BFR weight loss: a speculative manifesto

stomper

Guest
Hey, thanks for the voluminous response to my utterly vain post about trying to ditch my beer belly. I've been trying to come up with a thoughtful reply, because I'm sure a lot of other people here have weight they want to lose. Not that I'm any example of success, but the topic has been on my mind.

I'm sorely tempted to get down and dirty in the technical arguments about mechanisms of weight gain and loss, but I think it might be more useful to get further into the question I posed before... what would be a barefoot- running style approach to weight loss?

So I'm going to type one up here. I'm declaring here and now this is the plan I'm going to follow for the rest of the year (at a minimum).

Once again, this is a totally personal and vain topic, so if you're not into this kind of navel-gazing, it's totally understandable, and you should leave the thread now while you can still breathe. :)

So what's really worked for me about barefoot running (BFR)? And how would I translate that into barefoot-running -style of weight loss (BWL for short)?

BFR: The real goal is feeling better, not making a time. I don't time myself more than once a month.

BWL: The real goal is feeling better, not making a weight. I won't weigh myself more than once a month.

Explanation: A year ago when I really committed myself to doing BFR, I pretty much stopped timing myself running except for once every one or two months. I told myself I was going to learn how to feel better while running, and that numbers such as minutes/mile were arbitrary. I took an idea from the chi running book and decided to use timed races as occasional "tests of my knowledge." Curiously, these once-a- month tests showed me getting faster.

Similarly, I think that weight in pounds or kilograms is an arbitrary number. I don't really desire to be X pounds or have X% body fat. What I desire is to feel lighter and move lighter. That would be success. Sure, my body mass does have something to do with it, but it's a crude yardstick at best. If I am doing something right, a once-a-month weighing will show it. More often than that might just be a distraction.

BFR: Exercise is a pleasure and an art that I cherish, not some painful chore I "must" do to be healthy.

BWL: Food is one of the pleasures of life, not the enemy.

Explanation: I have lost weight in the past on programs like Weight Watchers where food is counted religiously. But it gave me an incredibly negative obsessive attitude about food. It robbed the pleasure from it. If I can't cherish my post run Mirror Pond Pale Ale for the treasure that it is, what kind of life is that? It's like saying the only purpose of sex is reproduction. So with the food (fortunately not with the sex) I just need to stop when I've had enough. :)

BFR: I get some advice, but ultimately it's up to me to figure out how to do it.

BWL: I'll take in ideas, but ultimately I have to listen to my body and figure out my own way of doing it.

Explanation: Listening to my body may be the trickiest part here, because there is no question my body is tuned by evolution and habit to put on weight. I am never ever going to be lithe, though that may have its advantages. I dare anyone to outlast me in a Norwegian snowstorm or a muddy Dutch bog (the places my ancestors came from). But I can definitely tell when my body is feeling healthy and strong, and when it is feeling awkward and overloaded. I will focus on the former.

BFR: Learning to run barefoot is a whole new skill that's taken years; I'm still having fun figuring it out.

BWL: I've gotta give this some time and enjoy it.

Explanation: Ahh crap enough said. Manifesto over. I've gotta get back to work.

Anything to add?

I'll revisit this in a month if anybody's curious. Current arbitrary yardstick number: 171 pounds.
 
Sounds like my style of

Sounds like my style of dieting. Run a lot and not really concern myself with what I eat or how much. I've found that once I get to a certain point in my training, usually around 30-40 mpw, my diet regulates itself. I can't eat crap without feeling like crap, and I can't eat anything in large quantities. Thus...I lose weight.
 
BWL: I'll take in ideas, but

BWL: I'll take in ideas, but ultimately I have to listen to my body and figure out my own way of doing it.



This is so critical to me. I lost about 50 pounds a couple years ago (on top of a previous 50). I lost it very quickly and my running turned to crap, I got slower, I got injured and miserable over time. I slowly gained back 20 and felt better, but not in tme to avoid the major injury. I gained back all of it. Now I am losing it slowly and paying attention more to what my body needs for running rather than purely weight loss. It's all so individual...
 
saypay45 wrote:..once I get

saypay45 said:
..once I get to a certain point in my training, usually around 30-40 mpw, my diet regulates itself.

Dude, 30 or 40 miles per week is huge. At least to me. But yeah, I've noticed that too... when I do A LOT of exercise, my appetite starts restraining itself. I'm thinking of trying to work up to 20 miles per week. It'd be an increase, but not a major change in lifestyle.

jschwab said:
I lost about 50 pounds a couple years ago (on top of a previous 50). I lost it very quickly and my running turned to crap, I got slower, I got injured and miserable over time. I slowly gained back 20 and felt better, but not in tme to avoid the major injury. I gained back all of it. Now I am losing it slowly and paying attention more to what my body needs for running rather than purely weight loss...

Sounds like a major journey you've been on there. My changes haven't been as dramatic but the issue has been persistent. I'm a bit excited because I feel like my experience learning BFR is really giving me a new perspective on this. With BFR, I focused on the whole art of the thing, not numerical progress, and then weirdly enough started making numerical progress.

I just need to translate that experience into my relationship with food (because food, for me, must be the thing... I know I get more exercise than the average person, maybe not as much as saypay though..). I started reading a book about "mindful eating" and it has a lot of usable insights. Why do we label some foods "good" and others "bad"? What foods do we eat habitually, mindlessly, and what do we really completely experience?

On that second question I found I instantly had an answer that is helping me see things in a new light. While I might mindlessly scarf bread or coffee in the morning, or popcorn in front of the TV, I have a complete and true appreciation of beer. I live in a place where top-flight craft beer is everywhere and I take advantage of it. I totally savor the roughly 1 beer I have on most days, I expect no more or less from it than exactly what it is, and curiously I rarely feel the need to drink any more.

An unlikely key to enlightenment, but I'll take what I can get...
 
 I dare anyone to outlast me

I dare anyone to outlast me in a Norwegian snowstorm

I accept your challenge. How many Norwegian snowstorms have you run in?
 
stomper wrote:I dare anyone

stomper said:
I dare anyone to outlast me in a Norwegian snowstorm



Nyal said:
I accept your challenge. How many Norwegian snowstorms have you run in?

Oh, I wasn't talking about running. I was just talking about standing there and suffering stoically in the true Norwegian way. Some vague muttering may be involved.
 
 Oh, Norwegians like to put

Oh, Norwegians like to put skis on before they do that.
 
Bah. Norwegians are weak.

Bah. Norwegians are weak.
 
 Bah, Swedes think they are

Bah, Swedes think they are strong but are really too dumb to go inside during a storm. ;)

Could be worse, though.
 
Did you guys here about the

Did you guys here about the barefoot runner from Arhus...........
 
Stomper, i'm sure i noticed

Stomper,



i'm sure i noticed it before, but quickly forgot. my mind works that way. when i read how you enjoy your beers as you come from a place "where top flight craft beer is available". i had a feeling you were from Portland. i was right. i live in Beaverton now.

i ran the Warrior Dash yesterday and had hoped to lose 5 lbs and drop 2% body fat before the race. no go. i've been steadily lifting weights for a year now and running steadily since january. over the summer my appetite suddenly was less than it had been. i just moved to beaverton in august and suddenly my appetite increased again.



it must have been from increasing my runs to an hour each outing. i lost a lot of energy as well. i almost felt fatigued at times.

anyway, i eat what i want, drink what i want, and exercise when i can. i lift weights and have just increased my program to work each part twice a week instead of only once. my growth and weight loss have all stalled recently so something has to change. i don't know how much i will run but i don't believe i will be running for an hour each outing. i'm going to attempt to shorten the time and increase the intesity. it depends on what my feet, legs, and dog will allow me to do. he's only 12lb but he can outrun me when he wants to.

i'm right there with you on weight, around 171-2. if you want to run or grab a beer sometime let me know. i would like to lose up to 10lb but more so want to drop to 15% body fat.



do you run with the facebook group of portland minimalists?
 
hi migangelo, yes, you have

hi migangelo, yes, you have correctly deduced i am in PDX. I'm in the mt. tabor neighborhood, conveniently near the park. I haven't met any of the local facebook group yet. I'll PM you about meeting up.
 
I got a warm and fuzzy.  The

I got a warm and fuzzy. The main reason for this project, so barefoot and minimalist runners can meet. It's so nice to see the realization of it all.

Sorry for the interruption. Now back to your regularly scheduled program...
 
Nyal wrote: I dare anyone to

Nyal said:
I dare anyone to outlast me in a Norwegian snowstorm

I accept your challenge. How many Norwegian snowstorms have you run in?

I'm up for the challenge. I live in Minnesota where all of your ancestors went. They don't call International Falls, MN the "Icebox of the US" for nothing.

I love all the puffery surrounding who is the toughest in the winter. Really...winter sucks, and everyone is a big wimp in certain kinds of weather.