Harriette,
I am currently training with seb as my “online coach” in a forum on this site. in the past 2 years i have taken up running and lost a lot of weight. I was 127kg and am now 89kg. I am 37 years old and 5’9″ tall. A short stocky build. Anyway, I seem to have stalled a this weight for the past 6 months. I am careful about what I eat but as the weekly mileage increases my appetite does the same.
Is there any advice you can give to help me lose the last few kg? I would love to get into the 77-79kg range.
Thanks,
KP
Hi KP,
Many thanks for your query. Firstly congratulations on your fabulous weight loss so far. From the details that you have provided for me I see that you have really changed your lifestyle – I love hearing such great news.
Without knowing you, the following statistcs are recommended for somebody of your age, weight and height by achieving these figures you will be reducing your risk factors of developing clinical conditions in later life. Weight: < 76 Kgs BMI: 19 – 24.9 Kg / m2, waist circumference (navel) < 94 cm and a body fat percentage of < 19 % (taken from callipers). Presently I know your weight and BMI and curently you are lying in the overweight cateogry.
A weight plateau is quite often experienced as for everything there are many reasons this might happen. But the main one in my experience is when your training quantity increases as you have highlighted above so does your calorie intake. To keep this at bay you must focus on the type of energy / calories you are consuming. Ideally I would really need to know more about you to be able to provide you with sound scientific advice suited to your body but the following points may help you below:
- Make sure you break you fast within 30 minutes of walking up. If you train first thing that might be something as simple as a yoghurt.
- Never go longer than 3 – 4 hours without eating. This means if your breakfast and lunch are more than 4 hours apart (quite often they are in our hectic lives) then a small snack of approx (200 kcals) should be consumed. This could be as simple as 4 brazil nuts or 2 rice cakes with peanut butter or a 150g creamed rice portion with dried apricots.
- Make sure you are consuming adequate fluid intake. When I mention fluid I do not mean just water. I mean make sure the foods you are consuming are hydrating foods. That means that they have a good percentage of water naturally in the foods. E.g. Vegetables, Fruit.
- Watch out for sugar. Quite often when people are trying to loose weight they can tend to choose lower fat options that are higher in sugar or they tend to consume a large amount of fruit. I would recommend no more than two portions of fruit per day (one portion = 80 – 100g of fruit).
- Without knowing your training schedule it is dificult for me to guide you on appropriate calorie consumption. But typically your range for weight loss could lie between 2000 – 2400 kcals per day. If you are undereating your requirements weight stagnation may be experienced. I like to think of this as your body trying to conserve its energy and does not fire on its full metabolism. Hence a weight stagnation.
Think great quality foods – think protein and wholegrain carbohydrates. Portions sizes are key and there is no need for you to be feeling hungry when you are eating right for your body
I hope the above advice / information will assist you. However KP if you require any further assistance please do let me know. Ideally we would need to conduct a full assessment including VO2 Max level, body composition, 7 day nutrition plan and full training guide to be able to provide you with the correct informaiton for you to excel. If this interests you please contact the healthpro office today on 086 411922 or email [email protected] and we can arrange a time to talk with a healthpro dietitian.
I would like to wish you all the best with your training. Is there a specific event that you are training for?
Many thanks, Harriette.
