Eating back exercise calories- how to train and still lose weight?

Bulldogs1717

Hello

I'm struggling to find a balance between meeting the energy demands of long-distance running and weight loss goals. I feel like my energy is lagging a lot throughout the day, and I am not getting faster, so feel like maybe I have cut too many calories? I am trying to work off of a 500 cal deficit plan, and currently running 25-30 miles/week on average, plus 3 days of strength training. However, I am not losing weight, and feel tired/sluggish, so feel I should take a different approach. Has anyone else encountered this before? Any off hand ideas of what I might look at to get better results?

Thank you in advance!

tcunbeliever

Is that a 500 calorie deficit plan with your activity level already factored in, or is that a 500 cal deficit and not eating any extra for the activity?

Bulldogs1717

Sorry - to clarify- that calorie deficit is with activity factored in.... I'm not perfect at adhering to it but I try to stay close.

spiriteagle99

Try experimenting with what you eat. More carbs or more protein or more fat may help you with energy. Running 25 mpw shouldn't deplete your energy that much but if the quality is low, it can make a difference. Are you eating soon after your long runs? Are you getting at least one good rest day to allow your body to recover?

Duck_Puddle

spiriteagle99 wrote: »

Try experimenting with what you eat. More carbs or more protein or more fat may help you with energy. Running 25 mpw shouldn't deplete your energy that much but if the quality is low, it can make a difference. Are you eating soon after your long runs? Are you getting at least one good rest day to allow your body to recover?

All that.

I do have a point where I can’t keep up with training and still run a deficit, but it’s in the 45-50+ mpw range.

25-30 mpw should be doable at 500 cal deficit. What does your schedule look like specifically? What kind of strength training are you doing? How long have you been maintaining this schedule and how long did it take to build to this? Are you incorporating rest days and cutback and deload weeks?

NorthCascades

What intensity level are you running at, and what are you eating?

mjhooperii

Bulldogs1717 wrote: »

Hello

I'm struggling to find a balance between meeting the energy demands of long-distance running and weight loss goals. I feel like my energy is lagging a lot throughout the day, and I am not getting faster, so feel like maybe I have cut too many calories? I am trying to work off of a 500 cal deficit plan, and currently running 25-30 miles/week on average, plus 3 days of strength training. However, I am not losing weight, and feel tired/sluggish, so feel I should take a different approach. Has anyone else encountered this before? Any off hand ideas of what I might look at to get better results?

Thank you in advance!

I'm currently in similar situation -- at around 25-30 MPW but am only doing running (no strength training) so it may not be an exact comparison. As far as the weight loss goes however I find the weeks I lose weight are when I stick to the calorie deficit (640 calories per day is what I am set to now) and weeks I don't lose weight are because I went over my average most days. I would say first and foremost make sure you are logging accurately because if you are not losing any weight at a 3500 calorie deficit each week then you are prob under-logging your food or over-logging your exercise.

As for the tired/sluggish feeling, as others have said try varying your macros a bit. I get sluggish / tired when I have too many carbs in there and not enough fats/proteins. I'm usually pretty hungry and try to drink water to make the hunger go away, but I suppose that's part of eating less when I'm used to eating more.

Good luck.

jhanleybrown

Im not clear if weight or fatigue is the issue?

If fatigue: Maybe already doing this but if you are doing intervals on a regular basis, it's not a bad idea to cycle an easier week every third or fourth week. Not a rest week but lighter intensity and volume.

If weight: make sure you are using an accurate calorie formula for the running. 0.63 x weight (in lbs) = kcals/mile. MFP will give you 150% of that.

sijomial

Question - "Eating back exercise calories- how to train and still lose weight?"

Short answer - By being at a suitable and sustainable calorie deficit.

Longer answer.......
First thing to validate is your food and exercise calorie estimates.
Having a private diary means only you know how well you are doing that but based on experience there's a very high probability that you are eating more calories than you think. You may also be overestimating your exercise but the intake side really has more significance, getting both sides into the realms of reasonable helps enormously.

Personally I can train hard and lose weight at rate of 1lb / week but only for a limited number of weeks before my performance and recovery starts to suffer. At the same time as the stall my weight loss will also stall despite a continuing deficit - probably due to accululated stress (cortisol). Despite fat loss still happening I would be retaining fluid masking that fat loss. And the feelings of lethagy and abnormal soreness kicks in (which can affect your general daily activity reducing your overall CO).

But if I lose at a slower rate than that I can sustain my training performance and isn't adversely affected for months.

You haven't said if this fatigue is new or if it's come on after a period of weeks (months?) of weight loss.

Bulldogs1717

Thank you for getting back to me- I probably do underestimate calories on occasion so this is definitely something I’ll be more mindful of.

I didn’t think about the hormonal side of this but that makes a lot of sense. This has come on more recently. I had consistently been losing weight and then increased my training to get ready for this race as well as added in another leg day as I was advised this would help with my speed. That’s when I started to hit this wall and feel so lethargic a lot of the time. I hate it- I want the high I get from having a great workout back and just frustrated with this.

sijomial

Bulldogs1717 wrote: »

Thank you for getting back to me- I probably do underestimate calories on occasion so this is definitely something I’ll be more mindful of.

I didn’t think about the hormonal side of this but that makes a lot of sense. This has come on more recently. I had consistently been losing weight and then increased my training to get ready for this race as well as added in another leg day as I was advised this would help with my speed. That’s when I started to hit this wall and feel so lethargic a lot of the time. I hate it- I want the high I get from having a great workout back and just frustrated with this.

The good news side of the weight stall / fatigue at the end of a training block is when I taper up my calories and taper down my intensity the fatigue goes and normally the water weight goes too.
Depending when your race is scheduled an easy week (very low or no deficit, drop training intensity and perhaps volume) might work wonders.

The balance point of boosting performance through weight loss without losing your quality of training and recovery can be delicate and varied and you need to read the signs your body is sending you.
I'm poor at "giving in" to feelings but data (such as elevated resting HR, loss of power/performance) I find much easier to reconcile that try harder isn't always the answer to every problem.