Weight Gain OVer 30: Even Runners Not Immune

Over 30 here, it's a bitch. You actually have to pay attention to what you eat! Here's one thing I always keep in mind. I am not an elite athlete so I should not fuel myself like one.

3 reasons:

1. Your metabolism slows as you age.

2. You become more efficient at running, requiring less calories to do the same workouts.

3. Food is less satiating when you get used to it. Unless you're a 1%er who can afford to eat out all the time, you're going to be eating the same things many times in your life, and eventually your brain's pleasure centers won't register the same level of satiation you previously had.

This weight gain should be not for a competitive distance runner, if he truly treat the sport seriously. The key to not having to face it is to increase mileage every now and then, or add more core, weights, or supplemental activities. The problem most runners face is actually that their legs won't allow them to add enough training, or they get injured and adding more training in is unfortunately delayed. In light of this, it becomes increasingly important to pay attention to calories as you age. I know guys in their 50s and 60s who are still rail thin and pretty fast. Its all a balancing act.

Yes, you can stay the same weight as you were in high school, and YES it is harder.

I'm 38 and lucky enough to have running so that I'm generally 110-120 pounds, with the 110 when I am at 70-90 miles/week and 120 when I am closer to 0-40 miles/week. So I know what I have to do to keep it off. Unfortuately, it does come back much faster than when I was younger. In my early 20s I only ran 20-30 miles/week and stayed the same as HS. I still enjoy eating.

Over the last decade and a bit more, I have been fighting a slow battle of declining weight. You will start losing muscle mass with age, although it will happen much more at 50 than 30.

Training wise, when I was training HARD (i.e., those hard/fast days or the very long ones at good work levels), many times I would not want to eat for quite a while and I would tend to want stuff to drink before eating and that would fill me up. Add to this that I did not want much food in my stomach, keeping trim weight at 30 - 35 was not particularly a problem.

If you have a piece of fruit instead of other junk it will fill you up, give you current energy levels and provide only modest number of calories.

Seriously? 120lbs? My dad had cancer and after an entire year it reduced him to 140 and he looked like a skeleton.

At 120 you must be double-auschwitz.

Ever think that's a woman's smile?

haha good point!!!

I ran into guys from the team over years and most of them filled out quite a bit. They're not any way fat but the body put on bulk. At least 20 to 30 lbs for sure. I am 42 now but I can say I have not gained weight. Sure I gain weight when I don't run but it was the same when I was running track. Back down to low 130s with mid 50 mpw now. If I start eating better and start put in 15 to 20 extra miles per week, I am sure I will go back down to mid 120s again.

I think its either the diet or something genetic. I am Asian. I just don't think we gain weight like other ethnic groups. Look at how big Billy Mills got from the running magazine article last month. He looks more like a football coach now.

I'm 44 and I run 50 mpw, max out in the lower 70's during a build up, and yes the weight gain is tough.

I think the reasons are the muscle loss and frankly lifestyle. The choices and circumstances of your life allow you to eat and DRINK more than when you are in your twenties. There are constant lunches, dinners, and social events.

I think most Master's runners concerned with weight need to do more than just run. I've never been into weights and such, but it certainly does work.

No change in weight after college and I'm 36. No change in running except 70s mpw training for 5-10k and now 90-140 training for marathon.

I ran in college at 130lbs. I run 60mpw at age 62 and I weigh 130. Over the years I have drifted up to the 135-139 range at times, but no higher. Some of it is genetic, but it always gets back to the reality that you have to pay attention to calories taken in versus calories burned, and your best racing weight when you were young probably is your healthiest weight to maintain through your life.

I'm 30 and I am the same weight I was when I was 17. I did gain weight in between during my partying years but it wasn't anything bad. The one constant is that I run consistently. No crazy mileage. My weight is predictable.

I am Asian though so I am pretty much guaranteed to be skinny for the rest of my life unless I partake in some binge eating and drinking.

My guess is that Asians don't normally eat bacon and beef and other foods that put you at risk at weight gain. That's why we are usually skinnier over the generations. Although I love me some chicken and fish.

Most Americans I know love cheese, mayo, steak, bacon...and so on. These things just nasty

hks321 wrote:

I ran into guys from the team over years and most of them filled out quite a bit. They're not any way fat but the body put on bulk. At least 20 to 30 lbs for sure. I am 42 now but I can say I have not gained weight. Sure I gain weight when I don't run but it was the same when I was running track. Back down to low 130s with mid 50 mpw now. If I start eating better and start put in 15 to 20 extra miles per week, I am sure I will go back down to mid 120s again.

I think its either the diet or something genetic. I am Asian. I just don't think we gain weight like other ethnic groups. Look at how big Billy Mills got from the running magazine article last month. He looks more like a football coach now.

For your sake, I hope you're trolling....

  wrote:

Seriously? 120lbs? My dad had cancer and after an entire year it reduced him to 140 and he looked like a skeleton.

At 120 you must be double-auschwitz.

Sorry about your dad. I lknow the look you are talking about.

I'm female, 5'5" and just weiged in at 120 and I feel fat. I much prefer 110.

I agree with the poster that says weight trainig can help a lot when you get older.

41 and fluctuate between 135 at the end of a marathon build up and 140 when mileage is lower and diet is poor. The issue with diet as you age is not that it is hard to keep your weight down when training hard. The problem is that you cannot get away with big meals and bad habits (deserts, too much booze, big sugary coffee drinks with breakfast, etc.). If you are careful with diet and are training hard, you will be runner skinny and look sickly compared to the faties in your office.

I'm scrawny at 160, fat at 167. I have to count calories to keep the weight off. Exercise has much less impact.

I'm 1/2 Asian and 1/2 Mexican. Also 1/8 cherokee.

Precious Roy wrote:

41 and fluctuate between 135 at the end of a marathon build up and 140 when mileage is lower and diet is poor. The issue with diet as you age is not that it is hard to keep your weight down when training hard. The problem is that you cannot get away with big meals and bad habits (deserts, too much booze, big sugary coffee drinks with breakfast, etc.). If you are careful with diet and are training hard, you will be runner skinny and look sickly compared to the faties in your office.

I'm with Roy for once - I'm 44 and all it takes for me is to cut out the 3 cans of soda per week, eat a fruit salad instead of a muffin, and have ice cream just (gulp) once every two weeks or so.

In other words, cutting away at the margins works for me -I run 50-60 per week too.

Is it really that bad?

I think you guys have had horrible diets most of your lives and now you're paying the price.

Most people that stayed healthy from 15-30 will be a lot better off post 30.