Racing Weight

I have been reading Matt Fitzgerald’s book Racing Weight and I really like what I am finding.  I have switched over to his plan and increased my daily calorie consumption to insure I reach my race goals at the right weight, without sacrificing muscle and performance to do so.  He operates on a points system called Diet Quality. You receive between +2 and -2 points per serving depending on what type of food it is (Fruit, veggie, Lean Meat, Fat Meat, Nuts, Sugar, etc.) and how many servings you have had that day.  The best possible score is +32.  In the five days I have been tracking my score, I have been between 16 and 25, with an average of 21.  That is very good.  I feel like I am eating too much, I am not hungry, and I am eating even better than I was.  

Sounds great, right?  Well, I started the program Sunday, Jan 6.  I also started increasing my mileage and intensity for spring training on Sunday Dec. 30th.  Between Thursday Jan 3rd, and Thursday Jan 10th, I lost 6#.  Wow, way too much.  The plan says I should lose about 0.9# per week to insure I don’t negatively impact my training and muscle development. I seem to have crossed a magical barrier where my body is forced to burn more calories per day than it would like to keep up with my training.  (see my previous post here on Exercise, Metabolism, and Weight Loss -- http://windrunning.blogspot.com/2012/11/exercise-metabolism-and-weight-loss.html)  I have also been normal temperature at work the last two days, and did not need to wear my jacket.  

So, I am back to the book to make sure I am getting enough energy ingested to keep up with my training.  The plan only gets harder from here and I need to make sure I don’t starve myself.  I think this is the first time in my life I have ever been worried about losing weight too fast and not eating enough.  It feels strange.