Weight loss while training
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I am not overweight but I definitely could drop 10lbs of mostly fat and my knees would thank me for it. I am struggling however to lose that weight. I have learned that I need to eat to fuel recovery or I am useless at home/work after hard training. Additionally I try to keep certain macros/micros at a certain level and that tends to push me to a calorie count that keeps me at my current ~178lbs. The two nutrients I tend to hang my diet on are protein and fiber, with 2+ gram/kilogram of protein (~160g/day) and I try to get over 30g of fiber a day, though I am not always successful. Additionally I try very hard to be mostly whole food, so no skim milk or fat free yogurt or the like, but I do take a whey protein supplement most days (like I said mostly whole food). All this adds up to me not dropping to the 160-165lb region that I would like to.
It seems that something must give so I am curious what approach to pursue? I am considering doing some multi week cuts with a break week every 2-3 weeks to keep me from losing motivation. Here are some options that I am considering, do they make sense? Is one better than the other? Or are all totally bonkers (note that I am planning to keep training load roughly flat, normal periodization but no allowances for calorie intake)
- Cut ~500 calories per day by giving up on whole foods during cut (non fat dairy, egg whites, those carb watcher tortialls that have a thousand ingredients[high protein and fiber], etc.)
- Cut ~500 calories per day by going to ~20g of fiber per day
- reduction of 10 grams is only 40 calories but I generally don’t just eat straight fiber. It often comes with peanut butter or something that is enjoyable
- Cut ~500 calories per day by being very rigorous about post training consumption, eat what is needed to fuel me as opposed being full (not that I am going all out on cheeseburgers, but I could definitely focus more on just getting high quality carbs, protein and fat)
Or just throw in a few higher intensity short time frame workouts to crank through extra calories? Something like an airbike, boot camp or cross fit style workout. I would love to go for more 3+ hour runs/hikes in the week but don’t have time for it
Or or just eat less food and deal with not really loving it
Hey there, Jesse here, a coach and nutritionist with Evoke. This is always a bit tricky to navigate and more information, especially your height and what weight you’re striving to achieve would be good to know. Also, knowing your output and intensity is pretty critical as well. I would advise getting a DEXA scan so you can assess just how much fat you’d be able to lose without any potential issues.
500 calories per day is what is needed to lose a pound per week. In most cases, that much could be too aggressive and impede recovery. What I typically recommend is focusing on weight loss during the off season when you can get away with less food each day because when you’re in the heart of training, the risk is much higher of not improving. This is a bit difficult though because you’re burning less and eating less.
What I do with the people I work with is I have them track what they eat so I can really see what could be cut and what should stay without compromise. It’s great you’re eating enough protein, that’s a big one, but seeing the diet overall would be really helpful to give more personalized guidance here.
If you’d be interested in a consultation, you can book that here:
https://evokeendurance.com/product/jesse-rich/
Otherwise, I hope this helps a bit, but again, hard to give really meaningful help without knowing more.
Thanks! DEXA scan is something I have been considering. I am 5’10” and 175-180, so I think there is plenty to lose, I just need to prioritize it instead of constantly moving to the next thing. I have done myfitnesspal for a few weeks at a time every once in a while to check on my macro/micro nutrient profile.
I will look into a consult. Also I should probably look into having and “OFF season” as I just go from thing to thing right now.
Also before consultation are there any results that would be useful to have on hand? I imagine a DEXA scan? What about blood work, which I have records of for the past several years. Probably a calorie count/meal track for a couple of weeks? Anything else?
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