Wanting some advice

Amazon74

Hi all,
I'm a bit of a secret lurker, I've been following this group for a while but didn't really have the courage to post before. I've stopped by tonight looking for some advice/guidance. Just after Christmas I started a new fitness regime/ healthy eating plan. In addition to this I'm currently training for a half marathon.
I'm not going to lie - some of my reasons for wanting to run are to lose fat and fit better in my clothes. So in order to help me with this I also hired a personal trainer.
My starting weight was 175 pounds. (I'm 5ft 9)
Fast forward to today - my Cw - 175. That's right, I haven't lost one single pound.. To say I feel like a failure,is an understatement.
In conjunction with my personal trainer I was advised to eat 1600 calories. Now I don't consider myself an expert on this but this sounds too low and we've argued about this quite a bit. I have lost one inch all over ,but my clothes still feel snug.
My diet is clean, I've cut diet soda, bread and pasta, and focus on lean protein, fish, and veg, low sugar fruit ..
I've gone from not being able to run 1 mile to running 7 this weekend, but I still don't seem to be losing inches (or weight) at a decent enough pace. Not too bothered about the scale if I'm honest, but today I put a skirt on that I hadn't worn for a while and it as still tight and uncomfy!
I exercise about 5 days a week, and am burning off a lot of calories (Sunday was 926 - from my garmin!). I've now come to the conclusion that I need to eat more. I feel tired, irritable, anxious and weepy and I'm convinced I need to up my calories.
Do you think that upping my calories gradually might help my body to let go of the additional fat? Any friendly advice or feedback welcomed! X

ETA - I also do 3 weight lifting sessions a week .. In addition to running/ x training.

misskym

Congrats on being able to run 7 miles! That is a great endurance victory.

I would suggest determining your BMR and TDEE. If you're eating 1600 calories and burning as many calories as you are, it's most likely safe to assume you're netting too few calories, which can be hindering your weight/inch loss.

Heybales' spreadsheet is an amazing resource: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE

Alternatively, I like fat2fit.com's military calculator and Scooby's calculator (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/).

Gapwedge01

I also endorse the spreadsheet developed by Heybales.

Your weekly exercise schedule is loaded. I don't see any active rest days in there at all. Rest days are important especially if you are lifting. Your TDEE activity level has to be on the very active level which suggests your 1600 is not near enough ( guessing since I don't know what your BMR is).

Review the spreadsheet and see what numbers you come up with.

heybales

Diet is a stress.
Frequent intense exercise is a stress.
You got other stresses in life besides weight loss?

The messed up hormones will fight fat loss tooth and .... (insert something quippy here).

Try to do to much exercise in a deficit is going to backfire for performance. You get stronger from the load you put on your body when it actually has time to rest and use nutrients to make you stronger.
But that hasn't been happening as much as it could just because of the diet. But a better diet isn't going to help little rest for repair.

Is the lifting full body, or just upper since doing running?

Is every running workout same intensity, like all out?

I've watched the personal trainers at the gym pull some wild advice out for people. And one even does things smart for his own routine, but then doesn't apply it to others. Wild. I think he knows he keeps clients if they feel they are being trashed and therefore must be working really hard and beneficial. But we've talk about our triathlon training, and he doesn't do as he tells others to do.
So I wouldn't trust he's doing everything best for what you want to accomplish.

When is the half, and how much time on how many days you got available?

Amazon74

Hi all ,
Thanks for taking the time to reply..
Well that's the thing my BMR is 1595, so with 1600 calories only eating 5 calories above that and I don't always eat all my calories back.. It's not good is it?

I rested yesterday, but run about 4 times a week, 3 are pretty intense with a lng, slow run as well. Weights are full body, we do stuff like lunges, and squats to improve my leg strength..

With regards to stress! Oh yes, lots of I work,full time,( in a stressful job!) and my hubby is in the army which means its just me and the kids most of the time. I have a relaxation thing on my iPhone I listen too every day, but not sure what else I can do about the stress situation...
ETA - yes I trained every day last week, which again I'm not sure I should be doing. In order to run further I have been trying to rest my legs the day before. (For which I get moaned at by the trainer) I'm starting to think that maybe I know more about my on body than I've given myself credit for!


The half marathon is march 17th. Sorry, just realised didn't answer all your questions. For background, my trainer wants me to train 6 days a week.. With 1 day off. I'm finding my legs ache all the time and struggle with some of the faster pace runs thru aching so bad!

heybales

Hi all ,
Thanks for taking the time to reply..
Well that's the thing my BMR is 1595, so with 1600 calories only eating 5 calories above that and I don't always eat all my calories back.. It's not good is it?

I rested yesterday, but run about 4 times a week, 3 are pretty intense with a lng, slow run as well. Weights are full body, we do stuff like lunges, and squats to improve my leg strength..

With regards to stress! Oh yes, lots of I work,full time,( in a stressful job!) and my hubby is in the army which means its just me and the kids most of the time. I have a relaxation thing on my iPhone I listen too every day, but not sure what else I can do about the stress situation...
ETA - yes I trained every day last week, which again I'm not sure I should be doing. In order to run further I have been trying to rest my legs the day before. (For which I get moaned at by the trainer) I'm starting to think that maybe I know more about my on body than I've given myself credit for!

The half marathon is march 17th. Sorry, just realised didn't answer all your questions. For background, my trainer wants me to train 6 days a week.. With 1 day off. I'm finding my legs ache all the time and struggle with some of the faster pace runs thru aching so bad!

So ya, that was a lot of activity on little food. Not giving the body anything to actually make improvements with.

I'd say you have better handle on body than trainer then. Here is some general advice you'd find many places about training levels, as long as they know there is a deficit in place that changes some things.

If you are going into a run with sore legs from lifting or intense run day before, then at most, the jog should be in the Active Recovery HR zone, which generally doesn't add a load, just blood flow. Badly called the fat-burning zone.
But many find when trying to run that slow, it's awkward, so just walk instead. Otherwise, you aren't getting the repair you could get, or none.

Only 20% of weekly cardio time should be intense, like intervals or always at upper end. For anything over a 5K, you don't want to train your limited storage glucose burning system, you want to train your almost limitless fat burning system.

Only 1 run a week need be long, the distance run. Top of Aerobic HR zone. Rest day before going into it is indeed great, otherwise hard to do well. Day after can be lifting with upper body though, but walking lower.

An intense run for intervals or tempo need only be 40 min, with 20 min walking warmup/cooldown. Once a week. Trainers should know the studies showing decreasing returns for more than 20% of cardio being intervals or intense. And that's for people NOT on a deficit!

Then one other run in the Mid-aerobic zone if proceeding a lifting day, or Active Recovery zone if following a lifting day. 60 min max, with maybe 10 min walking warm-up-cooldown in addition.

Cardio on lifting days can follow the lifts, and should be cross-training, like some cycling or swimming or elliptical. If you still have energy left after lifting properly, you can push it as hard as you desire since next day should be rest or active recovery.

With 3 weeks left to go (last week should be taper, and recommend eating at appropriate TDEE with little to no deficit), you should be approaching the total distance.

Probably need a foot time run this coming weekend.
Calculate what you expect your pace and total race time to be, rounding up a tad - divide by 3.
Wear everything you are likely to wear, and try to do it at the same time of day as the race. Eat the same day before and day of.
Walk 1/3 the time, trying to hit 4 mph.
Run 1/3 the time, better than race pace since short.
Walk again.

You just hit the total time you'll be on your feet for the race. Tested everything out. Make a note of what must change for the race, bad socks, shirt, shorts, water, breakfast, ect. You should eat more after this long workout. May not need rest day though, easy run or lifting.

Now following weekend on 2 days, so have to plan rest day before and after really.
You need 3 running times within 24 hrs. So Sat morning late, Sat evening, Sun morning early perhaps, or Sat night, Sun and Sun.
Again food and clothes each time similar to what you'll wear.
Each session 10 min warmup and cooldown walk. You'll tend to get tight.
Run 5 miles each time, race pace, if not just a tad over, not much though.

There, just did 15 miles in 24 hrs, so feet saw the same pounding they'll receive at the race. Now you'll see if blisters showed up or something. If pace was right. If water refills is enough, ect. You'll need to eat more again after these, and need rest day.

Now the final Sunday 1 week before the race. Whatever long run distance you are ready for, hopefully about 10 miles at this point. Lower aerobic HR zone, slower pace probably, no need to get worn out now.
Skip the intense run this week, make the other short run recovery HR zone. no lifting heavy weights, other cardio is easy. No workouts 2 days before, and eat at TDEE to get glucose stores built up. You will gain weight, don't even bother weighing.

Just some advice that has worked for many. Taken from sources through the years, and applied by many with successful runs, even with short training sometimes, including my self.

If we had 2 more weeks in there, one other routine could have been added that would help, but no time now.

danipals

I just wanted to say "Good Luck" on your race! I feel your pain as I signed up for a Half last spring and after all that running, I did not lose an ounce!! I thought it was a sure fire way to get the weight loss started! Like you, I think I wasn't eating enough. I also developed plantar fasciitis which took me a full 8.5months to heal from.

This year I signed up for the I-Challenge which is a 5k the night before and 10k race day. The main reason was because of heel issues, but now after reading so much from this thread, I'm glad that I won't be doing as much cardio.

Good luck to you on your race and with your weigh loss!

Danielle