Safe zone for caloric deficit: Triathlon Forum: Slowtwitch Forums

Safe zone for caloric deficit

Aug 23, 18 7:07

Folks,

Context: trained from december 17 to the end of april, then PR a 70.3. Went on vacation for a month, took almost another 20 days to start training again. I have a problem of eating A LOT during my trips, so I put something like 7kg (11lbs) up since last race. I've wiped most of this, but I still need (want) to get rid of something like 2kg (4,4lbs). Next race a 70.3 in 60 days and im clearly feeling the woes of being in a caloric deficit diet. I don't think my recovery is going well, feeling tired from a manageable training stress and was completely empty for training today. Note that this is the same diet my nutritionist prescribed at the start of this year witch worked nicely.

Question: how much in deficit and for how long do you think its "safe" without taking too much risk of injuries? I'm currently at 67kg (147lbs) - 170cm (5,57)

Cheers.

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [binhopires] [ In reply to ]

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tfleeger

Aug 23, 18 7:19

Post #2 of 15 (1625 views)

60 days before a race is not the time to cut weight and train without enough fuel. sorry, i think you already missed the boat for dropping the weight. 4 pounds inst the end of the world, you'll be better off fully fueling your training/recovery at this point, IMO.

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [tfleeger] [ In reply to ]

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likes_bikes

Aug 23, 18 7:24

Post #3 of 15 (1608 views)

I disagree. He could lost 2 kilos in 30 days running a 500 calorie deficit daily for a month. I would cut the weight slowly right now and cease all caloric deficit in the last 30 days.

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [binhopires] [ In reply to ]

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Tom_hampton

Aug 23, 18 7:37

Post #4 of 15 (1591 views)

binhopires wrote:

Question: how much in deficit and for how long do you think its "safe" without taking too much risk of injuries? I'm currently at 67kg (147lbs) - 170cm (5,57)
Cheers.

I agree with the above. You are likely to sacrifice race-day performance by trying to lose weight right now. For the next 8 weeks you want to be nailing every workout as prescribed: not feeling blah, skipping workouts, bailing on pace/power training in favor of LSD, etc. Just eat, sleep, train. Worry about those last 2kg next year.

Last year I was about 2kg up from where I wanted to be, like you. I tried to do 500 cal/day in my final build up to my races. Couldn't do it. Kept getting ravenous or tired.

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [binhopires] [ In reply to ]

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jaretj

Aug 23, 18 7:55

Post #5 of 15 (1559 views)

While training I seem to do well on 100 to 200 cal a day deficit. Anything more than that my workouts suffer.

Probably not what you wanted to hear :(

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [binhopires] [ In reply to ]

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lightheir

Aug 23, 18 7:58

Post #6 of 15 (1554 views)

I disagree that you can't trim the extra now.

If you're already super lean, ok, don't trim. But if you are carrying that extra weight in fat/flab for sure, a -500kcal diet per day will likely not cause you any training problems and you will only be minorly hungry at some point during the day.

11kcal per pound gets you roughly to such a deficit. So a 150lbs guy would eat 1600kcal/day + exercise burned calories. Track it on an app, don't just guess, at least until you're confident in your guesstimation abilities.

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [turdburgler] [ In reply to ]

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Tom_hampton

Aug 23, 18 8:32

Post #7 of 15 (1504 views)

turdburgler wrote:

I disagree. He could lost 2 kilos in 30 days running a 500 calorie deficit daily for a month. I would cut the weight slowly right now and cease all caloric deficit in the last 30 days.

I agree that's possible, and was going to say similar. But, that's the first 4 of the last 6 weeks of real training leading into his (2 ish week) taper (assuming he has a taper). As noted above, I couldn't do it last year without killing my mental state, and compromising my threshold and race-pace workouts.

I do know how to lose weight, and run a deficit. I lost 55 lbs 3 years ago at 1000 cal/day. I lost the last bit of excess weight (8 lbs) earlier year, and am now at race weight. But, I just couldn't do 500 / day it in my build phase with all the Olympic race pace training I was doing.

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]

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alexanderzlenz

Aug 23, 18 8:37

Post #8 of 15 (1494 views)

Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald - http://a.co/d/eyiGgYh

Good book. Cutting weight is a good thing to do before your season training starts. And most of the time, you're going to cut weight as you increase your training. Well.. your body composition will change, not necessarily your weight. For my IMMT training block I lost a few pounds but my body comp changed considerably. More muscle, less fat.

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [binhopires] [ In reply to ]

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binhopires

Aug 23, 18 10:18

Post #9 of 15 (1395 views)

Thank you guys for your comments.
I think I'll let this to the end fo the year (i am in south america) and start next season with the weight I want.
I'm doing fine anyway.

Thank you again

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [binhopires] [ In reply to ]

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lanierb

Aug 23, 18 11:31

Post #10 of 15 (1326 views)

I also agree that it's totally possible to do now without compromising training. I would suggest running at least a 500-750cal deficit on big training days and then less than that (0-250) on days off. That should get you 1/2-3/4lb per week pretty painlessly and without interfering with your training.

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [binhopires] [ In reply to ]

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TriJayhawkRyan

Aug 23, 18 12:40

Post #11 of 15 (1278 views)

Wait until after your 70.3 and develop a healthy and sustainable eating pattern.
Training for an event, 60 days out, and trying to restrict calories is a recipe for injury, burn out and fatigue, which you are already suffering from.

Don't derail your race trying to lose weight. The race specific training period is not the time. Whatever you lost before that, call that a win and focus on ways to eat smart between race cycles.

Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [TriJayhawkRyan] [ In reply to ]

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RBR

Aug 23, 18 12:52

Post #12 of 15 (1258 views)

Personally I’d rather be 2 kg over weight and recovering from my workouts rather than hit the proper weight and sacrifice recovery

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Re: Safe zone for caloric deficit [RBR] [ In reply to ]

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TriJayhawkRyan