You’ll never see any of the Harvard men’s lightweight rowers at a Weight Watchers meeting talking about their splurges for the week. But though they avoid the diet shakes and packaged meals, many are forced to go to similar lengths in order to shed those last crucial pounds needed to race.

Every rower—light or heavy—is required to weigh in before each race. During the fall season the weight restrictions aren’t as stringently enforced, in part because a lot of lightweights still need to lose quite a few pounds—more than they safely could were the regulations applied in full.

But once spring comes, the guidelines become stricter and that scale can start to look exceptionally scary.

And whereas no heavyweight can ever be too heavy—that division has no maximum cutoff to race—all lightweights must weigh in under 155 lbs. to be able to compete.

Some are going to have to weigh in at significantly less than the required 155, though because in addition to the individual limit, each boat must average no more than 150 lbs. per person.

So it appears pretty inconceivable that any sane rower would choose to make the jump from the heavyweight division down to the lightweight division, but there are a brave few who decide to make the commitment and take the risk.

Generally the rowers who choose to drop down into the lightweight division are those whose weight hovers just above the maximum—they tend to weigh between 160 and 180 pounds. These rowers can row as heavyweights and let their size dictate how far they can go or they can row lightweight and use their larger size to their advantage to excel in the field.

“I ran the risk of either being a slow heavyweight or, hopefully, a fast lightweight,” said junior lightweight rower Dan Reid.

Reid decided to make the switch to lightweight after his freshman year. He weighs in at around 169 pounds right now, which puts him on the cusp for both teams, but he feels that he can make a much bigger contribution to the lightweight team than he ever could as a heavyweight.

But dropping the pounds can be a daunting task. It requires a high level of commitment to diet and exercise that aren’t as crucial in the heavyweight division.

When it comes to diet, eating healthy is the most important thing. These rowers don’t sit down to a lunch of celery and water—but they do have to severely increase their intake of fiber and fruit. More generally, they have to be very conscious of what they consume.

And whereas both Reid and junior lightweight rower Jonah Todd-Geddes say that dieting isn’t really that bad, Reid says that he does miss his old junk food habits.

“You never realize how much you want something till you can’t have it,” Reid said.

But the rowers don’t necessarily live at their rowing weight either. Most walk around heavier than ideal weight, so there is always a big push right before a race to get under the limit.

“You don’t have to live at that weight completely,” Todd-Geddes said. “[Plus] it adds a whole new dynamic to rowing.”