Week 31: Racing Weight

I was super happy to see my number on the scale this morning. I wasn't really trying to lose weight last week. If anything, I was trying to carbo-load in preparation for my next milestone race. But I also made some changes to my diet and the changes seem to have worked. I lost a little over a pound!

So what's different? Well, as I mentioned last week, I wasn't keeping track of what I was eating. Instead, I was just trying to eat when I was hungry and stop when I was full. The eating when hungry part wasn't hard, but I think the stopping part was my downfall. So I started keeping track again.

Also, I have been reading through an excellent book, Racing Weight. The author, Matt Fitzgerald, walks you through the best foods to eat to help you lose weight so that you can get to the best weight for endurance sports like ultrarunning (your racing weight). I didn't really learn much about that proper types of food (as I've been studying this topic for over a year now).

But I did note that he encourages a higher percentage of fruits and vegetables and a lower portion of grains, dairy, and protein. So I made some adjustments. In the spreadsheet I developed to track my eating I can adjust the percentage in each category and the spreadsheet automatically calculates how many Weight Watchers points I need to eat in each food category (grains, fruits, vegetables, etc.) at different times throughout the day so that I eat a balanced diet. I see three primary benefits of this approach:

1. I lose weight!
2. I am eating healthy.
3. I am never hungry.

In the spreadsheet I increased the amount of fruits and vegetables and decreased the other categories to align with the daily proportions recommended by Matt. I will monitor how I feel over the next few weeks to determine if this change is good for me. Primarily I will be looking at two things... my weight loss and my energy level. As long as I continue to lose weight and maintain my energy, I will continue with the recommended portions. 

By the way, in Racing Weight, Matt also teaches you how to calculate your optimum weight for racing. Interestingly enough, after performing the calculations, my goal weight is only three pounds heavier than my ideal racing weight. So I am very pleased with the weight loss target I set in my Three In Three Challenge and will continue down my current path.

How do you determine your racing weight? 

Weight Loss Summary

• Week 01: Lost 4.0 lbs
• Week 02: Lost 3.1 lbs, 07.0 lbs total, 3.5 lbs per week
• Week 03: Lost 2.6 lbs, 09.7 lbs total, 3.2 lbs per week
• Week 04: Lost 2.0 lbs, 11.7 lbs total, 2.9 lbs per week
• Week 05: Lost 1.6 lbs, 13.3 lbs total, 2.7 lbs per week
• Week 06: Lost 1.5 lbs, 14.8 lbs total, 2.5 lbs per week
• Week 07: Gained 0.4 lbs, 14.4 lbs total lost, 2.1 lbs per week
• Week 08: Lost 3.1 lbs, 17.5 lbs total, 2.2 lbs per week
• Week 09: Lost 2.2 lbs, 19.7 lbs total, 2.2 lbs per week
• Week 10: Gained 0.9 lbs, 18.8 lbs total lost, 1.9 lbs per week
• Week 11: Lost 3.5 lbs, 22.3 lbs total, 2.0 lbs per week
• Week 12: Lost 2.2 lbs, 24.5 lbs total, 2.0 lbs per week
• Week 13: Lost 0.2 lbs, 24.7 lbs total, 1.9 lbs per week
• Week 14: Lost 1.9 lbs, 26.6 lbs total, 1.9 lbs per week
• Week 15: Lost 0.6 lbs, 27.2 lbs total, 1.8 lbs per week
• Week 16: Gained 0.5 lbs, 26.7 lbs total lost, 1.7 lbs per week
• Week 17: Gained 2.0 lbs, 24.7 lbs total lost, 1.5 lbs per week
• Week 18: Lost 3.3 lbs, 28.0 lbs total, 1.6 lbs per week
• Week 19: Lost 0.3 lbs, 28.3 lbs total, 1.5 lbs per week
• Week 20: Lost 1.7 lbs, 30.0 lbs total, 1.5 lbs per week
• Week 21: Lost 1.6 lbs, 31.6 lbs total, 1.5 lbs per week
• Week 22: Gained 1.1 lbs, 30.5 lbs total lost, 1.4 lbs per week
• Week 23: On holiday break, didn't track
• Week 24: Lost 0.4 lbs, 30.9 lbs total, 1.3 lbs per week
• Week 25: Gained 0.4 lbs, 30.5 lbs total lost, 1.2 lbs per week
• Week 26: Lost 2.6 lbs, 33.1 lbs total, 1.3 lbs per week
• Week 27: Gained 2.0 lbs, 31.5 lbs total lost, 1.2 lbs per week
• Week 28: Lost 1.8 lbs, 32.9 lbs total, 1.2 lbs per week
• Week 29: Gained 2.0 lbs, 30.1 lbs total lost, 1.0 lbs per week
• Week 30: Lost 0.6 lbs, 30.7 lbs total lost, 1.0 lbs per week. 
• Week 31: Lost 1.3 lbs, 32 lbs total lost, 1.0 lbs per week.