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How to Hack The Core Diet to Work For You

Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
in General Training Discussions

Note: The Core Diet Add On is in the Wiki Here. The program was updated on 6/13/12, here's why.

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So why should you focus on body composition? The math is pretty undeniable...every pound lost -- assuming it's not loss of lean muscle mass (and therefore strength) -- roughly equates to a 3 second/pound/mile improvement in running pace and about 3 seconds/pound for every four miles on the bike.

 

So dropping 15lbs for a 4-hour IM marathoner would be 45-seconds gained per mile -- or a 19.5 minute improvement to 3:41. For the bike it would mean turning that 6:00 bike split into a 5:39. That's a combined 40-minute improvement just through body comp...it really gets exciting when we add in your fitness gains. 

 

But, it's important to note that not everyone has weight to lose. You should definitely check in with your DR or a nutrition counselor for some body fat / body composition numbers to identify what your proper target should be. If you do neither of those things, your progress may vary.

 

Finally, it's important to note that most women have a much harder time with the approach listed below. There's something about the nature of endurance training that doesn't really allow for women to lose as much weight as the men. Definitely give it a shot, but know that you might have more friction than your male counterparts.

 

 

Step One: Sign up for the Core Diet

Goal: Get Educated

 

Attend their webinar and start rethinking your daily fuel, both from an everyday living standpoint as well as exercise fuel. You can sign up for the Core Diet under the My Account tab. A new "group" starts every month, in coordination with a webinar, so plan accordingly. You can learn more about the Core Diet program, including the cost, in the wiki here. 

 

 

Step Two: Start Tracking Calories In vs Out

Goal: Gain Control

 

Rich wrote a great post on this process (in the wiki here). Basically we want you to become familiar with what you are putting in your body everyday. This is really easy if you have a smartphone, as you are only 5 seconds away from scanning/finding everything you need to track a particular meal. History has shown that simply tracking what you eat will improve it. Eating well and having a bit of All Natural Peanut Butter sounds really good until you actually add it up, discover your 1 TBSP is more like 3, and that that actually is 285 calories. Just sayin.

 

This is the hardest step -- staying accountable to your goals and entering all that data. But if you can build the habit you'll begin to see some real change. The change comes from balancing your calories out vs calories in with an eye towards your exercise. 

 

So you answer the questions, set your weight loss goal (max of -500 cals per day) and then get a baseline number. Call it 2000 calories. You wake up have a gel and some Perform and then ride hard for an hour. You consumed 250 calories, putting you at 1750 left in your budget...but you earned back 950 calories from your workout...leaving you with 2700 calories for the day.

 

Key Note: Come as close as you can to those allotted calories. No sense in forcing yourself to take in only 2400 of your remaining 2700 calories. Remember you _already_ factored in the -500 calorie loss above so the weight loss is built in. Anything less and you'll be forcing your body into conservation mode and the weight won't come off.

 

I personally use www.myfitnesspal.com on my smartphone as there's an app and a website, synced, to track my stuff...as well as a friends section to connect with others (let me know if you are on the site by inviting me to follow you: patrick.mccrann@endurancenation.us). 

 

Key Note: There's a daily progress section here too for logging your weight. Do it every day at the same time for consistency and remember it's not so much for a good/bad result as it is keeping you focused.

 

Note that in this stage, we aren't too worried about what you are eating as much as making sure that you are (A) tracking it and (B) pretty close to balancing your daily intake.

 

 

Step Three: Begin Tweaking Your Eating

Goal: Exert Some Influence Over Your Eating Patterns

 

In this phase you'll begin to modify some of your basic eating habits to make your calories work better for you and your goals. Be mindful of your body and don't push yourself into an uncomfortable state...it won't pay off in the long term. 

 

Fuel Your Day

You'll learn more about fasting from the Core Diet site, but basically eating first thing in the AM is critical to getting your metabolism going again after 6-8 hours of fasting. 

 

Fuel Your Workouts

Since you are watching all your other food, you need to fuel your workouts 100%. Even though I am being careful, I have a gel (110 cals) and 16oz of Ironman Perform (140 cals) even for a 45 minute trainer ride. I can't afford to get carried away with "cheating" on my workouts as it will come back to haunt me later.

 

Watch Processed Foods Outside of Pre/Post/Workout Windows

Again, there is much more detail on this on the CD website, but basically the goal here is to put the calories to work for you when your body needs them most. 

 

Eat A Good Lunch

This is the best meal of your day and will vary based on whether you workout in the AM or the PM. I do the AM, so I usually have a very oversized salad with mustard (no dressing) and protein optional.

 

Eat A Reasonable Dinner

If you "cheated" by not eating enough during your day, odds are it'll show up at dinner time and you'll eat enough for two! Be mindful of what you need and try not to snack too much while you cook!

 

Identify and Fix the Trouble Points

I found my biggest trouble point during the day comes after dinner and before bed. I can go all day and be good, but then I really struggle here. My solution is to drink some decaf green tea (32 oz with 30 cals sugar) to carry me through from 6:30-8:30. I can then have my scoop of protein powder in water (not too bad!) and get ready to wind things down.

 

 

Step Four: Enter Your Stats in the Macronutrient Calculator

Goal: Determine Average Daily Target

 

After two to three weeks of steps 1 through 3, you should have seen some pretty solid weight come off. More importantly, you have built up some great habits that will carry you as you move forward. But if you are really looking to dial things in, this is where you'll need the Core Diet resources and support to make your program truly work for you.

 

The CD Macronutrient Calculator will give you weekly average calories based on your training load. This is really helpful for two reasons. First, it gets you out of the daily habit of going nutso trying to figure out what you can eat today because you worked out more or less than previous days. Second, it helps you avoid the "tougher" calories days, the day after you eat a lot more (b/c of your workout) and you want to eat more but really "shouldn't."

 

Key Note: The calculator only seems to work in whole numbers, so if you bike 4.5 hours a week, it will calc off of 4. You'll have to run it with both 4 and 5 hours and halve the difference.

 

Conclusion

This has been my progression through the Core Diet resources thus far. I am down 15lbs from Christmas just about two months ago, and I have continued to set PRs at most distances, including a 4:00 Half Marathon personal best. I think a balanced approach of intensity and diet can bring fitness and form into a place that can make you really, really fast _without_ needing to train 30 hours a week!

 

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