Weight Management for Triathletes (eBook)

When Training Is Not Enough

Ingrid Loos Miller (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF | EPUB

2016 | 2. Auflage
160 Seiten
Meyer & Meyer (Verlag)
978-1-78255-420-2 (ISBN)

Infos

Every triathlete wants to be leaner, faster, and more successful. But for most athletes, training is not enough. You need to focus on nutrition as well as training volume to lose the weight that's been stopping you so far. Weight Management for Triathletes provides practical information and tools that help frustrated triathletes of all levels on the quest to improve their body composition for performance and aesthetics. This book is aimed at triathletes competing on every level and distance from sprint to Olympic to long distance. Well researched and insightful, this book offers easy-to-follow strategies for various diets, describes the importance of low body fat, and shows how to use body fat data in order to implement a weight control program for the long haul. In this book, you will find the motivation and encouragement to lose weight. And with a leaner and fitter body, you will quickly perform better in races.

Ingrid Loos Miller is a USAT Certified Coach, Sport Nutrition Consultant, and triathlete. A Team Trainer for the Weight Watchers® Momentum Challenge, she has helped athletes and non-athletes alike achieve their weight loss goals by showing them how to reduce the calorie impact of the foods they enjoy. She teaches the strategies needed to achieve goals and provides tools and daily practices that make permanent weight management a reality. Even after becoming an Ironman® and a regular podium finisher in triathlons, her greatest personal accomplishment has been overcoming a lifelong struggle with weight. She has written for Trail Runner Magazine and her writing has appeared in Triathlete Magazine, Marathon and Beyond, and on BeginnerTriathlete.com. Ingrid lives and coaches in Southern California.

Inhalt

Cover 1
Table of Contents 7
Preface 12
Introduction: You Can't Outrun A Bad Diet 13
Part One: Groundwork 16
Chapter 1: The Truth About Weight Control 18
Chapter 2: The Program 26
Baseline Calories 27
Follow the Rules and Use the Tools 30
Gradually Reduce Structure 31
Part Two: The Body 34
Chapter 3: Body Composition 36
Body Composition 36
Leaner Is Faster 36
Body Build 37
Body Composition 38
What Is Lean Mass? 38
Stick to One Method 39
Measuring Methods 40
Digital Imaging 40
Bioimpedance Devices 40
Displacement Methods 41
Skinfold Analysis 42
Imaging Technologies 43
Factors That Influence Results 44
Limitations of the Body Mass Index 45
Part Three: Planning 48
Chapter 4: Make a Plan 50
Start With Your Goals 51
Consider What Is Ideal for the Sport 52
Consider Who You Are 53
Don’t Look Too Far Back 53
Consider the Skin You’re In 53
Set Body Composition Goal 54
Estimate a Timeline 54
Dynamic Calorie Model 54
Setting Activity Levels and Baseline Calories 56
Victory Races 57
Chapter 5: Working Your Plan 60
Be Prepared for the Long Haul 60
Phase One: Weight Loss 61
Stick With Your Goal 62
Plateaus 63
Incorporate Strength Training 64
Strength Training During Rides and Swims 68
Incorporate High-Intensity Training 70
Phase Two: Maintenance 72
Maintenance Means Less Structure and Adding Calories 72
Phase Three: Stabilizi 73
No Shortcuts 74
If You Gain Weight 75
Retest Body Composition 75
The Miracle of Your Stable Weight 75
Part Four: What to Eat, Brain Training, Rules and Tools 76
Chapter 6: What to Eat 78
Foods to Avoid 78
Calorie Density 79
Make a Food List 82
Eating Better 85
Canned Food Is Fine 87
How to Limit Your Favorite HCD Food 88
The 10-Gram Rule 89
Avoid Caloric Drinks 90
Blended Salad Recipes 92
Substitutions 95
The 5:1 Rule 96
Modifications 97
Chapter 7: Brain Training 98
Facing Your Truth 98
The Black Box Exercise 99
Think Like an Athlete 102
Rewire your Brain 105
Change Your Food Preferences 105
Practice the 10 Times and Mix It in Strategies 106
Be Vigilant 107
Change Your Thoughts 108
Make Yourself Mentally Strong 109
Chapter 8: Rules for Success 112
Rule 1: Plan Ahead 112
Create a Recovery Plan for Slip-Ups 113
Plan a Weekly Indulgence 114
Rule 2: Track Your Food 115
Weigh and Measure 116
Rule 3: Weigh-In 117
Record Your Weight Daily 117
Weekly Accountability 119
Rule 4: Limit Food Choices 119
Stop Sampling 119
Skip the Buffet 120
Rule 5: Avoid Alcohol 121
Rule 6: Keep Your Environment Safe 122
No Junk Food 122
Have Access to Safe Snacks 123
Throw Out Unhealthy Food 123
Rule 7: Focus on Empowerment 124
Pay Attention to Success 125
Renew Motivation 125
Say No to Just One Bite 126
Rule 8: Use Time to Your Advantage 127
Rule 9: Get Rid of Things That Don’t Fit Anymore 128
Get Rid of Clothes That Are Too Small 128
Get Rid of Clothes That Are Too Large 129
Rule 10: Gather Personal Support 130
Structured Weight-Loss Groups 131
Chapter 9: Fuel Your Training 134
How to be a Saint on the Couch and a Sinner on the Bike 135
Baseline Calories 136
How to Fuel for Workouts and Races 136
Don’t Carbo Load 137
Eat Before Your Workout 137
Fuel With Sugar During Workouts 137
What to Eat 139
Solids vs. Liquids 139
Protein 139
Caffeine 140
Salt 140
Reload, Don’t Overload 141
But I’m Training for an Ironman! 142
Sources 144
Credits 156

Textauszug

Part One: Groundwork

Chapter 1: The Truth About Weight Control

Extremism in pursuit of permanent lifestyle change is no vice.

Moderation in defense of failure to change is no virtue.

–Daniel S. Kirschenbaum, PhD, in The 9 Truths about Weight Loss

Losing weight is hard. Keeping it off is even more difficult. Anyone who tells you that it is as simple as eating X, Y, and Z is wrong. Eating is wrapped up in emotion, and it plays a big part in the social fabric of our lives. But it is ultimately something you can control if you decide to. Once you have decided—really decided—to take control, it gets easier.

Following is a quick list of statements that you should accept as truths to prepare you for successful weight loss. As you read through them, decide if you agree with them before moving to the next one. They are not in any particular order. Read the entire list and mark the top 10, the ones that speak to you the most right now. Those are the ones to start with. Write them down and put the list somewhere visible. Read the list every day. If you balk at any of the statements, take the time to work through them in your head, check facts, talk to others, and accept that these really are true statements.

1. I will succeed when I stop making excuses.

   Reasoning: Every time I have started a program and failed to meet my goal, it has been because something got in the way. I got off track due to a circumstance outside of my control, or I lost motivation. The only one who decides what I put into my mouth is me, regardless of circumstances. I can always say no to poor quality food, I can always eat less than I am offered, and I can always just be hungry for a few hours. Throwing in the towel because my life gets stressful or because eating well is inconvenient is an excuse. As long as I allow circumstances or other people to control what I eat, I will stay overweight. There is no perfect time to lose weight and it is never easy.

2. Getting back on track right away after a setback is critical to my success.

   Reasoning: No matter how well I plan, things will go wrong, and there will be events outside my control. My motivation will wane at times, and I will give in and overeat. The damage done by eating one particular thing or having a few bad hours is not such a big deal. It only becomes one when I look at it as a failure and I decide to give up and eat more. I can keep those bad patches very short and will learn how to do so. Every time I get back on my plan after a setback, I know I will feel empowered.

3. I must learn to happily consume fewer calories for the rest of my life in order to achieve lifetime weight control.

   Reasoning: I am not willing to suffer and feel deprived for the rest of my life, but I want to lose weight and keep it off. So I have to find a way to be happy and satisfied with a healthy diet that keeps me lean. This is a task I must accomplish on my own by controlling my thoughts and expectations—just like I have to do when I go through long training days and difficult races. I understand that this is a mental game and that I can prevail.

4. Every powerful food thought makes it easier for me to achieve my goal.

   Reasoning: I sometimes feel that I am at the mercy of food, that it calls to me, and that I am under a spell. But food is just food. It has particular smells, tastes, and textures my brain and body respond to, but I have ultimate control over the thoughts I associate with certain foods. I can learn to find less pleasure in certain foods, and I can learn to enjoy other, healthier foods. I need to pay attention to my food thoughts. If I train my food resistance muscles like I train by body, I will get better at it, and weight control will be easier.

5. If I not am vigilant about what I eat, I will gain weight no matter how much I train.

   Reasoning: When I started training for triathlons, I lost some weight, but then the weight loss stopped. I can only train a certain number of hours per day, and sometimes I feel like a slave to this sport! If I trained for huge races all the time, I could lose more weight, but I don’t want to do that. I have other interests and obligations in life beyond training. I have come to realize that I have to be careful about what I eat all the time. If I take time off training, if I get injured, if I—heaven forbid—lose interest in racing, I still want to be lean, so I have to focus on the food—not on the training.

6. The only decision I have to make is to stay on my plan at this moment, no matter what.

   Reasoning: My decisions in this moment are the only way I can influence my weight in the future. Making deals with myself to stick to the plan later today will deprive me of my power in this instant. I do not have to carry the burden of what to do 5 minutes or 5 hours from now. All I have is right now.

7. It is important to rewire my thoughts, beliefs, and feelings about food so that weight management stops being a struggle.

   Reasoning: I have never really tried to direct that energy to changing my thinking about food. I always used up my energy thinking about what and how much to eat. The thinking part always seemed like a waste of valuable time.

   My thoughts about food and weight loss seem normal and, therefore, not something I will have to change. But I understand that if I want to eat differently for the rest of my life without feeling deprived, I will have to change the way I think about food. Otherwise, I will feel deprived all the time, and I don’t want that.

   For a complete cognitive overhaul of your thinking, see The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person by Judith S. Beck [Oxmoor House, 2009].

8. Restaurants, fast food, and the food industry are interested in profit, not in my health. They create foods that are extremely tasty and addictive. I need to eat less of those foods.

   Reasoning: Restaurant foods, especially fast foods, are so appealing. I cannot imagine doing without them. I understand that I have stronger reactions to some foods than to others. It makes sense that I would want fatty, sugary, and salty foods because those are the kind of foods that kept my ancestors alive long enough to reproduce, but they are not ideal for long term health. “Listening to my body” is not as important as using my intellect to make good choices.

   For more about the food industry that fuels our food addictions, see Salt Sugar Fat: Explore the Dark Side of the All-American Meal, America’s Food Addiction, and Why We Get Fat by Alexandra Kastor [A&S Publishing, 2013]; The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David A. Kessler [Rodale Books, 2010]; and articles by Dr. Joel Fuhrman at www.drfuhrman.com.

9. I am still on track as long as I continue with my plan, no matter what the scale says today.

   Reasoning: The changes that I am making in my mind are more important to my long-term success than the number on the scale today. Even if I hit a plateau or I retain water, which happens often after a big workout (due to inflammation), eating well is making currently invisible changes to my metabolism and my body composition. I want to develop habits that will eventually get to me to the weight that is healthy, attractive (I like looking lean), and sustainable. Those habits need to be r developed no matter what the scale shows on any given day.

10. The Social media, commercials and my friends and family are full of misinformation about healthy eating and weight loss. I must find my own reliable sources of information and depend upon those.

    Reasoning: The amount of available information about “healthy eating” and “weight loss” is staggering! It seems like there are new studies published every day saying this is good for you and that is bad, and then the next day those claims are contradicted. I don’t really know what to believe.

    I understand that companies often fund their own research in order to support their claims about the healthiness of the food they are trying to sell. I am not equipped to analyze every bit of research that is reported in the media. I am not a nutritionist, and I can’t possibly evaluate the validity of everything I read. But it makes sense that if I can find a reputable organization or person that does take the time to do this, I can rely on that source of information. If the source is not out to make a profit on their advice, it is even better.

    (Nutritionfacts.org is a non-profit organization created by Dr. Micheal Gregor. Dr. Gregor has devoted his career to evaluating nutrition research and summarizing it in a way that it is useful for public consumption. Start with nutritionfacts.org as a source of information for now and keep a critical eye out for valid nutrition information from other sources, such as DrMirkin.com, ForksoverKnives.com, and DrFurhman.com.)

11. Dieting is the same as lifelong weight control

    Reasoning: If I look at dieting as a temporary state, it is something I am either “on” or “off,” and when I reach my goal weight, I will eventually be “finished” with it. This notion is precisely why I have never kept the weight off. Instead, I have to understand that my weight-loss program is really about eating to feed a smaller (leaner) version of myself. In time, my body will shrink into the amount I am feeding it. The way I eat to lose the weight is my new way of eating for life. I have to learn the skills and keep applying them for the rest of my life if I want to stay lean.

12. Eating a healthy diet is not as extreme as the medical interventions that will be required...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 7.11.2016
• Verlagsort: Aachen
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Leichtathletik / Turnen
• Schlagworte: Body composition • Cycling • diet • endurance • Guide • Leaner Body • Nutrition • Running • Strategies • swimming • Triathlon • Weight control
• ISBN-10: 1-78255-420-3 / 1782554203
• ISBN-13: 978-1-78255-420-2 / 9781782554202