As I said yesterday over in my introduction, I lost 85 pounds. I'm at about 140, with body fat of 14.5%. I'm a size 2 or 4. I'm 43 years old, 5'5". I don't usually give this info so freely, but hey, we're all future old friends, right

I ran a half marathon just over a week ago. I had set aside weight training in the month before my race (was lifting three times a week), and now I'm back in the gym. I'm using New Rules of Lifting, which uses big compound lifts. (Love this, by the way.) Right now I lift twice a week, but could soon up that to three or four.

I cut my running down to 15-20 miles per week (I plan to cycle through the first six weeks of a novice marathon training plan a couple of times over the winter. I'm planning to run a 25K in May, and will begin training for that in February or March.) I'm also swimming two or three times a week. I'm working with a coach once a week, which is a blast. Oh, and I ice skate once a week with my son and some other moms and kids.


I'm starting to get comments that I'm getting too thin. Clearly, the time for loosing weight is over. I'm now an amateur athlete, and I need to eat like one.

But I want to stay in control of my eating. I've regained large quantities of weight before, and I'm perfectly capable of doing it again! So it would not be a good idea for me to just start wolfing down too much.

I should gain some muscle with the lifting, but if I add only muscle, my body fat percentage will go even lower, and I it's plenty low already. So I guess I need to gain weight, including some fat.

My plan right now is to add some protein shakes and maybe some larger helpings of meat at lunch and dinner. I don't eat low carb now, and I don't think I should be adding more starchy carbs or fat, so if I'm adding, I guess it needs to be protein.

Thanks for sticking with me on this long post Thoughts?

De

Hi Dee!

As you so wisely recognize, the key here is to maintain control of your eating. Wouldn't we all love a carte blanche to gain weight? And wouldn't we all abuse it? (I would, for sure )

Without knowing the specifics, it sounds like you have healthy eating nailed down already and only want to stop losing more weight, right? So how about increasing your calories proportionally across the board? Like a 10% or 20% increase in protein, fats and carbs -- continuing the eat the same foods in the same ratios, but in slightly larger portion sizes? For example, if you're used to eating a four egg white omelet for breakfast and 1/2 cup oatmeal, you could try a six egg white omelet and 2/3 cup oatmeal.

The advantage is that you don't have to pick and choose which food group to increase. If you're at a healthy ratio already, there's no need to change it - just eat more from all groups.

I don't know if you track your calories or ratios already, but if you do, it would be relatively easy to tweak what you're eating to add a few hundred more calories per day. Of course, it may take a little experimentation to see at what calorie level your weight loss will stop.

Because you are also a fit size four. It seem so strange to me that 140 pounds could be too low for me! I as 135 pounds in high school, and I was not slim - not fat, but no one would have considered me underweight! I know body composition matters a lot.

I figured more protein because I'm switching from an emphasis on running to an emphasis on lifting. I've been eating 50-75 grams per day, which is RDA. But other sources recommend much more. Frankly, recommendations are all over the map! Thought I'd try 100-125 and see how that goes.

Dee

Ahhh .... now I agree with you on increasing the protein.

I typically eat between 125 - 150 grams of protein every day and that's not an unusual amount for a weightlifter. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that protein adds in muscle growth and recovery.

100 - 125 grams sounds like a great place to start. If you need any ideas for adding in more protein, check with the Ladies Who Lift - they're all little protein 's.

Good luck and let us know how the experiment goes!

Miss Dee, the 4 sports nutrition books I have (yes, I'm obsessed) claim that the athletes with the highest protein needs are endurance athletes and people who are just beginning a strength training program. I pulled one at random that claims endurance exercise will require up to 0.8-0.9g/lb of bodyweight, and novice weight training 0.8 g/lb. Either way, you'd be in the ballpark of a minimum of 125 g/day. Happy running, happy lifting, happy eating!

Anne

PS If I recall all 4 were about the same on specific amounts.