Gaining weight with Running?

DanielleM1585

Hi! I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice. I was maintaining my weight on about 1200-1400 calories a day without exercise about 6 months ago. Within the past month I have started running again...mainly for stress purposes (I love it!) I am up to 11.5 miles a day (90 minutes) about 5-6 times a week. I have been eating around 1400 calories (and I weigh and measure stuff, so I'm almost positive its not over that). Within the past couple weeks I have gained 6 pounds. How is this possible??? I was only looking to lose about another 5 pounds, but never expected to gain! Any insight would be much appreciated!!! Thank you!

MegaMooseEsq

It’s very common to retain water for up to several weeks when you change up your exercise. Make sure you’re not overeating and be patient. You can do this!

brookekaczor

I would guess water weight, but I would be concerned that you are eating enough to cover that running and meeting a minimum amount of calories net.

DanielleM1585

Thank you both. A friend mentioned to me that if I'm not eating enough to cover the running it might cause me to store what I am eating. Can that really happen?

bendyourkneekatie

DanielleM1585 wrote: »

Thank you both. A friend mentioned to me that if I'm not eating enough to cover the running it might cause me to store what I am eating. Can that really happen?

No, that'd only happen in a topsy turvy world of magic or maybe an episode of doctor who. You need to obtain the energy to run (and breathe and think etc.) from somewhere, so it has to come from the food you eat (and your fat stores (and muscle) if your in deficit).

I'm in pretty much the same boat, running heaps on a deficit and not seeing loss (in fact I've gone up a couple of pounds over the weekend, in which I ran 30km in horrible heat and did 2 hours cardio at the gym). I'm training for an ultra, and have increased my exercise not massively but a decent amount. I'm trying to be patient and see if there's a downward trend in a few weeks. If I still don't see anything I'm really not sure what's going on...

namasara

I'm a former ultra runner and the water retention is a real thing. Not only would I ask if you are eating enough, but I'd ask if you are drinking enough (both water and sports drinks)? Be patient with yourself and make sure that you aren't hitting the carbs too heavy - this was an issue for me and sort of a bad cycle that running perpetuated (run, then crave carbs, then run more, then crave more carbs, etc).

Just my experience here - good luck on your journey!

Orphia

DanielleM1585 wrote: »

Hi! I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice. I was maintaining my weight on about 1200-1400 calories a day without exercise about 6 months ago. Within the past month I have started running again...mainly for stress purposes (I love it!) I am up to 11.5 miles a day (90 minutes) about 5-6 times a week. I have been eating around 1400 calories (and I weigh and measure stuff, so I'm almost positive its not over that). Within the past couple weeks I have gained 6 pounds. How is this possible??? I was only looking to lose about another 5 pounds, but never expected to gain! Any insight would be much appreciated!!! Thank you!

You're not eating enough. You need to fuel your burns.

You're lucky you don't have shin splints or all sorts of injuries increasing your running mileage up so high, so quickly. Rest is an essential part of progress.

Your muscles retain water to get stronger and grow. It's a normal part of the healing/growth/repair process.

If you have any injuries, you will hold onto even more water.

peaceout_aly

This happens to me a lot! I usually do 30-minutes of cardio but have done up to 60-minutes plus lifts on days when I have a large amount of energy and I almost always end up gaining weight. I think it has to do with water retention.

RoxieDawn

DanielleM1585 wrote: »

Hi! I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice. I was maintaining my weight on about 1200-1400 calories a day without exercise about 6 months ago. Within the past month I have started running again...mainly for stress purposes (I love it!) I am up to 11.5 miles a day (90 minutes) about 5-6 times a week. I have been eating around 1400 calories (and I weigh and measure stuff, so I'm almost positive its not over that). Within the past couple weeks I have gained 6 pounds. How is this possible??? I was only looking to lose about another 5 pounds, but never expected to gain! Any insight would be much appreciated!!! Thank you!

You are way under fueling for this amount of running.

You were maintaining weight loss at 1200-1400 before starting the running or maintaining your weight? I have to ask what are your stats?

Running this much just to relieve stress with no specific training goal in mind like an ultra, etc? I can only see things going wrong with weight loss, hormonal issues, side effects not to mention injuries.

DanielleM1585

I am 5ft, 112 pounds. I'm not really looking to lose much weight, just not gain. I'm in nursing school and yes, running for an hour and a half every morning oddly relaxes me so much for the day. Plus I bring notes and use it as a study time. I want to try increasing calories a little, but am scared that will lead to a big gain. Is there a safe way to increase calories that anyone knows of?

Psychgrrl

A little at a time, try 50-100 a day and make sure you’re getting enough protein.