Runners: how do you balance high mileage and hunger and weight loss?
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1) It sounds like you're over training. When you are tired, irritable, and hating your run, it's time to take a rest from it. You won't lose your fitness with a week or two off. If you've ever run a marathon or looked into it, you'll know that the "taper week" before a race actually helps make you stronger. When I had a knee injury 3 weeks before my last marathon, I wasn't able to run for 2 whole weeks. I only got in a couple of 5k a few days before the race, and discovered all of my fitness was there.
2) I ask this of people all the time, do you really need to lose the extra weight? After dropping 46 pounds, I was obsessed with losing 4 more--and I just couldn't do it. I finally came to terms that I had set an arbitrary goal, ignoring how fit and trim I already was. So I'm not going to get to the bottom of my BMI range--so what? I think sometimes we get so caught up in being fit that we ignore that we are fit.
3) I was never a "foodie" until I started running. Last marathon, I was inhaling 3000 calories a day, still hungry and still losing weight. You can't drive the car without keeping the tank full of gas.0 -
Sailor_Moon86 wrote: »Maybe it's water weight? I know I've lost inches. Clothes fit better. Even if I was off by half, 2000 caloric deficit should produce at least half a pound of Loss.
I believe so and I know I am going through the same thing. Water retention is normal to help with the healing of muscle tissue that you're tearing up with the weightlifting. I hit a plateau when I began lifting again too. If your calorie count is on point, it is water. Keep it up and you will see results.
I think that's where I am as well. I can google this, but I'm curious how to break through this so I'm not retaining so much water, other than drinking more water (which does seem counter-intuitive).
Give yourself an extra recovery day, drink lots of water, make sure protein and fat needs are met.
Water helps with reducing bloat because clearance of various salts, urea, etc. is necessary.0 -
I think that's your problem what you're eating. Fibre fills you are and is generally low calorie. I can eat half a honey dew melon, a banana and various over fruits for just 200 calories and it will fill me up. I'm running 50 odd miles a week a losing weight while eating sufficient nutrients. Yes it can be a bit of a balancing act but experiment and find what works for you. Calories are king for weightloss but to get the balance between energy and satisfaction and nutrition you need to find what works for you and the type of foods and their nutrition profile is what you need to work on.Sailor_Moon86 wrote: »I keep eating at maintenance, sometimes a little over, and I'm frustrated because I want to lose these last 10 lbs ASAP. I hover between 135-139. I run 37-40 miles a week, and I was aiming for 1500 a day but end up at 1670 or so. Because I'm starving all the time. STARVING. I woke up hungry at 230 am today and ate a piece of a Lenny and Larry cookie with milk! Was sad because I had to log it for today lol. I'm a 5'3.5 female. Started at 173 April 2015. Want to get down to 120-125 range. 34/27/36 measurements.
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Selkie_Runner wrote: »
I think that's your problem what you're eating. Fibre fills you are and is generally low calorie. I can eat half a honey dew melon, a banana and various over fruits for just 200 calories and it will fill me up. I'm running 50 odd miles a week a losing weight while eating sufficient nutrients. Yes it can be a bit of a balancing act but experiment and find what works for you. Calories are king for weightloss but to get the balance between energy and satisfaction and nutrition you need to find what works for you and the type of foods and their nutrition profile is what you need to work on.Sailor_Moon86 wrote: »I keep eating at maintenance, sometimes a little over, and I'm frustrated because I want to lose these last 10 lbs ASAP. I hover between 135-139. I run 37-40 miles a week, and I was aiming for 1500 a day but end up at 1670 or so. Because I'm starving all the time. STARVING. I woke up hungry at 230 am today and ate a piece of a Lenny and Larry cookie with milk! Was sad because I had to log it for today lol. I'm a 5'3.5 female. Started at 173 April 2015. Want to get down to 120-125 range. 34/27/36 measurements.
Uh, what? A Lenny and Larry cookie has 4 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein per serving. It's not like eating an Oreo. There's nothing wrong with milk, either.0 -
HappyCampr1 wrote: »HappyCampr1 wrote: »Sailor_Moon86 wrote: »I don't weigh prepackaged stuff! Maybe that's it. I eat lots of pre packaged stuff like Lenny and Larry cookies. I do measure my peanut butter, creamer, honey, milk, orange juice, cereal. But I use measuring cups not a scale. I use the scale for chicken breasts or sweet potatoes. I can't get around the idea that I'm stuck at this weight! With all the running?? And having worst case a deficit of at least 1750 a week with miscalculations? Jesus I hope it's water weight. I DO feel bloated and have this past week or two. But idk I think in order to cut the last ten pounds I may have to decrease mileage so I won't be starving. There's no way around it.
On the off-chance that you didn't notice...the Nutrition info for Lenny and Larry's cookies is for a half-cookie serving. I have co-workers that didn't realize they were eating 400 calories because they didn't notice the serving size. Worth a mention here.
I saw one at GNC, picked it up, and put it right back down because of that. OP, I agree with others who suspect you're having a logging issue of some kind.
I still have one occasionally, but I split it in half, re-wrap the other half and save it for the next day. I really like the peanut butter cookie and the lemon poppy seed one.
I feel like I wouldn't be able to eat just half. I AM bulking now, so maybe I'll pick a few of these up today. Lemon poppy sounds amazing. Sorry to temporarily derail; carry on!
Try the birthday cake OMG.
And the pumpkin spice
all time favorite: Snickerdoodle. Good lord. I'm out on vacation right now and may have to swing by Vitamin Shoppe.0 -
I wonder just how bad stress/cortisol can affect weight loss and contribute to bloat? Because I run one company that I built, and on the side, I sell life and health insurance. And I'm a single mom. Don't ask me how i manage to fit in 40 miles a week.EvgeniZyntx wrote: »Springfield1970 wrote: »Am I the only one seeing the 35-40 miles a week running and not matching it up with 1670 calories per day AND not losing weight.
Either the calorie counting is off or something.
She's losing, just not as fast as she wants.
And she's seeing high cortisol related bloat (educated guess - stressing about weight, upping miles, under eating, TOM == bloat city)
OP: two weeks is too short a time to evaluate "not losing".
Either reduce miles, or keep your miles and eat a little more. Assure your macros for fat and protein are dialled in.
Give your body time to recover. You'll see that the weight issue is related to exercise stress, etc...
Drink lots of water.
And reduce your loss objective - at 10 lbs to go, you'll only lose about 1/2 lb a week reasonably.
Anyway, yes, VERY *kitten* sleep. 5 hours to 6 MAX. and poor quality. Im afraid i may have gone up on mileage too fast. Like, I'm SO damn tired and exhausted 24/7, and even then, i cannot fall asleep.
I have had eating issues in the past, i won't lie. and it makes me nervous not to exercise and run like a fiend.0 -
Cave_Goose wrote: »1) It sounds like you're over training. When you are tired, irritable, and hating your run, it's time to take a rest from it. You won't lose your fitness with a week or two off. If you've ever run a marathon or looked into it, you'll know that the "taper week" before a race actually helps make you stronger. When I had a knee injury 3 weeks before my last marathon, I wasn't able to run for 2 whole weeks. I only got in a couple of 5k a few days before the race, and discovered all of my fitness was there.
2) I ask this of people all the time, do you really need to lose the extra weight? After dropping 46 pounds, I was obsessed with losing 4 more--and I just couldn't do it. I finally came to terms that I had set an arbitrary goal, ignoring how fit and trim I already was. So I'm not going to get to the bottom of my BMI range--so what? I think sometimes we get so caught up in being fit that we ignore that we are fit.
3) I was never a "foodie" until I started running. Last marathon, I was inhaling 3000 calories a day, still hungry and still losing weight. You can't drive the car without keeping the tank full of gas.
Well, I freaked out because i have been stuck at 136 to 139 for about 3 weeks, and about 3 days ago i stepped on the scale and saw 141. I was like WTF. No. just. No. Then after my run i weighed back down to 139. On my room mate's scale I was 139 that morning. So idk. Im almost 5'4, my measurements are okay. I'm about a size 4 and size Small. But its hard to be "okay" with this. I used to wear a size 0. I was very very skinny. After my divorce I gained lots of weight, and I just don't feel comfortable weighing in the high 130's. I want to start racing- and I want to be lighter. At least 125.
and i can totally relate to #3.0 -
Selkie_Runner wrote: »
I think that's your problem what you're eating. Fibre fills you are and is generally low calorie. I can eat half a honey dew melon, a banana and various over fruits for just 200 calories and it will fill me up. I'm running 50 odd miles a week a losing weight while eating sufficient nutrients. Yes it can be a bit of a balancing act but experiment and find what works for you. Calories are king for weightloss but to get the balance between energy and satisfaction and nutrition you need to find what works for you and the type of foods and their nutrition profile is what you need to work on.Sailor_Moon86 wrote: »I keep eating at maintenance, sometimes a little over, and I'm frustrated because I want to lose these last 10 lbs ASAP. I hover between 135-139. I run 37-40 miles a week, and I was aiming for 1500 a day but end up at 1670 or so. Because I'm starving all the time. STARVING. I woke up hungry at 230 am today and ate a piece of a Lenny and Larry cookie with milk! Was sad because I had to log it for today lol. I'm a 5'3.5 female. Started at 173 April 2015. Want to get down to 120-125 range. 34/27/36 measurements.
Oh i know- at first, when i started to buckle down and diet last year, I would eat LOTS of broccoli and cauliflower. Almond milk.
But my god. Filling? Very. Worked? like a charm. But my stomach cannot handle it. Cramps and bloating and ugh.
the only thing that is filling and low calorie that i can handle is an apple. Grapes- eh. hit or miss. when its a miss, i am bloated and in pain.0 -
1) must weigh peanut butter on a food scale! food scale food scale food scale...loooog accurately
2) yeah maybe cut down on the running and up your protein.0 -
Sailor_Moon86 wrote: »Anyway, yes, VERY *kitten* sleep. 5 hours to 6 MAX. and poor quality. Im afraid i may have gone up on mileage too fast. Like, I'm SO damn tired and exhausted 24/7, and even then, i cannot fall asleep.
Cutting miles back some is a good choice, I think (I know that's your plan). You can always increase again later.
Also, really working on the sleep -- and cutting miles back may help with that. I have horrible sleep too, and it makes things a lot harder. I know it's tough and you are busy, but I bet it would help a lot (especially with hunger and things like recovery from running and stress).0 -
You run 40 per week and can't lose it?0
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It's not uncommon. Many people gain weight training for marathons.0
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I have a lot of trouble losing weight when training with longer mileage. Once I hit a certain threshold, I tend to want to eat everything in sight. I couldn't train and lose weight... (purely psychological, but still). I know this answer isn't helpful, but just know you are not alone!1
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Try fasted HIIT workout on caffeinee. Wake up, drink coffee (without milk, sugar or anything else, very important!) and than do 10min warm-up, 8x15seconds sprint uphill (maximal effort), after every sprint jog or walk on start point. Than jog home (10min). If you do it on empty stomach and with no insulin in your blood, your body will burn fat actively. Fasted workout also increses abdominal circulation and attacks "stubborn fat" wich is very hard to get rid off. Try this 2-3x per week. You must eat high protein food afterwards. I'm triathlete and I train A LOT but I had the same problem, I was stuck on a point and couldn't get down no matter how hungry I was. And I was hungry all the time. Anyway, this worked for me, hope it'll do same for you.
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I have a lot of trouble losing weight when training with longer mileage. Once I hit a certain threshold, I tend to want to eat everything in sight. I couldn't train and lose weight... (purely psychological, but still). I know this answer isn't helpful, but just know you are not alone!
Same here. I heard this from enough others that I ended up accepting that it doesn't work for some of us.
I found that I could train for a half marathon when overweight and lose weight easily.
In the past I've trained for an olympic tri when not overweight and lost weight.
I could not train for a half ironman while of a normal weight and lose weight, and could not train for a marathon while of a normal weight and lose weight.
I'm now seeing (and expecting positive results) if I can train for a half marathon while of a normal weight and lose.
Yes, probably one can adjust food choice and lose in any of these situations (although not necessarily improve performance), but it feels a lot harder than it should. It's easier for me to stick to an eating plan with less exercise than the marathon/half ironman training requires.0 -
Well I upped my cardio.. For normal non athlete types they can just eat less but as runners we can't. In my case, eating a normal amount of calories for a diet leaves me faint and starving. I have to eat a total of about 2100 calories a day to not starve. I also do 2-3 hours cardio at least 3x a week ( marathon training) today I did 2.5 hours of cardio ( ran for an hour outside, biked for 30 minutes and did the elliptical for an hour).. So for me to eat 1200-1600 calories a day is laughable. I haven't lost weight yet, but have been maintaining ( eating 4000 + calories), so now that I'm eating 2000 and doing even more cardio I'm going to see where it gets me ! Stay tuned and good luck0
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Also the people saying your calorie burns are over are not considering an important factor which is pace.. If I run sub 6 miles I burn 100-200 calories every ten minutes which is quite a lot since not many people can operate at that level. If I run a 9 minute mile my burn may only be 90 or so an hour.. Either way a good estimate is 100kcal a mile. I would make sure you measure and count every thing you eat for a week before checking out exercise calories. The problem is almost always on the diet end and not on The workout end. As for me I don't log my exercise calories at all.. That's right. I make a mental note of them. Today my net cals were null. As they will be when running for almost 3 hours.. I ate 2200 calories though ! Down 4 lbs for the first Time since joining this site. All I changed was was upping cardio and cutting calories in half (4000 to 2000)0
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Supposed to say 90 for 10 minutes not hour0
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I skimmed the thread. I've been at that pretty much for a year. I have to ride at LEAST 300 miles month and run 80 just to keep from gaining averaging ~1700 calories day.Sailor_Moon86 wrote: »I keep eating at maintenance, sometimes a little over, and I'm frustrated because I want to lose these last 10 lbs ASAP.
Why?
Because you and I have long since completed the adaptation phase. Running is probably too efficient for us now. Its an endless parade of diminishing returns. So what to do?
Crosstrain. Add cycling or swimming.
Sleep. Sleep is crucial.
Cut the fat. Saturated has no nutritional value whatsoever.
P.S. I had some limited success with the calorie shifting (aka intermittent fasting), but that didn't last long.
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it wouldn't surprise me if you are not eating enough!!!! My calcs suggest you have a deficit of greater than 500 cals per day, and your body has probably switched into starvation mode and holding on to all the fat it can. Have a google and read a bunch of the articles about female athletes under-eating (inc http://www.outsideonline.com/1923816/if-youre-not-eating-enough-you-might-gain-weight http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/08/31/435294539/to-thrive-many-young-female-athletes-need-a-lot-more-food )
Also would encourage you to cut all packaged and process foods out, as these types of carbs are really refined and make you hungry. Swap these for fresh vegetables (and some fruit) and lots of lean protein (which helps with satiety) and that should help
good luck!0
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