Marathon training while trying to lose weight

e_v_v
e_v_v Posts: 131 Member
edited November 19 in Fitness and Exercise
Dilemma: I am planning to run a marathon this coming October. I ran one about 2 years ago, but I was not trying to lose weight, mostly maintain my weight and muscle mass.

I am currently working on losing 30 pounds. However, training for a marathon is grueling and taxing energy-wise, and eating minimal calories during training sounds like imminent failure. Does anyone have advice for training for a marathon while also trying to lose weight? Any/all advice would be much appreciated.

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited June 2017
    ebrass73 wrote: »
    Dilemma: I am planning to run a marathon this coming October. I ran one about 2 years ago, but I was not trying to lose weight, mostly maintain my weight and muscle mass.

    I am currently working on losing 30 pounds. However, training for a marathon is grueling and taxing energy-wise, and eating minimal calories during training sounds like imminent failure. Does anyone have advice for training for a marathon while also trying to lose weight? Any/all advice would be much appreciated.

    Well, you wouldn't want to eat "minimal" calories. You'd want to account for your training and maintain a modest deficit. You're still likely to have some performance decline, but you can eat to support the training and still lose weight.

    ETA: Personally, I've always had some difficulty training for endurance events and losing weight because I'm just ravenous all of the time. My wife on the other hand seems to have no issue with this when she's training for her marathons...she usually loses weight pretty easy when she's training and eats more than she normally would, but doesn't seem to get to maintenance.

  • ScottyBeBop
    ScottyBeBop Posts: 174 Member
    edited June 2017
    I remember training for the marathons i ran and i couldn't keep weight on. Train for three months and drop 20lbs while eating like an animal. It should come off as long as you aren't eating like 3000+ cals a day
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    edited June 2017
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    ebrass73 wrote: »
    Dilemma: I am planning to run a marathon this coming October. I ran one about 2 years ago, but I was not trying to lose weight, mostly maintain my weight and muscle mass.

    I am currently working on losing 30 pounds. However, training for a marathon is grueling and taxing energy-wise, and eating minimal calories during training sounds like imminent failure. Does anyone have advice for training for a marathon while also trying to lose weight? Any/all advice would be much appreciated.

    Well, you wouldn't want to eat "minimal" calories. You'd want to account for your training and maintain a modest deficit. You're still likely to have some performance decline, but you can eat to support the training and still lose weight.

    ETA: Personally, I've always had some difficulty training for endurance events and losing weight because I'm just ravenous all of the time. My wife on the other hand seems to have no issue with this when she's training for her marathons...she usually loses weight pretty easy when she's training and eats more than she normally would, but doesn't seem to get to maintenance.

    ^ what he said.
  • bigmuneymfp
    bigmuneymfp Posts: 2,235 Member
    I gained weight training for a marathon it made me appetite go crazy
  • ScottyBeBop
    ScottyBeBop Posts: 174 Member
    Lol that's crazy. I mean you def get hungrier but i can imagine putting it on.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Many people struggle to lose weight while marathon training. I am not one of them. My 1st suggestion is don't eat minimal calories. There is (or should be) a range of calories between eating so little your performance suffers and eating enough to lose, but stiff have good runs. One thing is to try and make sure that you are properly fueled for your run. U can be at a deficit, but still have energy to run with a little timing experiment. Additionally, when not fueling performance, stick to higher satiating foods.
  • JetJaguar
    JetJaguar Posts: 801 Member
    Back when I trained for a marathon I was already a cyclist and runner and dropped from about 150 lbs. to 142, and I wasn't trying to lose weight.
  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
    ScottyBeBop wrote: »
    It should come off as long as you aren't eating like 3000+ cals a day

    Some of us don't have any trouble eating 3,000+ cals a day even if we aren't training for a marathon. ;)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    You can probably hold a small deficit for a couple of months before your mileage goes up too high.

    I have only trainined up to half marathon distance but couldn't hold more than 100 cal deficit once my long run got past 10 miles!
  • twinmom_112002
    twinmom_112002 Posts: 739 Member
    edited June 2017
    I have actually gained during the first 15 weeks of training which is why I am back with MFP. Right now I have my calories set to lose 0.5 lbs per week and then eat back about half my exercise calories. I have started losing in the last 3 weeks this way and by making sure to keep an eye on my marcos instead of eating #allthecarbs
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    JetJaguar wrote: »
    Back when I trained for a marathon I was already a cyclist and runner and dropped from about 150 lbs. to 142, and I wasn't trying to lose weight.

    That's what happens to my wife every time she trains for a race...myself, I can't stop shoveling food into my face...I never gain, but I typically maintain unless I'm being very diligent.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,748 Member
    I lost weight during my last marathon cycle. I eat back most of my exercise calories but somehow there was enough of a deficit I continued to lose weight until the race. I ended up losing more than I intended. (15 lbs instead of 8). I usually gain some during the weeks around the race when my mileage decreases (taper plus post race recovery) but by focusing on my diet I didn't gain it back this time.
  • HardcoreP0rk
    HardcoreP0rk Posts: 936 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    You can probably hold a small deficit for a couple of months before your mileage goes up too high.

    I have only trainined up to half marathon distance but couldn't hold more than 100 cal deficit once my long run got past 10 miles!

    THIS. I cut during the first 1-2 months of my training last year and it was painful and awful, but I did it. Then maintenance. It did wonders for my knees. I'm doing the same thing now.
  • HardcoreP0rk
    HardcoreP0rk Posts: 936 Member
    ebrass73 wrote: »
    Dilemma: I am planning to run a marathon this coming October. I ran one about 2 years ago, but I was not trying to lose weight, mostly maintain my weight and muscle mass.

    I am currently working on losing 30 pounds. However, training for a marathon is grueling and taxing energy-wise, and eating minimal calories during training sounds like imminent failure. Does anyone have advice for training for a marathon while also trying to lose weight? Any/all advice would be much appreciated.

    I would suggest you revise your goal to 10 pounds and lose no more than 1 pound a week for 10 weeks before shifting to maintenance. If you already have a good base, then maybe you can cut longer since you don't require as much effort to increase your mileage.

    What is your current base / volume?

    What is your goal time?

    What is your current ht/wt?

    Are you currently cutting consistently or are you planning on starting a cut?

    Which goal is more important - weight loss or marathon performance?
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    ebrass73 wrote: »
    Dilemma: I am planning to run a marathon this coming October. I ran one about 2 years ago, but I was not trying to lose weight, mostly maintain my weight and muscle mass.

    I am currently working on losing 30 pounds. However, training for a marathon is grueling and taxing energy-wise, and eating minimal calories during training sounds like imminent failure. Does anyone have advice for training for a marathon while also trying to lose weight? Any/all advice would be much appreciated.

    A lot depends on your mileage and your intended loss rate. Personally I'd veer away from a significant deficit.

    You need to fuel your training if you want to perform at the event.
  • Vladimirnapkin
    Vladimirnapkin Posts: 299 Member
    This, for me, 100% depends on volume and intensity. I can run pretty high mileage and gain/maintain weight. I suspect this might be because I give myself license to eat a lot when I do. If I'm incorporating a significant amount of speedwork in there, I tend to lose weight.
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    JetJaguar wrote: »
    Back when I trained for a marathon I was already a cyclist and runner and dropped from about 150 lbs. to 142, and I wasn't trying to lose weight.

    That's what happens to my wife every time she trains for a race...myself, I can't stop shoveling food into my face...I never gain, but I typically maintain unless I'm being very diligent.

    One of the many benefits of training for a marathon. :D
  • adrianegenette582
    adrianegenette582 Posts: 21 Member
    I would recommend the book "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald. He has some great advice for nutrient timing and training. If you focus on performance, your weight will stabilize.
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