Running and losing weight healthily

Ososlo

I'm a female, 38, just under 9 stone (125lbs) 5ft5. I run 30+ miles a week and will be increasing this to 40+ over the next few months and ultimately looking at giving Dublin City Marathon a good shot for my first marathon this year (only running a year). I'm taking it all quite seriously (despite currently consuming my second (shared) bottle of wine and half box of chocolates but hey I think i have an excuse with the night that's in it:o) and I love it:)
I'm making some New Year's Resolutions tonight and would love some opinons on losing weight and running.
Basically, I want to give myself every chance to improve in 2013.
I am thinking of aiming to lose 10lbs as I'm hoping it might help with improving my times next year. This would bring me down to around 8 stone 4 pounds which would still be a healthy bmi.
I don't plan on starving myself, but eating much more healthily and giving up the booze (for January at least:()
If anyone has done similar and found it really did help with improvement, I'd love to hear about it and feel it would really motivate me with my new diet starting tomorrow:D
Happy New Year All:)

spurscormac

For a reliable healthy diet I find it's all about planning and trying to cut down on the treats.
Don't have biscuits, chocolate etc during the day at work, try and have some mixed nuts or something healthy like a piece of fruit.
Also try and make your own lunch rather than eating out or grabbing a roll from the deli.
The times I've stuck to this bet is when I've planned ahead and got my week's worth of lunches and snacks on Monday lunch break. If I let this slip, it can often mean the week is given over to worse food.

At home in the evenings, again, if dinners are planned in advance for the week it can fit easier around training. Also, your not cooking late so tend not to head for any biscuits to tide you over til dinner is cooked (make sure to watch your portion size, men often have way to big a portion & women can often give themselves a similar portion).

All the above is easier said than done, but when you get into the routine it really works for me anyway.
It is hard to resist those tasty biscuits & cakes though

Ososlo

spurscormac wrote: »

For a reliable healthy diet I find it's all about planning and trying to cut down on the treats.
Don't have biscuits, chocolate etc during the day at work, try and have some mixed nuts or something healthy like a piece of fruit.
Also try and make your own lunch rather than eating out or grabbing a roll from the deli.
The times I've stuck to this bet is when I've planned ahead and got my week's worth of lunches and snacks on Monday lunch break. If I let this slip, it can often mean the week is given over to worse food.

At home in the evenings, again, if dinners are planned in advance for the week it can fit easier around training. Also, your not cooking late so tend not to head for any biscuits to tide you over til dinner is cooked (make sure to watch your portion size, men often have way to big a portion & women can often give themselves a similar portion).

All the above is easier said than done, but when you get into the routine it really works for me anyway.
It is hard to resist those tasty biscuits & cakes though

#

Absolutlely great tips and these are all things I'll be doing starting today. I suppose what I really wanted to find out from people is this:
If you are already a healthy weight and have only a little excess body fat and are a perfect bmi for age/height, is it very beneficial for your training to lose 10lbs whilst eating healthily and following a strict training programme, so that you are at the lower range of acceptable bmi?
For instance, if I lost a stone now, I would be verging on underweight so don't want to lose this much but 10lbs would still have me at an acceptable bmi.
Thanks

RoyMcC

You'd want to be careful about trying to lose weight if - as you've identified - you're not overweight to begin with. There have been too many cases of women in particular believing that losing more and more pounds will equal better performance. It's a dangerous ploy. (Not saying you're thinking of going that way but...)

Make the most of the body you have. As spurscormac has said, try to identify healthy eating habits. Cut down on processed foods, introduce fresh produce. You'll feel and look great and your running will continue to improve.

RedRunner

The comments above are all sensible ones. I've lost over two stone over last two years.

Best to lose it gradually and you can do this by not making any dramatic changes to your diet. Just cut down on processed foods and sugar as much as possible, that alone will lose you weight in conjunction with the running. I have an awful sweet tooth so I know it is easier said than done but doing this you can still allow ourself the occasional treat.

Ososlo

RedRunner wrote: »

The comments above are all sensible ones. I've lost over two stone over last two years.

Best to lose it gradually and you can do this by not making any dramatic changes to your diet. Just cut down on processed foods and sugar as much as possible, that alone will lose you weight in conjunction with the running. I have an awful sweet tooth so I know it is easier said than done but doing this you can still allow ourself the occasional treat.

thanks RedRunner. I'd have a very good diet normally (not for past 2 weeks though:o)
Normally, I eat about 4 fruits each morning, 2 green veg with dinner and nothing sweet apart from fruit and very little processed food. I'm vegetarian. Eat lots of seeds, nuts and really good natural foods (chia seeds, gogi berries, flax seed etc)
Only big vice is alcohol so perhaps just cutting this out will lose me a few pounds.
I just want to be the optimal weight for best improvement in 2013 while still maintaining a healthy weight.

RedRunner

Ososlo wrote: »

thanks RedRunner. I'd have a very good diet normally (not for past 2 weeks though:o)
Normally, I eat about 4 fruits each morning, 2 green veg with dinner and nothing sweet apart from fruit and very little processed food. I'm vegetarian. Eat lots of seeds, nuts and really good natural foods (chia seeds, gogi berries, flax seed etc)
Only big vice is alcohol so perhaps just cutting this out will lose me a few pounds.
I just want to be the optimal weight for best improvement in 2013 while still maintaining a healthy weight.

Sounds like you already have a healthy diet and don't need to change it drastically apart from cutting down on alcohol but no need in my opinion to cut it out completely.(For sanity sake:))
If I were you I would continue as you are, focus on the running and the weight will sort itself out.

Since I've put up 5lbs over Christmas, I need to now follow my own advice:)

Ososlo

RedRunner wrote: »

Sounds like you already have a healthy diet and don't need to change it drastically apart from cutting down on alcohol but no need in my opinion to cut it out completely.(For sanity sake:))
If I were you I would continue as you are, focus on the running and the weight will sort itself out.

Since I've put up 5lbs over Christmas, I need to now follow my own advice:)

healthy enough alright but as spurscormac suggested, portion size is something I probably should look at. Huge amounts of even healthy food don't allow for weight loss at the end of the day.
think I might try cutting out the alcohol completely for January and see if that makes a difference too. I'm an all or nothing kinda gal;)

wrstan

Maybe you don't need to concern yourself so much with weight loss as leanness (Is that a word? )

Matt Fitzgerald's Racing Weight gives some good tips in that regard. It's not a brilliant book by any means, but it gives some good guidance on finding the balance of body fat content and weight that is optimum for you.

Ososlo

wrstan wrote: »

Maybe you don't need to concern yourself so much with weight loss as leanness (Is that a word? )

Matt Fitzgerald's Racing Weight gives some good tips in that regard. It's not a brilliant book by any means, but it gives some good guidance on finding the balance of body fat content and weight that is optimum for you.

Thanks wrstan. Did a quick Google of Matt fitz an found a calculator thingy estimating body fat mass an guide to optimal racing weight. Might buy the book too.
I hear there is a fitness test thing that some of the colleges sports depts carry out too that can also give a guide to racing weight.

wrstan

I'd like to try one of those body fat content scales that he talks about. I dunno exactly what they tell you, but it'd be interesting to try one.

Anyone have any experience with them?

TFBubendorfer

wrstan wrote: »

I'd like to try one of those body fat content scales that he talks about. I dunno exactly what they tell you, but it'd be interesting to try one.

Anyone have any experience with them?

I got one from Lidl or Aldi a couple of years ago for €20. It's a nice thing to have, but I find my body fat percentage closely correlates with my weight anyway, so a normal scale would do perfectly well.

For such a low price it was well worth getting one, but I'm glad I did not spend any more.

Ososlo

wrstan wrote: »

Maybe you don't need to concern yourself so much with weight loss as leanness (Is that a word? )

Matt Fitzgerald's Racing Weight gives some good tips in that regard. It's not a brilliant book by any means, but it gives some good guidance on finding the balance of body fat content and weight that is optimum for you.

Reading a Matt fitzgerald article has provided an answer to my original question:
"all runners perform best when they are near the bottom of their healthy weight range".
So i can lose the 10lbs an still be a healthy weight whilst giving myself the best chance to improve in 2013!
Thanks wrstan

walshb

Ososlo wrote: »

I'm a female, 38, just under 9 stone (125lbs) 5ft5. I run 30+ miles a week and will be increasing this to 40+ over the next few months and ultimately looking at giving Dublin City Marathon a good shot for my first marathon this year (only running a year). I'm taking it all quite seriously (despite currently consuming my second (shared) bottle of wine and half box of chocolates but hey I think i have an excuse with the night that's in it:o) and I love it:)
I'm making some New Year's Resolutions tonight and would love some opinons on losing weight and running.
Basically, I want to give myself every chance to improve in 2013.
I am thinking of aiming to lose 10lbs as I'm hoping it might help with improving my times next year. This would bring me down to around 8 stone 4 pounds which would still be a healthy bmi.
I don't plan on starving myself, but eating much more healthily and giving up the booze (for January at least:()
If anyone has done similar and found it really did help with improvement, I'd love to hear about it and feel it would really motivate me with my new diet starting tomorrow:D
Happy New Year All:)

At your age and height I think 125 lbs is quite normal and healthy.

Ososlo

walshb wrote: »

At your age and height I think 125 lbs is quite normal and healthy.

Cheers yes i agree it is normal and healthy but it would also be normal and healthy to lose a bit and it might help my performance. I need all the help i can get!
As stated before i am not interested in losing more than my target as i don't want to be underweight...

walshb

Yes, I would imagine a lighter frame could help alright. Once it's a firm an healthy frame. Don't deprive yourself of any foods from the pyramid. That would be the best advice I could give.

ecoli

Be careful with the idea "I want to lose X amount of pounds" remember muscle weighs more than fat and as such there can come a stage when you are in better shape and still actually put on weight.

For years my weight didnt fluctuate at all regardless of what I ate or how much I trained. I then decided to clean up my diet and focus on fueling the body properly for training.

Rather than reduce what I ate I worked more on controlling the quality of my food;

* Cut out cereals and had porridge or peanut butter on brown toast
* Cut down on Lattes etc in work and swapped to Green tea mostly
* Planned my meals and if needed made enough for a few days and froze excess for other days
* more fish in my diet and less sauces

(Not suggesting these are the ways to improve more anecdotal evidence of my approach)

In terms of food I was probably eating more rather than less but this was quality foods and as such felt great with training.

My mileage took an increase and I shifted half a stone despite the increased foods (Given I am only 9 and a half stone its a fair amount).

The one thing I will say is eat less more often and make sure to refuel well after training. The mileage should take care of the rest just as long as you eat healthy (which looking at your diet you are) and make sure you are getting enough iron as that is one of the biggest problems amongst female endurance athletes (especially vegetarians)

I have seen people all shapes and sizes run incredible times just focus on the training and make sure you are keeping yourself health and the rest should take care of itself in your case

walshb

I have read many times about the benefits of peanut butter. Just to ask: I assume you guys are talking about the jars you get in any supermarket? I eat the Kelkin branded crunchy version. Hell of a lot of fat content in it. Damn tasty.

ecoli

walshb wrote: »

I have read many times about the benefits of peanut butter. Just to ask: I assume you guys are talking about the jars you get in any supermarket? I eat the Kelkin branded crunchy version. Hell of a lot of fat content in it. Damn tasty.

Fat is not always a bad thing though and is essential. Given the fact that peanut butter is made from predominantly monosaturated fats its a good source.

Not only this but peanut butter is a high satiety which I have found keeps you full for longer

Ososlo

ecoli wrote: »

Be careful with the idea "I want to lose X amount of pounds" remember muscle weighs more than fat and as such there can come a stage when you are in better shape and still actually put on weight.

For years my weight didnt fluctuate at all regardless of what I ate or how much I trained. I then decided to clean up my diet and focus on fueling the body properly for training.

Rather than reduce what I ate I worked more on controlling the quality of my food;

* Cut out cereals and had porridge or peanut butter on brown toast
* Cut down on Lattes etc in work and swapped to Green tea mostly
* Planned my meals and if needed made enough for a few days and froze excess for other days
* more fish in my diet and less sauces

(Not suggesting these are the ways to improve more anecdotal evidence of my approach)

In terms of food I was probably eating more rather than less but this was quality foods and as such felt great with training.

My mileage took an increase and I shifted half a stone despite the increased foods (Given I am only 9 and a half stone its a fair amount).

The one thing I will say is eat less more often and make sure to refuel well after training. The mileage should take care of the rest just as long as you eat healthy (which looking at your diet you are) and make sure you are getting enough iron as that is one of the biggest problems amongst female endurance athletes (especially vegetarians)

I have seen people all shapes and sizes run incredible times just focus on the training and make sure you are keeping yourself health and the rest should take care of itself in your case

Some great advice there. I see a lot of green tea in my future!
I don't have a clue if im getting enough iron. I used to take supplements but stopped as i thought i should be getting enough from foods such as spinach, apricots lentils etc and heard it could have an adverse affect if i was taking too much iron. I haven't had a blood test in years an years but i guess it's the only way to check levels.

walshb

ecoli wrote: »

Fat is not always a bad thing though and is essential. Given the fact that peanut butter is made from predominantly monosaturated fats its a good source.

Not only this but peanut butter is a high satiety which I have found keeps you full for longer

Agreed. I am always amazed at people turning their nose up at avocados due to it being a "fatty" food. Do some research and then make the choice. The word fat is not always bad.

walshb

Ososlo wrote: »

Some great advice there. I see a lot of green tea in my future!
I don't have a clue if im getting enough iron. I used to take supplements but stopped as i thought i should be getting enough from foods such as spinach, apricots lentils etc and heard it could have an adverse affect if i was taking too much iron. I haven't had a blood test in years an years but i guess it's the only way to check levels.

Regarding supplements I would only take them if it was shown that I was deficient in them. There should be no need to take on board extra doses if the natural amount in the body is hunky dory.

spurscormac

Ososlo wrote: »

Some great advice there. I see a lot of green tea in my future!
I don't have a clue if im getting enough iron. I used to take supplements but stopped as i thought i should be getting enough from foods such as spinach, apricots lentils etc and heard it could have an adverse affect if i was taking too much iron. I haven't had a blood test in years an years but i guess it's the only way to check levels.

I don't think a standard blood test checks iron levels, I believe it needs to be specifically requested.
Worth double checking with your GP if anyone does go down the route of getting bloods checked, verify exactly whats included/excluded and make sure everything you want is tested.

RedRunner

Hey there.You've been very quiet here lately but I see you've been racking up the miles on 1000 mile challenge. Any target races before DCM?

I've a lot of respect for you airing your views re DCM Novices thread. You made some valid points.

How is the weight loss going? You must have easily lost those 10lbs at this stage with all that mileage.

Ososlo

RedRunner wrote: »

Hey there.You've been very quiet here lately but I see you've been racking up the miles on 1000 mile challenge. Any target races before DCM?

I've a lot of respect for you airing your views re DCM Novices thread. You made some valid points.

How is the weight loss going? You must have easily lost those 10lbs at this stage with all that mileage.

Very quiet

I lost a few pounds alright in the last 24 hours:o

ah cheers RedRunner! Main target all going well is October but in the lead up to that, I'll do the race series. Then there's MSB 5k in the morning!
Loving the training at the moment and remaining injury free is fantastic, which I put down to the purchase of a foam roller Everyone should have one!
Good luck Sunday!

RedRunner

You're flying I'm sure. Have a great run tomorrow!

rasher_m

Hi there,

I came across this thread by accident but seems your vital stats are similar to my own except I'm two inches taller and about 5lbs heavier.

I wouldn't want to go under the 9 stone mark myself. I have been 8 stone in the past and quite frankly I looked scrawny and I thought it was unhealthy, if you get sick then you really cannot afford to be losing any more weight.

You will also be bordering on a healthy/unhealthy BMI weight.

When you do move to 40 miles a week you will find your weight going down even further and will struggle to keep the weight on naturally.
Last year when I was training for DCM I had to shovel the carbs into me to try and stay at 9 stone.

You also run the risk when training heavily and not eating sufficiently of your period stopping and causing other health problems.

I'm not an expert on those issues and don't want to sound dramatic but I suppose it depends on how far you take the weight loss yourself.

Ososlo

Cheers rasher-m. I'm approaching it in a very sensible way, believe me;)
I revised the initial goal a bit and lost about half stone and to be honest it was just from giving up the booze and takeaways and chocolate. So it's not like I'm losing out on calories that were beneficial in any way. I find I'm make much more healthy eating choices now and training is going brilliantly so I think I'm doing ok on the health front.

rasher_m

ecoli wrote: »

Fat is not always a bad thing though and is essential. Given the fact that peanut butter is made from predominantly monosaturated fats its a good source.

Not only this but peanut butter is a high satiety which I have found keeps you full for longer

There's a Cashew nut spread and an Almond peanut butter spread in Holland and Barrett and they're all natural ingredients and they're gorgeous.
They're doing a deal at the moment, buy one and get one half price. I'd defo recommend the Cashew nut one for tastiness.
Though in saying that I ate a whole jar in one sitting so it can't be that healthy
Only buy if you have good will power!

Ososlo

have absolutely no will power. If it's in the house, i'll eat it
thanks for the tip though.

walshb

Ososlo wrote: »

have absolutely no will power. If it's in the house, i'll eat it
thanks for the tip though.

F&^% it. You have to enjoy life too!:)

FrClintPower

spurscormac wrote: »

I don't think a standard blood test checks iron levels, I believe it needs to be specifically requested.
Worth double checking with your GP if anyone does go down the route of getting bloods checked, verify exactly whats included/excluded and make sure everything you want is tested.

I had my iron levels checked the last time I gave blood (low iron levels mean you can't donate), you could always do that....