November OutSeason - Weight loss
I'm sure many of us are looking at the OutSeason to get their weight back on track after maybe a period with not enough exercise or some poor eating habits. If you fit the pattern and want to drop some weight, hopefully we can keep each other encouraged during the winter when holidays provide extra challenges to stay on track.
For me:
- Start weight 207.8lbs on Sunday 11/11
- Current weight 205.2
- Goal: 195 by Feb 17 (running a half marathon), 190 by end March (IM 70.3 California), 185 by IM 70.3 SG, 180 by IM WI
Was around 185 after IMSG this year but then life sorta got in the way. Stressful time, lots of travel, moving across 3 time zones, selling a house, buying a house, having all my stuff (bikes, clothing, etc) in transit... Now starting with getting into a rhythm during the November OS, and trying to cut some junk foods as well (ice cream is my weakness).
Comments
Ben,
I seem to be eternally in this category which comes down to my food choices in the end. I started the OS at 237, currently 235 and looking to drop to 220 by the end. At the end of the OS I will re assess and then take the next block which is the single sort block and the get faster plan. Finally the IM plan which I have tageted < 200 for IMLP in July.
I have started an EN weigh tracking spreadsheet and post up the link on the dashboard every Wednesday. Feel free to track your weight there and/or post updates here.
Gordon
I have been thinking a lot about trying to drop some weight so far this out season. I have been taking to heart the idea that the less weight I have to move down the road the faster I can go. Now if I can just keep my eye on that ball for long enough to avoid the desire to eat everything in sight at the dinner time. I am currently around 168 and have been telling people I would like to get back down to my college playing weight, about 155. I want to do it the right way, not the Oprah way. Hopefully having a group like this will help me keep my eye on the prize. Thanks for setting this up!
I have started using loseit to track food and hold myself accountable for what I eat. With the exception of a major chocolate breakdown last week (man, it sucked to load that into loseit!), it really works to keep me on track. My bigger problem is body comp. I'm gradually losing weight, but my body fat percentage isn't dropping correspnodingly, even though I've significantly reduced carbs and am upping protein like crazy. Guess I gotta be patient, sigh...
+1 on what you all are saying. Thanks for creating the spreadsheet, Gordon - I'll be adding my line to it as I need some accountabililty to keep down the 350 lb guy inside of me that is clamoring to bust on out. Started keeping track in October at 200, now at 193, goal 180, stretch goal 175 for IMLP in July. FWIW I've been using MyFitnessPal to track calories in/out. It's eye-opening to see that even though you are training for Ironman, you can't just sit down with a jar of peanut butter and go to town... :-)
I'm right there with you boys. I sit right around 205. Bicycling magazine had an article on calculating your ideal weight for a given body fat %. @10% body fat my target is 193lbs, so that's what I'm shooting for by IMLP. That will be the lightest I've been since like 8th grade.
.
I travel a ton for work, but there's enough healthy options that I can manage that, it is the evenings that kill me. I start to graze and before you know it, I've tacked on 200-300 calories to my day. Need to keep reminding myself that those 12 lbs are worth about 30-40 minutes at IMLP and stick to water and a scoop of protein powder after dinner.
Stay strong this week boys, lots of temptation on Thursday.
It's a constant battle, getting/keeping weight in check. It's so easy to let bad habits become routine. For me, I'm 5'8" and sitting at 155-156 depending on the day and i'd like to get down to about 148 which feels like a really good racing weight for me. My original plan was to not worry too much about weight between now and the end of the year, but my fear is without some focus it's so easy to let the holidays get the better of me, ie. too much food and drink. I agree as others have stated, Lose It is good to help maintain accountability and awareness (who would have thought there are 130 calories in a fun size baby ruth - certainly not me
)
Also, i recently listened to one of Coach P's race report podcasts and he mentioned that for him it's much easier and more effective to focus on weight loss in the off season than when you are on the focused IM plan, because you are ravenous and taking so many calories - makes perfect sense. All of this has me rethinking my approach and placing more focus on getting at least close to racing weight during OS.
Any comments are very welcome. Thanks all!
Same issue here, doing quite well during the week (though I eat too much cheese and nutella) but weekends are hard! At work there are a lot more distractions and it's much more difficult to eat a lot of junk, whereas at home the moment I even THINK I'm hungry I check to see what's in the house and there are too many things I can not resist.
Though I must say, this colder weather is having a major impact on my ice cream addition, I'm really not craving it anymore like I used to.
Big Ben! We are doing that February half together and Oceanside next year. Its gonna be great!
I hear you brother. 2 1/2 years ago I started on a weight loss journey. It took me just over 1 year, but I lost about 80 pounds getting down to 171 at my lowest. Today I was 178.5 with a race goal of 170. I raced Wildflower at 173 this year.
My redline is 180. If I pass that line, I immediately clamp down until I dip under the 180 redline. Playing with a little weight is manageable. The key is not to let it get out of hand. If I slip and have a weekend where I "let myself off the chain", I can easily gain 5 pounds, pop over my 180 line and then I need to spend 7-10 days getting back to where I was. It is like being on treadmill. I am just working to allow another binge. After a year of this, I am realizing, slowly, that these benders just aren't worth it. But, I digress.
Here are a few random thoughts:
1. In my experience, weight loss is 95% percent what you eat, especially near the goal weight. Trying to work off bad meals and junk food is a dead end. For me this doesn't work at all. it seems to me that as you get closer to your goal, food keeps the weight down while exercise changes the body composition. Not the reverse, but YMMV.
2. Weight loss in the OS is tough to do. The program is designed to get you fast, not make you lean. Volume is really low and intensity is really high. At high intensities your body is burning glycogen, not fat, especially in short duration efforts like the OS "60 minutes or less". Fat burn work outs are low intensity for longer duration. With low volume you are not getting the longer calorie burn.
I believe the key is to really, focus on your eating and don't gain weight as volume is down versus Summer. I found that out at the end of the season when I was working out less and starting to transition. Then when the volume comes up and the intensity comes down, I think you will see losses. Just focus on not gaining during the winter....
@Ben - nice!!!
Turkey day, followed by ice cream day, followed by nutella pancake day, followed by chocolate day, brought a bit of an increase in weight, but I'm back on track. 203.6lb this morning, hoping to in the 201-202 by the end of the week.
I spent almost all of last winter rehabbing a broken shoulder and much of that effort was spent in the weight room trying to regain shoulder strength. I'm one of those guys that just doesn't gain muscle mass, even though I develop little increments in strength. I'm kinda bony up top with a little bit of mass in the legs but that's it. I'm good at keeping the belly fat though. That just never seems to go away.