How to lose weight while training for a full marathon

		Wed, Nov 17, 2010 Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network
How to lose weight while training for a full marathon
IT IS A must to lose additional weight before and during a full-marathon training to avoid injuries, to respond effectively to the demands of the training and, of course, to finish or improve your time in the race. Last month, I was able to meet some beginners training for a full marathon, who still needed to lose some weight. There will be a number of 42km races from December 2010 until March 2011 in the Philippines (Milo marathon, Cebu International marathon, Subic International marathon, Condura run, TBR Dream Marathon) and joining one requires preparation, motivation, proper training, hard work and education. Set a realistic goal If you want to lose weight in the next four months before your marathon race day, you must consider your training condition, training load and lifestyle. A realistic weight loss goal in four marathon training weeks is approximately 10-20 pounds of fat. And these numbers are good enough to help improve your race performance, to experience significant health benefits without you going on starvation or fad diets. Use the four-month marathon training weight loss guide used by some successful full-marathon finishers who also lost weight. Month 1-November: Change your lifestyle This might be your first serious training month after finishing a couple of weeks of conditioning runs last month. The best way to start losing weight is two to three months before the holiday season, not January. If you start losing weight by Jan. 1, you might just have to work on shedding the extra 5-10 pounds gained during the holidays. You can lose three to as many as six pounds this month, since your training volume and mileage are just moderate. Your hunger pangs and sweet cravings won't strike as much, compared to your last marathon training month. You are also motivated enough to start your healthy lifestyle and lose as much before the Christmas season. Don't get too excited to join too many races (or running on a race pace) week by week, to avoid injuries. Also, pushing yourself every week will always require you to recover longer-which means less exercise and possibly eating more than your usual. Month 2-December: Limit calories on non-training days In reality, just maintaining your weight this month is good enough. You will also have the chance to try other physical activities with your family and other outdoor sports when you are out of town like kayaking, swimming, hiking, surfing and even walking or running with your dog. Since your activities might be lessened, you can just limit your calories on non-training days by avoiding unnecessary snacks and extra meals you used to take last month. You can still lose two to four pounds on the first week of the month. But as parties and celebrations set in, you might just use your training runs and other activities to burn the excess calories and maintain your weight until end of the year. Don't be such a perfectionist when it comes to losing the same number of pounds you did last month. It's the time of the year to be with your families and close friends, so take a break from seeing your running buddies and coach. So, at this time, your running activities might not be as much as a regular working and training week. Month 3- January: Lose weight to run better This month, you will have a greater chance of losing more weight and regaining your momentum and drive. The weather will be perfect for training day and you will burn more calories again with your running buddies. Stay away from high-calorie post-Christmas treats. Losing 1-1.5 pounds a week will come to play once again, provided your exercise duration and intensity are still progressing. The 7-15 pounds you've lost the past two months will also help you maintain or even increase your calorie-burn even as you are now lighter. You always have to remind yourself that you need to lose weight to perform better during the race day, and not to lose weight to wear your swimwear by summer. New diet books will be released by this period, and you might get tempted to try one to be able to lose weight faster since the rate might have gone slower during the holidays. If you want to try a zero-carb diet to lose seven pounds in one week, just forget about your marathon training. You can't resort to an incomplete eating plan and a less than 1,200 calorie-diet if you want to finish a full marathon. Month 4 - February: Eat real foods and avoid the extras You have four to six weeks before the race day. You will definitely be running more than 21 km or five to eight hours of weekly running plus cross-training activities around this time, so you can be certain that you will easily burn at least 2,000 calories per week (which is already equivalent to half pound of fat loss per week). The best way to avoid weight gain and at least continue some weight loss is to completely avoid the extras like chocolates, pizza, deep-fried foods, flavored high-calorie drinks and high-fat potato chips. Eat real foods like your daily servings of brown rice or pasta, whole-grain breads, plenty of vegetables and enough protein sources from lean chicken and meat, fish, low-fat milk and eggs with less yolk. It's been proven, and runners have always experienced, that the harder and the longer you train, the often you get hungry. Checking on my personal food logs, my total calorie intake per day has already increased by an average of 300 calories per week, and I have four more weeks left before my full-marathon in December. So to all runners who are still planning to lose weight by this time, expect a two to four pounds maximum weight loss in four weeks, so you won't sacrifice your training performance. Remember that you still need to carbo-load three days before the marathon day!