How to run 1 hr/day 6 days/week without getting acne from carbs?

Question

In 2009 I trained for and ran in the NYC marathon. My training had me running about an hour a day, 5-6 days a week. While training I noticed that the long runs would make me crave carbs, and I would eat a lot of brown rice, oatmeal, etc. But I also noticed that eating all these carbs would give me acne from the high glycemic load of the food.

Nowadays I eat broccoli and carrots to get my carbs, and they don't give me acne, but they also have so few calories that I suspect (but don't know for certain) that they wouldn't satisfy cravings for calories/carbs(?) if I were to follow my old running regimen.

In the years since I was training for that marathon, I've noticed that some, but not all, other people who have similar running habits will also have acne, and I suspect it's for the same reason that I did (eating lots of high-glycemic-load carbs every day).

My question is: how can I make it work? How can I sustain a training regimen of intense cardio (running, bicycling, or swimming) one hour per day, six days a week, and not get the acne from high-glycemic load foods? Will broccoli and carrots in combination with greater fat intake (for more calories) solve the problem?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who have firsthand experience dealing with these issues.

Answer 1

You should consider consuming more proteins and fats. It will help with "cravings". Consuming low-glycemic food should help with the break-outs, but you will have to experiment, yourself.

Each person reacts differently to the same foods, hence you will need to find what works for you by keeping a consistent diet and then adjusting some aspects of it.

For me, reducing carbs, in general, helps. I replace them with higher protein and fat content.