After more than 4,000 rosy-cheeked, fit runners crossed the NYC marathon’s finish line on Sunday, it’s no surprise that New Year’s resolutions may come a little earlier this year.If you want to rev up a stale workout routine, lace up.

But, if major weight loss is your prime motivator, training to run a grueling 26.2 miles race may not get you there.

Depending on your activity, current weight, and energy output, you may need to increase your intake, or maintain the status quo, to fuel your muscles. For athletes looking to trim a few pounds, a 10-20 percent cut back on total usual intake (with fat no less than 15 percent), is doable, but any more than that can be dangerous.

First off, you should get an idea of how many calories you actually burn while you run. Though we’re all for cardiovascular activity to promote a healthy heart, body and mind, it may not give you as much of an energy deficit as you think.

FAT

Fat is needed for its essential fatty acids, fat soluble vitamin (A, D, E, K) absorption and energy stores. Fat should comprise 20 to 35 percent of your total caloric intake and come from primarily unsaturated fat sources. If you skimp too much on meals or snacks in the hope of burning more calories, your muscles will draw fuel from your lean body tissue and fat stores leading to compromised body functions (endocrine, immune and musculoskeletal) and the sensation of “hitting the wall” (as fat is called upon for energy to replace lost glycogen), slowing you down or bringing you to a stop.

CARBS

Carbs are your main energy source. Whatever your past relationship with carbohydrates, in training, they should make up 50 to 65 percent of total energy intake, if you’re going to hit the pavement hard. It’s at the higher end of the Food Guide Pyramid, but it doesn’t allow for many low quality calorically-dense passes. Spreading them over the course of three meals (and two snacks) that are balanced with some protein and a little fat is the way to plate it.

Depending on your needs, carby snacks can range from 100 to 300 calories and should be low in fat and dairy and may include some fiber, when training.  Good choices include trail mix, fruit, a handful of pretzels, PB&J on graham crackers, a glass of low fat chocolate milk or a sports drink.

Some meal suggestions:

If you’re an early morning runner: Sandwich one whole egg and one or two egg whites on a whole wheat English muffin and add some berries on the side.

For lunch time gym-goers: Have a whole wheat wrap with turkey or tuna fish and 1/4 of an avocado and salad.

Late night sweaters: Go for a baked chicken breast, a sweet potato and a bowl of reduced sodium vegetable soup.

PROTEIN

Protein does a good job of building strength and repairing sore muscles, but overdoing it won’t make the ache go away any faster, in fact, it’ll just lead to dehydration. The current Recommended Daily Allowance for protein is 0.8g per kilogram of body weight. (Take your weight in pounds and divide by 2.2 to get your weight in kilograms.) But, if you’re going to be clocking serious miles, aim for an increase of 1.2 to 1.4 g per kilogram of body weight per day.

FLUIDS

It is important to monitor fluid intake throughout the day to balance fluid (sweat) losses and prevent dehydration especially when training. Drink before, during and after exercise–about 16 to 20 oz. an hour. Though sports drinks offer electrolytes and ward off dehydration, when it comes to weight control, they may do more damage than good.  If you are concerned about your weight, stick mostly with water.

PICKING UP 100 CALORIE SLACK

We used to giddily skip along with our pre-portioned Twinkies and Reeses and their cute, colorful, kid-lunch-like plastic exteriors. That was, until FoodNavigator.com shook us out of our sugar-induced stupor:

“Consumers are looking for value over convenience in the current economic situation; 100-calorie packs were a diet fad that has been shown not to work; and they use an unsustainably large amount of packaging.”

Oh.

So we got to thinking. How can we most efficiently snack at 3PM without sabotaging our diet, the environment and our budget?

IN THE KITCH: We hit the bottom of the bag waaay too soon when it came to those pre-portioned bites. So we’re preparing a balance of protein, fat and carbs coming in at 100 to 180 calories.

Toast a 1/2 Sabra pita, 1/4 cup tomato sauce, 1 slice low fat American cheese, add fresh ground pepper & sprinkle oregano, to taste 140 cals

• 1 tbs Peanut Butter & Co.’s Cinnamon and Raisin Swirl, 80 cal whole wheat bread 165 cals
  

• Boil or bake or stir fry 1⁄2 (40 gms) Plaintain Banana 150 cals

• 3 tbs. Friendship Farmer Cheese, 4 Trader Joes Reduced Guilt Wheat Wafers 155 cals

• 1 pack regular oatmeal, 1⁄2 cup sliced strawberries, cinnamon 140 cals

• 8 oz. Kettle Cuisine Chicken Vegetable Soup with Rice 100 cals
  

• 5 tbs. Argo Tzatziki Yogurt sauce, 1 cup raw veggies 150 cals
  

ON THE GO: Because sometimes we don’t see our refrigerators for days.

• Figamajig Bar 130-150 cals
• KIND Bar Fruit and Nut Delight 170 cals
• Vitalicious Muffin Top 100 cals
• 

Fullbar Bites 150 cals

Go-Mango-Man Peeled Snacks: 150 cals

Kooloos Oven Roasted Soynuts and Flax Seed Honey BBQ 130 cals

We may not scream for them, but chips are indispensable in our summer snacking. Still, scanning rows of sustainable, low fat, low sodium and fair trade options fills us with more anxiety than the seductive Cheetos guy does. The organic aisle has us questioning (are they for real veggies?) and shaking (are there more than ten chips in the bag?). So we went ahead and tested some of the healthful looking items to determine which are good for us and which are just dressed in colorful costume. At least they all agreed to be trans fat and cholesterol free.

Cals 105 (30 gm). Sodium 120 mg. Fiber 3 gm.

Crispy Delites: Carrot Chips Baked and jam-packed with a pound of vegetables, 390 mg of potassium, (helps all cells) and lots of Vitamins A and C, this snack has your green needs in mind. No. You’re not seeing things, they’re helping you see better.

Not much of a rabbit? Try cucumber, celery, red onion or Fuji apple.

Extend Crisps: White Cheddar Soy Crisps

Cals 130 (32 gm). Sodium 160 mg. Fiber 3 gm.

This light, airy low glycemic index snack gets its mild cheese taste from a combo of dehydrated cheese and whey. That, together with the uncooked corn starch (read: a slow burning carb that controls blood sugar release) keeps us fuller, longer, preventing us from tearing through another bag.

Cals 140 (28 gm). Sodium 140 mg. Fiber 3 gm.

Garden of Eatin: Multigrain Tortilla Chips with Everything Actually packed with Multi (seven of them) Grains (organic corn, cracked wheat, steel cut oats and flax seeds to name a few), this speckled snack is baked in sunflower and safflower oils (high in monosaturates, like olive oil) and combined with savory additions of poppy seeds, onion, and garlic to really give you everything.

Cals 140 (28 gm). Sodium 80 mg. Fiber 3 gm.

Food Should Taste Good: Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips

Although sweet potato isn’t the first on the nutrition label’s list (its stoneground corn), we get all the benefits of the soft orange vegetable’s Vitamin A (20%). With just the right balance of sweet and salty flavor and conveniently sized for dipping, this chip goes well with mango salsa and bean dip. Though something that tastes this good doesn’t need much added kick.