Weight Loss and Running
Options
Replies
-
I lost the majority of my weight, probably the first 40 pounds when I was doing 20 miles a week or less. Once I got into training for a half and then a full its been a major challenge to lose the last 15. I had to fight for every one of those 15 pounds. The hunger definitely outweighs the burn. When I lost the first 40 I was only running and walking, maybe a little at home strength training.0
-
It's not uncommon for people to have weight gain when they increase mileage. If you don't mind your diet, weight gain is, I'd say, the norm as people top 25 mi per week.0
-
I guess I'm the weirdo. I will start to lose big time at 50+ mpw, to the point where I have a hard time keeping the weight on (this happened to me mid-summer last year). Less than 30 mpw and I have to be very careful with diet, otherwise I will gain. I still pretty much always keep track (loosely) of what I eat.
I think a lot of it has to do with what you eat when you get the run hungries (do you reach for nuts & fruit or chips & salsa?). Also, I find that if I eat while running I am much less hungry after running (including the next day if I do a long run and eat regularly during the long run).0 -
I'm running 300+ miles a month right now and I still have weeks when I gain weight. When I don't gain or lose, it's because I've tracked my calories and stayed under my goal. Running makes you hungry, hence Rungry!0
-
I lost the majority of my weight, probably the first 40 pounds when I was doing 20 miles a week or less. Once I got into training for a half and then a full its been a major challenge to lose the last 15. I had to fight for every one of those 15 pounds. The hunger definitely outweighs the burn. When I lost the first 40 I was only running and walking, maybe a little at home strength training.
Do you know roughly how many calories you were eating when you lost the 40 pounds?0 -
I guess I'm the weirdo. I will start to lose big time at 50+ mpw, to the point where I have a hard time keeping the weight on (this happened to me mid-summer last year). Less than 30 mpw and I have to be very careful with diet, otherwise I will gain. I still pretty much always keep track (loosely) of what I eat.
I think a lot of it has to do with what you eat when you get the run hungries (do you reach for nuts & fruit or chips & salsa?). Also, I find that if I eat while running I am much less hungry after running (including the next day if I do a long run and eat regularly during the long run).
wow I wish I had that problem going to have to really keep an eye on my diet0 -
I'm running 300+ miles a month right now and I still have weeks when I gain weight. When I don't gain or lose, it's because I've tracked my calories and stayed under my goal. Running makes you hungry, hence Rungry!
Yes Rungy is my problem0 -
Ok so for those of you who have been successful with running and losing weight. I have a couple of questions:
1. At what miles per week did you start to see the weight coming off
2. Where you watching what you were eating? and how many calories were you eating?
3. Where you doing any other workout than running?
I was running before I lost weight. I was obese and jogging 20 miles a week. I ran a 4:16 marathon in 2008 at 200 lbs and 5'8". It wasnt until I started to watch what I ate until the weight started to come off. I compensated and compromised telling myself I could eat whenever and whatever as long as I jogged a couple miles a day. I was wrong. And that is where MFP came in when a friend told me about this site.
I began to eat 1200 calories a day, and the weight dropped like a rock. From June - October, I lost about 65-70 pounds. I did no other workouts besides an occasional bike ride. All told, I've lost over 90 pounds since June 2013 and am down to 133. You dont have to eat 1200 calories a day, but you must burn more than you consume. In fact, once I re-upped calories to 1800, I lost the last 15 or so pounds. As for weekly milage, I started at 20, and built up to 70 miles a week, than ran 2 marathons in the Fall. I continued heavy milage, and have ran 3 marathons this Spring.
The key is calorie deficit.0 -
I was staying right no track, losing about 0.5 pounds per week running, and doing 1 or 2 weight circuits at home. This got me through my mud run and my 1/2 last fall. I was eating around 1800 calories NET. (TDEE method) I was averaging less than 25 miles per week, probably less than 20 most weeks.
October to December I was focused solely on Stronglifts 5x5 with the occasional run thrown in, but not training for anything specific, I'd say I was cut way down to probably only 18 miles weekly. I was eating 2300 calories, lifting 3x a week. I may have lost 1 pound, but noticed a definite change in body composition during this time (which was the goal).
January 1st I started my marathon training. I'm eating roughly 2100 calories daily (again, TDEE method) and my weight has been going up and down the same 3 pounds since I started to increase my weekly mileage. I'm currently running 30-40 miles weekly and some days I could eat non-stop, other days I have no problem staying at/below goal.
At this point I'm not worried about it, and I know that after the marathon, when I'm going to turn more focus back to fat loss and body recomposition, that things will change again.
For what it's worth, I'm 32, work a desk job outside of my running life, and I'm 5'11. I tried to cut down to 1800 calories, but hangry and rungry are NOT a good combination!0 -
Ok so for those of you who have been successful with running and losing weight. I have a couple of questions:
1. At what miles per week did you start to see the weight coming off
2. Where you watching what you were eating? and how many calories were you eating?
3. Where you doing any other workout than running?
Thanks
Running is not magical. We lose weight because we burn more calories than we take in.
At high intensity levels, there is some "afterburn" but the amount is very small (a few dozen extra calories, IIRC).
There are a staggering number of physical and emotional health benefits to running but my advice is to think of running as a "supplement" (ugh) to a nutritionally sound diet and treat the burned calories as "icing on the cake".
I lost most of my weight (95 pounds in 7 months) using the elliptical. Yes, the 400+ calorie burns were probably completely wrong but I was eating 800 to 1k cals/day so the number on the ellip was meaningless anyway.
A "typical" female will burn about 100 cals/mile but that will vary according to the conditions, speed, and cardio fitness.0 -
I lost the majority of my weight, probably the first 40 pounds when I was doing 20 miles a week or less. Once I got into training for a half and then a full its been a major challenge to lose the last 15. I had to fight for every one of those 15 pounds. The hunger definitely outweighs the burn. When I lost the first 40 I was only running and walking, maybe a little at home strength training.
Do you know roughly how many calories you were eating when you lost the 40 pounds?
Usually between 1500-1600 per day. I did not eat back exercise calories however. So I had a bigger deficit. I also was not very accurate about my food at the time, I measured stuff but didn't have a digital food scale. So in reality I was likely eating a couple hundred more per day than I thought. So it all balanced out.0 -
Ok so for those of you who have been successful with running and losing weight. I have a couple of questions:
1. At what miles per week did you start to see the weight coming off
2. Where you watching what you were eating? and how many calories were you eating?
3. Where you doing any other workout than running?
Thanks
Hey Shirley. Probably not a whole lot of help, but here:
1. I was losing at 0.0 MPW and but eating at a deficit. Running only allowed me to eat more, but I still had to maintain the deficit.
2. Yes. Weighed everything and took in roughly 1600-1700 daily (5' 10" male)
3. I picked up cycling in the spring and lifted weights in the fall (not bulking)0 -
I will add that I think consistency plays a part. Maybe it's broscience, but once I ran at regular intervals throughout the week, my body followed suit and seemed to metabolize at a regular interval as well. I never took time off here and there for stuff.0
-
Ok so for those of you who have been successful with running and losing weight. I have a couple of questions:
1. At what miles per week did you start to see the weight coming off
2. Where you watching what you were eating? and how many calories were you eating?
3. Where you doing any other workout than running?
The key is calorie deficit.
I think this is my problem, I still do not fully understand this whole calorie deficit thing I think I do but in reality I do not and maybe that is part of my problem0 -
Ok so for those of you who have been successful with running and losing weight. I have a couple of questions:
1. At what miles per week did you start to see the weight coming off
2. Where you watching what you were eating? and how many calories were you eating?
3. Where you doing any other workout than running?
Thanks
Hey Shirley. Probably not a whole lot of help, but here:
1. I was losing at 0.0 MPW and but eating at a deficit. Running only allowed me to eat more, but I still had to maintain the deficit.
2. Yes. Weighed everything and took in roughly 1600-1700 daily (5' 10" male)
3. I picked up cycling in the spring and lifted weights in the fall (not bulking)
Doug I think my problem is the whole calorie deficit thing, I must admit that I still have a hard time understanding that. (I am horrible with numbers)
I have a scale and weigh my food I use measuring cups as well. I know the MFP has the Goal calories what you ate in food what you burned and your net.
I have always been confused by the calories I eat and the net. Does it mean that I have to reach my 1230 goal in net in order to have a deficit?
Because most of the time I do not reach that goal I always get scared by the number that I see in Food eaten. So I am not sure if I think I am eating too much and in reality eating too little and therefore not loosing weight. Or if I am eating too much.
My Goal on MFP is 1230 because I have a desk job, so for example on Tuesday when I went for the group run my goal was 1230 I burned a total of 815 calories ( that includes what I burned running and FitBit calories) I ate a total of 1660 calories out of the 2045 that MFP said I could eat. So here I am not sure if I am eating too much or too little. I always record my calories burned on MFP.
I guess this is where my problem lies getting a full understanding of how much I should eat ugh!!! back to the drawing board0 -
I will add that I think consistency plays a part. Maybe it's broscience, but once I ran at regular intervals throughout the week, my body followed suit and seemed to metabolize at a regular interval as well. I never took time off here and there for stuff.
I am really working on being more consistence with my runs
0 -
Ok so for those of you who have been successful with running and losing weight. I have a couple of questions:
1. At what miles per week did you start to see the weight coming off
2. Where you watching what you were eating? and how many calories were you eating?
3. Where you doing any other workout than running?
Thanks
Hey Shirley. Probably not a whole lot of help, but here:
1. I was losing at 0.0 MPW and but eating at a deficit. Running only allowed me to eat more, but I still had to maintain the deficit.
2. Yes. Weighed everything and took in roughly 1600-1700 daily (5' 10" male)
3. I picked up cycling in the spring and lifted weights in the fall (not bulking)
Doug I think my problem is the whole calorie deficit thing, I must admit that I still have a hard time understanding that. (I am horrible with numbers)
I have a scale and weigh my food I use measuring cups as well. I know the MFP has the Goal calories what you ate in food what you burned and your net.
I have always been confused by the calories I eat and the net. Does it mean that I have to reach my 1230 goal in net in order to have a deficit?
Because most of the time I do not reach that goal I always get scared by the number that I see in Food eaten. So I am not sure if I think I am eating too much and in reality eating too little and therefore not loosing weight. Or if I am eating too much.
My Goal on MFP is 1230 because I have a desk job, so for example on Tuesday when I went for the group run my goal was 1230 I burned a total of 815 calories ( that includes what I burned running and FitBit calories) I ate a total of 1660 calories out of the 2045 that MFP said I could eat. So here I am not sure if I am eating too much or too little. I always record my calories burned on MFP.
I guess this is where my problem lies getting a full understanding of how much I should eat ugh!!! back to the drawing board
If you are not losing weight then you do not have enough of a deficit. You need to eat less or exercise more. Just try to end every day in the green. Weigh and measure all your food. And DON"T over estimate your calories burned. That's a big one. Don't rely on the numbers in the MFP data base for calories burnt. They are wildly inaccurate.0 -
For me, the weight loss benefits of running have been interesting. If I don't run at all, I gain weight. If I run about 30 miles per week with some speed and interval work and add in high intensity circuit training 2x/week, I lose weight. If I run 60-70 miles per week at a slow pace (ultra training) with low impact strength training, I gain weight.
One of the reasons is definitely my appetite. If I run slow, I'm hungry ALL THE DAMN TIME!
If I run fast and do high intensity circuit training, it curbs my appetite.
So, medium miles with more intensity is key to weight loss for me. I just don't like that plan all that much. Doesn't leave me time to meander for hours in the forest on the weekends on a trail run
0 -
I am about to start half marathon training on Tuesday and have been concerned about the same thing. The plan as it stands now is 1/2 training as priority, lifting secondary. So running 3-4x/week and lifting 2x/week. I know that I will be hungry and I don't want to fall into the habit of just eating more "because I had a good run today"
So I went last Monday and got an activity tracker. The purpose of this was simply to get a better handle on what my maintenance calories are so that I can eat to maintenance and use my activity as my deficit. I also plan to switch up my macros (when I'm lifting protein is King, now carbs will be King).
Here's to hoping all of my analyzing works lol
So to answer your question a little better....when I did 10k training last year, weight fell off. I was eating about 1600-1800/day. I hope to have the same thing happen this time around with 1/2 training 0 -
I am about to start half marathon training on Tuesday and have been concerned about the same thing. The plan as it stands now is 1/2 training as priority, lifting secondary. So running 3-4x/week and lifting 2x/week. I know that I will be hungry and I don't want to fall into the habit of just eating more "because I had a good run today"
You will be hungry, the key is to eat things that will keep you full without ruining the work you did.0
