Confusing Article about running and losing weight

bheimbrock

The following article was posted on Facebook today by the Couch 2 5K page. I found it confusing! http://www.active.com/running/Articles/How-to-Lose-Weight-to-Train.htm?cmp=17-7-8

So basically, I am not losing weight from running because I am in "training" mode? I completed the Couch 2 5k program in December and definitely didn't lose any weight - though I wasn't great about the diet either! Now I am mixing some of the last week of C25k with a 10k training program and doing the 30DS as my strength/cross fit training on my non run days. I thought this would be a pretty good way to start losing weight again. However, now this article confused the heck out of me!!

sherip22

wow that is confusing. I'm training for a half marathon right now and have yet to drop a single pound, though. So I guess there is some truth to not being able to lose during training.

Azdak

I think you may have misread the article or I am misreading some responses (or I misread the article). The point of the article (at least page 1) is that you can't maximize weight loss and performance at the same time. Basically, if your calorie intake is too low, it can inhibit your ability to train for maximal results--you just don't have enough fuel to sustain that high an effort.

If also then follows that if you are eating to maximize your training and performance, weight loss may be inhibited because you cannot sustain a high calorie deficit.

This may be of limited significance to the average person. This mostly applies to people who are training/performing at a high level. The average person can continue to lose weight steadily and continue to improve performance while doing so. In 6 months, I lost almost 60 pounds and lowered both my 5K and 10K times by 20%--all while maintaining an average daily deficit of 1875 calories. I don't think the average person has much to worry about.

bheimbrock

Thanks Azdak! What you said makes much more sense. I did understand it was more for the "Serious trainer/runner" therefore it doesn't make much sense for the Couch to 5k Facebook page to post it...It wouldn't apply to MOST of there fans. I'm definitely not a serious runner and honestly don't expect my running performance to get much better anytime soon. If anything, my pace has slowed WAY down now that I am doing 30ds as well.

Zoekat05

Leaving aside the issue of proper fueling for more "serious" runners, one reason that people who are training for an event cannot lose weight is that they "out eat" what they are burning off running. Depending on a number of factors (how fast you run, your body weight etc.), running only burns off around 75-120 calories per mile. So, if you go for a 3 mile run and then reward yourself with a 500 calorie food item, you're at a net gain at that point. It is important to get an accurate estimate of the calories burned when running as well. I wear a HR monitor which is programmed with my information, and it regularly is less than the MFP estimate. If I was following the MFP estimate, I would end up eating too many calories on days that I run.

thejackswild79

This article particularly hit home for me as I am starting a new phase of weight loss where I work at a much smaller deficit to fuel my love of running. When I first started running again last February I still had about 130 lbs to lose. I was consuming 1,200 calories plus eating a portion of my calories burned through exercise. I lost a lot of weight and I found a level of physical fitness I both enjoyed and wanted to pursue.

I started entering races. They were fun. And I lost more weight and wanted to run even more. In total I lost 80 lbs and went from running 9-12 miles a week to running 20-24 miles a week. My calorie intake was increased to 1,600 a day. I was diligent in tracking my food (using another site). I continued to lose weight. Most importantly, I felt great.

I started to take running more seriously and decided to challenge myself to do a half marathon training program with a local running club. I don’t think that at 210 lbs and running an 11 minute mile I am considered to be a serious runner, but I take it seriously, have fun with it and love it. I met tons of new people and started logging even more miles. I was also doing a lot of cross training and it wasn’t uncommon for me to have 3 two a day work outs a week. I was serious, I was focused, and I felt great, but the weight loss stopped. At first I lost inches then that stopped. And then my blood sugar started crashing and I was hitting walls during workouts I previously had the strength and endurance to blow through. And then I developed the nickname Typhoid Mary because I was perpetually sick.

This didn’t happen overnight nor did it happen all at once. It took about 5-6 months of under-fueling my activity level to finally get to a point where I realized I had a problem. I always assumed I would break the plateau if I just pushed through. It really wasn’t until I needed a second round of antibiotics to help clear up a respiratory infection that was PREVENTING me from running that I really got it. On light days, I was eating 1,600 calories and yet on a 12 mile run I would burn 1,500 calories but only eat a total of 1,900 calories for the day. I am still not exactly sure how I didn’t make that connection because I understood the ramifications. It was like I assumed the rules applied to other people, not a fat chick like me. It was rather special.

My doctor put it this way: You can focus on major weight loss or you can focus on major running, but you cannot do both. I love to run. I love the physical challenge of the races I have elected to do this year. I chose to train. So we made an adjustment. Instead of working to lose 1-2 lbs a week, I am hoping to lose about 1-2 lbs a month. That means I am hoping to lose about 20 lbs in 2012, even though I still have 40-50 to go. I still have some recovery work to do, but the difference an additional 400 calories a day has made is already evident. There are days I fight it, but most days I try to remember that I want to crush a difficult trail half this spring and to do that, I have to be fit and to be fit, I have to fuel my body.

Azdak

This article particularly hit home for me as I am starting a new phase of weight loss where I work at a much smaller deficit to fuel my love of running. When I first started running again last February I still had about 130 lbs to lose. I was consuming 1,200 calories plus eating a portion of my calories burned through exercise. I lost a lot of weight and I found a level of physical fitness I both enjoyed and wanted to pursue.

I started entering races. They were fun. And I lost more weight and wanted to run even more. In total I lost 80 lbs and went from running 9-12 miles a week to running 20-24 miles a week. My calorie intake was increased to 1,600 a day. I was diligent in tracking my food (using another site). I continued to lose weight. Most importantly, I felt great.

I started to take running more seriously and decided to challenge myself to do a half marathon training program with a local running club. I don’t think that at 210 lbs and running an 11 minute mile I am considered to be a serious runner, but I take it seriously, have fun with it and love it. I met tons of new people and started logging even more miles. I was also doing a lot of cross training and it wasn’t uncommon for me to have 3 two a day work outs a week. I was serious, I was focused, and I felt great, but the weight loss stopped. At first I lost inches then that stopped. And then my blood sugar started crashing and I was hitting walls during workouts I previously had the strength and endurance to blow through. And then I developed the nickname Typhoid Mary because I was perpetually sick.

This didn’t happen overnight nor did it happen all at once. It took about 5-6 months of under-fueling my activity level to finally get to a point where I realized I had a problem. I always assumed I would break the plateau if I just pushed through. It really wasn’t until I needed a second round of antibiotics to help clear up a respiratory infection that was PREVENTING me from running that I really got it. On light days, I was eating 1,600 calories and yet on a 12 mile run I would burn 1,500 calories but only eat a total of 1,900 calories for the day. I am still not exactly sure how I didn’t make that connection because I understood the ramifications. It was like I assumed the rules applied to other people, not a fat chick like me. It was rather special.

My doctor put it this way: You can focus on major weight loss or you can focus on major running, but you cannot do both. I love to run. I love the physical challenge of the races I have elected to do this year. I chose to train. So we made an adjustment. Instead of working to lose 1-2 lbs a week, I am hoping to lose about 1-2 lbs a month. That means I am hoping to lose about 20 lbs in 2012, even though I still have 40-50 to go. I still have some recovery work to do, but the difference an additional 400 calories a day has made is already evident. There are days I fight it, but most days I try to remember that I want to crush a difficult trail half this spring and to do that, I have to be fit and to be fit, I have to fuel my body.

Everybody has to find that balance for themselves. Anyone who pursues the kind of training regime that you were following is "training seriously" despite your actual speed.

It's the classic pattern of overtraining. At first, you get the progressive increases in fitness and performance from the increased effort and it feels fantastic. The physical feeling of exercise becomes an integral part of your daily routine. And then it gradually starts to creep up as you describe.

Professional athletes know this from hard experience and, at their level, the effort is more dramatic. They describe it as one day feeling like you can fly and then, poof, you are tasting ashes. You saw it in last year's Tour de France. Alberto Contador has been one of the most dominating climbers and stage racers in the past 5 years. But after winning the Giro di Italia a few weeks before in his usual fashion, he just kind of ran out of gas in the TdF. He just couldn't sustain his training peak.

If you train a lot, you are always going to run the risk of overtraining. That's not a reason to stop training, IMO. It just means that you need to recognize the signs and symptoms and be willing to take that complete break when necessary.

Congratulations and best of luck in your running efforts!

thejackswild79

If you train a lot, you are always going to run the risk of overtraining. That's not a reason to stop training, IMO. It just means that you need to recognize the signs and symptoms and be willing to take that complete break when necessary.

YES!!! I think that in some way I assumed that because I still had so much weight to lose, the rules of over training couldn't apply to ME. Everyone else, sure, but not me. It was a hard lesson learned. And thank you!

christy☼sunshine

Great post! Thanks for sharing.

bheimbrock

thejackswild - thanks for sharing your story! Based on your profle pic, it looks like you enjoy doing the same races I do! We did two "5k mud runs" a few months ago - MudStash and SwampStomp. This year, we have a whole calendar full of mud races and I CAN"T WAIT for the spring when most of them start. We have the popular Warrior Dash in June that my sister and her bf are doing as their first one! I'm looking forward to sharing that experience with them