Help! Running and Losing Weight

rsergeant79

Hi - I hope someone may be able to help with my issue

Having lost 8 stone already I am very familiar with what it takes to lose weight!

In the past I have done many activities including weights, kickboxing and small (say 5k) runs - I would normally work out 4/5 times a week. I lost 8 stone by following Slimming World so never had to count calories. I am taking a break from SW and using MFP to calculate my calorie intake - I find it interesting, although I am a little stuck as to why I have not lost weight recently.

I have started training for a half marathon and am following the Bupa intermediate training plan. This requires 5 session which I do in 4 days

I wear a Fitbit Surge and on Run days apparently I burn around 3,200 cals, sometime as much as 3,500/4k cals if I have been active around the house and had a run.

I do have a desk job but work from home so am up and down stairs and average around 8k-10k steps a day (on non-run days)

Is it possible to burn this many calories? I am 37 (F), 177Ibs and 5'8". I have tried only eating back 50% of my exercise calories but have not manage to lose any weight in the last 4 weeks. I am looking to lose 7Ibs and have MFP set to 2Ibs a week. This calculates my calorie intake to be 1,200 but with the 50% exercise calories on an active day I typically consume around 1,800-2,100 cal. If I were to consume all of my exercise calories, this would typically mean eating around 2,500-3k. To be honest I am scared of eating so much which is why I have only eaten 50% of my exercise calories back - also I feel it gives me a buffer if I have under-calculated some calories!

I have also been really tired this last week - unusual for me - normally exercise gives me more energy! Could this indicate that I am not taking in enough calories to fuel my runs?

Any advice? Should I perhaps up my consumption of the exercise calories? Maybe to 75%?

tinkerbellang83

Check out all the info on the chart, this can help understand why you may not have lost anything. With only 7lb to lose you really need to be spot on with your logging.

I would probably give it a couple of weeks longer before making any changes, if you've just increased to more intensive training for your half marathon, you may just be retaining water as a result and this would be masking any weight loss. What are your macros like? Are you getting enough protein?

The_Enginerd

It does sound like the Fitbit may be over estimating your calories for running. I've found the following formula to be quite accurate, and I'd double check those Fitbit estimates against it:

Net Calories Burned = 0.63 * Weight in lbs * Miles Run

At your current weight and goal, 2 lbs/week is too aggressive. 1 lb/week to 0.5 lbs/week would be a more reasonable goal.

If you recently added running, you will typically gain water weight due to the new workout, which can make it difficult to figure what your weight is doing. After maintaining my weight within 1-2 lbs for over a year, I gained 5 lbs that took 1-2 months to slowly go away when I initially started running. It might be necessary to continue for another month before you know if an adjustment is necessary. 1800 gross calories/day as a runner losing weight doesn't sound out of line, but that really depends on what kind of mileage you are doing.

leggup

"I am looking to lose 7Ibs and have MFP set to 2Ibs a week"
"This calculates my calorie intake to be 1,200 but with the 50% exercise calories on an active day I typically consume around 1,800-2,100 cal."

Issue 1: Losing 2 lbs/week is unreasonable when you only have a little weight left to lose. The deficit is too large.
Issue 2: 1,200 is not your daily calories to lose 2 lbs/week. MFP will not drop your calories below 1,200; it is a safety setting. If it didn't have this setting it would probably tell you about 700 calories to lose 2 lbs per week.
Issue 3: Are you using Fitbit calories from walking around the house? That sort of movement is already accounted for in your activity level setting in MFP. You should only count exercise that is on top of that, like a run.
Issue 4: Athletes are more efficient. You may not be burning even close to what your calorie trackers are giving you for your runs.
Issue 5: If you only have a little weight to lose, logging food accurately is more important. You may be eating more than you realize if you're not using a food scale.

StaciMarie1974

For a female the #s seem a little high but only time will tell. You may still be adjusting to the new running routine (water weight).

I assume you are eating more now than before you starting the training? If so find a calorie # somewhere between what you were eating and what you are eating now. See how that goes.

janejellyroll

leggup wrote: »

"I am looking to lose 7Ibs and have MFP set to 2Ibs a week"
"This calculates my calorie intake to be 1,200 but with the 50% exercise calories on an active day I typically consume around 1,800-2,100 cal."

Issue 1: Losing 2 lbs/week is unreasonable when you only have a little weight left to lose. The deficit is too large.
Issue 2: 1,200 is not your daily calories to lose 2 lbs/week. MFP will not drop your calories below 1,200; it is a safety setting. If it didn't have this setting it would probably tell you about 700 calories to lose 2 lbs per week.
Issue 3: Are you using Fitbit calories from walking around the house? That sort of movement is already accounted for in your activity level setting in MFP. You should only count exercise that is on top of that, like a run.
Issue 4: Athletes are more efficient. You may not be burning even close to what your calorie trackers are giving you for your runs.
Issue 5: If you only have a little weight to lose, logging food accurately is more important. You may be eating more than you realize if you're not using a food scale.

Regarding issue 3: If her devices are synced, the activity adjustments only begin at the point when she has been estimated to burn more calories than would be estimated for her activity level. So if you are set to active, your activity adjustments will begin after much more activity than someone who is set to sedentary. This is specifically designed to avoid "double-dipping." An activity adjustment from Fitbit will never be already accounted for in your activity level.

rsergeant79

Thanks for all the responses!
Regarding my activity level - it is currently set to sedentary - which isn't technically true although I have a desk job. maybe I should set to active? I will also reduce my rate of loss to 1Ib a week to see if it makes a difference....

Running_and_Coffee

I'm in a group of runners and have been running for years, and one thing we all agree is that if you're training for a long race like a half, you likely will need to put a weight LOSS goal on hold, and focus on running your best race and trying not to gain (which will slow your pace.) It's very hard to fuel adequately and lose. Especially when you're at or close to goal. Plus, water weight or whatever else is going on with all the weird poop/constipation/sodium-tablet-induced-swelling things that happen while you're training make it very hard to actually tell what your status is, weight wise.

I am usually up 2-4 lbs the week I start doing 8+ miles through the race, then whoosh, it's all gone and then some the first day I wake up after the race and don't feel sore. This is regardless of what I actually eat. So if I want to lose a few pounds, I do that after a long race or before training season starts. The last thing you want to do is starve yourself, still hold on to weight, and be too weak to run at your best on race day.

TimothyFish

Do you find yourself feeling lethargic while you are out training? Do your legs feel like you can't pick them up? Have you experienced blurred vision or hallucinations? Shaking? Poor coordination? Confusion? If not, then you are probably doing okay with fueling your workouts. Watch the scale over a few weeks and it will let you know just how good "okay" is.

runningkel

I agree with storyjorie (and others). Try putting in 1 pound per week and seeing if that numbers if a more realistic target. Then try adding in some of your active calories if you're still hungry.

Also, the calories your fitbit tells you you're burning seems pretty high. For a 5k run, you're looking at a 300ish calorie burn. During an entire half marathon I only burned 1279 calories (I'm 5'9 and 150). Maybe try and eat back part or all of your "real" exercise calories vs. calories it says you burned the whole day.

spiriteagle99

I'm also a runner who thinks your calorie burn is too high. I use the MFP number for my runs, which usually end up being about 90 calories per mile. I have successfully lost weight while training for a marathon, but it isn't easy to eat carefully while you are building your mileage base. Once you are used to the higher miles, it isn't as difficult.

codename_steve

I'm a runner too! I actually find it rather easy to lose while training for a half, harder while training for a full. Like @spiriteagle99 , I've been successful with the 90 calories per mile equation or MFP calculations.

mom2my4boys

Hi!
Our stats are similar. I'm 5'5/F/177lbs/35yrs with a weight loss goal of 10-15 more pounds. (I've lost 100lbs) I run 25miles/week (been doing so for 3 years) and my fitbit also trys to tell me that I'm burning about 3000+ calories/day. I gain weight if I listen to my fitbit. If I eat about 2000 calories a day, I maintain. I have to stay at about 1750 calories a day to see any losses. And even then, I'm still only averaging 2lbs/month. Not sure if this is helpful to you, just wanted to add my 2 cents. Good luck with your training! The runger is real

jenilla1

During training for marathons and half- marathons, I always just switched to maintenance. That's a lot of wear and tear and stress you are putting your body through. You gotta fuel and repair. If you don't want to stop losing altogether, maybe just consider slowing your loss a little during this training period. I only know what has worked best for me, so definitely do what you think is best for you.

I haven't used any of the newer devices to gauge calorie burn so I couldn't say whether they are accurate or not. I supposedly burned about 2600 total yesterday, but I'm smaller. My maintenance is 1700 and MFP says I burned an extra 907 running a leisurely-paced 12 miles. I think I got ripped off and it should have been closer to 1050, though. I feel like I should have earned at least one more cookie for all that effort... But if MFP wants to underestimate my burn I can live with it. I've been using it and maintaining for years now, so it must at least be close...

jenilla1

The_Enginerd wrote: »

It does sound like the Fitbit may be over estimating your calories for running. I've found the following formula to be quite accurate, and I'd double check those Fitbit estimates against it:

Net Calories Burned = 0.63 * Weight in lbs * Miles Run

At your current weight and goal, 2 lbs/week is too aggressive. 1 lb/week to 0.5 lbs/week would be a more reasonable goal.

If you recently added running, you will typically gain water weight due to the new workout, which can make it difficult to figure what your weight is doing. After maintaining my weight within 1-2 lbs for over a year, I gained 5 lbs that took 1-2 months to slowly go away when I initially started running. It might be necessary to continue for another month before you know if an adjustment is necessary. 1800 gross calories/day as a runner losing weight doesn't sound out of line, but that really depends on what kind of mileage you are doing.

mengqiz86

Calorie estimate way too high. I log 91kcal/mile at my weight (130lb). Running calorie is all about distance. It doesn't matter how long/fast you run. Carrying your body weight through 1 mile of running will Always burn the same amount of cals. I'd start with an estimate of 100kcal/mile and go from there.