Confusing Article about running and losing weight

This article particularly hit home for me as I am starting a new phase of weight loss where I work at a much smaller deficit to fuel my love of running. When I first started running again last February I still had about 130 lbs to lose. I was consuming 1,200 calories plus eating a portion of my calories burned through exercise. I lost a lot of weight and I found a level of physical fitness I both enjoyed and wanted to pursue.

I started entering races. They were fun. And I lost more weight and wanted to run even more. In total I lost 80 lbs and went from running 9-12 miles a week to running 20-24 miles a week. My calorie intake was increased to 1,600 a day. I was diligent in tracking my food (using another site). I continued to lose weight. Most importantly, I felt great.

I started to take running more seriously and decided to challenge myself to do a half marathon training program with a local running club. I don’t think that at 210 lbs and running an 11 minute mile I am considered to be a serious runner, but I take it seriously, have fun with it and love it. I met tons of new people and started logging even more miles. I was also doing a lot of cross training and it wasn’t uncommon for me to have 3 two a day work outs a week. I was serious, I was focused, and I felt great, but the weight loss stopped. At first I lost inches then that stopped. And then my blood sugar started crashing and I was hitting walls during workouts I previously had the strength and endurance to blow through. And then I developed the nickname Typhoid Mary because I was perpetually sick.

This didn’t happen overnight nor did it happen all at once. It took about 5-6 months of under-fueling my activity level to finally get to a point where I realized I had a problem. I always assumed I would break the plateau if I just pushed through. It really wasn’t until I needed a second round of antibiotics to help clear up a respiratory infection that was PREVENTING me from running that I really got it. On light days, I was eating 1,600 calories and yet on a 12 mile run I would burn 1,500 calories but only eat a total of 1,900 calories for the day. I am still not exactly sure how I didn’t make that connection because I understood the ramifications. It was like I assumed the rules applied to other people, not a fat chick like me. It was rather special.

My doctor put it this way: You can focus on major weight loss or you can focus on major running, but you cannot do both. I love to run. I love the physical challenge of the races I have elected to do this year. I chose to train. So we made an adjustment. Instead of working to lose 1-2 lbs a week, I am hoping to lose about 1-2 lbs a month. That means I am hoping to lose about 20 lbs in 2012, even though I still have 40-50 to go. I still have some recovery work to do, but the difference an additional 400 calories a day has made is already evident. There are days I fight it, but most days I try to remember that I want to crush a difficult trail half this spring and to do that, I have to be fit and to be fit, I have to fuel my body.