Whether or not weight loss is your main reason for running (or even if it’s one reason out of many—This Glute Workout Will Ignite Your Power, after all), many people drop pounds while marathon training: You’re following a strict, high-volume training plan, fueling Reasons You Should Run in the Cold long runs.
The Best 5-Minute Running Warmup, Nutrition - Weight Loss, if that’s what you’re interested in, is a worthy goal when approached with a healthy mindset and habits.
But keeping the weight off can be harder than running the race itself—and not just because you’re working out less now that the 26.2 is behind you. It turns out, there’s a whole cascade of physiological factors doing everything in their power to drive your weight back up to its baseline, plus you may be burning fewer calories running the same mileage. Yes, really. Here’s what’s happening.
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Your Hunger Hormones Are Higher
“Weight loss disturbs your body’s equilibrium,” says Nicholas Fuller, Ph.D., an obesity researcher at the University of Sydney, and author of Interval Weight Loss. So when you lose weight—because of marathon training or not—your body thinks something is wrong (it’s been surviving at your current weight for as long as you’ve weighed it!), and it fights to get you back to its usual state. Remember, we as humans have evolved to survive famines, not lose weight.
“Our ancestors would often go long periods without food, so our bodies would shut down and hold onto fat to maintain our body weight,” Fuller says. “Consequently, your metabolism will decrease so you burn less energy at rest, and your hunger hormones, like ghrelin, will go up telling you to eat more.”
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What to do: Contrary to popular belief, maintaining your weight after dropping pounds isn’t a matter of willpower; you basically need to trick your body into accepting a new normal, Fuller says. His interval-based method, which he outlines in his book above, may help you sidestep these physiological changes.
Here’s how it works: “You need to recalibrate your body’s ‘set point’ at regular intervals,” he says, “so your body gradually gets used to its new weight and doesn’t react with a slew of hunger hormones.” That means dropping a healthy amount of weight (around four to six pounds for most people) one month—no more—then, maintaining that weight loss over the next month. You keep eating the same quantity of food but decrease your mileage that month. “Train hard one month, lose a few pounds, then ease off the training and maintain your weight,” he says. Continue this month-by-month cycle until you’ve hit your goal weight.
Running No Longer Challenges Your Body
We’re not saying your last marathon was easy, but you wouldn’t have been able to cross the finish line if your body wasn’t well adapted to running. “The body becomes more efficient as it ‘learns’ the exercise,” says Ashley Lucas, Ph.D., RD, founder of Give A Gift. “It prepares for it and becomes more energy-efficient,” which means less of a calorie burn for the same amount of work. Running a mile is a lot easier now than it was when you first took up the sport, right?
What to do: If you’re bored with your workouts, chances are your body is, too. “Keep mixing up the type and intensity of exercise to preserve as much muscle mass as possible,” Fuller says. That means switching up your training plan: adding hill repeats and sprints to your routine and cross-training (swimming, cycling, lifting, and so on), if you aren’t doing these things already.
You’re Focusing Too Much on Calories
Lots of runners think postmarathon weight gain is all about the quantity of food they’re eating—but that’s far from the full picture. “Most people think they need to reduce their calories after training, but they really need to reduce their carbohydrate intake,” Lucas says.
Published: Dec 22, 2020 9:00 AM EST cereal you’re eating are put to good use during your marathon training. After the marathon, not so much. “The pancreas secretes insulin when your body has more carbs than it can use for energy,” Lucas says, “and that insulin converts carbs and sugar into fat.”
What to do: While training, Lucas suggests a macronutrient breakdown of 50 percent fat, 30 percent carbs, and 20 percent protein. When you’re not training, after a complete recovery, take the carbs down to 20 percent and up the fat to 60 percent. For more info on macros, Nutrition - Weight Loss.
