Diet help for marathoner

[fhg43]

I am doing some research for fiancee. She is running a marathon this summer and has been training diligently. She is 5'8" and ~150 and ~28%BF. She has a very athletic body with good musculature in her legs. She's not fat, but you can tell she has some excess fat to lose and she wants to do this. She has lost around 6lbs and has been training hard for about 12 weeks. Her diet is good and she has been trying to create a caloric deficeit each day to facilitate weight loss. She is a vegetarian and has been for 8 yeras. She has also increased her protein intake. She trains year round but reduces the volume between her marathons. This will be her 3rd marathon in 2 years. She weighed 128 for her first marathon in 2000. She started to take Zoloft after the first marathon and that seemd to lead to her weight gain (studies have shown that a little known side effect of Zoloft and similar drugs is weight gain over prolonged usage). That 25-30lbs has proved very difficult to get rid of.

1) What can she do to jump start her metabolism to burn some fat-she can't take ECA stacks (bad for anxiety). She has been off the Zoloft for almost a year.

2) She's had blood work done and her thyroid values indicate her metabolism is normal and in the elevated range of noraml (meaning the values are in the accepted normal range, but towards the 'hyper' side). So its not a thyroid problem we think. We didn't get T3 and T4 levels from blood work. We looked into T3 but decided against it-but maybe we need to reconsider.

3) What dietary changes should she make? Does she need to increase calories? Has her body gone into starvation mode?

4) She has put on more muscle but hasn't lost fat-any insight as to why her body won't lean out?

I know I should get her to the boards, but I can accurately represent her situation. And yes I tell her she's beautiful and doesn't need to change a thing, but she wants to lose the fat so I'll try to help and be supportive.

FHG

 

[Gladiola]

"1) What can she do to jump start her metabolism to burn some fat"

What is her strength training routine like? Does she train heavy?

"3) What dietary changes should she make? Does she need to increase calories? Has her body gone into starvation mode?"

I don't think so if she has gained muscle mass - if she were truely in starvation mode her body would be hoarding fat & burning muscle - not gaining muscle. But she could try changing the caloric intake - up & down.

Lots of people say rotating carbs helps them to lose more fat, but if she is doing a lot of running she MUST get carbs otherwise her body is likely to burn lean muscle for fuel (which really will impede her goal of losing fat). She could try decreasing carbs on a day off from training.

Sorry that's not a ton of help - but at least this is BUMPing for you.

 

[magdelana]

Can you give more info about the number of caloires she gets each day and how many miles she runs each day (also any other cardio).

Her LBM is about 108 pounds based on the stats you gave. You say she has put on more muscle. Have you done bf readings or it looks just that she is adding muscle? If she is adding muscle as Gladiola says she is still eating an excess of calories.

Let us know about the calories and amount of cardio and hopfully we can be more helpful.