10k training but haven't lost weight
katiezi
Posts: 44 Member
I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?
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Running in and of itself doesn't automatically result in weight loss. A calorie deficit does. And it is very hard to create a deficit to lose with exercise alone. You must change your caloric intake.0
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Your running is giving you something like 1200 extra calories A WEEK. A nice bonus, but you have to still watch your diet. Couple Starbucks Lattes or 1 McDonalds meal and you've neutralized the deficit.
I run a lot, and so I can eat some junk but it's never as much as I think it should be (so I track).
Try moving to 4 then 5 days a week. You'll find there's some huge changes that happen then - IF you're consistent.
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I do watch what I eat and track my different carb, protein, dairy, and sugar intake. Part of the reason I'm back on MFP is because counting calories was the only thing that really worked for me when I initially lost around 40-50 lbs.0
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I do watch what I eat and track my different carb, protein, dairy, and sugar intake. Part of the reason I'm back on MFP is because counting calories was the only thing that really worked for me when I initially lost around 40-50 lbs.
Right. And watching what you eat and counting calories are not necessarily the same thing.
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Bingo. If you're not losing, then you're eating more cals than you're burning in a day. You want to be sure to eat enough to fuel your workouts, but not so much that you're gaining, assuming losing weight is your goal.I do watch what I eat and track my different carb, protein, dairy, and sugar intake. Part of the reason I'm back on MFP is because counting calories was the only thing that really worked for me when I initially lost around 40-50 lbs.
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I feel like I sort of have the same problem. I'v been working out for a bit more than a month lately and I'v actually gained weight. However if you look at my diary you'll see I eat pretty healthy. I'm trying different caloric intakes to see what may work for me. Measuring with a tape has shown me my inches are the same but weight is increasing. It's driving me nuts. Plus, sometimes when I eat something unhealthy that I love( usually carb loaded) I gain two pounds right away. And takes me 2-3 weeks to work it off. I suspect that it may have something to do with an increase in glycogen stores in my body since I went from a total lack of exercise to plenty. I have noticed this pattern of gaining weight after adding exercise a lot on myself. Although many say it may be that I'm gaining muscle, I don't notice any particular differences in my appearance and the numbers on my scale keep increasing.0
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You can't outrun a bad diet.
Eating healthy is all well and good. But if you're not losing weight, you're eating more than you burn.0 -
RadhikaMakadia wrote: »I feel like I sort of have the same problem. I'v been working out for a bit more than a month lately and I'v actually gained weight. However if you look at my diary you'll see I eat pretty healthy. I'm trying different caloric intakes to see what may work for me. Measuring with a tape has shown me my inches are the same but weight is increasing. It's driving me nuts. Plus, sometimes when I eat something unhealthy that I love( usually carb loaded) I gain two pounds right away. And takes me 2-3 weeks to work it off. I suspect that it may have something to do with an increase in glycogen stores in my body since I went from a total lack of exercise to plenty. I have noticed this pattern of gaining weight after adding exercise a lot on myself. Although many say it may be that I'm gaining muscle, I don't notice any particular differences in my appearance and the numbers on my scale keep increasing.
It's not unusual to see post-exercise weight swings, or post-carb swings. Exercise can have varied effects (both fluid loss and fluid retention) and for every 1 gram of carbohydrates that are stored as glycogen, four grams of water are retained as well. Try to be as consistent as possible about when you weigh yourself, but your weight can fluctuate by more than 10 lb. over the course of a normal day, entirely from fluid retention or loss.
If you're gaining weight consistently but keeping your inches the same, you're building (denser) muscle and losing a bit of fat.0 -
Maybe you've lost weight and maybe you've gained weight. You say you haven't tracked it. If you want to know, track it for several weeks. Weigh yourself first thing the morning after using the bathroom before you eat or drink anything. Use the same scales in the spot every time. Weigh once per week and write it down. Do this for 6 weeks, then share your data and questions. This will make it possible for people to provide meaningful answers.I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?
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Decrease your portions, remove sugar & processed foods from your diet.I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?
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certloansigner wrote: »
Decrease your portions, remove sugar & processed foods from your diet.I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?
Or do none of those things but just reduce your calorie consumption0 -
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Exercise alone doesn't equal weight loss, unfortunately!
The calorie deficit is absolutely vital! You are probably progressing amazingly with your fitness goals (good job!) but you can't be in a deficit if you are not losing weight (assuming nothing 'medical' is at play here).
I stopped counting calories and caring about what I ate a few years ago but I kept up my 3 day-a-week hardcore gym work-out's. I was so shocked a few months later when I discovered that my lack of discipline with the food had caused a 28lb gain! I assumed that the exercise would stop that from happening, unfortunately not!0 -
I will be one of the ones to go with the opposite. you are perhaps not eating enough? But as above you wont know either way until you track for a while and see what your calorie intake is. You may be eating too much but may find your not eating enough on exercise days. That is something I found to be wrong with me cos I was eating healthy, then tracked a day I wasn't even reaching 1200 then exercising burning cals. Found my body didn't get enough nutrients over the day. One of the reasons I started using MFP and now its working.
good luck 0 -
I definitely wish training alone would help me lose, but I've found that running, while a great burn, doesn't create the deficit I used to think it did. In my experience, I've had to meticulously log and maintain my calories at a baseline (the number MFP gives me to lose 0.5 lbs a week), and then eat back about half of my exercise calories (MFP's calorie count is typically noted to be a gross overestimate and many people find that eating back half or so is accurate). Most of all, listen to your body. It will tell you if you need more energy to fuel your runs.0
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This is interesting. I've majorly increased my work outs in the last 2 weeks and the scales have stayed the exact same. However I accept its a long haul so not worrying about it yet and hoping the results will follow.0
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Keep in mind that gaining or maintaining weight may not be a bad thing. If you are exercising then there could be muscle gain going on too. Hard to say without a lot more info though.0
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This is interesting. I've majorly increased my work outs in the last 2 weeks and the scales have stayed the exact same. However I accept its a long haul so not worrying about it yet and hoping the results will follow.
You're right- it takes time!! Read what I wrote above ^^ it's not just about exercise. Good for you for starting a new routine!0 -
I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?
Are you taking measurements? You may be losing inches but not weight0 -
you are eating more calories than you are burning. weighing and logging is essential to losing weight so you have an accurate awareness of your food intake0
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What's really funny is that people (friends, relatives, colleagues) who ask me about my weight loss absolutely insist that I must have done it with exercise. They simply will not accept explanations like "oh, I just cut back on what I ate" or "I counted calories". They'll find out that I'm running and say things like "oh, that explains it, it must be the running, then". They can accept that as an answer -- even though it's totally wrong -- but in their minds, you can't lose weight simply through diet. They don't seem to understand that cardio doesn't lead to weight loss. But hey.0
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I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?
training for endurance events and exercising in general isn't going to necessarily translate to losing weight because it doesn't necessarily translate to you being in a deficit of energy which is what is required for weight loss.
when i was in my weight loss stage, i actually did far better with lighter exercise because it was easier to control calories...when i'm actually training or otherwise really going hard with my fitness, i'm hungry and my body wants that energy to optimize performance and recovery. when i'm actively training for a cycling event, i actually have to watch things pretty closely because i will tend to gain a few pounds due to being ravenous pretty much all of the time.
i would also add that in general, people tend to have this notion that if they are killing it on the fitness side then they should pretty much be able to eat whatever and be fine...i see this all of the time in the gym...people have the fitness part down, but their body's never change because they can't acknowledge the fact that they can't out exercise their over eating and/or otherwise crappy diets.0 -
What's really funny is that people (friends, relatives, colleagues) who ask me about my weight loss absolutely insist that I must have done it with exercise. They simply will not accept explanations like "oh, I just cut back on what I ate" or "I counted calories". They'll find out that I'm running and say things like "oh, that explains it, it must be the running, then". They can accept that as an answer -- even though it's totally wrong -- but in their minds, you can't lose weight simply through diet. They don't seem to understand that cardio doesn't lead to weight loss. But hey.
Absolutely this.
I always say "I'm counting calories using an app". They're never happy with that answer.
As soon as they find out that I run, the running is the whole reason I've lost weight. I try to tell them "I started running 6 months before i started losing weight. The weight didn't start coming off until I restricted my calories", but it goes in one ear and out the other.0 -
SingRunTing wrote: »What's really funny is that people (friends, relatives, colleagues) who ask me about my weight loss absolutely insist that I must have done it with exercise. They simply will not accept explanations like "oh, I just cut back on what I ate" or "I counted calories". They'll find out that I'm running and say things like "oh, that explains it, it must be the running, then". They can accept that as an answer -- even though it's totally wrong -- but in their minds, you can't lose weight simply through diet. They don't seem to understand that cardio doesn't lead to weight loss. But hey.
Absolutely this.
I always say "I'm counting calories using an app". They're never happy with that answer.
As soon as they find out that I run, the running is the whole reason I've lost weight. I try to tell them "I started running 6 months before i started losing weight. The weight didn't start coming off until I restricted my calories", but it goes in one ear and out the other.
"Wow, you lost a lot of weight! You look great!"
"Thanks."
"How did you do it?"
"I just ate less food."
"No, but really? Did you cut out gluten? Carbs?"
"Those things don't work. Really, I just ate less."
"Really, though, you look great, how did you do it? Did you join a gym?"
"No."
"You run though, right? I mean, I saw your pictures on Facebook from the race you ran."
"Yeah, I'm running a bit , but that's really not how --"
"Running is really great! I should take up running. Maybe I'll lose these extra 20 pounds."
"Seriously, the running had nothing to do with it --"
"Well, good for you. Keep running. It's obviously working."
"I -- oh, never mind. Thanks."
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SingRunTing wrote: »What's really funny is that people (friends, relatives, colleagues) who ask me about my weight loss absolutely insist that I must have done it with exercise. They simply will not accept explanations like "oh, I just cut back on what I ate" or "I counted calories". They'll find out that I'm running and say things like "oh, that explains it, it must be the running, then". They can accept that as an answer -- even though it's totally wrong -- but in their minds, you can't lose weight simply through diet. They don't seem to understand that cardio doesn't lead to weight loss. But hey.
Absolutely this.
I always say "I'm counting calories using an app". They're never happy with that answer.
As soon as they find out that I run, the running is the whole reason I've lost weight. I try to tell them "I started running 6 months before i started losing weight. The weight didn't start coming off until I restricted my calories", but it goes in one ear and out the other.
"Wow, you lost a lot of weight! You look great!"
"Thanks."
"How did you do it?"
"I just ate less food."
"No, but really? Did you cut out gluten? Carbs?"
"Those things don't work. Really, I just ate less."
"Really, though, you look great, how did you do it? Did you join a gym?"
"No."
"You run though, right? I mean, I saw your pictures on Facebook from the race you ran."
"Yeah, I'm running a bit , but that's really not how --"
"Running is really great! I should take up running. Maybe I'll lose these extra 20 pounds."
"Seriously, the running had nothing to do with it --"
"Well, good for you. Keep running. It's obviously working."
"I -- oh, never mind. Thanks."
LOL
If they can continue to think it's hard and exhausting then they have an excuse to avoid it. Selective hearing.
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SingRunTing wrote: »What's really funny is that people (friends, relatives, colleagues) who ask me about my weight loss absolutely insist that I must have done it with exercise. They simply will not accept explanations like "oh, I just cut back on what I ate" or "I counted calories". They'll find out that I'm running and say things like "oh, that explains it, it must be the running, then". They can accept that as an answer -- even though it's totally wrong -- but in their minds, you can't lose weight simply through diet. They don't seem to understand that cardio doesn't lead to weight loss. But hey.
Absolutely this.
I always say "I'm counting calories using an app". They're never happy with that answer.
As soon as they find out that I run, the running is the whole reason I've lost weight. I try to tell them "I started running 6 months before i started losing weight. The weight didn't start coming off until I restricted my calories", but it goes in one ear and out the other.
"Wow, you lost a lot of weight! You look great!"
"Thanks."
"How did you do it?"
"I just ate less food."
"No, but really? Did you cut out gluten? Carbs?"
"Those things don't work. Really, I just ate less."
"Really, though, you look great, how did you do it? Did you join a gym?"
"No."
"You run though, right? I mean, I saw your pictures on Facebook from the race you ran."
"Yeah, I'm running a bit , but that's really not how --"
"Running is really great! I should take up running. Maybe I'll lose these extra 20 pounds."
"Seriously, the running had nothing to do with it --"
"Well, good for you. Keep running. It's obviously working."
"I -- oh, never mind. Thanks."
Yup
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cwolfman13 wrote: »I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?
training for endurance events and exercising in general isn't going to necessarily translate to losing weight because it doesn't necessarily translate to you being in a deficit of energy which is what is required for weight loss.
when i was in my weight loss stage, i actually did far better with lighter exercise because it was easier to control calories...when i'm actually training or otherwise really going hard with my fitness, i'm hungry and my body wants that energy to optimize performance and recovery. when i'm actively training for a cycling event, i actually have to watch things pretty closely because i will tend to gain a few pounds due to being ravenous pretty much all of the time.
i would also add that in general, people tend to have this notion that if they are killing it on the fitness side then they should pretty much be able to eat whatever and be fine...i see this all of the time in the gym...people have the fitness part down, but their body's never change because they can't acknowledge the fact that they can't out exercise their over eating and/or otherwise crappy diets.
I absolutely agree with this. Endurance events require substantial amounts of energy (ie caloric intake). I generally recommend avoiding combining training for such an event with weight loss goals.0 -
I had to combine 5K training with a caloric reduction to see any weight loss. The problem with running is that it really doesn't burn as many calories as you think it does. It takes me a full 35-40 mins to run a 5K and that's technically a slow jog for fitter people. You'd think you've worked really hard but you really haven't.0
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I had to combine 5K training with a caloric reduction to see any weight loss. The problem with running is that it really doesn't burn as many calories as you think it does. It takes me a full 35-40 mins to run a 5K and that's technically a slow jog for fitter people. You'd think you've worked really hard but you really haven't.
Yeah, and then after you do it, you fool yourself into thinking you can have a burger and huge plate of fries, followed by ice cream.
Not that this ever happened to me personally. *Twiddles thumbs, looks around innocently, whistles.*
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