Running and trying to lose weight
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arditarose wrote: »beckygreene83 wrote: »Nikki10129 wrote: »1280 calories while working out that much is not enough. If you want to improve your running you need to lower your expectations on how fast you want to lose weight. You can't maintain a good running regime while trying to aggressively lose weight. I'm 5' and 1200 calories is not enough to fuel me most days, you need to up your calories (it would probably benefit you to calculate your TDEE).
You are right, I can't maintain the running. Left my daughter to run on her own the past few times. Looking for food suggestions that are great for helping my running as well as help with continued weight loss.
As far as weight loss goes, any foods are fine. I mean, as long as you are in a deficit and meeting your macro and micronutrient goals. As far as foods that better fuel you for runs...that's up to you. I don't do cardio so maybe other runners can suggest something for this.
thanks for the info0 -
I'm confused. Now it sounds like you know how to fuel your runs...you're just not eating enough in general.0
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arditarose wrote: »I'm confused. Now it sounds like you know how to fuel your runs...you're just not eating enough in general.
This, I don't think your issue is the what, it's the how much. I think you'll start seeing improvements once you start increasing the amount of food your eating, you can either do that by adding in extra meals or increasing portion sizes in the meals you eat. You seem to know what you're doing in terms of what to eat, you just aren't getting enough. Try eating more and see if that helps performance, it should.0 -
I've been struggling with the same thing. Not sure what the answer is, except to decrease the deficit. Some days, even a 500 calorie deficit is contributing to new feeling exhausted.
How is your sleep? Are you getting lots?0 -
beckygreene83 wrote: »Looking for good suggestions that help my running but also help with weight loss.
I'm a bit confused, so l summarize to show how I'm understanding your question:
Your daily calorie intake to lose 1 lb/week is 1280/day. On days that you run, you're sluggish and want to know what to eat to fuel your runs and lose weight. But you don't say whether you eat back some of the calories you burn on your run or whether you still eat 1280 calories that day.
On your run days, eat back half or 3/4 of the calories burned on your run to fuel the run. You'll still lose an average of 1 lb/week; the extra calories are just to fuel your run.
I like to eat about an hour before running. I eat things such as fruit (1-2 pieces) or a cereal/granola bar (Kashi makes good ones that are higher in fiber, lower in sugar) or a portion of nuts, rice crackers or roasted chickpeas.
Whatever you like to snack on and that isn't heavy in your stomach while you run will work. If you aren't consuming more than you burn on your run, you'll still lose 1 lb/week.
In summary:
- on run days, eat 1280 + 1/2-3/4 of your run calories
- on non-run days, eat 1280 calories.
If you're still hungry and sluggish in a couple of weeks while following this, you may need to eat more in general. MFP estimates what a person needs by the stats entered. It could be that your body burns more calories each day than the average and you have to adjust accordingly.
You'll find your way.0 -
beckygreene83 wrote: »Looking for good suggestions that help my running but also help with weight loss.
I'm a bit confused, so l summarize to show how I'm understanding your question:
Your daily calorie intake to lose 1 lb/week is 1280/day. On days that you run, you're sluggish and want to know what to eat to fuel your runs and lose weight. But you don't say whether you eat back some of the calories you burn on your run or whether you still eat 1280 calories that day.
On your run days, eat back half or 3/4 of the calories burned on your run to fuel the run. You'll still lose an average of 1 lb/week; the extra calories are just to fuel your run.
I like to eat about an hour before running. I eat things such as fruit (1-2 pieces) or a cereal/granola bar (Kashi makes good ones that are higher in fiber, lower in sugar) or a portion of nuts, rice crackers or roasted chickpeas.
Whatever you like to snack on and that isn't heavy in your stomach while you run will work. If you aren't consuming more than you burn on your run, you'll still lose 1 lb/week.
In summary:
- on run days, eat 1280 + 1/2-3/4 of your run calories
- on non-run days, eat 1280 calories.
If you're still hungry and sluggish in a couple of weeks while following this, you may need to eat more in general. MFP estimates what a person needs by the stats entered. It could be that your body burns more calories each day than the average and you have to adjust accordingly.
You'll find your way.
This is great info. Thank you.
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I'm surprised no one is pointing out that OP is set to lose 1lb a week, but claims not to have much to lose.
If you do not have much to lose, your weight loss goal should be set to .5lb per week, otherwise you will lose muscle mass among other things. Obviously you are experiencing the other things by runs suffering. Set your goal to .5lbs, eat back 50-85% of exercise calories, and you should see your endurance start to increase again. Same thing happens to me if I do not fuel my body before working out, but weight lifting. I end up having to deload sometimes up to 20lbs. So ensuring you get adequate nutrition is important beyond running.0 -
Do you lift weights? I have found that adding a couple days of compound lifts improved my shape over time, though I didn't lose weight (i.e., pounds) -0
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Fast digesting carbs are good to eat to fuel a run. If you eat foods before a run with too much fat and protein they will be slower to digest. Running gels works great but generally I only have those if I run over 6 miles. You said you were struggling with a 5K right? That is around 30-45 minutes of exercise which isn't that much considering what you're used to. You can either opt to eat a little more in general, fuel the workouts with more calories, or tone down the workouts (walk instead of run) until you reach your goal and increase your calories more.0
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What are you measurements OP? Maybe we could help you if we better understand where you are currently, and what your ultimate goals are. 1250 seems low to me...0
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I can feel a noticeable difference between running when I'm eating at a deficit and when I'm fully fueled (meaning I ate at or over maintenance the day before). It's actually pretty shocking.
I manage it by have a small deficit, so that I'm still losing weight but I can keep up my running. I also try to have a "feast day" (at least maintenance calories) the day before a race. My times are so much better at races when I feast beforehand. I know that I will take a small hit on the weight loss front, but maintaining my running habit will be extremely important for my long term weight maintenance that it's worth it.0 -
Either fuel you exercise properly, or don't exercise as much.
With the amount of running stated in the OP you should be able to consume far more calories than 1280 and still shed body fat.
Take home message, consume more.0 -
A car wont run with an empty fuel tank. Personally My run fuel is Banana,1 x banana for up to 10 mile, 2 x banana anything over about 30 mins before, and rest days in between.0
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I'm a runner 5'6, 115 lbs. I eat 2100-2200 cals per day. I would not survive on 1280 cals per day. If you want to stay highly active you have to eat more. In regards to eating around training, I eat oatmeal and greek yogurt for breakfast about 1.5 hours before I run/workout. I also find having a protein shake with BCAAs before I go to bed at night helps decrease soreness the next day and my overall recovery.0
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I find energy gels such as GU or Cliff Shots work great for fueling runs, eat one 15 minutes before your run, then every 45 minutes thereafter, be sure to drink a little water wit each gel; each gel is 100 calories, some have caffeine which can give you an additional boost.0
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I'm a runner 5'6, 115 lbs. I eat 2100-2200 cals per day. I would not survive on 1280 cals per day. If you want to stay highly active you have to eat more. In regards to eating around training, I eat oatmeal and greek yogurt for breakfast about 1.5 hours before I run/workout. I also find having a protein shake with BCAAs before I go to bed at night helps decrease soreness the next day and my overall recovery.
When I get into big mileage for marathon training, I can't seem to get enough calories. I've been known to hork down 3,000-4,000 calories per day in the weeks ahead of a marathon, and I still lose weight! (The trade off is controlling myself to cut back on those calories afterwards. After my first marathon, I put on 12lbs in the month following. That was a shocker!)0 -
I find energy gels such as GU or Cliff Shots work great for fueling runs, eat one 15 minutes before your run, then every 45 minutes thereafter, be sure to drink a little water wit each gel; each gel is 100 calories, some have caffeine which can give you an additional boost.
I personally like the Gu Chomps because it's less messy. i think they are 80-90 calories0 -
Smaller deficit, fuel properly around workouts.0
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Also just thought I'd throw it out there...make sure you are hydrating properly. Sometimes when we cut what we are eating we also get less fluids in. I eat around 1500 a day and run and haven't noticed any issues (but I am SLOW). However, if I didn't get 5-6 glasses of water in before I go for my afternoon run I really feel it.0
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