One thing runners take seriously is the type and amount of food that they need to keep the energy levels up and to keep the extra weight from building up that might slow them down.

If a runner is training for a long distance race, the calories reach some very high levels. The majority of food is in the form of carbohydrates, but protein is also important; and while some people think fat is a no-no, runners need the extra calories in fat to help them out.

Fat is a great energy source for runners, and in modest amounts will actually benefit them while training. For marathon and ultra-marathon runners, the well known “carbo-loading meal” the day before the race is pretty much a standard in racing circles.

For the non-runner, food becomes a primary source for losing weight through a diet of sorts. Consumer Reports had a report in the June issue and rated the various diets that people use. This is only a partial list; but when you mention diet, you have a very wide selection to choose from. For instance, the article rated the following diets: The Best Life Diet; Eat, Drink & Weigh Less Diet; You On A Diet; The ABS Diet; The South Beach Diet; The Sonoma Diet; The Ultra- Metabolism Diet; The Volumetrics Diet; Weight Watchers; Jenny Craig; Slim Fast; eDiets; The Zone Diet; The Ornish Diet and the Atkins Diet.

That is quite a list to choose from if you want to select a diet to follow. The ones the experts at Consumer Reports rated as above average included the Best Life Diet, Eat, Drink & Weigh Less, You On a Diet, ABS Diet, South Beach Diet, Sonoma Diet, Volumetrics, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Slim Fast, eDiets, and the Zone Diet. None of the diets ranked as a best diet or high score.

In the June issue of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter there was also an article on diets. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared four popular diets. The study compared 311 nondiabetic overweight or obese women aged between 25 to 50 years. They compared the Atkins (lowest carbohydrate), the Zone (low carb), Ornish (highest carb, lowest fat) and the standard government guidelines (high carb, low fat).

The average weight loss after a year was 10.4 pounds for Atkins, 5.7 pounds for standard guidelines, 4.8 pounds for Ornish and 3.5 pounds for the Zone Diet. Considering that the women in the study averaged over 190 pounds, the weight loss was only a modest success after one year. Some women on each diet lost over 30 pounds, while others lost little or no weight over the year.

The point of the article came down to the fact that only a few women really stuck to any of the diets, and did not come close to following the guidelines of the diets. The statement in the article brings home a very critical point when it printed, “This doesn’t mean the women somehow failed, but that sticking to a diet in the real world for more than a few weeks or months is exceedingly hard.”

The most weight was lost in the first two months of the diet and the second six months the women regained some weight, and the differences between diets of the four groups narrowed.

The article did mention that even a loss of five to ten pounds can be beneficial in many ways. The hardest part of weight loss was keeping the weight off after the initial loss. The key to weight loss, of course is to reduce calories, since calories still matter most. The article mentioned that different people lose weight in different ways. Some people do it with low carbs, others with low fat and some with high protein. The key was to find a way of eating that fits you the best.

The article printed, “Whatever the fat-to-carb-to-protein ratio of your diet, opt for ‘good’ carbs (in whole grains, beans, fruits, vegetables), ‘good’ fats (in fish, olive or canola oil, nuts, seeds, avocados) and lean protein.”

The last sentence of the article is the one that impressed me the most when it mentioned, “And don’t forget this key ingredient - exercise.”

Eating a well-balanced selection of food is important; but to really make a diet work, you need to add exercise to your lifestyle to be more fit and to lose weight if that is your objective. Exercise can be walking, jogging, running, swimming, riding a bicycle, weight lifting, skipping rope or spending some time on a treadmill while you watch your favorite TV program.

To help you get started, remember that the San Marcos Runners Club meets every Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. at the Courthouse on the square for a fun run. All abilities are welcome and there is someone there to give you positive encouragement and help you get started.

And on June 28th the San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department is holding their annual Fourth of July Firecracker 5K run. This is on a Thursday evening and is a good early goal to shoot for if you are starting out and need a reason to train. Walking is permitted and you will be in the company of other runners, joggers and walkers while you complete the distance.

The advice is to watch your food intake, start an exercise program and enter the June 28th 5K run. You will be glad you did.