body comp limiter
Question for the hive mind.
I am In a HIM plan right now, and one month to go before my first long course race. I figure I've got two-three big weeks left. This year's OS did not go well, as I got a chest infection that essentially flattened me for two months. Let's just say that I did not start the HIM portion at optimum fitness. Last year at this time, I was 168 on short course. This year, I'm 179 (that's bad) but my power numbers are higher. (That's good). I'm 5'8" and change, pretty much classic mesomorph). "Ideal" race weight (according to fitzgerald) would be approx 155 (which was my college sports weight).
The plan for the last several months was to do the work and let the weight take care of itself. That did not happen. I found that during the early part of the plan, I was starving and ate accordingly. I think (?) this was because my body was struggling to build the muscle necessary to execute the workouts on a daily basis. Now, I feel like the muscle is more or less there and the body is beginning to build efficiency. Here is my question: even five pounds between now and race day would be really helpful. A pound a week would put me @ 176, which would be OK (not great), and 1.5 would put me at 174 (better). Will more aggressive dieting during the taper screw up the race?
Comments
Your numbers are very similar to mine and what I see when training and racing. In my experience, anything more than 1lb/wk weight loss when training is too much. When I use LoseIt! to track my stuff, etc, and start the week with the settings at 1.5lb/wk, I usually fall off the wagon, and Riley looks like a porkchop, by about Wed or Thursday.
Fruits, veggies, the right nuts and seeds, good fats like coconut oil and avacados, lean healthier prepared meats, and lots of water. You can eat as much of this (don't overdo the meat) as you want. NOT a restrictive angle. It's high nutrients and your body will respond.
You'll start seeing a difference in as little as 3 weeks but most importantly you'll start feeling awesome. Put good stuff in, stay away from the processed stuff as much as you can, and the body will respond positively.
I've been doing this for a couple of months now and it's paying off for me. I keep looking for that excuse or reason to stop and I've yet to come across it. It's a discipline to prepare your stuff but it's worth it. I still have some pizza or burger etc with the family but not nearly as often as I used to and I really can feel the difference the next day, whether it be a work day or training.
Looked at the app and really liked it. Have set it up. Unfortunately, will not reach my ideal weight until November, but we do what we can...
Yep. This is what I do:
http://www.endurancenation.us/blog/training/a-practical-strategy-for-improving-body-composition/
Logging is critical, for me.
Me too. I did something similar during my first OS 2 yrs ago and dropped a lot of weight but I was using the training peaks app for that and it SUCKED. This one is much better--easy to find stuff, more logical menus, no godawful website, etc.
I realize that I'm fundamentally lazy--when I ask "do i really want to log this?" the answer is "no, that's a pain in the a--." If only I had started in June.