Training for a half marathon on calorie deficit

adhillman01

Has anyone been training for a half marathon while maintaining a calorie deficit and managed to lose weight? Do you feel like you have energy for your longer runs?

AggieCass09

I eat back the calories burned during my runs and am still losing weight (about 1 lb/ week). MFP automatically calculates a deficit so I just eat to my net calories of 1200 and I am not hungry and am running well.

cmw72

I'm trying to accomplish the same thing.

I just grab a granola bar and maybe a banana before I run and it seems to work out all right.

jlewis2896

Yup, but I had to increase my carb intake. You kind of just have to adjust your diet to what works for you.

When I stayed at MFP's default settings during training I was tired all the time. I up my carbs when I start to feel sluggish and that makes it much better.

I do tend to gain weight when I am training heavily, but I also struggle with eating clean!! So that may just be me.

sweetheart03622

If you eat back the calories you've burned you should be fine. How many miles/week are you running? Once it's over 15 or so, you can figure out the average your body burns per mile (100 is a benchmark, mine is closer to 125) and multiply that by the number of miles you run (15miles x 100 calories = 1500) and then divide that evenly between the 7 days (about 215). Eat that many extra calories (usually in the form of complex carbs) and you should be fine.

ickybella

I am training for a half marathon and I also do strength training. I lose about a pound a week. This week my loss was a little larger, and I'm not sure why, because I was significantly over my calories three times last week, but I'll take it. Because of my strength training, I did cut my carbs to 50%. I also tried to go to 45% but I was feeling really dizzy and weak all the time, so I am now at 50% carb, 25% fat, 25% protein. I'm not really sure if this is a good amount, but it's been working for me! Also, I eat BMR calories, and I try to eat back as many of my exercise calories as possible. I have been losing more slowly since I started running, but I have been dropping clothing sizes really quickly. I started running in November and was a UK 16. This week, I had to go and buy some new clothes that were UK 10s. Anyway, hope my rambling has helped you.

dellis83

I've been doing some research on this since I am considering training for a marathon.

My research has suggest 50/25/25 ratio for carbs, fat, and protein.

I plan to have a daily deficit of 500-750 calories, but I am going to make sure in the hours around my training runs, I have zero deficit to ensure I have adequate energy and recovery fuel. I use a Garmin watch that keeps good track of my cals burned and I set up custom pre and post workout meals. The sum of those two matching the calorie burn is the goal, then I run a deficit the rest of the day to get my weight loss. It makes intuitive sense, I hope it works!

mlb929

I followed the book Racing Weight and not only lost my last 10 lbs I never ever thought I would lose - I also did P90X2 and lost 2% more body fat.

I am never ever able to eat my calories back after my long run. I get sick to my stomach running and it takes me almost all day to recovery w/o being sick from eating. I started eating ginger, it helps, but the idea that I burned 1500 calories, and would make my daily goal 3K is outrageous to me.

dellis83

Interesting...its the exact opposite for me. When I'm running my hunger shuts down, but about half an hour after I am done it hits me like a truck.