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Weight issue

Hi everyone new to this triathlon game and loving it ,I have an issue with my weight I am 12st 8llbs and 6ft3 ,since starting training for ironman Wales I have lost about 9to10llbs ,people are telling me I am gaunt looking ,too thin ,even scrawny ,I am a self employed plasterer by day and that in itself is a work out ,so you can imagine I am struggling to put any weight back on ,which I think I could be doing with ,I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to how I could acheive a few pounds back on as i think this might help my swimming as well,many thanks martin

Comments

  • HarryDHarryD Posts: 425
    Appearances can be deceptive. Looking at your weight for height there is nothing wrong with it. If you put on unnecessary weight it will slow you for the bike & run legs. No guarantee it will help with your swim. Too low a weight is of course unhealthy.
    If you think you are too light go & get checked out by a registered nutritionist.
    HarryD
  • Seems like good advice. You can of course try Protein drinks after exercise, but as Martyboy says, see a specialist first. If you eat healthily, and you don't starve yourself your weight is probably fine. It might just be people who are used to you looking a certain weight, or it could just be your face - if it was previously plump and you have rapidly lost a lot that can leave you looking gaunt, particularly if you are senior in years, when skin becomes less elastic.
  • MartyboyMartyboy Posts: 5
    Thanks guys maybe it's other people's perception of my appearance ,that kind of Gaunt look ,I do eat ,like a horse and healthily too ,so I'll just keep training as normal ,but thanks for the reassurance anyway .
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Congrats you have slimmed down to a fighting weight, what you may want to check out is that you are within a healthy body fat zone which I did a quick calc and reckon you are OK and think you are about 15% which is within the healthy zone 8-20% for men. Check it out yourself and let us know the results are but I reckon you are alright.
    http://www.healthyforms.com/helpful-too ... entage.php

    There are other calculators but they pretty much have the same process.

    I did an article for work, an extract is:

    If you are male:
    Lean body weight is equal to (1.082 x total weight) - (4.15 x waist measurement) + 94.42. E.g. total weight is 155 pounds, waist 31 inches. Lean body weight is (1.082 x 155) - (4.15 x 31) + 94.42 = 132 pounds.
    Convert your lean body mass to your body fat percentage. Your body fat percentage is equal to (body weight - lean body mass) / (body weight) x 100. Using the previous example for a man, you weigh 155 pounds and have a lean body mass of 132 pounds Your body fat percentage is (155 - 132) / 155 x 100 = 14.8 percent.
  • MartyboyMartyboy Posts: 5
    To zacnici did my measurements and my BMW was 16 so Im thinking that I'm inthe ok range thanks again guys
  • MartyboyMartyboy Posts: 5
    That's bmi not BMW
  • Hi Martyboy,

    If your (lack of) body weight is bothering you, you can have some of mine! I've got half a stone to spare!!
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Re BMI, I wouldn't go off that, it is a crude measure; fat has about 85% density of muscle. You could have a couch potato and an active person of the same height and weight and BMI the difference being the potato will have visceral fat and bugger all muscle and the physically active person will be lean but his muscle mass is denser.

    The Body Fat index is much more indicative and providing it doesn't get to problem levels I see no reason why you would want to put 'weight' on - presume people are talking about body fat. As long as you have the right proportion of body fat for healthy body function anything else is not doing
    you any good, have a look here http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com ... the-5-rule

    I think the problem is that these days with increasing obesity people look at athletic types and think they are gaunt because they don't want to admit that they are overweight, hence theses gastly terms of 'real women' and real men' - sorry, all I see are fat ba####ds, and I say that as someone who has lost almost 3 stone since taking up tri 6 years ago at the age of 49. I suddenly realised how the weight had crept on and had the shock of my life. I still struggle with my lard as I am predisposed to tubbiness but presently at 71.4kg with a height of 1.7m and the last time I did a simple body fat calc it was at 17.9%. I have about 1kg of lard on my midriff I need to shift but it is very difficult.
  • I've got the same responses. I think it's just people are used to seeing a bit more weight on you so when you lose the fat from your body people think you're going to get skinny. Not true. Just a change, the exercise has got rid of some weight and you're probably getting towards peak fitness.
    Im 6.1 and 79.2kg
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