tri training, carbs and no weight loss

I'm loving my triathlon training, really loving it, but it's making me hungry, hungry for carbs.  I do so much better when training, as far as energy and performance go, when I've had carbs for breakfast and I eat a GU in the middle of long workouts.  Then post workout I know that consuming carbs is important for recovery so I'll have a shake with fruit, protein and amino acids.

I know I also use my level of exercise as an excuse to eat carbs.  Yesterday I did a mock triathlon and for breakfast I ate an English muffin with peanut butter, honey, and banana on it.  OMG it was good!  After the mock race I ate half a very large bagel with cream cheese.  I could not believe how easily it fit into my tiny VSG stomach, it shocked me.  I was full but might have even been able to eat the whole bagel!

Basically I've allowed carbs to slip back in all over the place and my weight loss has pretty much halted.  I've only lost 1lb in the last month.  I really must be very sensitive to carbs (I’ve had a glucose tolerance test done and it came out normal although on the high end of normal).

I've ordered a recovery drink called FLUID that has all the recovery components at a fairly low calorie per serving.  I'm hoping I'll like it and if I just drink this during and post workouts it will provide me with continued energy and fast recovery so I don’t need the GU or the high carb foods pre and post workout.  And, I really must go back to eating very low carb the rest of the day.

I think if I wasn't working out so much I'd be less hungry and losing more weight but I guess I'm ok with the trade off, increased fitness and less depression vs. skinny but less fit.  However, I do think the amount of carbs one needs for endurance sports can be a dangerous slippery slope to weight gain for gals like me.

Its a slippery slope for guys too.  If you stop training, weight will pile on, (ask me how I know) so it is good that you see your dilema before it stifles your progress.

Keep being aware but giving your body the high octane fuel a performance engine needs to do what you are asking of it.  But keep the food/fuel choices smart and not justification for being able to eat bad stuff.

I went from 224 to 234 when I increased my running but went from a 42 to a 40 waistline.  When I injuried my hip and stopped running, over the 8 months I was out, I put on 38 pounds and went back up to a tight 44 pants (probably needed a 46 but would surrend to such nonsense) before I got myself stable and to started losing some.  Back to Protein, water , and move basics.
Once I was able to return to jogging again in late May, Memorial Day to now, I've dropped 8 pounds to date but still have a ways to go to get back to where I was. 

SO,... I am still recovering but it started with realization of the same situation you speak of now.  I was having those exact same conversations with myself before my hip messed u pon me and I really got burned buy some bad eating habits I developed when I was burning it all off. 
So Good Observation.  Stay in control and Stay smart.  

Thanks Joe, yeah when you see how many calories guys like Dan consume it's makes me crazy but I think he is young and definitely an endurance workout maniac.  I gotta get it under control.  I also think the more your body gets used to exercise it becomes very efficient at burning fuel and probably needs even less than you needed when you started.  But like you said I do need to fuel my workouts.  It really is such a fine balancing act I've yet to figure out but am gonna work on it!

 Don't base your calorie consumptions on either Dan or Chad right now!!!  They're routines are pretty sick (I guess mine's actually not too far behind though).
When i had my tummy tuck in December I went from 230 down to 215.  I also discovered that my pouch and surgery were still in full effect.  I did a couple weeks of poor food choices and went back up to about 225 -- the 215 weight was not really accurate as I was in pretty bad shape there for a while.  Right now I weigh anywhere from 222-235!!  If it's after a long race/ride/run I'll obviously be at the low side and if it's a rest day (not to frequent) than it gets to the higher number.  When people I ask I say I'm at 225/227 which seems to be a good base.  I'd bet Dan's weight fluctuations are probably somewhat close to mine.
Why did I just confess my weight problems?  Not sure, maybe it's too let you know we all go through it and we all worry about it.  Like Joe said, when I started gaining the weight back after the TT some of my clothes became a little tighter (not needing a new size tighter though).  I had hopes that I'd drop a size in pants but that's just not gonna happen.
Getting to your training and eating:  Do you use a heart rate monitor?  If not do you have any way to measure the calories you're burning?  I do try to eat/fuel according to the activities that I'm doing.  If I'm doing a long run (like tonight) I'm gonna try to get in a couple of extra PB&J sandwiches and some rice or some other similar carbs.  My 13.1 mile run tonight burnt roughly 2200 calories.
The key to weight loss is burning more calories than you're taking in.  The hard part about training for triathlons or other endurance events is we need considerable caloric intake to keep our body moving. 
With all that said, keep your primary caloric consumption as protein rich as possible.  Carb load right before events that you'll be active 2 hours or more.  If you're going to be going 1-2 hours doing a bagel w/peanut butter or a Gu before you take off isn't a bad thing.  While your English muffin thing sounds absolutely great (I'll be trying one of those pretty soon!!) it's probably a bit much.  
You're right, it's a slippery slope.  I've come to the realization that my weight is going to be pretty much stable and I'm not going to lose any more while I'm training for my triathlons and fall marathons.  Then again I'm also almost 2 years out and have pretty much achieved my goal weight.  If I never lose another pound I'm very happy with where I am and if you saw me you wouldn't believe that technically I'm still 20lbs in the 'overweight' category of the BMI charts.
Here's a last thought -- have you ever bonked?  If not you may be eating and taking in far more calories than you truly need.  Over the next week or so try reducing your carbs by 30-40% and seeing how you do in your training/racing.  If you aren't bonking then you're at a healthier carb load for your activity level and you'll probably have lost more than 1 lb.
Sorry for the rambling, just some thoughts for you.  Good luck and I agree a healthier, more fit person is the goal.
--Dan

Thanks for sharing your experiences it's all helpful.  Yes I have bonked, several times in fact and I'm sure it was due to not enough fuel in my system which is why I started doing nutrition during long workouts and recovery drinks.  I think I might be doing ok in what I am consuming pre during and immediately post workout, it's the post post workout that I'm misbehaving.  I must realize that because I'm working out an hour and a half to two hours a 5-6 days a week doesn't mean I get to eat whatever I want.  I still have to watch it and eat a mainly hi protein-lo carb diet.  I will fuel my workouts with appropriate carbs around and during but not post post!

Dan - I do have a heart rate monitor but it doesn't give me calories burned, how do you calculate that based on HR + Time?

I can't find the HR formula any more, but I did find this one:

Calories burned by exercise = ((METs * 3.5 * weight in kg) / 200) * duration in minutes.

Of course, with this one you have to figure out what your MET is.

Ooh, looked harder and found these:

Using VO2max
Men: C/min = (-59.3954 + (-36.3781 + 0.271 x age + 0.394 x weight + 0.404 x VO2max + 0.634 x HR))/4.184

Women: C/min = (-59.3954 + (0.274 x age + 0.103 x weight + 0.380 x VO2max + 0.450 x HR)) / 4.184

Without VO2max
Men: C/min = (-55.0969 + 0.6309 x HR + 0.1988 x weight + 0.2017 x age) / 4.184

Women: C/min = (-20.4022 + 0.4472 x HR - 0.1263 x weight + 0.074 x age) / 4.184
weight is in kg

You really expect me to do all that math?  Ha! I found an online calculator. 
http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/?page_id=483

I don't do math. That's what Excel is for.

I don't trust the online ones because you can't see what their assumptions are. That calculator is one of the few that lists them.

And they got their formula from the exact same place I got mine! :lol:

Anyway, without my VO2 Max, it claims I'm burning mega calories per hour with minimal heart rate (i.e., my easiest exercise that I do). But I put in what I am guessing my VO2 Max is and it goes down by 200 calories. 

Does that mean I'm fit?!  :-D

I think this shows how hard it is to estimate this stuff. On My Fitness Pal, people are reporting that they are burning all these tremendous amounts of calories doing fairly easy exercises and then saying they aren't losing weight. Well, maybe you aren't really burning 600 calories with 30 min. of light walking then... but some machine or online formula said they were so they wont' even consider the possibility that they aren't.

This thread is exactly what I needed to read today...

Sorry for the dumb question, but what is bonking?