How to choose and eat meals for athletes who are losing weight

I want to eat modestly, work hard, and lose weight successfully. If weight control still doesn’t work, do you have a meal menu that matches your training content?

Just as there is a difference in energy expenditure between training days and rest days, controlling dietary energy intake is the key to successful athlete weight loss.Introducing how to organize a meal menu during training and weight loss.

Concept of diet menu to lose weight while keeping muscle mass

Unlike dieting, athletes lose weight without losing lean body mass (* 1), only body fat.
The source of body fat is excess energy that cannot be burned out in the body. Excessive dietary restrictions and unbalanced diets reduce metabolism in the body, making fat harder to burn and more likely to cause rebound. It is important to combine diet and training to create a body that is easy to increase metabolism and lose weight.

* 1: Lean body mass: The total weight of muscles, bones, internal organs, etc. excluding body fat. Abbreviated as LBM (Lean body mass).

Basically 3 meals a day, do not miss a meal

Regular nutrition is necessary to get in shape.
If you continue to be hungry for a certain amount of time, your body will break down your muscles and start using them as energy. In addition, because the brain recognizes that it is starving, it changes to a constitution that makes it easier to store fat.

Consider the balance of food intake in a day

Breakfast and lunch are consumed in post-meal activities, so don’t worry too much.If you eat too much dinner, you will not be able to consume it by the time you go to bed, which will hinder your weight loss.
If you don’t have a lot of energy intake per day and you find it easy to gain weight or lose weight, make sure you aren’t eating a lot of dinner. Also, let’s finish eating dinner 3 hours before bedtime as a guide. If you don’t have time to go to bed, change to something that is easy to digest, such as ochazuke or udon, or reduce the amount to ensure smooth digestion.

In addition, the staple food can be further improved by choosing it.
Get the carbohydrates you need for your activity, and get the nutrients you need for your metabolism so that you don’t leave excess energy in your body. It is recommended to use brown rice for white rice, bran bread (germ bread) for bread, and whole grain flour for pasta noodles. It contains vitamin B1 and dietary fiber, which are necessary for carbohydrate metabolism, and is slowly absorbed into the body, making it difficult for blood sugar levels to rise and making you feel hungry.

Ingest so that you do not lack the necessary nutrients

Get enough of the nutrients you need to burn fat and build your body. As you can only get a limited amount of energy during weight loss, choose foods that are high in the nutrients you need (nutritive).

protein	Materials that make muscles, bones, blood, etc.
Vitamins and minerals	Conditioning
	Increased energy metabolism * Vitamin B2 is especially important for lipid metabolism
Dietary fiber	Eliminate waste products in the body

Be careful about how to consume, amount, and type of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are essential nutrients for the body to absorb proteins and metabolize fats.Excessive removal of carbohydrates reduces the body’s energy source, which can lead to slower metabolism, making it harder to lose weight and more likely to cause rebound.

Be conscious of low-fat ingredients when choosing

Dairy products and seasonings contain oil. If you get into the habit of checking the labeling of ingredients and nutritional information, you can promote weight loss more effectively. Try to remove as much fat as possible from the visible part of the meat.

meat	Avoid fatty items such as roses and loin Select areas with a lot of lean meat such as fins and thighs Remove chicken thighs and other items with skin
Fish	Choose lean meat such as white fish and tuna and bonito
Dairy products	Choose low-fat, non-fat products Choose unadjusted soymilk
seasoning	Avoid cream-type dressings and mayonnaise that do not use more than necessary, and choose oil- free ones as much as possible.

Alcohol is a “calorie that does not become energy”

The amount of energy of alcohol is about 7kcal per 1g. 350 ml of beer will be about 140-180 kcal (varies depending on the product). The energy contained in alcohol is called “empty calories” and is different from the energy stored in the body that is ingested by the three major nutrients.

Alcohol is a foreign body to the body. When excreted, it is preferentially metabolized by using vitamins in the body, so there is a possibility that the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) necessary for weight loss will be insufficient.

Source: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, e-Health Net, Alcohol Calories

Ingenuity of cooking method

Use a lot of oil-free cooking methods such as boiling and steaming, be sure to weigh stir-fry oil, do not use more oil than necessary, avoid fried foods, etc. Let’s keep using.

Weight loss training and diet menu

In the case of training (especially muscle training), setting a rest day will bring out the effect of exercise more. However, since there is a difference in calorie consumption between training days and rest days, if you eat the same meal every day, the energy intake on the rest days tends to increase.
Make changes to your diet so that your calorie intake does not exceed your calorie consumption.

Be sure to secure energy for basal metabolism

With or without training, you will always get the amount of energy you need each day (basal metabolism).When the intake is lower than the basal metabolic rate, the body becomes difficult to lose weight.
Basal metabolism is more closely related to lean body mass than body weight, and it is said that people with the same weight but more lean body mass are more likely to lose weight.
Select the part that applies to you from the table below and calculate.

Basal metabolic rate reference value by age

Age (years)	Male (kcal / kg body weight / day)	Female (kcal / kg body weight / day)
12-14	31.0	29.6
15-17	27.0	25.3
18-29	24.0	22.1
30-49	22.3	21.7
50-69	21.5	20.7
over 70	21.5	20.7

Source: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, e-Health Net, Alcohol Calories

Estimated basal metabolic rate (amount of energy required per day) = basal metabolic rate standard value (kcal / kg body weight / day) x body weight (kg)

35 years old, male, 70 kg … 22.3 x 70 = approx. 1,560 kcal
25 years old, female, 50 kg … 22.1 x 50 = approx. 1,100 kcal

Based on the value given by this formula, we will adjust the amount of food according to the presence or absence of training.

Training date

When you lose weight, you need to have enough energy to exercise, and at the same time, be careful not to consume more energy than you exercised. (There will be a difference in the required energy amount depending on the event and exercise intensity.)
Adjust the amount of staple food and main dish from the amount of energy that is a guideline for your weight loss, and try to eat in a well-balanced manner before gaining or losing weight. Let’s check the transition of composition. After training, take protein for quick muscle repair.

Estimated amount of energy required = Basal metabolic rate (kcal) x 2
35 years old, male, 70 kg … 22.3 x 70 = 1560 x 2 = 3,120 kcal
25 years old, female, 50 kg … 22.1 x 50 = 1100 x 2 = 2,200kcal

Time zone	Menu example	point
Morning	White rice (or brown rice) grilled fish, vegetable salad, natto miso soup, fruits (banana, etc.)	・ Be sure to eat carbohydrates ・ Add protein when you don’t have enough main dish containing protein ・ Choose fruits that can be an energy source
Food supplement	Yogurt, smoothies, etc.	・ Choose low-fat and non-fat dairy products
noon	White rice (or brown rice) tofu hamburger, soaked mushroom miso soup, fruits	・ Carbohydrates are an energy source for training
Before training (~ 1 hour)	Small rice ball energy jelly	・ Do not train while hungry ・ For solids, use 1 hour before training ・ Just before training, replenish sugar with jelly / drink
After training	Protein * When adding, small rice balls, inari sushi, etc.	・ When there is a gap until dinner, it is desirable to take sugar first here.
Night	Kenchin Udon (use less udon noodles and plenty of ingredients) Tororo, fruit yogurt	・ Conservative intake of carbohydrates ・Focus on digestible foods and try to finish meals at least 3 hours before bedtime

Rest day

On rest days, it is important to chew and eat the ingredients that make you feel good. You can reduce the amount, but eating slowly will make it easier to get satisfaction. If you have too many meals, you will feel hungry, so be sure to eat three meals.
Low-fat, protein-rich foods are recommended for supplements when meals are spaced apart. Take advantage of low-fat dairy products (yogurt, cheese, etc.) and protein.

Estimated amount of energy required = Basal metabolic rate (kcal) x 1.5
35 years old, male, 70 kg … 22.3 x 70 = 1560 x 1.5 = 2,340 kcal
25 years old, female, 50 kg … 22.1 x 50 = 1100 x 1.5 = 1,650kcal

Time zone	menu	point
Morning	White rice (or brown rice) chicken plum shiso range steamed tomato salad, miso soup fruit yogurt	・ Chew well and eat something that is hungry
noon	Japanese-style pasta (vongole) consomme soup	・ Avoid cream and oil sauces and season with tomatoes and Japanese style.
Night	Pork kimchi pot white rice (or brown rice)	・ We recommend a hot pot that warms your body and allows you to eat a lot of vegetables.

A day when you only do aerobic exercise (conditioning)

Get the nutrients you need, the water you need to burn fat, and get rid of the waste products in your body. It’s always a good idea to add warm soup.

Time zone	menu	point
Morning	Bread, vegetable pot-au-feu boiled egg, fruit yogurt	・ If you run out of main dish containing protein, add protein
Food supplement	Fresh juice, smoothies, etc.	・ Choose low-fat, non-fat ones ・Choose juices that are not sweetened
noon	Miso soup of Inari sushi and natto maki clams	・ Inari sushi skin is a protein supplement
Before training	Energy jelly sports drinks, etc.	・ Be sure to rehydrate during aerobic exercise for 60 minutes or more.
After training	Proteins and amino acids
Night	White rice (or brown rice) hot vegetables and steamed pork soup, mozuku vinegar	・ Actively ingest leafy vegetables and seaweed that contain a lot of dietary fiber in order to discharge waste products.

Control your energy intake for successful weight loss

Dietary control is very important for successful weight loss with as little strain on the body as possible. Are you checking for extras in what you are eating now? You can objectively review the contents of the meal by leaving notes and photos.
A body with little extras is a mass of energy. Let’s build a stronger and better body!