Managing Weight Loss
Managing Weight Loss While Training: Our Take & 7 Tips
Nick Fischer, registered dietitian, board certified sports dietitian, bariatric specialist, USA Cycling coach
Becky Arturo, doctor of physical therapy, certified strength & conditioning specialist, USA Triathlon coach, USA cycling coach, RRCA running coach
Nick and Becky provide services together through their joint coaching business, Weights and Plates Endurance. You can find us on Instagram (@weightsandplatesendurance), visit our website (www.weightsandplatesendurance.com) or send us an email at info@weightsandplatesendurance.com
Let’s address this elephant in the room.
For the athletes out there who have real health goals for obesity management, but also want to participate in endurance sports, we hear you. Yes, the endurance training world is full of individuals with unrealistic and/or unhealthy weight loss goals, and endurance training can fuel disordered eating & exercise. That is why you’ll hear many sports RD’s and responsible coaches discouraging weight loss goals. However, there are plenty of individuals who want to develop healthy relationships with exercise, weight management and fueling. Seeking professional guidance is the best way to figure out if your goals are reasonable and how to safely meet them.
Obviously as a physical therapist, endurance coach and sports RD, we recognize the importance of not being under fueled for your workouts. However, as health care professionals, we also recognize the validity in realistic and healthy weight loss goals. Is weight loss appropriate for every athlete? Absolutely not. There are plenty of athletes out there who think they need to drop a few pounds, when in reality they’ll probably perform much better with more fueling and a bit more muscle mass. HOWEVER, there are also athletes who appropriately want to work towards seemingly contradictory goals of both weight loss and training. Individuals who experience obesity can absolutely become athletes, and that doesn’t mean weight loss goals have to disappear. It does, however, mean that these goals should be explored with professional guidance.
Here are our 7 tips on managing both weight loss and training:
#1. Time weight loss goals appropriately in your annual training cycle.
Endurance training will look di erent during di erent times of the year. Most people think about the “build phase” of training for an event. That’s the few weeks or months of progressive building of intensity and/or duration prior to your A race. We do NOT recommend weight loss during your build phase. However, weight loss goals can be appropriate during the o season or even during a base building phase for some.
Once progressive overload becomes the focus, your body will need adequate fueling for proper adaptations and recovery. However, during maintenance phases or even some aerobic base development, weight loss may be appropriate for some athletes.
#2. Do not cut too many calories from your diet.
Yes, the more calories that you cut the more weight you will lose. However, when people cut too many calories a few things can occur. First, too much of a caloric deficit can increase your risk for injury and conditions such as RED-S, overtraining syndrome, female athlete triad, etc.
With large deficits, people also often become hungry enough that cravings can lead to grazing, binging, making higher calorie food choices, eating more portions than they notice, having an inconsistent diet pattern, etc.
To minimize this from happening, subtract 200-300 calories from your base + activity calorie needs and start there for weight loss goals.
Slower weight loss is both safer AND more maintainable.
#3. Have a consistent diet pattern.
When people do not have a consistent diet pattern they often have times where they eat too few calories and then end up eating many many more calories later on. When people eat enough food consistently, they oftentimes have better total calorie control. Think about when you go out to eat when you are starving vs. not. When you are hungry you are more likely to overeat. Find a diet pattern that works for you that is consistent most days.
*Hint* - Skipping meals or eating too small of meals is a recipe for disaster.
#4. Understand that weight loss is 100% about calories in vs. calories burned.
There is no magical potion that melts body fat. Once people understand that weight loss is about calories in vs. out this will get a lot easier. There is no trick. The real hard part is understanding what influences someone’s food choices.
#5. Eat a balanced diet.
A balanced diet is one that, believe it or not, includes more carbohydrates than you think. But diet culture has created the false narrative that carbohydrates cause weight gain. When people try to cut carbohydrates not only does their training and recovery su er, but they falsely believe that they lost a quick 5 or 10 pounds when all they did was lose the water that was in their muscles and liver. In addition, cravings for carby foods kick in and they end up overeating. In short, stop reaching for cauliflower rice, veggie pasta and low carb diet foods.
Try to eat 4 oz. of leaner protein along with 1 cup of carb or starch food with 2 cups of vegetables or fruit and see how full you feel. Picture a 4 oz. meatball with 1 cup or pasta and 2 cups of roasted broccoli.
#6. Understand that it isn’t all about protein.
Calories come from the fat, protein, and carbohydrates in the food we eat. So simply eating a lot of protein foods means that you are also eating more calories from protein. Protein is promoted very heavily in diet culture and in products. More is not better. And if we consider tip #4, eating too many calories will not help with weight loss. Sure, protein can help you feel more full for longer, but balanced meals are better at this. So rather than piling on tons of meat focus on tip #5.
#7. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Stop listening to people on social media who make extreme statements about food. They are just trying to get followers or sell something. Food, nutrition, and biology are not this simple and no food is good or bad. Everything can fit into a well balanced diet in moderation, and your general diet pattern matters much more than any one specific product.
So, after learning all this…
Weight loss while training isn’t quite as simple or cut and dry as it may sound. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration. Ultimately, it is your decision to make based on your priorities and health vs athletic goals. My goal here is to provide you with some understanding of pro’s and con’s of each option so that you can make your own informed decision. And, if you do decide to try to lose weight while training for a specific event, I also hope that you have some guidance to do so safely.