Weight Loss for Athletes
Why is weight management important?
Proper diet and a good conditioning program play a vital role in athletic performance. Athletes who are not at their ideal playing weight will not perform as well as they might.
What about fad diets and crash diets?
Fad diets are popular because they promise rapid weight loss. However, fad diets and crash diets actually result in a loss of lean muscle mass, water, and stored energy, not a loss of excess body fat. As a result, most athletes on such diets get tired early in the day or game and have a hard time finding the energy they need.
How can I lose weight?
How many calories you need depends on your age, sex, weight, and activity level. To maintain your weight, you have to take in the same number of calories you burn. It takes about 3,000 calories a day for the average 165-pound man who is 19 to 24 years old to maintain his weight. From ages 25 through 49, the daily calorie requirement for maintenance drops to 2,700. An average 127-pound woman, 19 through 24 years old, will have to consume 2,100 calories daily for weight maintenance. From ages 25 through 49, it takes 1,900 calories per day. As you get older your calorie needs continue to decrease. Your body weight will change when there is a difference between calories in and calories out.
To lose weight you must eat less, exercise more, or both. Combining diet with exercise is a healthier, more balanced, and more successful way to lose weight than dieting alone. Athletes should make sure that the weight they lose is body fat and not lean body mass.
One pound of body weight is equal to 3,500 calories. Eating 500 fewer calories per day will result in a weight loss of 1 pound per week. Eating 250 fewer calories per day combined with a 250-calorie deficit from exercise will also result in a weight loss of 1 pound per week. Athletes should lose no more than 2 to 3 pounds per week.
Exercise
When you eat fewer calories and do a lot of aerobic exercise, your body uses muscle as fuel. This can cause you to lose muscle mass and strength. Make sure that you do a combination of strength training, anaerobic exercise, and aerobic exercise:
- Strength train 2 or 3 times per week using shorter workouts than normal (20 to 30 minutes).
- Do 1 or 2 aerobic sessions per week for 20 to 60 minutes at 60% to 80% maximum heart rate.
- Do 1 or 2 anaerobic sessions per week for up to 20 minutes.
You may also burn off calories simply by being more active during the day:
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Park farther away from the store and walk briskly through the parking lot.
- Do your errands on foot or on a bicycle instead of driving.
Diet
To lose weight safely, it is important to eat a wide variety of foods. You should not reduce your protein intake, as this will lead to increased muscle breakdown. You should try to reduce both your carbohydrate and fat intake to reduce calories.
Because everyone is different, there are no general guidelines as to how much or how little you should eat or exercise. Use the charts below to help guide you in your food choices.
Calories Burned per Minute of Activity
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120-lb 160-lb 200-lb
person person person Activity
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2.5 3.4 4.6 Walking 2 miles an hour
Bicycling 5 miles an hour
3.3 4.4 5.9 Walking 3 miles an hour
Bicycling 6 miles an hour
Badminton
5.1 6.8 9.0 Walking 4 miles an hour
Dancing
Calisthenics
Bicycling 10 miles an hour
Roller skating
6 8 10.6 Tennis (singles)
Water skiing
Basketball (recreational)
Swimming (35 yards/minute)
6.5 8.7 11.6 Walking briskly 5 miles an hour
7.3 9.7 12.9 Jogging 5 miles an hour
Bicycling 12 miles an hour
7.8 10.5 14.1 Downhill skiing
Basketball (vigorous competition)
Mountain climbing
9.2 12.3 16.4 Jogging 7 miles an hour
Cross-country skiing
Squash and handball
12.9 17.3 23.2 Running 9 miles per hour
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Good High-Carbohydrate Foods to Eat
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Food Calories Carbohydrates (grams)
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Potato 220 50
Bagel 165 31
Biscuit 103 13
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice 85 20
Cereal, 1 cup 110 24
Oatmeal, 1/2 cup 66 12
Graham crackers, 2 60 11
Rice, 1 cup 223 50
Noodles, 1 cup 159 34
Pizza, cheese, 1 slice 290 39
Pretzels, 1 oz 106 21
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Making Proper Food Choices
Food Type Choose Decrease
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Meats Fish, poultry without skin, Fatty cuts of beef,
lean cuts of beef, lamb, lamb, pork; spare ribs,
pork, shellfish organ meats, regular
cold cuts, sausage,
hot dogs, bacon
Dairy Skim or 1% milk, buttermilk Whole or 2% milk,
whipped toppings,
cream
Nonfat or low-fat yogurt Whole-milk yogurt,
butter
Low-fat cheeses, farmer All natural cheeses
or pot cheeses (no more (blue, cheddar,
than 2 to 6 grams of fat Swiss, Roquefort)
per ounce)
Eggs Egg whites (2 whites = Egg yolks
1 whole egg in recipes)
Fruits Fresh, frozen, canned, dried Vegetables prepared
Vegetables in butter, cream, or
other sauces
Breads Whole wheat breads, Commercial baked
Cereals whole wheat pasta goods: pies, cakes,
brown rice doughnuts, croissants,
muffins, biscuits,
high-fat crackers,
high-fat cookies
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