Endurance athlete and weight loss?

TrackGirl1418

Hi everyone! I have been futilely attempting to lose weight the past few months. No matter what I try, my body seems to be stuck at this weight. My sister has been dieting a little too, and has already lost weight in a matter of 2 weeks. I am currently 5'4"-5'5" ish and weight 121. I run cross countey and track year-round for my high school and run at least 6 miles a day when we have speed (about 2x a week) and at least 8 on long run days (3x a week). When I don't run, usually Sundays, I go to the gym and burn at least 600 calories.
I really want to know how I can lose this weight. Am I simply eating too much or am I not eating enough? I know to lose weight you just need to create a 3500 calorie deficit and I have been conscious of how much I have been eating. That being said, I don't want to eat too little and send my body into a "starvation mode".
Any tips or input is greatly appreciated!

Lyadeia

I'm confused as to why someone who is my height and 20 pounds lighter than my "after" picture in my avatar "needs" to lose weight...

Why are you so concerned with that number on the piece of scrap metal sitting on your bathroom floor?

Or are your goals not really "weight" loss but actually "fat" loss which is actually different?

SingingSingleTracker

Hi everyone! I have been futilely attempting to lose weight the past few months. No matter what I try, my body seems to be stuck at this weight. My sister has been dieting a little too, and has already lost weight in a matter of 2 weeks. I am currently 5'4"-5'5" ish and weight 121. I run cross countey and track year-round for my high school and run at least 6 miles a day when we have speed (about 2x a week) and at least 8 on long run days (3x a week). When I don't run, usually Sundays, I go to the gym and burn at least 600 calories.
I really want to know how I can lose this weight. Am I simply eating too much or am I not eating enough? I know to lose weight you just need to create a 3500 calorie deficit and I have been conscious of how much I have been eating. That being said, I don't want to eat too little and send my body into a "starvation mode".
Any tips or input is greatly appreciated!

Have you ever competed at a lower weight? Or is 121 or the 120's where you have competed in previous years?

Your ideal "racing weight" is tricky to find, but it's usually a pretty small window (say 115-119 as an example).

You are pretty close to an excellent competitive running weight as is, but no doubt geting down into the teens may improve your power/weight ratio for the hills in cross country events if that is your "ideal race weight". My daughter is your height and ran both cross country and track. She was usually around 130-133 because she was a sprinter.

Sounds like your caloric deficit is not quite enough to trim weight - or you are counting the calories you are eating incorrectly. Take a look at both and be careful not to run too much of a deficit as you need to fuel your workouts. Keep the carbs high in your ratio of carbs/fat/protein, but let the total daily calories be enough of a deficit to move the needle on the scale. Check out the book "Racing Weight" by Fitzgerald which is really targeted at what you are attempting to do. http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Performance-Series/dp/1934030996

Matt is against counting calories for endurance athletes. It's much more about eating the super foods that fuel endurance athletes and helping you find your ideal racing weight. Somebody your height may run better at 120 than 115 and vice versa. Anyway, it's well worth the read.

What distances do you run in track?

SingingSingleTracker

I'm confused as to why someone who is my height and 20 pounds lighter than my "after" picture in my avatar "needs" to lose weight...

Why are you so concerned with that number on the piece of scrap metal sitting on your bathroom floor?

Or are your goals not really "weight" loss but actually "fat" loss which is actually different?

Competitive running is an entirely different ball of wax than what you may have experienced. Power to weight ratio is key for an event such as cross country racing. Same with track events. My assumption is she is keying in on trimming just a few pounds to find that ideal competitive weight for her height. It could also be that her body has settled into the 121 range because that is her ideal racing weight. Hard to tell without seeing what she eats and her workouts, times, etc... .

My guess is that her body "knows" and has settled in at her current weight based on her workouts and diet because that is pretty close to her ideal.

Which leads back to asking the question of the OP - did your coach or somebody advise you that you needed to trim weight?

TrackGirl1418

I have competed at a lower weight before. Last season I lost weight and raced at about 110-112lbs. My coach does not tell us explicitly to diet but he does advice us to watch what we eat a try and lose some weight so that we will be competing at an "ideal race weight".

SingingSingleTracker

I have competed at a lower weight before. Last season I lost weight and raced at about 110-112lbs. My coach does not tell us explicitly to diet but he does advice us to watch what we eat a try and lose some weight so that we will be competing at an "ideal race weight".

How'd you run last year at the lower weight compared to this year? Typically, as long as you are not overeating calorie wise, your body will settle into it's ideal weight during all of the training and workouts leading up to the heart of the season. If you want to "help" it get there, make sure you are running a bit of a deficit to help you get there. On days you are not training (no practice), you can run more than a "bit of a deficit" to chip away at the few pounds you want to lose.