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Is it realistic to lose weight while training for a marathon? (Read 1113 times)

    I am training for an April marathon and was hoping to lose a little weight in the process. I have actually gained a few. I normally drink 400 cal of chocolate milk soon after my runs. I am under the impression that it is not a good idea to skip recovery meals and that choc milk is the ideal recovery 'meal.' Are there any healthy strategies for shedding pounds during marathon training?

    "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus

    JakeKnight


      Are there any strategies for losing weight during marathon training?
      Eat less. Run more. Or eat the same and run more. Not to be trite, but it's that simple. A calorie deficit equal weight loss. A calorie surplus doesn't. Period. No matter how much you run. Recovery drink - good! But do you really need 400 calories? I have a banana. Works fine. You don't down 400 calories after every run, do you? That could make you chubby quick. And you don't need a "recovery meal" for a five mile trot. Just heed the usual warnings about trying to lose weight while ramping up mileage. You *do* need some extra calories for the training. Otherwise the training will not be fun. Or very productive. Be patient and lose the weight slowly and naturally. I'm trying this myself at the moment, my first serious attempt to cut weight before a marathon. I'm shooting for 1989 weight at the starting line. I'm also starting too late, which is not a good idea. We'll see how it goes. For what it's worth, I always drop 5-10 pounds once I get above 60 miles per week. I can't eat enough to keep up with the miles.

      E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com
      -----------------------------


      A Saucy Wench

        You only need hardcore recovery stuff after runs over 90-120 minutes. And while chocolate milk has its benefits, it isnt necessary to take in 400 cals of it. I will say that since I switched from gatorade post run to about 10 oz of chocolate milk post long run I am less hungry later in the day. But 400 calories seems excessive on just one food. Have a smaller glass and a post long run MEAL with real food. Guarantee that chocolate milk alone isnt giving you enough sustenance. Our brain largely ignores liquid calories. I have a very hard time losing weight the last push to a marathon...I do just get hungrier. There is some research that indicates that your ability to accurately judge portion sizes decreases with hard workouts. You may need to weigh, measure and do a little calorie counting to reality check yourself. Make sure you are eating enough to not feel weak on runs and enough after long runs to recover, but even the longest run doesnt mean you can eat low quality calories.

        I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

         

        "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

          Thanks very much to each of you. You have cleared up a lot of my misconceptions about recovery and nutrition in general. Is it ever recommended to eat/drink while on a long run? If so, what, how much and at what intervals? Jake, Would you say that even the banana is unnecessary after the file mile trot? Ennay, I take it you don't eat a recovery meal after runs less than 90-120 minutes, but after a 90-120-minute run you take 10 oz of choc milk and a healthy recovery meal. Is this correct?

          "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus


          A Saucy Wench

            I eat after all of my runs because I run first thing in the morning, 5:30 am on weekdays, usually 7-7:30 on weekends. So I come home and eat breakfast always - usually ~ 400 calories every day whether I run or not. Just my normal healthy breakfast. (oatmeal and an eggbeater omelet fwiw) On Sunday when I do my long run I come home, drink a little chocolate milk, eat a 1/3 of a banana and drink a bunch of water while assembling my brunch which is usually (including the milk and banana) around 700-800 calories (I am 130 lb female for reference to calorie needs). The rest of sunday I eat frequently but try to keep it healthy. I get HUNGRY on long run days (MTA when I say long run, I really dont treat it differently until around 12-13 miles) Most of my runs under 90 minutes I dont usually fuel first, just a big glass of water and go. Sometimes on the saturday run if I am planning ~ 7-8 and tempo or hard run, I'll eat a small snack before heading out the door. On sunday I get a smallish snack in before I go. On the run....well...this is a subject of much debate. There is some merit to trying to train your body to use fat as fuel, but it also depends on how long you have been running and how well your body does that. I am trying to use less gu/gel stuff in training. I think each year it gets easier for my body to use fat as fuel. I did 15 on sunday and felt strong with no fuel (always water). The week before I crumpled at about 11 and the last 3 miles without fuel were very tough. I am also still nursing my son, so that is an added factor in fuel needs and recovery. The one BIG thing I would say when training and trying to lose weight is to REALLY watch your calories on the days you dont run. It is so easy to get used to eating 2500-3000 calories on big run days and it is really easy to keep eating that on rest days. (and REALLY watch it the weeks following your marathon) You dont want to go too low on any day either. It really takes some trial and error to figure out what kind of saturday fueling is good for a good long run on sunday, and what kind of recovery works best, etc. I would say in the last 2 months of training for a marathon, it is best to focus on trying to maintain.

            I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

             

            "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7


            The Greatest of All Time

              I used to do the chocolate milk recovery drink too, but not 400 calories worth of it. Remember, the harder or longer you run the more fuel you need to put back in after you run. I run 2X a day M-Th. In the am I run for 60 minutes and follow that up with a bottle of G2 and a Clif Bar. When I get to work (90 minutes later) I eat an apple and then a pack of oatmeal a couple hours later if I am hungry. In the evening I only run about 30 mins but often very hard. I normally have one cup of skim milk with 1/2 a pack of Met-Rx, and a little dextrose. I like the protein before I go to bed because it helps my legs recover while I am sleeping. Here is a little lesson on protein. Milk has two types of protein, Whey and Casein. Whey is fast digesting (~45 minutes), whereas Casein is slow digesting (up to 6 hours). Most of the protein supplements that body builders use are made from Whey protein isolates. Met-Rx has Whey and Casein in their powders and their protein bars. Since I run 2X a day on most days I need to repair my legs when I am sleeping, therefore, I take in both types of protein before I go to bed so there is protein available to repair muscle tissue damage. If you use the normal metabolic rate calculators and add calories burned during exercise it would demonstrate I should be eating up to 3700-4000 calories on some days. The truth is that I rarely eat more than 2500 and never more than 400 at any one sitting. My weight stays between 165-170 which I have found over the years is where my genetic set point is when I am in shape. I was up to 175 when I did the Ironman due to more leg mass and I have been as thin as 158, but had no upper body muscle. I would advise you to keep a calorie log on a site like Fitday.com and be truthful to it. You will be surprised how many extra calories you eat without thinking about it. You can find sites to help you calculate how many calories you need to ingest everyday without any exercise and that will get you close. You can also determine about how many calories you burn per run based on your weight and time spent running (this will get you close although pace and heartrate enter into the calculus as well). So figure all of that out and find a calorie intake that maintains your body weight +/- 3-5 pounds for one week. That will be your starting point based on your current weight and activity level. To safely lose weight take in 500 calories less per day. In theory you should drop a pound per week, but it's just a theory. Your mileage will vary. Just keep in mind, as you lose weight you need to eat less in general. And as JakeKnight pointed out, calorie deficit equals weightloss, calorie surplus equals weigt gain. But you need to figure out how much you need to maintain your weight before you can create a safe caloric deficit.
              all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be

              Obesity is a disease. Yes, a disease where nothing tastes bad...except salads.


              Why is it sideways?

                Eat less. Run more. Or eat the same and run more. Not to be trite, but it's that simple. A calorie deficit equal weight loss. A calorie surplus doesn't. Period. No matter how much you run.
                This seems right to me. Just be aware that this can be done without counting calories, which seems to me to be a way of turning one food obsession into another when the problem is with the obsession in the first place.
                  This seems right to me. Just be aware that this can be done without counting calories, which seems to me to be a way of turning one food obsession into another when the problem is with the obsession in the first place.
                  I agree, but then again, part of that is just my personality. I like the NoS plan, due to the common sense approach. Actually, his way of thinking about habit formation in general has been helpful to me in sensibly making personal improvements.
                  Brandon