maintaining

spa9177

I am so frustrated with my weight loss. Okay so I have lost a total of 70 lbs. of which I lost over a year and a half time. A lot of my weight I lost by running. I have done a marathon, 5ks, 10ks, 15ks, 1/2 marathon. Slowly my weight has been creeping back up on me. I have gained about 15 of that back, and I am trying to get back to where I use to be which was 140. I keep a food journal, run 2 miles just about everyday, eat very healthy, drink only water except one cup of coffee a day, and have one cheat day a week. My weight is stuck and it won't go down only up. I know I shouldn't be fixated on numbers and focus more on how healthy I feel, but I also like to see the numbers go down also. Please HELP!!!

Divine2013

First, congratulations on your weight loss! See the positive in this--you've still lost 55 lbs and have a healthy lifestyle. Be proud of what you've accomplished.

But, I understand your frustration. A few suggestions:

#1
Do you weight train? Yoga? Pleiometrics? You're doing tons of cardio which is great. The problem is you're losing both muscle and fat with just caloric restriction and cardio. Lose muscle and your basal metabolic rate drops, meaning you burn a lot fewer calories than you once did. You need to do something to limit muscle loss. Do anything that builds strength. If you don't care to lift weights, try rock climbing or other fun activities where strength is important.

#2
Portions. Is it possible you're eating more than you think? Portions in the US have gotten ginormous, and it's easy to underestimate how much you actually eat. If you haven't, buy measuring cups and a food scale and measure everything for a month.

#3
Do you periodically mix up your exercise routine? Our bodies are very efficient, and given the same challenge every day, they adapt to do the task expending the fewest calories possible. I switch things up periodically and whenever I hit a plateau--go climb a mountain (literally), learn a new sport, etc. I'm always amazed at how dramatically my weight drops when I do that. I'm guessing the marathon was your challenge. The issue is it's just more of the same--running. Your body knows how to deal with this. Give it a different challenge that's fresh and recruits other muscles that are underutilized in running. Variety is the spice of life!

Hope that helps!

kevin3344

You'll need to open your diary but from one runner to another, running can mask a lot of bad diet decisions. I also have run 3 half marathons this year and run all the time, but if I eat a doughnut it can erase my good habits. Take an honest look at your diary and see if you can make improvements there. Also, look into changing up your workouts as previously mentioned. I run but also do circuit training and love Jillian's DVDs like 30 Day Shred.

nxd10

You were very successful losing. It's easy to have it creep up.

Check your logging and start weighing and measuring again. As the previous poster said, one donut is 500 calories and doesn't seem that much. So is a bagel. So is a glass of orange juice and a piece of toast. All of them are fine. But they add in calories that are easy to overlook.