Weight Loss and Guelling for Races

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Panini911
Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Curious how you balance training (increasing distance) and racing (nothing major, 10 and 15k's) with weight loss?

Do you go to maintenance the week or so before a race? a few days? or keep things steady calorie wise (and macro wise)? do you specifically use a low weight loss ratio (0.5lbs a week)?

Or is it about just eating those exercise calories back (at least in portion). I've been afraid to do that. I have increased by about 50 cals/a day most days as I get to the last 10lbs (well I am at 12lbs from goal).

Tips? I'd hate to be doing damage to my body by under nourishing it but at the same time I'd like to hit my goal (slow and steady).

Replies

  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
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    My coach generally has me eat at maintenance for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks prior to a race (depends on race distance and training volume leading up to the race). He has me eat at or just a touch above maintenance for a few days to a couple of weeks after a race (depending on distance and my level of recovery).

    I am otherwise set to lose about a pound a week. That is manageable for me for normal training volumes. But he’ll also have me eat at maintenance during regular training if I’m lagging on performance/recovery/just generally being excessively cranky for no reason for an extended period of time.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    i just add the fueling calories to my logging and eat at a deficit and i've been fine.
    i eat more carbs the week before.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,676 Member
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    Eat back your exercise calories.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    LOL ok I know. Funny I always wonder about the people who post about not being hungry at 1000 calories (then how did you gain all that weight) yet I totally see I am guilty of not eating enough as well! It's hard to give up the fast weight loss (which I KNOW I need to for health reasons).

    I shall start eating back more

    I will probably be careful about eating more at least a few days before my "bigger" race (15k).

    Thanks :)

    Gah on the typo in the title!
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
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    Loosing weight while training as long as you are not losing too much (1-2 lbs per week) should be no problem. Eat a reasonable portion of the exercise calories back and try to keep the carb fraction of your exercise calories above 30%. Day before your race eat a maintenance and 50% carbs just to top off your glycogen stores.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Just slather some more mayo on that panini!

    Just keep reminder yourself you are attempting to save yourself from potential injury when increasing distance, by eating enough and not too large a deficit (which both are obviously stressful to body).

    And the week before is to increase the normal muscle stored glycogen from diet levels back to normal levels, for likely increased pace during the race.

    Just make sure a few days gives enough time for increased stomach food to not cause intestinal issues during the race.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    I'll increase my cals to maintenance leading up to a race - how far in advance depends on how big/important the race is. Might be just the day before, might be a full week before.

    I've always been an eater back of exercise cals, so that part doesn't change for me.

    I do shift macros a bit, too, depending on the race or my training volume, running slightly higher carbs than I would otherwise.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    I eat at maintenance for the day of the race, and the day before -- and sometimes the day after, if I'm ready to eat my arm off.

    Weight loss while training shouldn't be a problem. I do TDEE, and just go off of a reasonable deficit from that.

    Runger is totally a thing, but as long as you track, it shouldn't steer you far off course.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    You can lose weight while training--I did, and so did many others here. But you really should eat back your exercise calories. It's probably not a big deal if you don't eat back calories after running, say, a mile, but at the distances you're talking about you are burning a pretty significant number of calories. You don't want to be out on a run three or five miles from home and feeling lightheaded.

    Keep in mind as well that all sorts of training- and racing-related things will cause water fluctuation. I gained seven pounds of water weight after my last half marathon. When you're close to your goal, those fluctuations can make it harder to tell whether your weight is going down or not. If you're not already using a trend app like Happy Scale, I would recommend getting one.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    I might train at a modest deficit (if trying to lose weight) but I would always race fully fueled as "race" implies trying to maximize your performance.

    As I got leaner the size of deficit and/or duration of the deficit I could maintain and still train effectively got smaller and the time frame got shorter before my performance and recovery suffered.
    During my main weight loss phase I lost at a consistent 1lb/week for months while training for my first Century ride. But when at goal weight I only managed 6 weeks at the same rate of loss cutting down to race weight while training really hard before signs of over-training/under-recovery kicked in.

    Fueling your exercise properly and eating more when you move more are good lessons to learn.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    Thanks. I've been loosing fairly fast (1-1.5 lbs a week) and trying to slow it down. I need to try harder and eat the exercise calories. worse case I see the scale isn't moving and I can adjust a bit again.

    I don't eat many complex carbs. But if I have more calories to play with on run days I can absolutely start bringing more complex carbs as well as some good fats (I've already started working on adding things like almonds)

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