Macros for trimming while training

Triathlon Forum
1

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for macro splits while training for a half IM?

I’ve been macro tracking & weighing my food for over a year going in/out of cuts and steadily slimming down. However, I’m new to triathlon, and looking at more hours spent training (I’m coming from Crossfit & running half marathons). I’m trying to figure out how much more to consume, while also being in a moderate deficit as I’d like to be a bit lighter (for context, I’m 5’9", 148 lb female with just under 17% body fat).

I worry about cutting too much protein (losing muscle not fat), cutting too much healthy fat (screwing up my hormones) or too many carbs (workouts suffer).

Any tips?

2

macros should always stay near same for protein and fat. adjust carbs for workout volume

3

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for macro splits while training for a half IM?

I’ve been macro tracking & weighing my food for over a year going in/out of cuts and steadily slimming down. However, I’m new to triathlon, and looking at more hours spent training (I’m coming from Crossfit & running half marathons). I’m trying to figure out how much more to consume, while also being in a moderate deficit as I’d like to be a bit lighter (for context, I’m 5’9", 148 lb female with just under 17% body fat).

I worry about cutting too much protein (losing muscle not fat), cutting too much healthy fat (screwing up my hormones) or too many carbs (workouts suffer).

Any tips?

  1. I hope your body composition is analysis done via a DXA scan.
  2. Your lean body mass gain (e.g., “muscle” mass) is unlikely to be primarily protein-based.
  3. Good luck regulating your body’s fat usage (“healthy fat”) by site allocation.
  4. Your muscles refuel on carbs so I’m not sure why you think your workouts suffer because of “too” many carbs.
4

The answer is it depends on the demands of the days training. High volume or high intensity days will need more carbs, lower volume easier days less carbs, so the percentages are going to change daily.

A ball park guide that I use is

1.5gm pro per kilo - lots of research out there on this all come up with slightly different numbers. I aim to keep this a constant,so days it’s up other down, but evens out long term.

3-6gm per kilo carbs (low demand days / high demand days. I’ll fuel with up to 100gm per hour for long sessions, or for race pace / higher intensity sessions with what I aim to use when racing.

1.5gm per kg fat

Roughly works out as 20%pro, 50%carb, 30% fat but is never exact due to demands of the day.

Track what your eating using one of the many apps and make sure your getting the calories you need to fuel your training.

When looking to loose weight 250-500cal a day deficit seems to work best, whilst not getting overly hungry.

5

Keep it simple- cover your protein/fat needs every day, rest is carbs up to your desired deficit. Protein and fat needs remain more or less consistent each day, and it’s likely that if you’re an average-sized female those will be easily covered assuming you’re eating a balanced diet and you’re not in a massive deficit. Then the carbs sort of adjust themselves based on what you’re doing that day.

6

Keep it simple- cover your protein/fat needs every day, rest is carbs up to your desired deficit. Protein and fat needs remain more or less consistent each day, and it’s likely that if you’re an average-sized female those will be easily covered assuming you’re eating a balanced diet and you’re not in a massive deficit. Then the carbs sort of adjust themselves based on what you’re doing that day.

That’s the part I missed, keep protein, although not always cut the carbs if it’s a long or high intensity day as the carbs maintain the quality of the session and in training fueling if it’s a long one can keep you from raiding the cupboards when you get home.

7

Thanks RLB! much appreciated :slight_smile:

8

Thanks RLB! much appreciated :)no worries, your welcome

9

Keep it simple- cover your protein/fat needs every day, rest is carbs up to your desired deficit. Protein and fat needs remain more or less consistent each day, and it’s likely that if you’re an average-sized female those will be easily covered assuming you’re eating a balanced diet and you’re not in a massive deficit. Then the carbs sort of adjust themselves based on what you’re doing that day.

This is the correct way to do it. Just dropped 5-7lbs in the last 2 months eating at a slight deficit, tracking everything with MyFitnessPal. About 150g of protein every day. Roughly 50-75g of fat everyday. The rest, whether it’s to get to 2000 calories a day on a rest day, or up to 5000 calories on a long hard day was carbs. Was able to increase FTP and running speed during this time as well. Some days I needed something like protein shake to hit 150g, some days I didn’t. Easiest way to add carbs was to maximally fuel my workouts with 400 calories an hour or so of straight carbs and then a recovery drink after.

10

Never heard it called trimming.

Protein is the most Thermogenic macro of the three. In fact you can over eat protein and it really won’t do anything to your body composition. Whereas too many carbs will get converted to fat and too much fat will go into your long term fat stores.

So work back from there, high protein diet at like a gram per pound of body weight. Equal the carbohydrates and then the remainder is fat. I really try to do a 40-40-20 ratio but it can be difficult so I sway more towards 45% Protein, 35% Carbs, 20% fats if I’m really dialed in for cutting. If you really want to go hard in this you probably go more towards 50% protein.

I know that sounds funky…but triathletes seem to undercount the value of protein.

Also, if your body needs more carbohydrate that will come from your excess protein if it’s required through the gluconeogenesis process.

However, for a female, 5-9, 149, 17% BF is extremely healthy. Not sure how much more you’d want to cut generally and maybe do it more over a long generative and iterative process rather than just towards one race.

11

Never heard it called trimming.

Protein is the most Thermogenic macro of the three. In fact you can over eat protein and it really won’t do anything to your body composition. Whereas too many carbs will get converted to fat and too much fat will go into your long term fat stores.

So work back from there, high protein diet at like a gram per pound of body weight. Equal the carbohydrates and then the remainder is fat. I really try to do a 40-40-20 ratio but it can be difficult so I sway more towards 45% Protein, 35% Carbs, 20% fats if I’m really dialed in for cutting. If you really want to go hard in this you probably go more towards 50% protein.

I know that sounds funky…but triathletes seem to undercount the value of protein.

Also, if your body needs more carbohydrate that will come from your excess protein if it’s required through the gluconeogenesis process.

However, for a female, 5-9, 149, 17% BF is extremely healthy. Not sure how much more you’d want to cut generally and maybe do it more over a long generative and iterative process rather than just towards one race.

Protein is the most thermogenic of the three, but not enough to count as significant in the context of an individual’s daily intake, and certainly not enough to be considered “negative calorie” by any stretch of the imagination. Also worth mentioning that the typical diet of most developed countries is generally very protein heavy, so while I’m not about to discount the value of protein it’s likely that most of us are already easily getting more than enough eating enough to sustain regular endurance training.

And yeah, OP’s at a pretty great weight for her height already! If anything would be looking at a pretty small deficit in her instance, with carb intake prioritized before/during/after sessions as necessary and a couple of hundred calories shaved from elsewhere in the day.

12

Never heard it called trimming.

Protein is the most Thermogenic macro of the three. In fact you can over eat protein and it really won’t do anything to your body composition. Whereas too many carbs will get converted to fat and too much fat will go into your long term fat stores.

So work back from there, high protein diet at like a gram per pound of body weight. Equal the carbohydrates and then the remainder is fat. I really try to do a 40-40-20 ratio but it can be difficult so I sway more towards 45% Protein, 35% Carbs, 20% fats if I’m really dialed in for cutting. If you really want to go hard in this you probably go more towards 50% protein.

I know that sounds funky…but triathletes seem to undercount the value of protein.

Also, if your body needs more carbohydrate that will come from your excess protein if it’s required through the gluconeogenesis process.

However, for a female, 5-9, 149, 17% BF is extremely healthy. Not sure how much more you’d want to cut generally and maybe do it more over a long generative and iterative process rather than just towards one race.

Protein is the most thermogenic of the three, but not enough to count as significant in the context of an individual’s daily intake, and certainly not enough to be considered “negative calorie” by any stretch of the imagination. Also worth mentioning that the typical diet of most developed countries is generally very protein heavy, so while I’m not about to discount the value of protein it’s likely that most of us are already easily getting more than enough eating enough to sustain regular endurance training.

And yeah, OP’s at a pretty great weight for her height already! If anything would be looking at a pretty small deficit in her instance, with carb intake prioritized before/during/after sessions as necessary and a couple of hundred calories shaved from elsewhere in the day.

Uh I’d argue that’s an incorrect assumption that most developed country diets are protein heavy. That most people on this board also under eat protein. Most people don’t eat close to enough. Definitely not saying it’s a negative. What I’m saying is that overeating on protein has a limited to no negative effects with body composition. Carbs and Fats have significant negative effects with body composition.

The RDA that’s out there is crazy low.

13

macros should always stay near same for protein and fat. adjust carbs for workout volume

This, roughly. ^^ Adjust carbs daily based on the training that day.

Also this: Trim Weight, Crush Training

And this, which just does the math for you: RP Endurance Macro Calculator

If interested in muscle retention while trimming: Muscle Retention with High Training Volumes: Advanced Nutrition Strategies

Never heard it called trimming.
I hadn’t either until Kello O’Mara pitched that I write an article titled as such.

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for macro splits while training for a half IM?

I’ve been macro tracking & weighing my food for over a year going in/out of cuts and steadily slimming down. However, I’m new to triathlon, and looking at more hours spent training (I’m coming from Crossfit & running half marathons). I’m trying to figure out how much more to consume, while also being in a moderate deficit as I’d like to be a bit lighter (for context, I’m 5’9", 148 lb female with just under 17% body fat).

I worry about cutting too much protein (losing muscle not fat), cutting too much healthy fat (screwing up my hormones) or too many carbs (workouts suffer).

Any tips?
Are you familiar with RP? The lingo you’re using kind of sounds like it. Just checking!

14

Dr Alex - Sorry - I didn’t see this response til now!

The lingo comes from having been a former working against gravity member. :slight_smile:

Ironically I found your article on “trimming” after I’d posted this and I actually reached out RP to see if I could get on your waitlist for coaching after reading a bunch of your work. Looks like you’re fully booked coaching-wise for a while, but I appreciate your response here!

15

Ah! Makes sense now! WAG is great. Works well for a lot of folks.