Are Insulin Spikes Halting My Fat Loss?

Nutrition
21

I’ve trained marathoners and you are not eating enough.

@putter: IMO, her diet sucks. Not enough carbs. Marathons are all about carb manipulation. But you need to manipulate something and she doesn’t. What you eat before the race is up to you. I stick to oatmeal before a race (I do 5 and 10K’s) and my wife has bagel with peanut/almond butter (she does the long distances). Find what works for you.

You have an aversion to rice and potatoes? Carb up. Running is all about glycogen.

@ryan: It probably is unhealthy, but he is an elite athletes. Look at what people do to win a Sandow!!!

Diet: Breakfast, as is and add a bowl of oatmeal. start with 1/2 cup!!

Lunch: Add a sweat potatoe

Dinner: add a chicken breast.

Remember, those are recommendations only.

The link above, btw, is not about following it to the letter, it’s about understanding the meaning. Read it again. When you come back and argue “it’s not me”, you did not “get it”. Not being condescending, just stating a fact. Kiefer’s article, for you, is not about stopping the running. Think more of “overall foods and conditioning”. You DO NOT want to be one of those that devours 4000 calories in a sitting, because the rest of your diet sucks.

22

to Ryan, take into account that Meb and other elite’s typically carry only about 5-6% bodyfat year around to begin with, so this is actually a “normal weight” for them.

aajd, meb and others will get a fast acting carb in during the cool down period before lunch. Still, most of the carbs go in at dinner and before bed. It is “somewhat” similar to keifer’s carb back loading but modified for the elite endurance athlete. Hope this helps clear some questions up, dirk.

this is Meb and I training on green church rd (officialy Benton Crossing road) 8 miles south of Mammoth Lakes , ca at an altitude of 7000 feet.

Take the time to watch this at the 720p setting and watch america’s most efficient runner. Ryan Hall IS faster but Meb is more bio-mechanically sound : )

23

[quote]JFG wrote:
I’ve trained marathoners and you are not eating enough.

@putter: IMO, her diet sucks. Not enough carbs. Marathons are all about carb manipulation. But you need to manipulate something and she doesn’t. What you eat before the race is up to you. I stick to oatmeal before a race (I do 5 and 10K’s) and my wife has bagel with peanut/almond butter (she does the long distances). Find what works for you.

You have an aversion to rice and potatoes? Carb up. Running is all about glycogen.

@ryan: It probably is unhealthy, but he is an elite athletes. Look at what people do to win a Sandow!!!

Diet: Breakfast, as is and add a bowl of oatmeal. start with 1/2 cup!!

Lunch: Add a sweat potatoe

Dinner: add a chicken breast.

Remember, those are recommendations only.

The link above, btw, is not about following it to the letter, it’s about understanding the meaning. Read it again. When you come back and argue “it’s not me”, you did not “get it”. Not being condescending, just stating a fact. Kiefer’s article, for you, is not about stopping the running. Think more of “overall foods and conditioning”. You DO NOT want to be one of those that devours 4000 calories in a sitting, because the rest of your diet sucks.[/quote]

She didnt ask how to eat for a marathon, she asked whether regular insulin spiking was possibly slowing/preventiong fat loss, i said that is quite possible. Marathons may well be all about glycogen, but that isnt the discussion point, fat loss is largely about insulin management.

24

[quote]aajd91 wrote:

[quote]bigmac73nh wrote:

[quote]Gl;itch.e wrote:

[quote]bigmac73nh wrote:

[quote]aajd91 wrote:

[quote]Gl;itch.e wrote:
GOOGLE “John Keifer Women running into trouble” and Youtube “Scott Abel Metabolic Damage”

read/watch these
[/quote]

that’s operating on the assumption that i run specifically to lose weight. just like some athletes enjoy playing soccer, snowboarding, hiking, or whatever else…i enjoy running and that’s the main reason that i do it. i was training for a marathon for the same reason that competitive athletes compete…because they love the sport and want to be their best. reaching my goal and staying uninjured are paramount over losing weight. actually, losing weight isn’t even the issue. ideal BODY COMPOSITION would just be a plus, which is why i wrote this post…for advice to change body composition without sacrificing my health and becoming injured. i’m 5 foot 7 at 128 lbs…that’s almost at the lowest healthy point on the BMI scale. yes, i run obsessively. just like other athletes training for their preferred sport.[/quote]

Didn’t see this post before. If you are prioritizing performance on running/general enjoyment above body composition, I definitely recommend that you monitor your fat/water retention carefully and take in more food if it persists in spite of the diet changes.

You are certainly running the risk of overtraining and need to tread carefully. Less cals in not necessarily better for gaining/maintaining leanness. How much water and fat you are holding while cutting can be a very good indicator of whether or not you’re eating enough.

If your new plan doesn’t show any improvement after a couple of weeks, I would bet money that your intake is too low for your level of activity. Just something to keep an eye on, good luck![/quote]
OP has already stated that inspite of extra cardio (edit: sorry other way round, bigger caloric deficit) she is not losing weight. This is metabolic shutdown/damage/starvation mode kicking in. More than anything she needs to up her calories to PREVENT weightloss unless she is happy to suffer with the consequences which may compound and become a lifelong battle with her weight.[/quote]

I agree. She seems to be committed to trying to maintain the low calories though, so I’m suggesting that she eat more if/when that doesn’t work.

I think water/fat retention are obvious physical signs of work output being too much for nutrient intake, so I’m hoping that OP will at least monitor her physical condition and start to eat more if conditioning improvements continue to stall.
[/quote]

I’m definitely NOT committed to maintaing low calories if that will not help body composition. Before writing this post, I wasn’t aware that too much of a calorie deficit could be the problem. i love food…and if eating more of it will HELP, then that’s the best answer I could hope for. The sample diet didn’t include everything I would be eating that day, it was just an outline of the main things to get the right macronutrient ratio.

I will definitely up the calorie intake and protein intake pre/post workout.

I’ve already eaten much more today… haha
[/quote]

Glad to hear you’re eating a bit more. I think you’ll be surprised at the physique and performance improvements that come with eating closer to maintenance. Undereating can have a profoundly negative effect on both of these things, so hopefully you see good results. You can always cut back if you see any downside to eating more, but I doubt that will be the case.

Something like Keifer’s CBL might be worth checking into though. I don’t think it’s really worthwhile to try and elevate insulin levels for most of the day unless muscle gain is a primary goal. The CBL might provide a good balance between fueling your body and maintaining leanness that would benefit your running performance. Just something to consider.

25

[quote]putter2712 wrote:

[quote]JFG wrote:
I’ve trained marathoners and you are not eating enough.

@putter: IMO, her diet sucks. Not enough carbs. Marathons are all about carb manipulation. But you need to manipulate something and she doesn’t. What you eat before the race is up to you. I stick to oatmeal before a race (I do 5 and 10K’s) and my wife has bagel with peanut/almond butter (she does the long distances). Find what works for you.

You have an aversion to rice and potatoes? Carb up. Running is all about glycogen.

@ryan: It probably is unhealthy, but he is an elite athletes. Look at what people do to win a Sandow!!!

Diet: Breakfast, as is and add a bowl of oatmeal. start with 1/2 cup!!

Lunch: Add a sweat potatoe

Dinner: add a chicken breast.

Remember, those are recommendations only.

The link above, btw, is not about following it to the letter, it’s about understanding the meaning. Read it again. When you come back and argue “it’s not me”, you did not “get it”. Not being condescending, just stating a fact. Kiefer’s article, for you, is not about stopping the running. Think more of “overall foods and conditioning”. You DO NOT want to be one of those that devours 4000 calories in a sitting, because the rest of your diet sucks.[/quote]

She didnt ask how to eat for a marathon, she asked whether regular insulin spiking was possibly slowing/preventiong fat loss, i said that is quite possible. Marathons may well be all about glycogen, but that isnt the discussion point, fat loss is largely about insulin management.[/quote]

Who cares about her question, it has nothing to do with “insulin spike” from the description of he “ailment”.

She doesn’t eat enough, her body is going into “conservation mode”. She just needs to get serious about her eating habits. Insulin spike, yeah…

26

thank you all for your input. in case anyone is interested, i seem to have accidentally isolated the problem. it seems that the green food concentrate i was taking in the morning was causing the bloating feeling. i had to travel for a few days and left it at home by accident and the problem completely disappeared. i got home and took it again and the problem started to reappear within hours. i think it may be due to the probiotics in it, which i’ve never taken before. my mom had similar problems when she started taking probiotics as well.

regardless of this, i’ve still increased my calorie intake significantly and changed my diet around.

thanks!