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2004/04/30, 11:37 AM
I need to figure out how many calories I should be eating in order to lose about 2lbs of fat per week. I'm not a complete novice when it comes to cleaning up what you eat and shedding fat, but since I've began running, I'm having a hard time figuring out how much to allow myself. I would GREATLY appreciate some help on this and it will definitely be put to action!
Here's what you probably need to know:
Me: female, 24, 5'6", 130lbs, around 20-22% bodyfat (not 100% sure on that though); I'm currently running anywhere from 30-45 miles per week - working my way up slowly, eventually I'll be running around 40-45 as my basic base. I run 4-6 days a week (I try for 6) and run at about a 9-9:30 minute pace.
I also do full body circuit resistance training a few (3) times a week in the evenings for about 30-50 minutes at a time. I'm going to change this around in the next week to a seperate lower body/upper body heavier weights workout every other day. I'm also planning on adding a few HIIT sessions to my evening (probably on the days I don't do the resistance training).
Other than all the exercise, though, I lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle (behind the desk job). So, taking all of that into consideration...
I'm looking to get pretty lean - ideally, I'd like to get my bodyfat down to about 14% (my weight somewhere around 112-115), but my running is also very important to me. I do NOT want to have to cut back on my training, so I know I can't start doing a typical 1200-1400 calorie/day low carb, low fat type of fat loss plan that I would have done in the past.
If anyone can help me out, it would be so greatly appreciated and would be put to excellent use! It would also be cool if you could give me a quick idea of what kind of ratio's I should be looking at: carbs/protein/fat
I was thinking something like: 40/40/20 or maybe 45/35/20 ... just until I shed the fat and then I'd probably be able to up my carbs a bit more to use for fuel in my runs.
Sorry this is so long, but thanks to anyone who took the time to read it!
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2004/04/30, 11:42 AM
Oops, just realized a mistake. That last part should read: 40/40/20 OR MAYBE 35/45/20 (keeping the carbs a little lower seems to really benefit my body in the fat loss arena).
Also, my evening HIIT's would involve the stairmaster or an exercise bike, starting at around 15 minutes total, working up to 23 minutes, 30 second sprint, 30 second moderate, etc.
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2004/05/02, 03:28 PM
*coughs*
Anyone out thereee? :)
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2004/05/02, 04:49 PM
Joliee, you are doing a huge amount of exercise and eating very little. You weigh about 130 lbs and you are eating about 1200 to 1400 cals per day. Those cals are about your maintainance amount just to live. That means just breathing eating sleeping. When you add exercise, your body believes its starving and holds on to what fat it has just to survive. You are probably losing muscle. Take a look at the nutritional guide here and see what the recommmendations are. They will probably be twice what you are now eating.
If you want to lean out and gain muscle, you may want to cut back on the cardio and increase strength training. Strength training builds muscle, muscle burns more calories than fat. So if you build muscle you will burn fat more efficiently. Most folk here eat a p/c/f ratio around 40/30/30 or so. I'll let the more knowlegable tweak your diet macros. I don't think you will lose fat until you eat more and cut back on the cardio. Ever notice there aren't a whole lot of buff long distance runners around?They are most usuallythin and not very muscular looking. Hope this helps.
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There is no joy in mudville.
Charlie
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2004/05/02, 05:11 PM
Hey charlie, thank you so much for replying :) I understand what you're saying - it definitely makes sense and I do agree that I probably need to eat more... BUT I definitely don't want to decrease cardio since it's something I really LOVE to do and i'm trying to build up a nice running base so that I can eventually run marathons.
You said: "Ever notice there aren't a whole lot of buff long distance runners around?They are most usuallythin and not very muscular looking." - but that's EXACTLY what I want - I don't really want to add any more muscle (although a little would be OKAY, but its really not necessary for the look I'm hoping to achieve) - I basically just want to get thin! But I'm not obsessed with numbers on a scale, I just really want to shed this fat ... I *want* to look like an endurance/long distance athlete - but for some reason, the fat's just hanging on :P I realize the importance of weight training which is why I try to do it regularily, but I'm definitely not going for a buff look or anything of that sort. I want to be LIGHT so that I'll run faster and feel better - the lighter I am, the less weight impact on each stride, you know what I mean? So yeah, my main goal is fat loss with endurance gain... ie, no cutting back on cardio. Is there still hope? Should I still increase the calories? Should I cut the carbs or keep the carbs high due to my cardio? I get so confused! I know low carb usually helps me shed fat BUT is that wise when I'm planning on running 45-50mpw?
Sorry all the questions, I hope I'm making myself clear. I could always post a picture of my figure in order to SHOW the obvious problem areas and extra fat, but not sure if that would help any more.
Thanks again Charlie - if you have any other advice, please chime in!
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2004/05/02, 05:58 PM
I'm not sure you will be able to cut a lot of BF and be a marathoner. By its nature long distance events dictate that your body hold on to fat stores for survival. I tried to jump in here because nobody else did. As to your questions, I hope a FT'er who knows more about endurance training will bail me out. To build muscle, you need more protein. I still think you need more calories to prevent your body from burning muscle for fuel. I can't help with the exact macros.
Most of the folks I trust here recommend adjusting diet by 250 calories per day for a couple of weeks at a time. If you don't see the change you want happening, go another 250 cals per day for 2 more weeks and so forth. So for 2 weeks inrease your daily cals to 1650. If nothing happens, go to 1900. My common sense says that with all the running you need clean carbs. Don't put that in the bank though because most here will tell you common sense isn't my long and strong suit.
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There is no joy in mudville.
Charlie
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2004/05/02, 06:28 PM
Hi again Charlie
Thanks for all of your input, I sincerely appreciate it, very much so and you make a lot of sense. So far, I'm pretty much just trying to put pieces of information I've gathered through a bunch of searching/reading and taylor my own diet to what I think should work, but I'd still really love input from others who really know their stuff or who have experience. I guess trial and error is always the best teacher though, right?
The 250 thing sounds like a good rule of thumb and I just may give that try.
A lot of competitive distance marathoners (or a lot of endurance female athletes) are really lean from what I've seen, with long muscles as opposed to bulkier/rounder muscles - of course, they're out there running 6-7 minute miles in training runs, so I'm sure that doesn't hurt when trying to get lean ;) I'm assuming that once I really start training for speed as opposed to building my base, that's when I'll really notice the fat start to come off. But I figured I'd try to get a head start now ;)
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2004/05/02, 07:07 PM
www.runnersworld.com
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2004/05/02, 09:24 PM
Joliee...Try shooting for 13-15 calories per pound per day, see how it goes for 2 weeks and adjust from there. If you maintain, decrease the calories but don't go lower than 13.
If I might add, 2lbs a week is alot.
Remember, you are very active and will probably need closer to 15.
Hope this helps and good luck.
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"A will finds a way, failure is not an option"
Ivan
carivan@freetrainers.com
Montreal Canada
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2004/05/03, 03:12 PM
Hi Joliee,
There are some great articles on this in the nutrition and weight loss section of Runners World, the website Anni referenced.
For your age/weight, your body needs 1400 calories just to get through the day, and when you run 10 miles, you're burning another 1000! So don't be afraid to eat a little more, calorie-wise, in order to lose weight - especially if you are weight training too.
The important thing here is WHAT you eat.. eat small meals throughout the day, with lots of fruits and veggies and appropriate portions of lean meats and fish, and space them out to 5-6 meals a day. Drink your lowfat milk and have cottage cheese, not just for the protein but calcium and other micronutrients too.
Track EVERYTHING, so that when you make adjustments to either your exercise amount or nutritional intake, you can really see which changes work.
And hey.. run faster! Are you using a heart rate monitor? You may not really be running at your optimum speed. For runners, your Max Heart Rate is best determined by MHR = 205 - (.5 x your age). Be sure you are staying between 65-75% of your MHR.. you may find you have more in you than you think!
Best of Luck to you..
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: ] ~Danielle
Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.
~Benjamin Disraeli
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2004/05/03, 07:45 PM
Slightly off topic.. I read in another post that, 3500 calories = a pound of fat.. basically you have to burn 3500 calories to loose a pound of fat, how true is this!!?
Next question, i can do that in a week but im assumming thats not good enough.. would you have to burn that many cals in a session??
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2004/05/04, 08:30 PM
Hey, thanks you guys! Such helpful info. Thanks for the extra thoughts, Dani - I totally get you on the running faster thing, but I'm not at the point where I'd feel comfortable doing that just yet due to building mileage and wanting to get a solid base before I do any speed work. Can't risk injury (again, eep). I'm pretty certain I'm in my fat burning mode when I run though.
But okay, this is what I've come up with after putting all of this info together...
I'm going to try to get my diet close to hitting these goals:
1650-1750 calories // 165-175g protein // 130+ carbs, depending on my needs for the following days morning run // 55-60 grams of fat // 25+ grams of fiber
5 meals a day, first 3 will be balanced with complex carbs; the next one will be a protein shake with a High GI carb which I'll drink AFTER my weight workouts or HIIT workouts; and my last meal of the day will pretty much be lean protein/vegis/good fat unless if I have a long run the next morning - then I'll also make sure to include another complex carb.
My main foods: chicken breast, egg whites, tofu, soy milk, boca burger, oatmeal, br. rice, kashi, low sodium tuna, salmon, whey protein, sweet potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, romaine lettuce, spinach, bananas for high GI, almonds, flax/olive oil, with multi vit's and plenty of water
I'll be running 6/week: 8-9,6,8,6,6,and then one long run of 12-16 miles and then one day of cross training. In the evenings I'll alternate between 45-60 mins of weight/basic core training with stretching and maybe 2 15-20 minute HIIT sessions a week. I think this should definitely put me in fat burning mode while avoiding any stavation zones, but if I find I'm feeling lethargic, I'll up the calories (in the carb section) until I feel right.
Any last input on the final plan? Sound good?
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