Running but not losing weight...

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benjaminD02
benjaminD02 Posts: 105 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi folks,

Firstly thank you for reading my little Friday morning rant.

So I have taken up running and use the Nike app on my iphone. I'm trying to lose 1.5 lbs each week and run 5 days a week for around 50 minutes / 4 / 4 miles plus.

I am generally 100 + calories under my target and do not go over. The thing is I haven't lost weight?

When I did MFP a few years ago I didn't exercise and I lost weight. I'm trying harder this time but not shedding the weight?!

Can anyone give me some guidance please? As I am frustrated with it.

Thanks very much,

Ben.
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Replies

  • bio_fit
    bio_fit Posts: 307 Member
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    What is your current weight, and what is your goal weight?
  • BeTheChange352
    BeTheChange352 Posts: 253 Member
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    when did you start?
  • benjaminD02
    benjaminD02 Posts: 105 Member
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    Current weight is 205

    Goal is 195

    Been doing this for more than five weeks!
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
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    Make sure you are logging both calories and exercise accurately. Use digital not analogue scales and don't use measuring cups. Maybe don't eat all your exercise calories back.
  • IPullSumo
    IPullSumo Posts: 1 Member
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    You are running for 50 minutes and only going 4 miles? I'd say up the speed and get your heart pumping a little bit.
  • benjaminD02
    benjaminD02 Posts: 105 Member
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    Hey I am being accurate as possible. I do use digital devices for measuring food and digital scales etc. I do not feel like I am eating all the calories back as sometime I have 100+ calories left, yet I am starving!

  • benjaminD02
    benjaminD02 Posts: 105 Member
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    @IPullSumo I feel like I am pushing myself as it thanks! My heart is always racing and I get out of breath when I sprint.
  • sauronseye
    sauronseye Posts: 40 Member
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    IPullSumo wrote: »
    You are running for 50 minutes and only going 4 miles? I'd say up the speed and get your heart pumping a little bit.

    I run for an hour, my average speed is 6.4 km/h and the route I take is cca 6 km: I am still losing weight, and fast.
    benjaminD02 wrote: »
    Hey I am being accurate as possible. I do use digital devices for measuring food and digital scales etc. I do not feel like I am eating all the calories back as sometime I have 100+ calories left, yet I am starving!

    Maybe you are eating the wrong food? If you eat healthy and often, you shouldn't be starving!
  • benjaminD02
    benjaminD02 Posts: 105 Member
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    I will try and up the running and see what happens. I do eat healthy - fruit / vegs etc. I'm starving at night from around 7pm to 10pm. I try and not eat anything after 6:30pm so body has a lot of time to process food. I drink a lot of water too!
  • fnoblebrown
    fnoblebrown Posts: 61 Member
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    How tall are you? How old are you?

    Any particular diet you are following?

  • sauronseye
    sauronseye Posts: 40 Member
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    benjaminD02 wrote: »
    I will try and up the running and see what happens. I do eat healthy - fruit / vegs etc. I'm starving at night from around 7pm to 10pm. I try and not eat anything after 6:30pm so body has a lot of time to process food. I drink a lot of water too!

    Don't do that; if your intake is too small, your body will try to preserve as much as it can, and you will get the opposite effect. A (healthy) snack or two won't kill you.
  • benjaminD02
    benjaminD02 Posts: 105 Member
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    I'm 5 '7 and 32.

    Not following a diet just restricting calories but eating healthy.

    Yes maybe I should eat as you say the body will preserve as much as possible.

    What other exercise should I do to blast the fat off? Cheers for all the replies :)
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    benjaminD02 wrote: »
    Not following a diet just restricting calories but eating healthy.

    Have you set up MFP to give you a daily calorie goal based on your current metrics and desired loss rate? Losing weight is more about the calorie deficit than the exercise.

    Note that as you're talking about a fairly small weight loss target, 10lbs, then 1.5lbs pw is quite aggressive.

    As far as the running is concerned, are you doing a run/ walk pattern or is that continuous running for 50 minutes? It's easy to overestimate the calories expended in running and given the narrative that's coming out then it seems that you're not really in a deficit, which might be related to that.

    I'm getting an impression of everything at once with the calorie restriction, exercise, daily fasting and "eating healthy", so it's difficult to tell what's contributing.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    sauronseye wrote: »
    Don't do that; if your intake is too small, your body will try to preserve as much as it can, and you will get the opposite effect.

    Food time doesn't, in principle, matter. Weight loss is about that fairly simple balance of calories in vs calories out, and if the former exceeds the latter then one gains weight, or vice versa.

    Where I would agree that fasting periods can make a difference is the behavioural side of things. I'd advocate eating within calorie goals, but eat when hungry. There is little point in making weight loss a miserable experience, as that's not sustainable

    As long as the trend of calorie deficit is maintained, then weight will come off.
  • benjaminD02
    benjaminD02 Posts: 105 Member
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    Hey @MeanderingMammal,

    Have you set up MFP to give you a daily calorie goal based on your current metrics and desired loss rate? Losing weight is more about the calorie deficit than the exercise.

    - Yes I have done, I want to lose 1.5 lbs per week. Thanks for the note! I'm in no great hurry to get rid of the weight but what concerns me is that I am trying much harder than last time yet my results are worse!

    My running is this:

    start with 5 mins power walk to warm up
    then sprinting for as long as possible
    then jog
    then sprint
    then jog for until 5 minute before I walk / cool down.

    I also do yoga stretching too after my run.

    I wouldn't say I was fasting, just eating right but at night I get very hungry. This morning I woke up more starving than normal and thinking I would lose 1lbs but nothing.

    Thanks for your help :)

  • benjaminD02
    benjaminD02 Posts: 105 Member
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    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    sauronseye wrote: »
    Don't do that; if your intake is too small, your body will try to preserve as much as it can, and you will get the opposite effect.

    Food time doesn't, in principle, matter. Weight loss is about that fairly simple balance of calories in vs calories out, and if the former exceeds the latter then one gains weight, or vice versa.

    Where I would agree that fasting periods can make a difference is the behavioural side of things. I'd advocate eating within calorie goals, but eat when hungry. There is little point in making weight loss a miserable experience, as that's not sustainable

    As long as the trend of calorie deficit is maintained, then weight will come off.

    Agree with this too :)

  • kentstrahlen
    kentstrahlen Posts: 10 Member
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    I my experience exercise apps/devices ofter over-estimate the calories burned. I found that my Garmin device becomes much more accurate if I use my hart-rate monitor with it, cutting the calories burned by half!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    benjaminD02 wrote: »
    start with 5 mins power walk to warm up
    then sprinting for as long as possible
    then jog
    then sprint
    then jog for until 5 minute before I walk / cool down.

    What are you accounting for your calorie expenditure from that?

    I'd suggest that you'll get more benefit at the moment from steady state running, rather than intervals. Given your pace, and distance, you're not getting any real physiological effect form that approach.

    Once you can consistently run for an hour at about 6mph then you'll start getting something useful from other types of session like intervals and tempos.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    You're either under-estimating your food intake

    overestimating your calorie burns.

    Or a little from column A and a little from column B.

    If you're 100% sure on your food intake (no estimations etc) then you need to look at your calorie burns.
  • sauronseye
    sauronseye Posts: 40 Member
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    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    sauronseye wrote: »
    Don't do that; if your intake is too small, your body will try to preserve as much as it can, and you will get the opposite effect.

    Food time doesn't, in principle, matter. Weight loss is about that fairly simple balance of calories in vs calories out, and if the former exceeds the latter then one gains weight, or vice versa.

    Where I would agree that fasting periods can make a difference is the behavioural side of things. I'd advocate eating within calorie goals, but eat when hungry. There is little point in making weight loss a miserable experience, as that's not sustainable

    As long as the trend of calorie deficit is maintained, then weight will come off.

    My guess was that his general intake was too small, but I might be wrong on that one. I definitely did not mean that he will not lose weight because he stops eating at 19:00.

    It is definitely not healthy or good to feel hungry. So I agree with the rest of what you said.

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