Will I gain weight now?
What’s up Haus!!! I was looking at my HIM training plan that will start on Monday (2/28) and thinking about calories. First a little background. 5 years ago I weighed in excess of 360 lbs. Not sure how much above as the scale I had stopped at 360. Over 18 months with calorie restriction and moderate exercise I got down to ~ 230 lbs. Then I started training for a marathon and gained ~ 10 lbs back. Since then my weight has continued to creep-up as my training volume (pre-en) increased and stabilized with my first EN OS. I now weight ~ 265 which is about what I weighted at the start of the OS (266). I have read a lot of stuff on nutrition during endurance events as well as training but cannot seem to find the right combination for myself to lose weight. Currently I have had little to no nutritional issues during races or training. So looking at the change in volume that will start this week (12-14 hours vs. 6-7 hrs in OS) I am a little concerned that my weight will start to creep up again despite my attempts to control it.
Recently I started using Lose IT, which seemed to work initially, but the way I am using it seems to make me react to the day rather be in control of the day in regards to calorie intake. I will be correcting this with a diet log so that I can plan my intake and be in more control of my diet. I currently eat 5-7 small meals/snacks daily.
For the coming week I have looked at my expected calorie out for next week and tried to balance that with calories in for the week. Thus I have come up with an intake of ~ 4000 calories per day to start for a 1-1.5 pound weekly weight loss. However, I wonder if that might be an issue as on some days that will be a little high and on others (Saturdays long bike) way to little. Is this plan a recipe for weight gain or poor recovery?
Also if I need to match calories out and in daily I look at Saturday’s caloric needs of ~ 6000-6500 (~ 3000 maintenance and ~ 4100 ride) and wonder how I can eat that much good calorie. I know that I can eat that much and more in bad calories. How do ya’ll meet those high calorie needs with good nutrition?
BTW I have read all the recent forum discussions on the topic of weight loss and have tried to implement some of them. The main issue with me is that after a long training session (> 2 hours) I cannot seem to fill-up. I will take in 200-300 cal/hours for all training > 2 hours and will have a recovery fruit smoothie (~ 350 calories made with Recoverite) within 30 minutes of finishing. I will then eat a 300-400 calorie meal within 60-90 minutes of finishing. So for a 2 hours bike I will take in 400-600 calories during and 600-700 calories post for a total of 1000-1300. This is about ½ of my estimated calorie out (2500). Then I try to eat 2500-3000 calories for the rest of the day.
I guess what I’m looking for is helpful ideas from folks in the Haus about how to drop 10-20 pounds over my HIM training plan. Thanks for any help and sorry for my long rambling post. I have been trying to put this together for several days in a more concise and coherent fashion but cannot seem to.
Comments
@Dewey, you've certainly accomplished some impressive weight loss numbers...congrats!
- in terms of your current dilemna, the first thing that jumps out at me is that you're likely not burning anywhere near the number of calories that you've posted on the bike
- I wrote a post about this in my blog...here's the direct link:
http://www.irondaughterirondad.com/...ody-knows/
- at 200 pounds, to give you an idea, in my recent bike FTP test, in the 60 minutes that included the 42 minute test, at an average power of 220 watts (234 watts norm), Powertap (one of the most conservative calculators) calculated that I burned 793 calories...in the 42 minute FTP test portion itself, it calculated 621 calories burned, and that was hammering it...249 watts norm power...so 1,132 calories per hour at an all out pace...if I lasted the hour
- so the calorie calculation may be the first thing to look at...particularly on the bike
1. Basal metabolic rate: have you had it tested? I'm under the impression that many of the BMR calculators are less accurate as weight goes up.
2. HIM plan: most people here find it harder to lose weight during the OS (more than just a few gain weight), easier to lose weight as the training volume goe up in the HIM/IM plans. More training hours = more calories burned = more opportunities to create calorie deficits.
3. What to eat: there is a fundamental disconnect between the thought "I'm concerned that I'm gaining weight" and the thought "I don't know how I'm going to take in enough calories". I will defer to the experts on recommendations, but I'm reminded of a great book called 'The Body Fat Solution', which includes the recommendation to map out your planned intake for the week, then let the scale be your guide. Two weeks in a row of no change in weight? Your in and out are well balanced. Two weeks in a row of gains? Your in is too high. Two weeks in a row of losses? Your out exceeds your in. He recommends this as the simplest check on the calories, since measuring in and out is an imprecise science.
Mike
@ Mike I think that you are right. I need to get my metabolic rate checked then I will know what I'm doing better.
Also regarding I am talking about good calories. Trust me I can and have taken in a lot of bad calories above and beyond what I've needed. Maybe that is part of the problem. When very hunger after long training days I crave the bad stuff and unfortunately give in to often. The other side of that is cutting calories too much. For example my daily caloric need is 5000 and I only take in 3000. Is that to restricted? will that limit recovery? will that cut into my muscle? I also like the tracking of calories with weight over 2 weeks. Thanks for your input.
I've personally learned that my calorie needs in the OS can't be more than 250-500 deficit a day (so only .5 to1 pound loss a week) and I actually still tend to plateau or gain muscle weight. Once I hit the HIM/IM plan I can go up to 1000 cal deficit a day, but more than that and my fatigue is brutal (Saturdays are particularly hard because of the long and hard bike). I started doing the tracking midway through my IM plan last year and it really helped even me out by the end.
1) As someone else said, have you had your RMR measured so you know how many calories your body needs?
2) Have you had your body composition measured? Some of the weight gain could be muscle increase and fat loss. How are your clothes fitting?
3) Doing what we do, it is important to know that the scale is just a number. It is just another piece of dat ain our training. It does not tell you body composition changes including when you are holding onto extra fluids.
Keep us posted on your progress!