Question of the Month: July

July's Question of the Month

I began training for sprint distance triathlons this time last year. I have upped my weekly training schedule but disconcertingly I find I am losing weight too rapidly. I'm 42 years old, five foot nine and my weight has just dipped below 68 kilos. Based on five hours training a week how many calories should I be consuming to maintain if not increase my weight slightly.

There are a number of factors to consider when looking at the question "How many calories do I need?" It will depend on a number of factors:

You age and your weight
Most of your body's requirements for energy at rest are needed to keep your
vital organs functioning - particularly your liver and brain. At rest your
muscles require surprisingly very little in comparison.
To work out what you need daily, multiply your weight in pounds by 10. This
gives you an amount needed to simply lie still on your bed each day.
So at 68kg (150lbs) you need 1500kcal to 'live and breathe'

The type, intensity and length of training session
This will be highly variable, but you will be using up somewhere in the
region of 10-16kcal a minute. If you are training 5 hours a week (and that
really does mean 5 hours and not time spent stretching, setting up your
bike, taking to others etc) then you will need 3000-4800kcal a week or
428-685kcal extra a day.

What you do when you are not training e.g. sit at a desk, up and about
walking, lugging furniture, driving a car etc etc
Most office work is pretty sedentary and so an allocation of 30% of your
resting requirements could be made.
30% of 1500kcal = 450kcal a day

Your estimated requirements for a weight of 68kg would therefore be
1500+500+450 = 2450kcal a day

Likewise when asking the question "why am I losing weight?" 
certain questions need to be asked:

Am I losing fat or muscle and fat?
Skinfold measurements taken by a trained personnel are probably the best
practical method. If its fat you are losing, congratulations you are achieving what most athletes dream of! If its fat and muscle or you have lost then you will need to eat more - around 500kcal a day more than your present intake.

Am I missing meals because I need to fit in my training programme? And have I accounted for the energy needed for exercise (on average around 500kcal extra a day?)

Any disruption in lifestyle has an impact on food and drink intake unless
planned in advance. Most people in full time jobs cram in their training at
lunchtime (!) or after work before their evening meal.
Training rather than eating speaks for itself. More breakfast would be
needed plus a post training snack (or meal if time) plus a mid-afternoon
snack and then an evening meal, which may be slightly larger.
After work training would demand a mid-afternoon snack 1-2 hours beforehand (cycling would need less time than running or swimming); a recovery snack containing carbohydrate and some protein immediately afterwards ( a bowl of cereal with milk, a yoghurt with a large banana, a milkshake or small sandwich) or a larger balanced evening meal if you can face eating within 30minutes of finishing training.

If you are serious about your training, then drinking a sports drink (easier
during cycling but not impossible during running and swimming) of 5-8g
carbohydrate per 100ml before, during and after training could also be
advised.

The bottom line is that you must give food equal priority to your training
by planning it into your day, every day. This requires good time management and good shopping and home economics skills if you are too achieve training and weight goals.