I haven't ran much over the past year, I've gained a bit over 20 pounds and feel & look like an absolute pig. How do I cut this fat while training? I've started running again and done about 3 weeks of 35 mileage but I'm still a fat f&ck. I know there's no easy answer, but has anyone else managed to drop this much weight while training? Thanks. I can't just run 80 miles a week I imagine until I lose this weight or I'll pickup injuries.
I haven't ran much over the past year, I've gained a bit over 20 pounds and feel & look like an absolute pig. How do I cut this fat while training? I've started running again and done about 3 weeks of 35 mileage but I'm still a fat f&ck. I know there's no easy answer, but has anyone else managed to drop this much weight while training? Thanks. I can't just run 80 miles a week I imagine until I lose this weight or I'll pickup injuries.
You can get mad growlies doing higher mileage, but it will make you lean anyway if you keep it up.
What helps for me is getting a good nights sleep. I often raid the fridge in the middle of the night, but melatonin pills before bed can get you through the night so you aren't sneaking in an extra meal.
Get an app such as MyFitnessPal or any calorie log, consume less calories than you burn while eating a healthy diet. Get plenty of whole grains, 1.2 to 1.5 g of protein per kg of body weight so 86 to 105g of protein for a 160 pound man and make sure to keep saturated fat intake at only 1/3 of total fat and keep only 1/3 of your total calories from fat. Get plenty of polyunsaturated fats from nuts and fish. Also make sure to get 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Eating healthier will allow you to fill your stomach more and will also help keep your blood sugar in check which will make you feel less hungry which makes being in a calorie deficit easier. You can also slowly build up milage to 45-50 miles per week and and then slowly add more as you lose weight. Keep the protein intake on the higher end of the range to speed up metabolism and decrease muscle mass lost along with fat but don't worry about going over 1.5 g/kg. Also I wouldn't advise losing more than a pound of fat per week but less might be better. Healthy weight loss is a slow process but doing it the right way will leave you running faster, staying healthy and overall feeling better.
*Disclaimer: I am not a licensed nutritionist or a medical profession. Just my personal advice.
Forgot to mention it wouldn't be a bad idea to add a cheat day to your diet once every 7-10 days as it will help keep you metabolism higher. When your body is in a calorie deficit for long periods of time it begins to adapt and slows metabolism. A weekly cheat day would prevent this
Okay, the melatonin thing is a great idea, I remember when I was at 85/miles a week, all the time I would wake up in the middle of the night and eat anything I could get my hands on. Thanks.
I haven't ran much over the past year, I've gained a bit over 20 pounds and feel & look like an absolute pig. How do I cut this fat while training? I've started running again and done about 3 weeks of 35 mileage but I'm still a fat f&ck. I know there's no easy answer, but has anyone else managed to drop this much weight while training? Thanks. I can't just run 80 miles a week I imagine until I lose this weight or I'll pickup injuries.
It's going to take longer than three weeks. You need six weeks just to get back into running anyway. Keep eating a little less and running, and it will start to come off.
One trick I found useful was to weigh myself every morning. Tell yourself that one pound less is progress; one pound more is water weight -- but maybe pass on that extra bite anyway.
Be patient. I recently got a nasty case of COVID and couldn't run for 3 months. It's been a few months back and I'm still getting back in shape but I've lost a lot of the weight I gained in the 3 months off but still have a little more to go. It takes time, but you need to be patient. Do not use this an excuse to starve yourself and develop an eating disorder. As you put in the miles and eat a decent diet the weight will gradually come off, but it could take a while, how long exactly just depends on how talented you are and your metabolism and all that stuff.
Here’s how to lose 20 pounds: put 20 pounds in your pant pocket and send it for dry cleaning you are guaranteed to lose those 20 pounds and more on top for the cleaning itself.
My advice is being careful. You say you are a 'fat pig' or something. That s not nice on yourself, nor compassionate nor helpful. This is how problems start. Eating disorders are a nightmare and bad advice can be harmful.
I haven't ran much over the past year, I've gained a bit over 20 pounds and feel & look like an absolute pig. How do I cut this fat while training? I've started running again and done about 3 weeks of 35 mileage but I'm still a fat f&ck. I know there's no easy answer, but has anyone else managed to drop this much weight while training? Thanks. I can't just run 80 miles a week I imagine until I lose this weight or I'll pickup injuries.
It's going to take longer than three weeks. You need six weeks just to get back into running anyway. Keep eating a little less and running, and it will start to come off.
One trick I found useful was to weigh myself every morning. Tell yourself that one pound less is progress; one pound more is water weight -- but maybe pass on that extra bite anyway.
Not saying you’re wrong but just to show there’s more than one way to skin a cat — I’ve always (the few times I’ve tried to cut weight) tried to avoid the scale or even judging myself in a mirror. Then after a few weeks I’ll judge or weigh myself and feel great about the progress.
It's gonna be tough and depending on your age it may take a year or more.
You need to be consistent with your training (potentially even adding in some x-training doubles to burn more calories without the impact of running), strict with your diet (no snacking or junk food) and you also need to keep your portion sizes in check.
However, make sure that you eat a wide array of healthy foods; you're going to be depleted from the increased training, so make sure you're getting all of the micronutrients you need.
Also, don't skip meals. Eat 3 meals a day to maintain a healthy metabolism.
Apart from keeping running any of the above solutions will leave you feeling hungry and that's the hard part to which there is no easy solution just bs
Once you go into negative calories its hard not to make it up. I find it hard to get to sleep if I'm hungry.
20lbs is not much I'd say just keep training and it will come off. First few wks like fitness nothing much happens then it starts coming off. I always get injured though so thats where it goes wrong.
My advice is being careful. You say you are a 'fat pig' or something. That s not nice on yourself, nor compassionate nor helpful. This is how problems start. Eating disorders are a nightmare and bad advice can be harmful.
From someone who had a pretty severe ED in college (got me to a 14:12 5k FWIW), it's perfectly find to be mean to yourself. Until I could look at myself and say I looked like a scrawny, half-dead POS, I couldn't change.