To want to know how to lose a stone in 8 weeks

[marathonrunner2019]

AIBU to ask for help in losing weight?

I am meant to be running the London marathon in 8 weeks and I really need to lose weight. It's uncomfortable for me running and it's also making me really slow.

I currently weigh 12 stone and I'm 5ft 3inches. I'm running around 35 miles a week and do a yoga class and HITT class too.

I did a 15 mile run at the weekend and I have grazes and chaffing due to my size. It's so demotivating and embarrassing.

I've pretty much given up drinking alcohol apart from a glass of wine on birthdays/ parties etc. No chocolate etc

I'm eating porridge for breakfast and thought I was eating healthy lunches and dinners but I am not losing anything (in fact have put 3ln) on.

Can anyone share a diet plan I can just follow for next 8 weeks so I lose weight?

The only plan I don't think I can do is low carb due to all my exercise and no time to fat adapt.

Hope someone can help as I'm feeling desperate.

Maybe check the portion size of the porridge, do you weigh it out? I find with all types of cereal the listed calories are for a much smaller portion than i find filling and i can go to a 3 or even 4 portion size without counting the right calories.

My dh diets on and off and uses my fitness pal app - purely calorie counting but it tells you all about your nutrition too. You can put in how much you want to lose over what time scale and it will tell you how many calories you can eat each day to achieve your goal. Always works for him.

The BodyCoach?

Easy, calorie counting, if you eat 1200 cals a day you will lose 2 pounds a week and thats a stone in less than 2 months.
It's always worked for me even in my late 50's and you are exercising as well so no problem.
Just make sure you count every single thing that goes into your mouth.

If you are doing that amount of exercise, it must be food, losing weight is 70% food and 30% exercise. I've seen some amazing results on the bodycoach facebook page but personally I use myfitnesspal. A stone in 8 weeks might be a bit difficult, but you should be able to get 10lb reasonably easily.

It's possibly worth looking at your running kit, I ran a marathon with very little chafing and weighed more than you do, but I had clothes that were moisture wicking and fitted me really well.

I've lost 2.5 stone in the last 9 weeks by drastically cutting carbs and sugar, the weight is falling off. Maybe try yoghurt, fruit and nuts rather than porridge for breakfast?

2lbs a week when you only have a stone to lose is hard to do even at 1200 calories. I currently have around a stone I want to take off and 1200 will only take off 1-1.5lb a week. Usually get a little bit more the first week though. It's not recommended to do less than 1200 though.

My advice is to use a smart scale, sometimes wt gain is water retention from salt or increased exercise.
But honestly it’s all about portion sizes. Weigh and measure your food.
Don’t eat more to compensate for your exercise.

Can you list what you are eating in a typical day.

Use Vaseline for the chaffing, I’m skinny and have run a couple of marathons, any runs over 16/18 miles I got serious chaffing at the tops of my legs and in my bum cheeks over 18 miles (tmi I know!). So losing weight won’t magically stop this. Tight skins and Vaseline and I was fine though.

You need to fuel your body in order to run (if you are actually running) so a silly calorie cutting/carb cutting diet is not your friend, I actually gained weight marathon training. I think your best bet is to work off the principle of energy in energy out. Don’t cut calories on your long run day and try to resist stuffing your face after you’ve done a long run, obviously eat something, but not the entire fridge. Good luck!

I've lost a stone in 7 weeks by counting calories. I have around 1200 a day on weekdays and around 1400 weekends. I have had many cheat days though to be honest, so could have lost it a lot sooner!

Running that much makes you ravenous, which is probably where the weight gain comes from. I didn't lose any weight training for a marathon because I ended up needing to eat so much more.

You can diet, but it will affect your performance a lot and make runs harder in a different way. I wouldn't try to lose huge amounts of weight now. Running chafes regardless of size, you need the proper clothing and equipment for a marathon because it will hurt even if you do lose weight.

Use My Fitness Pal. Set a target of 1200-1400 Cal's per day, link Strava or whatever exercise app you use so you can eat more when you're training hard. It's really, really tedious but I've lost 6kg in 8 weeks which is v close to a stone. I have to weigh ALL carby food and high calorie stuff like dairy as my reasonable portion estimates by eye are woeful. Fill up on veg.

Oh and I run and/or cycle on average 4-6 hours a week but before I tracked calories on MFP I was steadily getting fatter as I was just eating too much.

Thanks. I've been trying to resist going down the calorie counting route and sticking to sensible healthy eating. But maybe my portions are too large?

I have 40g of porridge made with semi skimmed milk for breakfast (oatso simple plain porridge)
A weight watchers ready meal for lunch
Some sort of meat with veggies for dinner and a few times a week have brown rice with it. I don't eat fish, shellfish or nuts.

I try not to eat sugar so no fruit, sweets or chocolate. Only sugar I have is in my gels on my long runs.

I try not to snack but do sometimes fridge raid, and whist it's healthy food it's still extra food.

I need to lose more than a stone - probably 2-2.5 stone in total but thought a stone might be achievable in two months.

I looked at the body coach website but they said not to do it whilst marathon training. Same with blood sugar level 8 week plan.

Would really just like an 8 week plan I can follow without needing to think too much about it beyond shopping and food prep.

@madcatladyforever I agree stick to 1200 a day and you will lose the stone. Reducing your carbs will help too. I aim for less than 1200 to allow for the odd thing you forget or don't weigh. log everything you eat on my fitness pal.

Low Carb Bootcamp

Fast800!! I've lost 2st 11lbs in 8 weeks xx

Myfitness pal works for me. I roughly record my daily calories and it stops me going over. I also weigh my food if I'm trying to be extra careful not to regain weight. Just food like rice, pasta, bread, cheese. so easy to underestimate the portion sizes.

I'm guessing the running is making you really hungry and you're eating large portions. That happened to me when I was running/jogging long distances. Interval training was better for losing weight, I found. Not that you should be giving up the running, obv! You must be super fit :-)

I’d just eat what you’re eating but in smaller portions.

Is it possible also that the extra inches is muscle build up?

I'm not a runner or a fitness freak so I may be way off the mark here, DH does a fair bit of training though and he tries to stick to higher protein meals to keep him full for longer. So he will have quite a lot of eggs, chicken, fish (particularly tinned mackerel). he also likes a protein shake (made with milk and sometimes a banana as well) after exercise as it fills him up quite a lot without being too heavy on the calories. He doesn't run, does mainly resistance exercise combined with fast hill walking. He's in his 50s but has full 6 pack and a resting heart rate of under 50 so must be doing something right.

Are you making sure you eat something like 1/2 banana or even a just a glass of milk after a run? This will stop you getting the post-run munchies after you've showered etc.

What are you wearing to run in, and where did you chafe?

St. John Ambulance do hold out tubs of Vaseline on the route, but it would be much better not to chafe at all.

If I had a bowl of porridge for breakfast that would fill me up for ages, including a long run or other sport, so maybe you're just not using that porridge energy up before you eat again.

If you have a healthy diet you really don't need to go over board with the carbs on 35 miles a week, so don't be too worried about cutting some out, but don't make drastic changes now.

For a long run tomorrow I would make sure I had a normal dinner ie make sure it wasn't a day I was just having toast cos I'd done sport late or something.

If you have more to lose than just the stone, I think the stone should be achievable on 1200 calories especially with all that exercise - you could probably do more than 1200 but myfitnesspal would keep you right.

How many gels are you taking on your long runs and how long are they?

I think you either train for the marathon, and nourish yourself properly to support that, or you focus on losing weight. Did someone say 1200 calories a day?! That’s what you’ll burn doing one half marathon. Soon your long runs will be 15-20 miles each.