Q: Increased mileage and gaining weight?
Lauren,
Do you have any tips for losing weight? I’ve been running 50 miles a week for 3 months now, but I’m gaining weight. My goal is to lose 8 pounds in 3-4 months. If you have any solutions to my problem I would appreciate your help. Thanks.
-Amanda
A:
Hey Amanda,
Women’s bodies don’t respond to running the way men’s do. Men have the “calories in = calories out” principal. If they want to lose weight, they simply need to eat slightly less than they burn. Even if its a 100 calorie deficit per day, it will add up to weight lost over time. Add a couple more miles, eat one less snack, and guys are good to go.
Women on the other hand…oh my. Women’s hormonal profiles make is such that we are very efficient at holding onto our body weight. This means we outlive men historically in times of famine or war, but it means its really fricken hard to lose weight when we want to.
Women’s bodies are designed to hold onto fat stores so that our unborn children can survive to term in times of food scarcity. Because of this, when we are in caloric debt, we have a stronger signal to the brain to chow down than men do. Our hunger follows our expenditure with incredible precision (bummer). Check out this article about the myth of exercise and weight loss.
Another sucky thing is that we can’t simply eat less than we burn if we want to lose weight. My nutritionist told me that most women do not start losing weight until they have a caloric deficit of at least 250-350 calories. So if you are eating 225 calories less than you burn every day, your body will simply change its thermoregulation so you can stay the same weight. You will be hungry as hell, and not losing weight for weeks on end, and all that will happen is your reproductive system might go dormant to compensate for the reduced energy (a possible reason so many runners have amenorrhea).
My advice?
- Don’t follow guys’ advice on how to lose weight by running more; they live by a different set of rules.
- Read this previous answer I wrote about what I do when I want to trim down.
- Realize that exercise without caloric debt will not lead to weight loss.
- When you are done stamping your feet in protest because its not fair, harness that motivation that has led you to consistently run 50 mile weeks and make a winning plan for yourself to reach your goal weight!
-Lauren
One thing I’ll say about Men’s weight loss is that it was a piece of cake to lose weight back when I was in my early 20s. Now that I’m in my later 40s… not so much. Sometimes I think it’s impossible, actually.
That is another good point Blake. Age is a major factor in metabolism and body composition. Something to consider to help you break through: a great way to stimulate your metabolism is to create some “muscle confusion.” Your body gets very efficient at performing expected routines, i.e. running, eating, having coffee, going to bed at the same time every day. Over time, you burn less energy doing the same routines…that’s great for human survival back in the day, but a pain in the butt for you. If you keep your diet the same but change up your exercise stimulus, you might have better luck losing weight. Take your body off guard; give it a new challenge! I recommend spin class two times a week at a time you don’t normally run.
Lauren
I think your blog post was secretly a good kick off to a potential series of write ups about this topic. Most writers pretend to understand what they’re preaching about when it comes to this stuff and generally, nearly no one actually get it. You seem to grasp it though, so I think you ought to start writing more. Thank you!
Pretty good going, I’m going to post a quote of your content on my site (with a link back). I hope that’s ok?
Great work guys .keep up with your good work.We always look forward to your work.
Hey Lauren, Thanks for your awesome blog! I just came across this post. One thing I’m curious about is what is going on on a physiological level that requires a woman’s body to be in a caloric deficit of 250 to 350 calories a day in order to lose weight. Also, I’m a little unclear about what it means to be in a caloric deficit. How many calories does an inactive woman versus an active woman burn a day?
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