March 2, 2015
I am now at the point where I need to start thinking about where to stop losing weight.
What?!!! I can't believe I even said that!! After working to lose weight for the last three years, this is such a strange thing to say! Exciting but also a scary.
When considering optimum body fat % and race weight, the big question mark is how to account for the 10 or so pounds of excess skin that I am carrying (and will not lose) which includes a layer of fat. All the expert's formulas for calculating optimum body fat % and race weight don't work for me.
I met with the Performance Sports Nutritionist for Indiana University who works with IU's elite athletes. She also does nutrition planning for a local triathlete who finished Kona three times and set the 45-49 AG IM course record at IM Texas. I was so pleased / relieved that she took my athletic goals seriously.
The nutritionist asked my height and weighed me. Then she had me get in a Bod Pod to get an accurate body fat %. The Bod Pod uses displaced air to determine body volume and then calculates % body fat. I was pleased that the % it gave was very similar to the BIA testing that I had been doing at Next Generation Personal Training.
Ha! I felt like I was in a space ship!
I also consulted with a couple of others who understand nutrition and endurance sports - most notably, Matt Fitzgerald who wrote Iron War and 23 other books about sports nutrition and training including a book called Racing Weight. Using Fitzgerald's ideal race weight formula, I calculated my ideal race weight at 135 - 150. In my email I asked Matt how my ten or so pounds of excess skin factored into that calculation. I was surprised when he wrote back to me! He said, "I'd focus on the higher numbers in the range you came up with and on continuing to train smart and eat right. Who knows where you'll end up?" He also asked me to let him know when I found the weight that seemed ideal for me so he could use that information to help others.
My coach and I decided that I would lose 6 more pounds (153 pounds) and then switch from a weight-loss nutrition plan to a sports performance nutrition plan that I will work out with the IU nutritionist. This nutrition plan will change as my training phase changes. At that point, we'll adjust my weight up or down a bit until we find the weight where I perform best.
I am telling myself, loud and clear, that I am not stopping nutrition planning. I am just switching from a weight-loss nutrition plan to a sports performance nutrition plan. I will still be monitoring every bite that I eat. This is a life-long commitment.
It's funny that both my coach and the nutritionist have expressed concerns that I will not stop losing weight. It seems so funny to even think about being too thin. I'm hoping that won't be an issue for me since I know that I must maintain muscle and optimal body fat % to be able to train and race well. But I will have to be cautious about this. My coach is usually right when he worries about something.
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