General Fitness & Nutrition: Carbohydrate consumption question

I run 30 - 35 miles per week thats 6 - 8 miles three days and 1 10 mile run on the weekend. I was wondering how much carbohydrate I should include in my diet to fuel my runs and not feel like I'm dragging while still being able to slowly lose a few more pounds.

 

Thank you.

First off this book: Nancy Clark's Sport Nutrition Guidebook (www.nancyclarkrd.com) is a great book for runners. The reccomendations for a healthy diet suggest 15% protein, 30% fat, and 55% carbs. And by fats I don't mean candy bars. You get fat in a lot of your foods anyway. The one thing not to do it cut back on carbs to lose weight if you are a runner of course. If you want to maintain your carb load and still lose weight maybe it will help to cut out the simple carbs as opposed to the complex. Simple include sweets and sodas, etc. They get most of their calories from sugar. Don't ban them completely but try to keep it at 10% of your carb intake. Dark chocolate is my snack of choice because anything over 70% chocolate has tons of antioxidants and you only need a little bit to get that craving out of the way. You need most of your calories from complex carbs like pasta, whole grain breads, fruits, veggies, and legumes, beans...I try to get most of my proteins soon after a workout w/tofu, edemame, beans & rice, protein bars (watch the fat! Luna is a good one) tuna fish, turkey, etc. If you maintain a healthy diet you are most likely to lose some weight just by being active and eating right w/out really having to "diet". Be aware though that some of those wiggly inches may turn to muscle which is heavier than fat. You may not notice weight loss on the scales but you are getting toned up. Most runners (and this is an average) burn about 100 calories a mile no matter how fast or slow you run. If a runner is covering 25 -35 miles per week they probably need to consume nearly 3000 calories a day w/55% of that being carbs and as your mileage goes up, so does you caloric intake. Isn't that awesome!!!! That's why I run, ha! This all depends though on metablism which you can get checked at some health clubs. I would just google it or something to find metabolism testing in your area...maybe Dr's offices do it as well as some gyms. Do this if you are interested in being exact with your caloric/carb intake. Remember low carb diets just don't work for runners, especially someone with your mileage. If you keep it up and eat healthy you'll be lean and mean in no time. Don't wait until race time to carb up, do it all that time. Good luck!