Runner having trouble with weight/body comp, etc

1run2017

Hello,
I am a high school track (800, 1600 etc) and cross country runner, and I need to figure out why I can't lose fat/gain muscle. I'm around 130 pounds which I know is a good weight for my height, but more of that is fat than should be. I bike to and from school (about 3 miles each way) and run/work out with my team or on my own 5-6 days a week. I eat mostly vegan (ethical reasons, not health reasons) and I'm pretty sure I'm not eating too much- I've tried counting and I'm probably not eating enough- I'm eating more now than I used to but it still hovers around 1500 cal/day. I know I should probably be eating more, but why can't I lose this fat? I can't get toned or develop muscle like others can, even though I get much more excersize and eat almost exclusively healthy, whole foods- I even stay away from refined grains and too much sugar. Could eating too little be causing this? Am I eating more than I think? I try to estimate on the high end to avoid that whenever possible. I want to be in better shape to be a better athlete, to be faster and stronger, but I just can't figure out how.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Do you work out your other muscle groups? Cycling/running are mainly just legs. Do you do any resistance work?

Also how are you measuring your body fat?

Eating too little is not the cause of it, nor is eating grains or sugar.

1run2017

I do abs/pliometrics/weights at least once or twice a week. I'm measuring by the fact that I can clearly see in the mirror that I have more fat and less muscle than I should. It's gotten a little better- I've got a bit more muscle and I've been eating more (though I haven't gained weight) but it's very modest.

howeclectic

Squats and deadlifts and sled pulls in the gym 3x a week. Make sure you're getting enough protein with all your amino acids (being vegan could be hurting your protein intake). If you want to gain muscle... Aim to eat enough to gain .5 pounds of body weight a week. Gain 10 pounds or so... Then switch to losing .5 pounds a week while maintaining your lifting regime.

janejellyroll

How much protein are you getting per day? Vegans can meet protein needs for adding muscle, but we need to focus on it a bit more.

howeclectic

What I wish someone told me in hs was that in order to gain strength you need to get your body to release growth hormones. You only do this by stressing your largest muscles. Want to get huge biceps? Don't do curls... Dead lift and squat to get the hormonal release and your body will add the muscle everywhere. Skip the curls... Skip the sittups... Skip any isolation machine. The center of your weight lifting routine has to be deadlifts and squats with a calorie surplus to get the results.

1run2017

I'm probably not getting enough protein, partially because I hear lots of conflicting information on how much I need. I eat oatmeal every morning, lots of fruit/vegetables, probably a serving of nuts/nut butters a day, some rice and other grains, though not much honestly, and some, but again probably not as much as I should be having, beans/lentils/etc, some avocado and a good amount of hummus (which id probably die without) I was told by a dietician that part of my issue is that my body is holding on to excess fat and using muscle as fuel instead- I don't want to be big, I want to be lean and have lean muscle. I fall into restrictive acting habits easily, so I try to avoid counting calories/macros. Do I need to gain weight and then lose it? Or if I start eating better will I see improvement?

janejellyroll

1run2017 wrote: »

I'm probably not getting enough protein, partially because I hear lots of conflicting information on how much I need. I eat oatmeal every morning, lots of fruit/vegetables, probably a serving of nuts/nut butters a day, some rice and other grains, though not much honestly, and some, but again probably not as much as I should be having, beans/lentils/etc, some avocado and a good amount of hummus (which id probably die without) I was told by a dietician that part of my issue is that my body is holding on to excess fat and using muscle as fuel instead- I don't want to be big, I want to be lean and have lean muscle. I fall into restrictive acting habits easily, so I try to avoid counting calories/macros. Do I need to gain weight and then lose it? Or if I start eating better will I see improvement?

Since you fall into restrictive eating easily, I would recommend just tracking protein. Oatmeal, vegetables, nuts/nut butters, grains, and beans all have protein, but in the amounts you're probably eating, it's possible you aren't getting enough to help you maintain/add muscle with all your activity.

So, if you don't think it will be a trigger for you, spend a week or two just tracking your protein. Don't worry about setting a goal yet. Just try to figure out where you're hitting. From there, you can begin setting goals if it turns out you could use more (and my best is that you probably can).

You won't get big by accident as a vegan runner. I promise it. Even if you're doing resistance training. To build that lean muscle you want, you'll need protein though. More often, we vegan runners need to focus to get that muscle.

Here are some foods I eat (in addition to what you listed above) to help meet protein goals:

Tofu -- if you marinate it and bake it, you can grab it cold from the fridge, add it to a sandwich, even dip it in hummus

Tempeh --marinate it, crumble it, and cook it and it has a sausagelike texture that goes well with grains

Protein powder -- this is a super-easy way to help meet protein goal, you can get a ridiculous amount of protein with it. You can have it as deluxe as you want (smoothie with chia seed, half a dozen tropical fruits, plant milk, and avocado) or simple (mix with water or plant milk and chug) as you want. I like the Vega brand, but there are plenty out there. I don't have protein powder every day, but when I notice my protein is a little low, I will often go for that

PB2 -- this is a peanut butter powder that is useful if you want the taste and protein of peanut butter without the calorie hit. I add it to oatmeal and smoothies.

Seitan -- this is a great concentrated protein source for plant-based eaters. You can buy it, but you can also make it yourself.

Various commercial meat substitutes -- there are so many great meat substitutes available for us now. Even if you don't want to eat them daily (and I don't), I still find they're useful to incorporate into meals to boost protein and taste. Beyond Meat makes great "chicken" strips and "beef crumbles." Tofurkey's new "chicken" has tons of protein (I had some with a salad yesterday and got 60 grams of protein). Not sure what your grocery store situation is, but they are becoming available more and more places.

Soy milk/yogurt -- while other plant milks don't have much protein, soy milk and yogurt isn't, by itself, a huge source of protein, but it can boost all the other foods in your diet.

I highly recommend "Vegan for Life" by Jack Norris and Virginia Messina. It is a basic overview of vegan nutrition and they have a chapter specifically for vegan athletes. I have found it very helpful over the years.

Yi5hedr3

Yep - Vegan is your problem. Been there, done that, ain't going back!

1run2017

Thank you so much for the advice. I really want to work on fixing my eating habits- the past two weeks alone I started eating a little more and my 1600 went down by about a minute. Ill definitely start paying attention to protein more. I honestly struggle to find the time to prepare food and I'm not good about planning; I think if I tried planning out my meals and sticking to that itd help a lot.

janejellyroll

1run2017 wrote: »

Thank you so much for the advice. I really want to work on fixing my eating habits- the past two weeks alone I started eating a little more and my 1600 went down by about a minute. Ill definitely start paying attention to protein more. I honestly struggle to find the time to prepare food and I'm not good about planning; I think if I tried planning out my meals and sticking to that itd help a lot.

Good luck!