I don't have an answer, but at 6'3'' 225lb, I want to continue to lose to weight. I find it hard while in a huge training block because I am adding muscle and trying to eat to replenish what I am using. For the next month, I am cutting out fried food, beer :-( and dessert to see what that does for me before my 70.3 However, I know I am stronger and more fit since I started training daily back in March. I guess what I am trying to say is that weight isn't always the best predictor of success but it is still important.

I think a lot of it is how you are built. I'm 5'-11" and probably weigh 177-180 on race day. I wasn't an athlete in college but played offensive lineman in high school. I was probably 20 lbs more then but lifted weights and had alot more of an upper body than now. I had an still have thunder thighs and carry a good bit of weight in my lower body. That's my engine. I don't worry too much about it. There's probably 5-10 lbs I could lose but I doubt I could sustain it. I weighed 245 lbs about 9 years ago but have been around this current weight for the past 5 years.

I've made the podium at my last two IM70.3 races so I don't feel like it's holding me back there and at my last ironman race I went to awards and was curious what the podium guys looked like. Most of them looked normal. None looked anorexic, but they looked healthy.

Before triathlon, I had started running to lose weight because I had gotten up to 200lbs. I'm 6' 2". Controlling my diet and running I quickly went down to between 180-185. Once I started triathlon, especially working up to HIM distance, I dropped even more. I now usually range from between 170-175. For me I feel pretty healthy in the 170-175 range. I don't really want to go below that because I don't want to be any skinnier than I am. I guess the top triathlon people are leaner than I am but I'm comfortable where I am at.

I don't know about what EXACT weight you would want to be at but why not start out aiming for 180 and see how that feels. A balanced healthy diet and continue your training. Use something like MyFitnessPal to track your food.

Nobody will be able to answer your Bonus question with any level of certainty. You can get faster by losing weight for sure. How much? Who knows

I think optimum BMI for triathlon is probably about 21.5.
(Lower for pure running or cycling).

That said, I think it is very hard for anyone with swim muscles and a history of being overweight to reach 21.5.

22 is probably the best likely outcome for most.

Being "heavy" is not a huge problem in swimming or cycling (on flat courses).

But it is worth about 2 seconds/mile on the run.

Here is my math:
Your best weight (at BMI of 22) would be 153.
You are thus 37 lbs over optimum.
That's 74 seconds/mile on the run.

My guess is that you would go at least 16 minutes faster on the 70.3 run, and 30 minutes faster on the 140.6 run.

How to get there.
Don't eat like cr#p.
And train an average of 15 hr/wk for the next 2 years.
You should get close to your optimum weight.

This is good. Not sure if you caught Hard Knocks this past week but one of the guys on the Rams missed practice due to cramps because he only ate 2 bananas before practice. I'd love to lose weight too right now, and impulsive side of me says, well, just don't eat much after a workout. The smart side says, eat right and the right amounts and the body will get to where it needs to be instead of hurting myself. The coach pretty much blasted the team about eating right afterwards. I thought it was interesting that even the pros who have nutritionists giving them everything they need still have problems with eating right.

156-158 was my race weight target at 5'11" FWIW

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Searching for the bliss of ultimate exertion.

First off, congrats on dropping 50 lbs - that's already pretty impressive. I'm 40yo and 5'-10" and I've found a pretty good balance at around 165-168lbs. Up until last winter I was doing a lot of strength training and weighed closer to 175, but I dropped a bunch of muscle pretty quickly when I stopped lifting and started focusing solely on endurance stuff. I'm sure my run would be faster if I lost more weight, but to get any lighter I think I'd have to get into a serious calorie-counting regimen which would suck most of the fun out of life, plus my wife already thinks I'm too skinny.

As far as how to get there, I'm not a nutritionist or coach and there are so many personal variables involved that it's hard to make recommendations. I can tell you for me personally cutting out alcohol (especially beer) and limiting unnecessary sugars and highly refined carbs makes the biggest difference. I'm not advocating a low carb diet but cutting way back on pasta, bread, muffins, bagels, etc. has helped me manage my weight.

Good luck!

155 lb, eat less, move more. 4:40 and 10:45.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Myfitnesspal app. That, and stop thinking you need to tank up before and after workouts. And expect to be a bit hungry and grouchy. Lose the weight before the year's training begins so you're not trying to limit calories AND push hard workouts at the same time. Lose weight in off season and then just maintain it the rest of the year.

A year ago I was at 245, today I'm at 162. Calorie counting with myfitnesspal at losing 1.5 pounds a week setting helped me get here. I still eat whatever foods I want, just in much more controlled quantities. I eat back my exercise calories and HIM training definitely helps me hit my numbers. My ftp has gone from 185 to 230 over the same period using trainer road so it's not like losing the weight has made me weaker. I used to barely be able to run a solid mile to having a 1:49 half marathon PR. So it's been a good combination of training and eating, but it basically boils down to the calorie counting. Be patient through the plateaus, track every single day every single thing and you'll get there.

I feel ya, I was 190 at 5'10" just last year and now I am about 176. That weight difference makes most of the difference (at least I think...) in the pool. I started losing more weight when I backed off on the duration of training and increased the intensity of the training. The longest distance I will do in a triathlon right now is olympic distance (having done a few 70.3s) and for me, for some reason, that shift in focus to intensity caused me to lose the weight from 190 down to current. That is just me, maybe for you it could be different, but I think that if you have made a lot of progress doing what you are doing (down 45 pounds is really good) then just shifting it up a little bit might help a bit.

you know you will never be 135 again?? yeah if you continue eating like shit.
live like you lived in college for a year and train like that. see what happens.

So, pizza and beer + 80 miles per week. I just don't think the results will be the same. lol

I get done with a long 5 hr bike and I want to eat ALL the food. And when I say all the food, I mean like go to the Cheesecake Factory and put down like 3500 calories and 2000mg of salt. I am in awe of the people that can eat clean at 15+hrs of training per week.

I am definitely in the "train to eat" not "eat to train" category. I'm 6', down to 170-175 from 210 when I started tris 2 years ago. I know I'd be faster at 160, but I love eating and drinking beer too much to commit to losing the last 15 lbs to get to a real racing weight.

I used to be like this, and I tried a low carb/high fat diet which change completely how I eat. I would routinely smash a high carb meal after training, and sometimes I needed something like a chocolate muffin pre-training just to get through the upcoming session. I'm not on a strict low carb/high fat diet anymore, and not keto or anything like that. But I do eat a much more balanced diet than prior. If you are constantly feeling hungy switch to a higher percentage of good fats in your diet for calorie intake. Foods such as avocado, olive oil, macadamia nuts, oily fish etc. You will find that they satiate your appetite much more effectively than a big bowl of fried rice.

In general I try and keep my food very simple, I follow a plan of 2:1:2. Which is basically two serves of non starchy vegetables, one serve of proteins (meats etc), two serves of good fats each meal. Invariably I also have some carbs in there as well somewhere but it is not a main component of the meal. If I need some extra carbs I try and make them from a 'good' source such as sweet potato, brown rice etc. I also have a 'cheat' meal once a week, but usually end up feeling like crap for four hours after. Unless it's a good burger and chips, I'm really into those at the moment!

I think if everyone moved away from processed foods and just ate natural, unprocessed foods the world would be a much healthier place. You don;t need to do anything fancy or look for a special ingredient, just keep your food simple and real.

Well done on losing weight, and your times are pretty awesome for a third year of a certain age I'd say. I'm 47, 6" and 196lb, and know I could lose some of that. At this weight I've done 11.30 at IM and around 5.25 at HIM. I did get down to 167 or so a few years back, and nailed a PB at both distances, but I guess that's what break-ups can do for you - not sure it was healthy weight loss...!

Best thing I ever did was give up added sugar (or at least limit it to products that have 3-4% maximum). Initially hard as it's in everything (a can of baked beans?!) but gets easier after a couple of weeks. It cuts out a lot of processed food which has to be a good thing. I've been up to 210lb (playing rugby - yes, yes I know, I'm too old, but I live in NZ so what can you do?) in the past few years but quitting sugar gave me 10lb loss with pretty much no effort or extra training.

But I've also learnt not to stress about it too much either. And I still have the odd sugary treat...

Do it in stages
1.) try to improve the quality of you diet and set a mild caloric deficit.
2.) make goal #1 to get to 175- access your leanness, speed and happiness at 175 and make a new goal if needed after that.

X2 2:1:2 and also check out this companies:
Generation UCAN( did a 3hrs ride with 3000 feet of climbing with only 240calories)
http://www.metabolicefficiency.org

I don't have any conflict of interest with any of those two companies. I did cut all process food and sugar out of my diet 3 weeks ago.

Isn't UCAN highly processed?

INGREDIENTS: SuperStarch (hydrothermally cooked non-GMO corn), Xantham Gum, Sodium Citrate Dihydrate, Natural Flavors, Potassium Citrate, Citric Acid, Sucralose (non nutritive sweetener), Ascorbic Acid, Annatto Extract (color)

Basically agree with all of this. I'm down ~20lbs doing the same.

Yes, but you don't eat it as a meal. You use it pre-race/workout or during for longer durations. Key benefit of UCAN is that it doesn't spike your insulin when you take it, which in turn inhibits utilising fats as an energy source.

UCAN is very expensive though, I've read research that shows insulin response from much cheaper waxy maise starch is similar. Not quite as good as UCAN but similar, and good enough for what it is intended for. Before my long rides I take 30g waxy maise and tablespoon of MCT powder. Last weekend I got through a 4 hour ride in the hills with threshold workouts on that plus one 800ml bottle of Gatorade no problem.

There are plenty of pros out there who aren't exactly racing snakes plus lots of very talent age groupers that are way heavier than 130lbs. Chris Mccormack was 180lbs when he won won Kona. My mate won his AG at Busso 70.3 and he weighed same as you 190lbs.
Perhaps don't get fixated on your weight, train hard, eat well, cut down on the grog and see what happens.

Does anyone on here lift weights, or stick to the endurance aspect?

I'm 210lbs, 6' (5" 11.75"...whatever). Did NOLA 70.3 in 5:57, and that was in horrible wind that had me close to drowning in the swim and panicking, and punishing me on the bike and run. I think a 5:30 would be totally doable (granted its a fast course) for guy like me. I was a collegiate hockey player, so this size is close to my playing weight.

Got down to 196 at one point...but I'm in the off season and hitting the protein/weights heavy. I realize this isn't conducive to triathlon/endurance success...but I'm not making any money at this, so I'm using it to stay in shape and to not look like a toothpick when in my onesie. Now I'm sure I could lose some fat that is hanging out from lack of everyday training, but I'm thinking I'd have to lose a LOT of muscle to drop down to any of the weights being thrown around here (150-165).

First off, it's an impressive loss already. And the disclaimer - forget about big weight losses in the middle of hard training block, it's a recipe for disaster. Trimming sure, but save the bulk for when you're logging mostly low intensity.

When that is said, for me there are three factors:
1. Watch out for liquid calories - won't make you feel full, so save them for the good stuff.
2. People tend to grossly overestimate how much energy they need before/during/after workouts, particularly save the liquid calories for the tough workouts.
3. Recent studies found that you will tend to eat the same mass of food to feel full. What does this mean? Caloric density is what matters - cut down on the processed rich stuff and eat more greens - cabbage in all its forms, brocolli, cauliflower, salads. Better nutritional value - tastes great to boot.

The art is striking a balance and making a lasting change. It's not like you can't have your cake and eat it too, but you will have to identify the main offenders in your diet and do something about that. And greens, lots of greens. But don't be the guy that goes on a 2 month hardcore diet and then falls back. Steady does the trick, as so often. Your weight will become what it needs to be.