Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Weight Loss

A triathlete recently wrote to ask how he could lose weight before an important race he has coming up in a few weeks. He'd like to shed 5 pounds (2.3kg) before his A-priority race. There is indeed a cost to be paid when carrying excess fat around. One extra pound (0.45kg) costs about 2 seconds per mile running and takes roughly 3 watts to get it up a hill on a bike. So that 5 pounds represents about 10 seconds per mile running and 15 watts on a climb. That's significant and so dropping a bit of excess baggage has the potential to make him faster on race day. The problem is timing. Trying to lose weight while also training at a high level is not conducive to high performance. Losing weight is additional stress for a body already dealing with the stress of quality training. Recovery will be compromised. Such a path is likely to lead to illness, injury and possibly overtraining.

Nevertheless, I told him I'd post an article I wrote on this sometime back. Here's a quick review of the literature on weight loss from an athletic perspective...

What’s the best way go about it? Should you reduce your intake of fat, or perhaps carbohydrate, which seems to be the trend recently. Or should you simply eat fewer calories? Or maybe you should train more. What’s the best alternative?

There have been many studies conducted to answer the question regarding the relative mix of macronutrients in the diet in order to lose weight. The majority of the results report the same conclusion: To reduce body weight, it doesn’t matter whether you eat a high-carbohydrate or a high-fat diet as long as total calories are reduced. For example, in one study, three groups of women dined on a 1,200-calorie-per-day diet for 10 weeks [1]. One group ate 25 percent carbohydrate, another ate 45 percent carbohydrate, and the third ate 75 percent carbohydrate. Each of the diets contributed to weight loss with no significant differences between the groups.

In similar research, 43 women spent six weeks in a hospital on a 1,000-calorie-per-day diet with about half of them eating 53 percent fat and 15 percent carbohydrate [2]. The other half ate 26 percent fat and 45 percent carbohydrate. Again, there was no significant difference in weight loss between the two groups, although the high-fat group lost slightly more weight – about three pounds (1.4kg).

From our perspective, the problem with most all of the studies of weight loss is that they use obese, sedentary subjects making the conclusions questionable for athletes. But a study on the effect of diet on coronary heart disease risk factors of runners may provide some better insights. The subjects were serious runners who ate either a 16-percent- or a 42-percent-fat diet for four weeks each [3]. At the end of the test periods, there was no significant difference between the two diets in terms of the subjects’ weights or body compositions. (It’s interesting to note that risk factors for heart disease improved on the higher-fat diet.) So the lessons of the previously mentioned studies appears to hold true for athletes as well – it doesn’t matter what the carbohydrate-fat mix of your diet is so long as you reduce calories.

Unfortunately, there have been few studies of serious athletes that strictly examined weight loss. But in 1985, McMurray and colleagues examined the issue in exactly the way athletes view the challenge [4]. The scientists attempted to find out if reducing caloric intake or increasing training workload was more effective in dropping excess body fat. They had six, endurance-trained males create a 1,000-calorie-per-day deficit for seven days by either exercising more while maintaining their caloric intake, or by eating less while keeping exercise the same. With 1,000 calories of increased exercise daily (comparable to running an additional 10 miles or cycling about 30 more miles each day), the subjects averaged a 1.67-pound (0.76kg) weight loss in a week. The subjects eating 1,000 fewer calories each day lost 4.75 (2.16kg) pounds on average for the week. According to this study, the old adage that “a calorie is a calorie” doesn’t hold true. At least in the short term, restricting food intake appears to have a greater return on the scales than does increasing training workload.


Notice that I said “on the scales.” The reduced-food-intake group in this study unfortunately lost a greater percentage of muscle than did the increased-exercise group. That is an ineffective way to lose weight. If the scales show you’re lighter, but you have less muscle to create power, the trade off is not a good one.

How can you reduce calories and yet maintain muscle mass? Unfortunately, that question hasn’t been answered for athletes, but it has been for sedentary women. I suspect the conclusions are still applicable. A few years ago Italian researchers had 25 subjects eat only 800 calories a day for 21 days [5]. Ten ate a diet made up of 45-percent protein and 35-percent carbohydrate. Fifteen ate 20-percent protein and 60-percent carbohydrate. Both were restricted to 20 percent of calories from fat. The two groups lost similar amounts of weight, but there was a significantly greater loss of muscle on the high-carbohydrate, low-protein diet.

So what’s the bottom line? It appears that when calories are reduced to lose weight, which is more effective than increasing training workload, the protein content of the diet must be kept at near normal levels. This, of course, assumes that you’re eating adequate protein before starting the diet, which many athletes aren’t. When training hard, a quality source of protein should be included in every meal. This may be some combination of meat, fish, shellfish, poultry and eggs.

1. Alford, B.B., et al. 1990. The Effects of Variations in Carbohydrate, Protein, and Fat Content of the Diet Upon Weight Loss, Blood Values, and Nutrient Intake of Adult Obese Women. J Am Diet Assoc 90(4):534-540.

2. Golay, A., et al. 1996. Similar Weight Loss with Low- or High-Carbohydrate Diets. Am J Nutr 63(2):174-178.

3. Leddy, J., et al. 1997. Effect of a High or Low Fat Diet on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Male and Female Runners. Med Sci Sports Exerc 29(1):17-25.

4. McMurray, R.G., et al. 1985. Responses of Endurance-Trained Subjects to Caloric Deficits Induced by Diet or Exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 17(5):574-579.

5. Piatti, P.M., et al. 1994. Hypocaloric, High-Protein Diet Improves Glucose Oxidation and Spares Lean Body Mass: Comparison to Hypocaloric High Carbohydrate Diet. Metab 43(12):1481-1487.


30 Comments:

At June 17, 2008 7:23 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's the other way around: 1kg = 2.2 pounds, and 5kg = 11 pounds. 5 pounds makes only 2.27kg.

 
At June 17, 2008 8:14 AM , Blogger Ian Simon said...

Joe, you've got your pound -> kilo conversion the wrong way round in the first sentence - 5lbs is 2.27kg (2.2lbs to the kilo).

When would you lose the weight? I've just completed my first 'A' race of the year, and I'm slotting back into base for a half-IM in September and I'm focussing on trying to get leaner in the next few weeks. I'm trying to focus on losing body-fat %age rather than weight by cutting down the junk calories and adding a bit of resistance training to the schedule. I'm not worrying about fat / carbs mix particularly, but trying to get quality protein from a wider range of sources (mainly fish, plus replacing pork & lamb with more chicken). Any thoughts?

 
At June 17, 2008 8:17 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Thanks for catching that. My brain was taking a nap this morning.

 
At June 17, 2008 8:21 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Ian--I try to get the athletes I coach to drop weight in the Base period. Once into Build we accept the current weight.

 
At June 18, 2008 6:23 AM , Anonymous Marko said...

Hi, coach Friel. I read through our books and most recently finished Paleo for athletes. I live within a modified paleo approach similar to Gordo. I have one question regarding weight loss and possible approaches. Gordo is known to eat about up to 12 pieces of fruit daily.

I have been doing this as well thoughout the day for a preworkout, postworkout, or snack type deal. What I notice is a bloat type effect even though I have been doing this for the past month or so.

Before being semi-starch addicted I did not have this bloat problem.

From your readings and experiences is that type of fruit consumption recommended for a higher volume triathlete (to replenish and maintain glycogen stores and keep the weight loss moving)?

 
At June 18, 2008 6:51 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Marko--Hard to say for sure but I would expect you are sensing the fiber in your gut. I know Gordo has put in a lot of hours when eating this way. That's the only way I would recommend a huge load of fruit daily. The key to success nutritionally, as with most things, is variety. Different fruits plus vegs and animal protein. Starch is a necessity after high stress workouts. But not the rest of the day.

 
At June 18, 2008 7:02 AM , Anonymous marko said...

Thanks! Quick follow up: to remedy this what would you do to keep the carb content up and remove some of the fruit? Wouldn't broc/caul/peppers act similarly?

Just trying to find some foods to replace the quantities of fruit if possible?

Training 20-25 hrs a week

 
At June 18, 2008 9:13 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Marko, there are so many variables here I really can't give you a definitive answer without writing a chapter for a book (which I've done several times plus one full book on the subject). All I can tell you, which is not going to be a final solution for you I know, is to eat a wide variety of natural foods, especially fruits and vegs, to meet your daily needs for carbohydrate. Some starch is necessary post-workouts that are high stress in order to speed recovery.

 
At June 18, 2008 2:04 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Given that dropping weight reduces workload, is there an optimal body composition? I don't believe thinner-the-better holds, as I think immune system is compromised at very low fat percentages. (Sven Nys has stated he likes to carry a bit of extra weight for cross season so he doesn't get sick. Not necessarily scientific, just what he said.)

 
At June 18, 2008 2:35 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

anon--For elite athletes in a given sport there are studies that have measured all sorts of things including body comp. in this case it varies by sport. once we move outside of elites there is less such information although I suspect the better younger age group athletes will have comps not unlike the elites. the farther we move away from the most fit the wider the variance of body comps. is there an optimal for this "group?" I doubt it. Should this group decide to become more like the elites in their sport as far as body comp, some would be sick a lot.

 
At June 18, 2008 11:36 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Coach Friel,

Fist of all thanks for the great post. What is the best way to calculate daily caloric needs? I'm currently using a calorie tracker @ fitday.com. It provides me with my BMR and I can track the calories burned during my workouts. I'm aiming for 2 lbs of weight loss a week by creating a 1,000 calorie deficit through a clean diet following the Paleo Diet for athletes. I'm about three weeks into base training and I've only lost a pound. I'm training 10 hours a week and if anything I may not be eating enough and that may be due to the calorie tracker not being accurate. I feel good during my workouts but I do have a hard time waking up in the morning after 7-8 hours of sleep. Could you recommend another method of calculating my caloric needs based on my goals? Thank you!

Kevin

 
At June 19, 2008 3:50 AM , Anonymous femalehealth said...

Slowing down on carbo worked for me. It was a real challenge though, because I am a rice eater. But it did gave me good results.

 
At June 19, 2008 8:28 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

anon--It sounds like you have given this a lot of thought. Weight loss is reallly not my thing but TrainingBible Coaching has hired a new dietitian, Kelly Cawthorn, who has specialized in this area. I'm going to ask her to post an answer to your question.

 
At June 19, 2008 9:57 PM , Anonymous Kelly Cawthorn, MSRD said...

Kevin - I wish weight loss was as simple as calories in vs. calories out. Unfortunately, not all calories are created equally. You're off to a great start by focusing on eating paleo foods which can be a hard shift ot make at first. The next step is to balance your macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fat) in such a way as to regulate your insulin levels - this is critical for both losing fat AND maintaining muscle mass.

A successful approach I use is a Zone Block method using paleo foods. In case you're not familiar with this method, a "block" is a unit of measure to simplify the process of making balanced meals. One block contains 7g protein, 9g carbohydrate, and 1.5g fat. When a meal is made up of equal blocks of protein, carbs, and fat, it is 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat (this is the base zone plan used to lean people out - an increased fat version is used for maintenance and fueling top athletic efforts). A male typically needs 16-20 blocks per day (depending on body size) divided up into 3 meals and 1-2 snacks (email me at kcawthorn@trainingbible.com and I can send you a paleo/zone block chart if you'd like).

By using this Zone Block method for your daily intake rather than counting calories you can more accurately and precisely make informed decisions about the composition of a meal. Feel hungry 2 hrs. after eating? You may need to cut back on the carbs a bit or increase the fat. Not recovered from a workout? Perhaps you need to devote more of your daily carbs to the post workout meal. Without this accuracy and precision you are shooting in the dark. With it, you can start tightening your hormonal and fuel control and not only drop fat pounds but also feel and perform better.

 
At June 20, 2008 11:09 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kelly,

Thank you so much for the information! I did send you an email for that information.

Joe,

Thank you for your reply and for putting me in contact with Kelly!

Thank you both for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Kevin

 
At June 25, 2008 12:12 AM , Blogger Zoo said...

Joe,

I was reading a weight loss post you did last year about using the paleo diet and you suggested that stage 4 was a period of time afterwards that lasts as long as the workout lasted. So does this mean that if you did a 5hr ride then you would have to go 5hrs before you could eat anything else after stage 3?

Thanks,
Dave

 
At July 1, 2008 12:33 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Zoo--Sorry for the long delay. Have been riding in the mountains for several days. I'm not sure what you mean by 'anything else.' Stage 4 is the period of time post-workout/race that lasts as long as the workout/race. During this time it's OK to take in starch to help boost recovery of your glycogen stores. Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams with a meal are perfect for this, and dried fruit as a snack is also good. This only applies to activities that were stressful for the athlete (if you use WKO+ software this would be any workout with a TSS above your average for CTL). If the event was not stressful you would go straight into stage 5. During this time, which would more than likely be the rest of the day unless doing 2-a-day workouts, you return to eating a Paleo diet which means vegs, fruits, lean animal products, nuts and seeds. All of this is explained in the book I co-authored with Loren Cordain, PhD--The Paleo Diet for Athletes.

 
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