Will running and diet alone get me to my goal?

Piclet

Hello everyone!!

I just started running in January and finally got to the point where I can run a 12 minute mile with ease. I have only lost 4 lbs since the start. I am 29 year old female, 5'10, and started at 200lbs- my goal is 170lbs. I have been running 3 miles at least 3 - 4 days a week... sometimes I will throw in a Power 90 sculpt, or do some Brazillian Booty Lift (HARD!) workout... I have also been taking weight loss supplements from Beachbody.com (along with fish oil, zinc, green tea supplements... and drinking 8 glasses of water a day!) I am beginning to lose motivation because I am not seeing the results I feel like I should see after 3 months of dedication! I really need some advice on what else I can do..... Please help me....

Nikstergirl

I know nothing about the supplements, and don't take anything but multivitamins, calcium and vitamin C.... but the working out you're doing is great! Make sure you're eating the proper amount of calories, not too high, not too low, and keep that water coming! It will start coming off. Congrats on the 12 minute mile! You're doing great!

sharoniballoni

It's going to be difficult to give you advice without seeing your food diary. I noticed that working out does not help me lose weight. The only thing it does is help me be fit and more toned. Food is by far the biggest part of the equation for weight loss.

hpsnickers1

How much are you eating? With that kind of intense routine you need to get enough fuel or your body will just try and protect itself from the stress. That can slow weight loss. You might need to up your calories.

And remember that intense cardio and calorie restriction cause muscle mass loss. Do some more strength/resistance training to help preserve your muscle mass.

Working With Your Body - The Basic Strategy
By John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
All rights reserved and actively enforced.



The goal of this site is to help you to transform your physique by walking you step-by-step through everything you need to know about exercise physiology and nutrition. I know that a lot of you have “tried everything,” and because there are so many approaches that have failed you, there's a real risk that you'll quit again and again if you don't see results immediately, or if you don't fully understand why your fitness program should work. Worse, there may be some missing pieces in your program, which could lead to slow progress even though you're hard at work. My hope is that this information will help you to stay on track - to turn effort into results - and to reach your goal.

Want to change your physique? Start by realizing that whatever shape you're in right now is your body's way of adapting to the lifestyle you're living. It's your body's attempt to survive. So the strategy is simple. We're going to give your body a very specific “environment” – a particular mix of activities, nutrition, and recovery – and your body is going to adapt by becoming leaner, stronger, and healthier.

Every change you throw at your body triggers a response. The problem with many diet and exercise programs is that they can accidentally encourage your body to defend fat, shed muscle, increase appetite and even lower its metabolism. The key to fast results is to know exactly which actions will cause your body to adapt by becoming fitter.

Maybe you've tried before to get in shape. But for some reason, you didn't get the results you wanted. If you're like I used to be, you've repeated that cycle year after year to no avail. Maybe you've failed so many times that you think of yourself as a “special case.” You've started to believe your entire metabolism consists of a little turtle on a treadmill. You wonder whether you've got the fat gene. You're convinced that no matter how hard you diet, your cells can still be seen eating Twinkies when viewed under a microscope.

Look. You're not a special case. Even if you had the fat gene (common among Pima Indians but rare otherwise), you'd only be burning 50-60 calories a day less than anybody else. Even if you've been diagnosed with a metabolic difficulty such as diabetes or hypothyroidism, you can still be successful with proper medical support. Most probably, other approaches failed you either because they were missing important pieces, focused on the wrong things, or produced results so slowly that you just gave up. What you need most is good information. You're in the right place.

The law of unintended consequences
Your body is an amazing feedback system aimed at balance and survival. Humans are at the top of the food chain because they are able to adapt to their environment. Every action produces a reaction. Every change in its environment triggers a survival response. It's important to keep that in mind when you plan your fitness program. If you treat your body as an enemy to be conquered, you'll produce unintended results.

For example, if you severely cut off the supply of food to your body, it will defend itself by slowing down its metabolism to survive starvation. The body will shed muscle mass the same way that you would throw cargo from a plane that was low on fuel, and it will reduce its thyroid activity to conserve energy. The body will also actually defend its fat stores. In anorexia, muscle loss can be so profound that fat as a percentage of body weight actually rises. Extreme carbohydrate restriction also causes muscle loss, dehydration, and slower metabolism, which is why even successful Atkins dieters can have a significant rebound in weight after they stop the diet (don't worry – the advice on this site will prevent that from happening).

As another example, if you put your body under stress through overexertion and lack of sleep, it will respond by slowing down, reducing muscle growth, and increasing your appetite for junk food, carbohydrates and fat. If you feed your body excessive amounts of sugar and quickly digested carbohydrates, and it will shut off its ability to burn fat until those sugars are taken out of the bloodstream.

This website will show you how to work with your body to quickly produce the changes you want. In order to do that, you need to take actions that push your body to adapt – to build strength, burn fat, and increase fitness. You need a training program, not an exercise routine. You need a nutrition plan, not a diet. You need a challenge, not a few good habits you usually try to follow except when you don't.

Setting the right goal
John Dewey once said that a problem well-stated is half-solved. If you want to reach your goal, you have to define it correctly. See, a lot of people say “I want to lose weight.” Well, if losing weight is your goal, go on a no-carb diet. You'll lose a lot of weight – some of it will be fat, a lot of it will be water, and a dangerous amount will be muscle tissue. You'll lose weight quickly, but you'll slow your metabolism and gain fat more quickly once you go off the diet. Trust me on this. I've been there, done that.

The problem is that you've set the wrong goal. If you want to look better, have more energy and enjoy better health, the goal is not simply to “lose weight.” The goal is to improve your fitness level and body composition. That means losing fat, improving your aerobic capacity, training your strength and defending your muscle tissue. You can't do that with a no-carb diet. You will do it using the approach you'll learn on this website. Trust me on this one too. I know what it's like to feel fat, tired and helplessly out of shape. The whole point of this site is to help others avoid that, by sharing lessons that I had to learn the hard way.

Ready to change?
Right this minute, your body is the way it is because it has adapted to the lifestyle you've thrown at it, in an attempt to survive. Ever seen the directory at the mall with the little red arrow that says “you are here”? Well, fitness is the same way. You are here. You can't start anywhere else. So be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up. Don't worry about how much there is to do. Change your self-talk from “My body is my enemy” to “My body is my partner.” Accept where you are right now as the starting point, and start moving.

Changing your body requires more than just “going on a diet” for a few weeks. If you want to change your body, you have to make some changes to your lifestyle (which requires some discipline, but isn't as hard as it sounds). If you create the right environment, your body will adapt to it by becoming leaner, stronger, and more energetic. You can do this.

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TPAdaptation.html

rshunk

The scale may not have moved much, but how about your measurements? I would guess that they have changed! If you haven't been taking them, I would start, ASAP! You could also try increasing your strength training, that could really help too! Best of luck on your journey, sounds like your doing great so far!!!

bbush18

i run all the time and i too have noticed that at first, running will strengthen and tone my body before i start losing weight. the most important thing is portion control and watching what you eat. filling your body with good food is important. but none-the-less, you should still lose some weight. keep in mind that cardio will help you shed the fat, but strength training is what keeps the fat away in the long run!! (no pun intended)

cmriverside

Are you eating enough? That sounds like the place to start. You can't set your goal at "Lose 2 pounds" when you have 20 lbs to lose. Set your goal to one pound a week, be realistic in your food and exercise logging and you will lose the weight.

If I use your numbers 5'11" 29 yr old Female at 198 lbs, looking to get to 170 lbs, Lightly Active, Myfitnesspal says you should be eating 1830 calories a day to lose one pound a week. Then add 300-400 calories a day for the running. So on those days you should eat 2100-2300 calories.

If you try to shortcut this process, you'll run into the plateaus you are describing. In case you've missed the hundreds of discussions on this, here are a few:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

awelch79

I am also 5'10 and started out at 230 and got to the 190s without MFP and got stuck BIG TIME in the 190s. I started MFP and was outraged at the number of calories I was eating...thinking that I was running and working out almost 90 min. a day and I deserved to have those calories! It wasnt until I actually "perfected" my calorie intake ---I am a SAHM and I find that 1620 works well for my lifestyle-PLUS trying to eat back most of my exercise calories--that I crept our of the 190s and am down to 182 since April 1!


You have to find the numbers that work for you, but I found that getting to the right number by being honest about my lifestyle and always attempting to eat back as many exercise calories as I can has done the trick....oh, and drinking a TON of water--I have noticed a difference since I made an effort to get to 90 ounces a day.

DSLathrem

I have always been told you really need to lift along with cardio if you want to loose. I'm just getting started, so I have not seen any results yet... I agree with Nikstergirl, you need to make sure you are eating enough calories. Don't give up! If you need to try to find a work out buddy.