I have written in the past about the 3,500 calorie rule! If you consume 3,500 calories more then you burn you gain a pound & if you burn or use 3,500 calories more then you consume you will lose a pound!!! This is the simple part and one of the most basic nutritional truths…3,500 calories equals ONE POUND…end of story!
Now here is where it gets tricky, WE ALL BURN DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF CALORIES DAILY! The younger we are the faster we burn…the larger we are the more calories we need to consume to stay that way! Here is the part of weight loss that confuses and FRUSTRATES a large percentage of individuals…
As of today, I am 6’3” 206lbs…My BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate is 2,007 calories!
If you don’t know what your BMR is start by finding out here: BMR Calculator
OK…here is where the frustration begins. This is just an ESTIMATE! Some of you will burn many more calories then this, and others will burn far less. To figure out where you are, TRACK your CALORIES and see what the scale does. If you gain weight then your metabolism is actually slower…if you lose weight they PRAISE GOD your metabolism is faster then the average (probably a good indication that you have more muscle mass then the average person your same height, weight, age, and gender) this would be a good thing!
There is the nutrition education…Continue reading to know what this principle has done for me in training for the Walt Disney World Marathon in January and why weight loss is important for marathon runners!
The Living Science Experiment:
For the past couple of weeks I have been on an ELC (Extremely Low Calorie) diet, training for Walt Disney World Marathon with a weight goal of 28lbs to take me to 190. When I started I had no idea what my weight was because it wasn’t an issue…I eat right, I exercise EVERY DAY, and I felt good. However, the scale indicated that I weighed 218lbs. Much higher then expected and a WHOLE lot heavier then I want to weigh running a marathon with a time goal in mind. So over the last two weeks I have averaged 1,525 calories (energy intake from food)…I have lost 12lbs and FEEL AMAZING!!! Yesterday I ran 20 miles at an 8:05 pace. This is faster then my normal long run and I felt GREAT! Today I continued to feel GREAT, no soreness at all, and ran a 5 mile recovery run at 8:20 pace…according to an article written by Runners World (Runners World Article) a 20lb weight loss will result in 17:28 cut off of a marathon time & after starting at 218lbs I know I can get to 190, a 38lb difference which theoretically should cut 24 minutes off my overall time! Will this be accurate? Only time will tell…I ran the same marathon last year at around 205lbs I believe in 3:27, if this theory held true it could again THEORETICALLY put my time 13 minutes faster!
ONLY TIME, TRAINING, & NUTRITION will tell! Until January I feel like my nutrition is dialed in, I pray that the Lord continues to keep me healthy & injury free!
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