Posts by oakmountainnursery

Congratulations on your first marathon!  I have trained for and run four marathons, and it's a great feeling.  I have found that the easiest way to handle the water issue is to preposition water along my route for the long runs.  I literally hide water bottles (store-bought, sealed so I know they haven't been tampered with) behind bushes, telephone poles, etc. where I think I will need them.  This way, I don't have to carry the extra weight (I can lose 2 liters per hour on a long run, so it would be a lot of water to carry). 

I have not found a non-fat substitute for the oil.  I either use olive oil or Smart Balance at a rate of 1 Tablespoon per cup of flour in the recipe.  The biscuits are not as oily as standard ones you get in restaurants, but we like them.  The smart balance seems to make the biscuits fluffier if you cut it in cold. 

My podiatrist just recommended Happyfeet to me, and they are great--better than the $400 custom orthotics I had before.  I would recommend them to anyone with plantar fasciitis and heel spurs. 

I have found that when I eat about 300 kcal below my burn rate (weight loss mode) my blood pressure gets lower (i.e. from mid-range normal to low-normal for my age), and that I feel light-headed whenever I stand up from a sitting position.  My physician verified that this was due to low blood pressure by hooking me up to the sphygmomanometer and having me stand up from a sitting position in his office.  He advised me to eat more salt (I eat quite a lot already), but didn't seem overly concerned about it (as long as I don't start hitting the floor, I guess!). 

If I were you, I would go see your physician and describe your symptoms to him/her, just for the peace of mind.

Interestingly, however, if I keep all other food entries constant but have a beer (153 calories, grade C-) my grade always goes to a B or B-, but if I have a glass of red wine (88 calories, grade C, but approximate the same amount of alcohol), my overall daily grade stays an A. I agree that the grade system in this website is pretty much worthless. Even within categories of very similar foods (e.g. different brands of canned vegetables) the grades can vary quite a bit. I generally ignore them.