A question about weight

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi Guys,
I have had this question rolling around in my head that I want to ask. I do not want to offend anybody, but it is bugging me, and if I can't ask here, where am I going to ask. Right?

I have in more than one instance noticed that some of the hardest training people here have made comments about their weight. How come when doing this much training, the pounds don't just melt away?

I know calories in, calories out. I teach Bio, I get it. But with the number of calories that we are burning, why is it even an issue?

I don't have a weight issue, I am not a picker, or an emotional eater. I am careful about my fuel choices. Yea, I indulge every now and then, but for the most part, I am a clean eater.

How come I am not desperately fighting to keep weight on? Are we not really burining that much? I am freakin' hungry all the time, and I am not even doing IM distance.

What is the physiology behind this?

Confused and hungry in New Jersey...
( and hoping not to offend)

Ruth

[Offthegrid]

I can't speak for others and I'm certainly not one of the hardest training people here, but I've lost 35 pounds since September. That's an average of about 5 pounds a month or a bit more than 1 pound a week -- the exact amount recommended for permanent weight loss.

If you're interested more in the psychology, check out the book "Mindless Eating" by Brian Wansink, who studies food psychology. Basically he says people drastically overcompensate for the calories they burn through exercise. He's also the guy who studied how much people eat when they have bottomless soup bowls and how the size of the popcorn bag influences how much people will eat.

One risk of exercise is that some people subsequently overeat, thinking they are compensating for the calories they burned. They almost always overeat. The key to Mindless Eating isn’t in necessarily giving up all the foods a person loves. It’s being more naturally mindful (not obsessively mindful) as to some of the tradeoffs required.

In one study we’ve done, we found that listing the number of miles a person would have to walk if they consumed a 300 calorie bag of granola lead them to eat less than if we just had the calorie count in it. For many people, it’s not necessary that they eliminate all "bad” food, just that they trim it down.

The key to Mindless Eating, is that you can set up some of your own rules and trade-offs so nothing is off-limits as long as you see the bigger picture.

Here's a NY Times article about the same person.

[HillSlugger]

I wish I knew! I ride 4 days a week, run 2, and swim 1-2, and I'm not losing any weight at all. I assume I'm eating too much, but I secretly hope it means that I'm converting fat pounds to lean muscle pounds.

[mimitabby]

Not too concerned about my own weight, but what i have read is when you exercise you speed up your metabolism. So the furnace wants more wood to burn whether you exercise that day or not. So it's really tricky because you feel hungry. The book I just read "Younger Next Year" suggests you exercise EVERY DAY.. then you can moderate your intake better. If you ride (like I do)
2 hours one day, 4 the next and not ride 5 days in a row, the food management gets harder. I get SOOOOO hungry every day, it's annoying.

[Offthegrid]

I wish I knew! I ride 4 days a week, run 2, and swim 1-2, and I'm not losing any weight at all. I assume I'm eating too much, but I secretly hope it means that I'm converting fat pounds to lean muscle pounds.

If you really want you could track measurements, too. I took mine in October or November but haven't taken them again. I should get on that.

I have noticed that if I work out in the morning (be it swimming, spin class or running) I get ravenously hungry afterwards.

[rocknrollgirl]

Nah,
I do not want to track or measure or calculate... I just want to know the basic physiology behind this phenomenon.

What the heck?

[KSH]

It is very interesting.

I can also say, that I know that you can't judge an athlete by his/her cover. For example, when I started racing... I would see someone who didn't look as fit as me... but I tell you what, they kicked my butt. I typically cycle with people who don't look really fit, but gosh, they go REALLY FAST on a bike. So weight does not determine performance in my book.

As far as people not losing weight when training... I bet that's a huge question for a lot of people out there.

I wonder if it has to do with the fact that a lot of training might be out of the "fat burning zone" and into the aerobic zone. I have a friend who has purposely done some long slow rides on his bike (14/15 mph average versus a 18/19 mph average)... to lose weight, and it has worked.

For me, I struggled some with keeping my weight below 130 last year. I was riding all the time with some swimming... but whatever I was eating... was making me gain weight.

Last October I buckeled down on my eating habits and lost 9 pounds. Now days, I fluctuate between 121 and 125.... but I am eating like I did last year... ???? Gosh, even the other week, I seriously ate out 5 days... and I lost weight... whereas last year that would not have happened.

Of course, this year I am running... that might be the difference?

Otherwise, just because I am at a healthy weight... it doesn't mean a damn thing on the course. I am still a slow runner and mediocre on the bike. I get passed by a ton of people!

[KnottedYet]

I know my body has set points where it "likes" to be. Both size and weight.

When I'm active and happy I'm 145 lbs and a size 10-12.
When I'm sedentary and happy I'm 165 lbs and a 12-14.
When I'm miserable I can be up to 200 lbs and a size 20, whether I'm active or not.

I have the same pair of size 12 jeans that I've been going back and forth with for the last 15 years.

When my bod is at one of it's set points, it stays there. I won't weigh 140, no matter what I try. I won't settle at 160, it's gotta be 165.

Maybe yours has a set point it wants to stay at, and your metabolism adjusts to your activity to keep you there?

[Wahine]

I have in more than one instance noticed that some of the hardest training people here have made comments about their weight. How come when doing this much training, the pounds don't just melt away?

I know calories in, calories out. I teach Bio, I get it. But with the number of calories that we are burning, why is it even an issue?

How come I am not desperately fighting to keep weight on? Are we not really burining that much? I am freakin' hungry all the time, and I am not even doing IM distance.

What is the physiology behind this?

Confused and hungry in New Jersey...
( and hoping not to offend)

Ruth

Gotta keep this short. So ask questions if it doesn't click.

Physiologically speaking, new activity will burn calories at a higher rate - simple biology there. As we exercise longer, our efficiency changes and we may not burn as many calories for the same amount and intensity of exercise. This has to do with efficiency of metabolism as well as efficiency of movement/biomechanics.

Also, while many of us are burning fat, we are also storing glycogen in our muscles. For every 1 gram of glycogen stored, you have to store 3 grams of water. That's a lot of extra weight in the muscle. This would be particularly true for you because you're doing a lot of work at LT so you're body will be tending toward storing glycogen in the muscle.

I actually gained weight when I trained for my first IM, I think mostly due to glycogen storage.

Metabolic hormone levels drop drastically in trained athletes if they restrict their caloric intake below 80% of required calories for normal daily function + caloric expenditure during exercise. This is in effect a physiologic starvation response and will pre-dispose storage of fat when the athlete does eat more. So a lot of athletes may be shooting themselves in the foot by not eating enough for 3 to 4 days, (changing their metabolic hormone profile), then binging because they think it's OK once in awhile.

Finally, a lot of people eat on rest weeks and rest days the same as they do on training days and I think that tends to cause some fat storage. Your body is trying to make rain while the sun shines. I don't have anything to back this up, it's just my opinion from experience with my own body and from discussions with other athletes.

Personally. I seem to have hit my set point at 140 lbs. To lose more I will have to change something. As you know, I'm training a lot. You'd think I'd be as skinny as a rail. Nope. I don't know that I will try to drop another 5 lbs. That was my goal as it would seriously improve my climbing. But I also don't want to get into that nasty situation of messing with my metabolism.

[rocknrollgirl]

Yep, that is me. Queen of LT....no long slow distance here. Long slow distance would be pretty couterproductive for the races I am training for. Xterra is going to be 2-3 hours of brutality. Especially the bike!

I am trying so hard to eat well, and eat enough to keep fueled, and not too much to avoid the gain.
But God I am friggin' hungry

I have not gained fat( yet), but I am a bit paranoid about it. I have put on muscle from mt biking over the past two years.

The food part should be easier.....

[Bluetree]

Wahine, I always learn something every time you post. Thanks.

[Wahine]

Wahine, I always learn something every time you post. Thanks.

Thank you Blue. I try to help.

[rocknrollgirl]

Yoda....now I am assuming that my body would be storing that glycogen in an effort to bank for the next workout?


And, thanks from me also. I agree with BT, I always learn a thing or two from your posts.

[Eden]

Yep, that is me. Queen of LT....no long slow distance here. Long slow distance would be pretty couterproductive for the races I am training for.

No! LSD is not couterproductive for racing!! Always training at LT though is counterproductive. It may feel like its not hard enough to do slow rides, and it is easy to feel that it is a waste of time, but always training full out is one of the most common mistakes that new racers make. If you are always going full tilt you are much more likely to overtrain, plus you will never train your body to be more efficient. The LSD work is necessary to get your body using more fats longer so that you are not immediately burning up all your supplies of ready energy when you do have to go all out. Don't skip your base training! If you do it you will be able to go faster for longer periods.

[rocknrollgirl]

Thanks for the input.

Eden- I do have a very structured program with slower days built in. I also have a very solid base for endurance.

I am not a new racer, especially to mt biking. I was speaking from my own frame of reference. What I meant was that I would not be out doing a 70 mile road day to train for a 15 mile mountain bike race. That would not be a productive use of my training time.


I do hard interval days with active recovery days and rest days. Two hard weeks and one easy week.

It is a pretty balanced program. ( ok where is the food)


Thanks.