c25k

JessNicole81

So I'm at least 70lbs overweight and doing the c25k program. I'm on week 3 and while it's definitely tough, I'm not falling down on the floor in a sweating, panting mess (anymore!). But my question is when will I start seeing physical results?? I feel like the scale hasn't moved at all!!

jame_104

As with everything we do it takes time, there are many factors in to why we do and don't lose. The variables are crazy, don't give up the weight won't win if you don't let it. C25K is a great program keep up the good work! Even thought the scale hasn't moved you aren't a "panting mess" that is a good thing, be proud

PunkRockDad

Make sure you are tracking your exercise calories and eating them back.

Good luck on the C25K program. I got to the middle of week 3 before I hurt my knee about a month ago. Starting over on week one tomorrow.

jenalderman

Hang in there.... you are building muscle in your calfs, quads, glutes, and even your core. Your body will start putting these to work for you soon. They will help you to gain distance and burn more calories. As long as you are logging your food and not leaving anything out, the running will work. Be careful, a lot of treadmills as well as MFP overestimate the amount of calories burned during running. Find the calculation on line.... based on weight, time, and distance, to make sure you are logging accurately. For the average female of average weight, you burn slightly over 100 calories per mile.

jarrettd

If you just got started with diet and exercise, your body can be a little slow to get the hint. And the insult of a new physical activity to muscle groups that aren't used to it can cause water retention. Stay the course. Patience and persistence always win the day!

jenalderman

Make sure you are tracking your exercise calories and eating them back.

Good luck on the C25K program. I got to the middle of week 3 before I hurt my knee about a month ago. Starting over on week one tomorrow.

I also agree with eating back most of your calories. You do NOT want to shut down your metabolism. Metabolism is our friend.

SuzyQq02

There was a great post yesterday about the effect of exercise on weight loss. Basically, weight loss is really about calories in vs calories out, and the 3 days a week of C25K won't create the kind of caloric deficit you need to see weight loss. I just finished week 1 and I burned about 250cals each session, which on it's own would amount to a 0.1 loss for the week if I was eating at "maintenance." The weight loss comes from the calorie deficit I create by eating less. I track pretty religiously and measure everything.

While the extra 250cals is a nice "buffer" and might mean I get to have an extra cookie that night, it's not my main strategy for losing. It IS my main strategy for getting more cardio fit!

Not sure if that helps.

treehopper1987

Everyone is different, but I have been losing maybe a pound weekly while doing c25k. That being said, I know I'm losing more fat and building muscle, which muscle weighs more. I'm okay with this. You may be going through the same scenario. It will come off naturally, you just have to keep at it.

Christinah5150

I just finished week 3 and I'm 100 pounds overweight. Prior to starting the program I was consistently losing weight, since I started C25K my scale has barely moved BUT I've lost tons of inches...hopefully the scale will catch up soon because it is a little discouraging so I understand.

SueInAz

So I'm at least 70lbs overweight and doing the c25k program. I'm on week 3 and while it's definitely tough, I'm not falling down on the floor in a sweating, panting mess (anymore!). But my question is when will I start seeing physical results?? I feel like the scale hasn't moved at all!!

C25K in itself will not cause a weight loss. It's a calorie deficit which will give you a loss in weight. What running does do is help to burn more calories, increase your fitness, provide a small muscle gain and greatly increase your cardiovascular health and stamina.

PunkRockDad

That being said, I know I'm losing more fat and building muscle, which muscle weighs more. I'm okay with this.

Just so no one really takes what you said to heart, muscle and fat weigh the same. A pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle. What the difference is the amount of space they take up. The same pound of fat takes up more overall mass than a pound of muscle does. Please do not start believing muscle weighs more than fat. It doesn't.

If you took a 30lb weight and a 30lb bag full of feathers, the weight would be the same, just the mass would be dramatically bigger on the bag of feathers.

Now with that being said, I highly recommend taking measurements of you waist, hips, chest. Here you will see the differences you really want to see. Who cares what the scale says, care what your measurements say.

Amberetta82

Don't worry about the scale just yet. If you haven't used your muscles for a while then your body will be rebuilding them. You need to be measuring your body and checking to see if you have lost inches.

Mrsairforce

I start week 1 day 3 tomorrow. I have noticed my endurance is a little better but I think for me, the biggest thing is not limiting my weekly workouts to JUST C25K. I do C25K on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on Tuesday and Thursday I weight train and use the elliptical. I also eat back most of my exercise calories and I drink a lot of water. One of the biggest things that has helped me lose weight is making sure my sodium isn't very high. I keep it around 1500-1700 per day.

jskaggs1971

C25K's a great program.

What I found about diet and exercise in general was this: When I started riding my bike 100+ miles monthly in April of 2011, I didn't see much weight loss, but did see a huge increase in energy and stamina.

In September of 2011, when I started paying closer attention to diet along with exercise (biking + running), the weight really started to fall off.

Now that I'm mostly running and strength training, and closer to where I want to be, the weight is coming off slower, but still coming off steadily. I'd guess it's 90% diet and 10% exercise.

The exercise is really important too. There's more to good health than your weight, and exercise is good for all those parts of your life. I'm looking forward to my yearly checkup with the doc, just to see where my bloodwork is. My numbers were good anyhow, but I want to see if they're better now.

emcohen

Just so no one really takes what you said to heart, muscle and fat weigh the same. A pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle. What the difference is the amount of space they take up. The same pound of fat takes up more overall mass than a pound of muscle does. Please do not start believing muscle weighs more than fat. It doesn't.

If you took a 30lb weight and a 30lb bag full of feathers, the weight would be the same, just the mass would be dramatically bigger on the bag of feathers.

If you're gonna make that correction, don't mess up the difference between mass and volume! Fat takes up more space -- more volume (less dense) than muscle. The masses would be the same as well.

hesn92

As I'm sure you know, you can't exercise and then eat whatever you want and expect to lose weight. Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise (or so they say lol) So really it depends on how you're eating. Good luck! I wanted to start doing C25K (I have my first 5k on july 1) but I caught the flu (I think?) so I might have to put it on hold.

NCTravellingGirl

I am on W4, D2 of c25K and haven't lost but one pound this whole time! I was wearing an 18 and now have started fitting into 16s so my body is changing. You can see my face structure and decollete way more now as well... it's working! The lbs will drop eventually (or at least thats what I keep telling myself as I log food every day, haha). Good Luck!

nb9251

I did couch to 5k two years ago and for me obviously my endurance went way up! It's so hard on the first day, but week by week you do more! But as for the weight loss, I didn't actually lose much and I was VERY on board with healthy eating then (not sure what happened ). I did however, lose a ton of inches. But most of the visible inch loss came after week 5 when I got to the longer runs. It seemed like the inches just fell off then. I think I lost a dress size from weeks 5-9 alone.

Keep in mind that everyone is different though. Just keep going, eat right and you'll be amazed by the end of it. Even if the weight loss isn't great it's better than doing nothing. If nothing else you now have a healthier heart so smile :-)

froeschli

I am doing week 3 right now too. I don't think it has made a big difference on my weight, I am losing a steady 1-2 pounds a week, but my shape has improved a lot. Given, I think I was only about 10lbs overweight when I started here a month ago, maybe it's easier to see the difference...
If I weigh every day, I usually find that on days after I went running, I am up by about 2lbs (and cranky, but that's another topic), which then disappear for the next day - so it's probably water. I run every other day, maybe two in a row at the most. So that's a steady up and down, with a slight downward trend overall.
I do keep the calorie deficit suggested by MFP to lose 1lb a week, usually go over by a bit, but I think I may have underestimated my activity level a little, so I don't stress over it...
As long as you're making progress with your running, you KNOW there has to be a change to your body, the scale should be a secondary concern - it will catch up eventually.

CRSE1214

Take your measurements!!! The scale is not the only factor, you'd be surprised at the inches you may be losing.

JessNicole81

Thanks everyone, those were all beneficial comments!! I have taken my measurements so that I can keep track of that as well as pounds. Diet is definitely more of an issue for me, but I've been cooking dinners out of the Betty Crocker "300 calorie or under" cookbook, really watching my portions on everything throughout the day and trying to eat 5 small meals rather than 1 or 2 big meals. My main goal in this is to get healthy, my husband and I want to have a baby soon and I want to be as healthy as possible going into the pregnancy. It would an added bonus though if I could lose weight and feel more confident as well!! Thanks for all the support!

treehopper1987

Just so no one really takes what you said to heart, muscle and fat weigh the same. A pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle. What the difference is the amount of space they take up. The same pound of fat takes up more overall mass than a pound of muscle does. Please do not start believing muscle weighs more than fat. It doesn't.

If you took a 30lb weight and a 30lb bag full of feathers, the weight would be the same, just the mass would be dramatically bigger on the bag of feathers.

If you're gonna make that correction, don't mess up the difference between mass and volume! Fat takes up more space -- more volume (less dense) than muscle. The masses would be the same as well.

Thanks for clearing that up... I've been sick and not thinking the straightest this week. I know that lb=lb but I was referring to volume of fat verses muscle.

Runs4Wine

Take your measurements!!! The scale is not the only factor, you'd be surprised at the inches you may be losing.

Yep, I lost inches long before the weight dropped. Your body is getting used to the changes and muscle weighs more than fat. Track those measurements because that is where you'll see the results the quickest - at least in my case. I've since dropped nearly 50lbs from running

BobbyDaniel

I was about 50 pounds heavier when I started C25K and I did it hoping to kick start my weight loss after a plateau, but more so to say I ran a 5K. With that being said, it was at least 2-3 weeks before I started noticing anything significant on the scales or even with my body.

lilyjay_

I'm doing C25k too, on week 2, but while I'm trying to lose weight I'm not really doing C25K for weight loss, more to get me into running and fitness, so I'm still doing other exercises too.. For example yesterday I did C25k on the treadmill for 25 minutes then jumped on the cross trainer for 20... and I either go for brisk walks or other cardio exercises (or both) on days I'm not doing c25k.

Stick at it, just maybe don't use c25k to lose weight but for other, equally good, reasons

Ballybabe1

I started c25k last november at 19stone weight ! I finished the 9 weeks of the program and I am still jogging three times a week, twice I do 3k and once i do 6k, it takes be longer than the 30 mins to get to 5k (alot longer) but I have lost 23lbs in that time and it doesnt matter what speed you do it at, the main thing is to do it and over time as the weight comes off I think it will be easier to lift the legs and make them go faster ! Good on ya, stick with it and monitor the cals here on MFP and you will succeed. Its a fantastic program to get even someone like me moving again. I hate missing my jog now, finally it comes before everything else (well almost everything). Best of luck.

ashcan92

I've also started c25k, but I remember the directions to well and ran the times for the 3rd week instead of the first. I wasn't using it to lose weight just to gain endurance and shed some inches off my waist.

But before I hit the treadmill, I do 1 hour of group excercise (Zumba, strength training, cycling) and 30 min of some other type of cardio.

KEEP GOING GIRL!!!

Angelabec

Thank you to everyone who has posted on here, I've just finished week one, and I did find it hard, am still a good 90lb or so over my goal weight, but I really do feel encouraged by these posts, and will be starting week 2 tomorrow