live doesn't have a bike store. The road out of here runs up to a motorway and quite honestly you'd be taking your life into your own hands trying to get around that roundabout on a bike. No one cycles. I've not seen this anywhere else. It just isn't set up for it. Similar with walking. The structure makes it very, very difficult and it would feel and actually be dangerous (you would be walking alongside a dual carriageway with a 60 mph limit, with no shoulder to walk on. You'd be walking in a bumpy grass verge that isn't maintained/right by a hedge essentially. There is no walkway. So you'd be touching distance from the cars that went past).

However, I believe weight is more like 90% diet, 10% exercise.

People don't really eat out here much, maybe once a month at a restaurant or something so it's what's being cooked at home, or most probably, the portion sizes. People seem to snack a lot more, not that that's a bad thing, but when it adds up to a lot it is. I think sometimes people literally just don't realise how many calories are in certain things, they drink a lot of calories, e.g. Starbucks drinks that are 600 calories, you could have a decent main meal for that.

I just try to keep things simple, I eat normal things that are the same as decades ago, meat, fish, chicken, salads, beans, soups, simple items. They're all still available in the shops but sometimes they seem almost drowned out by the other products. But they are still there. One thing that bugs me though is the development of products that seem healthy that aren't at all. E.g. Innocent fruit smoothies, the amount of sugar is insane, it's horrendous, so many more times than a can of coke (

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/10746588/Fruit-juices-and-smoothies-contain-horrifying-sugar-levels.html

), yet people are buying and consuming that thinking they're having something healthy. The same with a lot of ready made sandwiches and 'meal deals' which are probably the most popular thing for lunch. Meal deal = sandwich + crisps + drink and you could easily end up over 1200 with that alone with certain choices and most people would think it was a healthy option and more like 400.

There is also too much choice - in the past you might go into the shop and there were say 10 cereals to choose from, now there are 100+ all most likely designed to get you to eat more.

Imo, leanness and health has nothing to do with performance. If running and sport was the only thing, what kept you in shape, for sure that even a month off will make some weight creep up. Years lead to obesity.

There are so many healthy lean people with zero years of sport behind, nor ahead. Lean as !

This all simply means that eating properly: fruits, veggies, some meat, some fish, some eggs, some cooked cereals time to time like rice, oats, quinoa and so, will have and continue to have good results and end in leanness. However everything else will contribute to failing staying lean. Icecream, alcohol, processed oils and fats, all restaurent foods and so.

Everything else outside of those main food groups are unhealthy and it is the choice of the individual to take or not to take.

What is interesting, that if eaten, hydrated and slept well, even a month of training will reduce perf only by just a couple of percents and even after 6months of totally off, fitness can be regained very fast.

However, when 20pounds came up suddenly, the lymphatic system is shut and shot and the body is running on coffee, M-dew and r-bull, well that is surely not the case.

In Europe the level of masters runners and even M3 or M4 Categories can be sometimes just brutally strong. Especially in mountain running, uphill or ultra races .

Eat sleep hydrate always well, regardless of activity levels and goals. It is only the question of discipline.

Dude your weight is normal. 160 is not fat. Your perspective is skewed from running so much.

It's so sad how some of you think getting fat is an inevitable aspect of getting older. "People get fat because they realize family and work is more important than running!" Give me a break.

Does this work?

the tall skinny sock monkey wrote:

RE: Why are so many formerly competitive runners huge and fat now?

THE BOOB TUBE

On another note my dad is pushing 90 and lives at a senior center. No body that gets near or past the 90 mark is fat. That "dad bod" dude is gonna have a visit from the reaper long before that.

I wonder how much time you have spent at senior centers?

It might be true that if you are extremely obese you die before age 90. However there are multiple reasons for

people getting fat. Some of them are car accidents, cancer, Lou Gehrig's Disease, etc. Some seniors get extremely

fat before they die for those reasons and some of them are in their 90s.

joedirt wrote:

Just guessing that the OP is in his late teens / early 20s, is single, and has no kids. When you are in our mid 40s, married, have kids and a career please return to this forum. Most people that try to continue to train like they did in college when they have all of those other factors typically are thrice divorced, have a warrant for non payment of child support / alimony, live in a van down by the river and shower at the YMCA. And quite honestly, the dad bod that hobby jogs the local 5k is likely to live longer than the skeleton that is obsessively trying to maintain his running streak and has run a half dozen marathons in the past year.

We all should have compassion on people who have had car accidents or some horrendous disease.

Life happens even if you know how to stay thin. Plus I can tell you 60 is a whole lot tougher to come back from

than 40. 40 is nothing. I ate thunder and c**p** lightning then!

50 years ago the typical breakfast for an urban US male was coffee and a cigarette, and maybe a donut...and they were lean, and possibly healthier than todays tubs of goo.

Lung cancer vs. Diabetes, a Hobson's choice.

Family and career and long commute

Cop out... wrote:

Letting yourself go is inexcusable. Don't tell me it is hard to jog 40min a day?

Very if you see injured.

A lot of top retired athletes have long term injury problems.

Gramps wrote:

50 years ago the typical breakfast for an urban US male was coffee and a cigarette, and maybe a donut...and they were lean, and possibly healthier than todays tubs of goo.

Lung cancer vs. Diabetes, a Hobson's choice.

UK male here - I've never smoked but all I have in the morning is some fruit, not out of any strict routine, simply that I have never liked eating in the morning, my adult weight has not varied significantly from 175 pounds (am 6'3"). So where do I fit into your false dichotomy? I'm 55 and not on any medication.

How old is David Goggins? 43? 44? He looks better than any elite distance runner. Excuses are like...Well you know.