Selecting the appropriate race and training weight as a woman depends on you and your goals. Performance can be enhanced with a leaner and lighter body composition which is ideally suited for endurance sports.
As a female ♀ endurance athlete our coaches have put together these key points to help you to navigate towards your ideal body weight. Note that we believe that less is not always more and that the “right” body weight is a blend of health, performance and your own bodies design.
As an athlete you can race faster when heavier or lighter. In our experience personal records are not set by weight but by consistency and health in training over time.
Counting calories is not where it’s at.. nutrient timing is. Understanding your intake and macro nutrients is the best approach to dialing in your body composition. (Visit our Tristar nutrition resource center here)
Weighing in'; This need not be every day but at regular weekly or monthly intervals to “check in” on where you stand. If you stick to good practices in both eating and training, the weight will stabilize to your bodies best shape.
Your body fat % should be driven by your goals and actual body type. (The focus should be on lean body mass vs weight loss)
Body fat % low and high for woman and men
Weight training, short high intensity intervals in your training plan and low aerobic endurance activities are a great way to lean out and stay lean.
Calorie deficits do not work and can lead to swings in nutrition and cravings.
As a female athlete vs male, you should not go into a training session completely fasted…Simply put as a woman, it can make you fatter!. Fasting can cause an increase in cortisol levels especially in the morning… cortisol promotes fat storage. Rather have 20-30grams of BCAA’s prior to your training. (Branched chain amino acids).
Carbohydrates, learn more about the types of carbs you should be taking in here.
Base Carb intake; aim for ~ 180 to 200grams of quality carbs throughout your day. (May be more from time to time for female athletes training greater than 10hrs per week on a regular basis. Ask your coach for a nutrition coaching plan specific for you.
Are you shrinking your metabolism? Consistency reducing calories each day can leave the body in “starvation mode” and cause an increase in cortisol levels which also leads to fat storage. This can make the leading out process even more difficult. Periodically, female athletes need to increase their calorie intake to actually lose weight.
Changes to body composition and weight are more easy to accomplish in the off season. Raising speed and strength requires carbohydrate energy and th concept of weight loss and increasing FTP (functional threshold power) is mutually exclusive.
Keys to nutrition ♀
Consuming your calories early in the day (the majority of the days needs) so that you are able to eat a more modest amount of calories in the evening can help your energy levels as well as sleep quality.
Sleep as much as you can and at least 7 hours per night is ideal. Again, the cortisol response is high in athletes who do not get adequate sleep.
Increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables in combination with protein to decrease the impact of carbohydrate sensitivity. (For a more extensive view on this subject we recommend reading the book “ROAR” here
Incase your vitamin D, calcium and magnesium as well as protein and fat intake and eat more throughout the day.
Keep it “fresh”. Minimally processed foods that are organic and do not come from a package.
Want to know more about how to lose weight for both men and woman? Follow our article below “FFWL” fueling for weight loss.