Hi I am a high school runner, I want to get to single digits body fat and need help. Little background about me. I am 143 pounds I want to be 135 pounds. I run around 40 miles a week. Does anyone have any dieting tricks that helped you? I also have a big problem with snacking at night if anyone knows how to stop that too.
Consult with a good dietician.
Just being lower body weight does not automatically increase performance and can have long term detrimental effects.
Talking with someone knowledgeable in the field will help you to hit a target (healthy) weight in such a way that you are still able to train and perform at your best.
4 Likes
Ok thank you!
How do you know youâre not already single-digit body fat? And why do you thing being single-digit body fat will make you a better runner? There are a ton of variables at play here, and you donât want to be chasing unrealistic, or unproductive, goals.
As a point of reference, I am a cyclist and weigh about 165 lbs (75 kg). A few years ago I wanted to get down to 150 lbs (68.2 kg) because, you know, lighter goes uphill faster. My wife encouraged me to get a DEXA scan, and I found I was at 8.2% body fat. So, my choice became to either give up the âdreamâ of getting to 150 lbs, or start a crazy regimen that would result in losing muscle mass. Of course, I chose to give up the âdreamâ because losing the muscle mass, or even getting to a lower body fat percentage, was not a healthy option for me. Instead I am focusing on training, and eating, better, and actually trying to gain more lean muscle and increase my bone mineral density (Iâm getting older, so this is critical for me).
Dropping some weight might be an acceptable option for you, but donât focus on losing weight just for the sake of being lighter.
2 Likes
Reading your post triggered all sorts of alarm bells. You (incorrectly) assume lighter = better performance. For sports like running and cycling the focus on weight can lead to very unhealthy behavior.
The stories of Mary Cain and Allie Ostrander are cautionary tales.
I have had my best performance, when I weighed a little more (4.7 W/kg, 348 W, 74 kg, at age 41 as opposed to 4.5 W/kg, 320 W, 71.5 kg at age 38 or 39). I got sick less often, for instance, and was able to endure harder training. One crucial point was accepting and embracing my body type: I would never be a petite person and thatâs cool. Itâd never be healthy for me to aim at < 70 kg, thatâd severely impact my training. Thatâs also the reason why I was good at running but never stellar. On the bike my weight matters less and I can play out my advantages much more.
IMHO your focus should be on performance, not weight. You should fuel your workouts and eat healthily. Lots of veggies, protein and the right amount of carbs to support your training. In most training phases, your calorie intake should match your calorie expenditure, i. e. your weight should stay approximately stable.
That is such a good point. I was never that low, the Tanita scale pegged me at around 11 % (in athlete mode) at my leanest.
I weigh about the same (74.2 kg at the moment), and while I plan to lose another kilo, there is no rush.
2 Likes
This is probably the wrong place to ask because the default response around here to weight-loss questions is usually people saying âdonât lose weightâ unless youâre extremely obese.
The OPâs question was how to get their body fat below 10 %. Thatâs a different ball of wax than your run-of-the-mill weight loss question.
3 Likes
Fair enough. They mentioned losing both weight and body fat.
There are plenty of teenagers and runners with extremely low body fat though. Some of them are healthy and some arenât. Iâm not encouraging them to do anything, but the default answer around here is âdonâtâ, so I still think itâs the wrong place to ask if they really want advice from peers.
1 Like
When you get close to the extremes (and < 10 % qualifies), it gets really hard to stay that low. I know that aiming for a race weight is a thing and nothing bad, necessarily. It matters what you aim for, though, and where your bodyâs natural aim point is.
Jeff Nippard recently had a video on that topic from the perspective of body builders. He emphasized how rare and difficult it is to stay well below 15 %.
As a high schooler I wouldnât mess with trying to lose weight. You can screw with your hormones and not in a good way. You are still growing.
Iâd just focus on cutting out soda, candy, fast food, junk food and go from there. Eat healthy and keep working out.
5 Likes
Iâm not going to say eat bad but if youâre putting in the work those late night snacks are probably because you need it. I swam and raced mtbs in HS, I left single digit body fat and my daily meal was waffles and ice cream for breakfast ( my mom still denies she allowed this) cheese fries pizza and butterscotch crumpets for lunch and then Iâd get home eat a lbs of pretzels and half gallon of milk as a snack before dinner. 20 piece nuggets were a staple at work (bike mechanic) in HSâŚ
8 lbs isnât a lot (as a percent for you itâs huge) but you might not have it in fat to lose and dropping might hurt performance if youâre not fueling. Having arbitrary weight goals isnât ever really a good thing unless we are talking about dropping significant weight.
1 Like
As a high-schooler, this is something that you need to talk to a professional about.
Poor nutrition choices at that age can have extremely negative effects on your body and can last a very long time.
Talk to a nutritionist, dietitian, or doctor, not a coach or anyone else.
Take care of yourself!
2 Likes
Well the obvious answer is run more and stop snacking at night.
Watch this first.
2 Likes
I have some experience with middle school and high school runners. Honestly, most kids donât eat enough to fuel workouts. You are probably snacking at night because you are starving from the workouts.
I would not advise trying to get below 10% body fat. How do you even know your current percentage? And how would you know when you got below 10%?
Running chronic calorie deficits will lead to burnout, possibly some injury like shin splits, and slow performance.
If you want to be fast, your best bet would be to eat healthier foods, get enough protein, and fuel your workouts. If you get that nailed down, then get up early in the morning and go run and extra few miles at a super easy pace. Do that 3-5 days per week on top of regular workouts and youâll be a monster out there.
1 Like
One of the things that struck me about Nippertâs video was that âlow body fatâ and âlow body fat percentageâ might be very different things. To have low body fat you need to, well, lose body fat. To have low body fat percentage you can lose body fat, gain muscle (lean mass), or a combination of both. The fact that Nippert is into bodybuilding, and the subjects in his video appear to have come from the gym, gives a very different visual impression of the different body fat percentages than if he had used a bunch of cyclists.
1 Like
I hate to rain on your parade but as a former runner / former anorexic gal many years ago I feel your urgency and desire to hit targets BUT agree with all of these smart folk telling you to consult a professional and that your concerns are concerning ! I am glad you are on a cycling forum because maybe there is hope for you to come to the cycling side!! (as I did after I developed a weird body problem in my 30s where running triggered a gut issue - but the same HR for hours on the bike is fine). Amongst cyclists, there is a great appreciation for muscle vs. weight (I think). Try to open up your world view to the fun future ahead of you where you will run, work, have a family, travel, eat well and not notice your or other peopleâs body fat while being a kickass athlete. It is possible!!
2 Likes
Dietician. Hereâs mine Calendly - Ilyse Schapiro Nutrition
Free consultation during the discovery call. She built a plan that kept weight on during the season. During Covid she kept it off 
all the kids back from college. I ate well and off plan!
Been with her wee bit. Just check ins now. I can get down to 7-8% body fat. Itâs fine a week on a beach. I wouldnât recommend it otherwise. But hey, thatâs just me. Like others said, get a pro.
This was really good, especially for women. Thanks for sharing. I guess the downside in our âworldâ is that he didnât really show any men with cyclist/runner body. He had a few women, but the men all seemed to have âbody builderâ low BF.