Its Biochemistry, Not Thermodynamics

On the Ironman Lake Placid run course, just after the second out and back, there's a fork in the road where people finishing the race stay right and people who have second loop go left.  As I was about to stay right and finish (I ran my last mile at an 8:40 or so pace), a very nice spectator decided to cheer me on by stating "keep going strong, only one loop left."  I turned, looked him dead in the eye and replied, "I am finishing, I don't have another lap to run.  What, you didn't think the fat girl could run?"  The poor guy just stood there speechless. 

As nice as it is to be a fat girl* and still be able to run, I know that I'll be able to run (and bike) faster if I tweak my body composition in the correct direction.  As of August 1, 2011, I weighed 162.4 pound and was about 20 % body fat.  My ideal race weight should be about 149 lbs and 14% body fat.  That's 13 pounds to loose between now and Ironman Florida, sounds simple, but its not.

In realm of beliefs on why some people are fat and some people are thin, I fall firmly in the camp that believes those who get fat do so because of the way their fat happens to be regulated and not because they are lazy or fail to count calories properly.  I've always been an opponent of  the "calories-in / calories-out" model of weight loss (and have gotten into heated arguments with people who tell me I'm just "cheating" on my diet or not exercising enough).  From personal experience and years of counting calories, I knew (at least with respect to my personal test group of one) that you can eat 1200 calories a day and still gain weight.  While I intrinsically believed that, unlike a machine, the human body is governed not by the laws of thermodynamics but by the biochemical responses that occur within, it was not until I discovered Gary Taubes that I understood why.  Mr. Taubes is not a scientist, or a dietitian, or health food guru, rather he is an award winning science journalist who wrote two incredibly compelling and meticulously researched books on the topic -- Good Calories, Bad Calories and Why We Are Fat.  Both books are worth a read.  Good Calories, Bad Calories is essentially a college level science course on nutrition, its not the easiest read in the world, but its worth the time investment if your interested in how the body's hormonal response works.  Why We Are Fat is a more concise, easy to read version of Good Calories, Bad Calories. 

Not only does Mr. Taubes reject the "calories-in / calories-out" theory of weight loss, he replaces it with a theory that makes sense: The hormone in charge of fat storage is insulin; it works to make us fatter, building fat tissue. If you have too much fat, you also have too much insulin action. What drives the secretion of insulin? Dietary carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates such as sugars, flour, cereal grains and starchy vegetables. This is why Type I diabetics lose weight; they're not producing enough insulin. Since insulin is manufactured in direct response to carbohydrates, if you don't eat them, you won't have a mechanism by which to store fat. So, if you are a person with a particular sensitivity to insulin, you're essentially predisposed to put on fat (and to store the calories you ingest as fat, even if it means the body  neglects to provide energy to the brain, liver, kidneys and other vital organs).

Enough of the science, here are my problems: (1) I love carbohydrates, a lot; and (2) I train a lot and need to use carbohydrates for fueling.  With regard to the first problem, I just need to suck it up -- no more nutella or Happy Hippos or black jelly beans until after Ironman Florida.  With regard to the second, its a little more complicated and that's where the Core Diet comes in.  Essentially unless I'm fueling a workout or drinking my post race recovery drink (yum - Chocolate Endurox!) its nothing but lean protein, dairy, vegetables and fruit.  Essentially I'm looking to eat about 175 grams of protein a day, 50 grams of fat and a varying number of carbohydrates based on the length and intensity of my work-outs. 

Here's what today looks like food wise:

6:00 a.m. - 2 eggs & one cup of pineapple
7:00 a.m. - Lift weights & 1600 yard swim
8:30 a.m. - 1 scoop of Endurox
10 a.m. - 1 cup of cottage cheese & black cherries
1 p.m. - Big salad with mixed greens, cucumber, tomato, avocado & chicken, nectarine
4 p.m. - Homemade chicken soup with carrots & asparagus
6 p.m. - Power yoga class
7:30 p.m. - Tri-o-plex Bar (high protein food bar)
9 p.m. - Whey protein

If you're interested, I track my food everyday here.  I'll be posting my weight here every week (on Mondays) as well.  I'm optimistic that if I can avoid the unnecessary carbs, I'll be able to get to race weight for Ironman Florida. 


* Disclaimer -- I know I'm not fat in the "30% of all Americans are obese" sense or even in the normal day-to-day healthy BMI sense, but I do not have the ideal body composition for a long course triathlete.  So, when I say I'm fat, what I mean is that I'm fat for someone who wants to go as fast as possible over 140.6 miles.