Hey all
So I am on a rowing team at my school but though I definitely get a lot of exercise I'm gaining weight like crazy (and not muscle mass). This is almost the heaviest I've ever been, and I am not happy!!!

I am 5'5" and right now 153... my goal is somewhere around 130 but I might adjust that because I just want to feel comfortable.

My question is: how do I balance getting enough calories to fuel my body during my rowing workouts with still losing weight?

thanks!

Eat more whole foods- don't buy processed foods.

I assume you are eating at your school cafeteria? They load their stuff with fat. Try getting more grilled meats and sticking to salads but stay away from croutons and too much dressing. Stay away from fries, sauced items like pastas, and so on. Try to up your protein intake

My suggestion would be to track your calorie intake using a website such as fitday, daily plate, sparkpeople, etc. to get an accurate view of what you're eating in a day. If you don't know how much you're eating you're not going to be able to lower it consistently enough to create a deficit and therefore lose weight.

Once you know how much you're eating you can lower that amount and combined with your exercise lose that excess. But I'd second what beerab said too, whole foods are the way to go, you get a lot more food for your calories and your workouts if you eat high quality calories. Good luck!

Hi Gnomey,
When my son was training on the school cross country team, his teacher said to only add fruit and veggies to his normal three meals. This is a boy who has 3 apples and an orange for morning tea (loves his fruit).
Maybe you could also ask your coach what s/he recommends for you.
All the best.

I would:
-cut out all processed foods. whole foods only.
-aim for 5 or more servings veggies per day.
-take a good multi and fishoil supp.
-do at least 10 minutes warmup jog/stretching before each practice or workout.

Yup, this is a wonderful answer! I'm going to second it (and third Beerab's comment about whole foods).

It is hard to train with a calorie deficit. If you have some idea of the type of workouts that your coach will be scheduling then you can adjust your meals to suit to maximize both energy and weight loss. Not only WHAT you eat, but the timing of them.

For example, I am on a 6-7 day a week running plan. Since I run first thing in the morning, my meals are planned starting with dinner the night before. Since Monday and Thursday are recovery/easy days, the calories can be lower, starting with Sunday dinner through Monday afternoon snack. I focus on protein and veggies, with minimal amounts of starchy carbohydrates or fruits.

But Tuesday is my high intensity interval day or my sustained race pace day. I NEED fuel to do that workout. So monday night I will have a serving of a starchy carb with dinner and a fruit and add a preworkout snack in the morning. A little bit more carbs with my post workout breakfast to aid recovery. Then a lean protein and veggie lunch and back to business.

etc. Think of putting the fuel you NEED for your workouts closely spaced before (and after, do not neglect recovery -refueling within 30 minutes will help you be stronger with LESS overall food) and eating lightly the remaining time.

Whole foods, emphasis on lean protein, non starchy veggies, good oils. Use your carbs as training fuel and place them accordingly. Still stick to whole grain real food carbs and fruit, not white stuff if possible

Yes, yes - all of what she said. It is quite challenging to balance athletic performance with weight loss. You need to eat enough to fuel your training, but not so much that you end up with a surplus and gain. I tend to gain weight during marathon training season, and I've heard that others do too.

If you are gaining weight right now, you are over-fueling. It's very easy to OVERestimate how many calories we burn and UNDERestimate the number of calories we eat. Training tends to make you hungry, and it is very easy to reach for the high calorie food and overdo it. Been there, done that!! I'm a big fan of keeping a food log and counting calories, because it will show you exactly what you are doing and help you spot patterns that need to be modified.

It's important to be realistic in your expectations -- if you try to set up too much of a calorie deficit to drop weight quickly, then your workouts may suffer. If you set up a modest calorie deficit (like 500 calories per day), that will result in one pound loss per week. That doesn't sound like much, but in 10 weeks, that's 10 pounds, right? Just stopping the weight GAIN is progress too!

Good luck!

Hi gnomey!

I'm also on the rowing team at school so i totally understand how much exercise you are getting! i've been able to use the insane amount of exercise to my advantage actually because i very carefully plan out what i'm going to eat and when. for example, i like to have a granola bar with lots of protein (south beach and kashi both make delicious/high protein) before a practice/training and then a piece of string cheese or yogurt and an apple about 30 minutes after. Doing this i've found i'm not any hungrier than i was before crew and can still keep my calories within my daily budget. Also, make sure you're drinking tons of water because what you think is hungry might just be your body's desire for rehydration.

hope that helps!