increased running, now weight more

lizplawman

I have been running for two years. I cut my miles in the winter to 3 miles a day 4 days a week to increasing it for spring and summer to 5.5 miles 4 days a week. SInce then I have gained 5 lbs. I havent changed what I have eaten, but I have increased my calories to accommodate for the extra calories I am burning. Is it muscle weight or what? I have noticed my pants are also feeling tighter. I am not eating junk. I eat lots of fruit and veggies and protein. If anyone has knowledge, please chime in.

55in13

I havent changed what I have eaten, but I have increased my calories

It is fairly obvious that you have increased too much. There really isn't any other explanation.

cwolfman13

My guess would be water. When you increase intensity or switch up your workouts your body retains more water for repair of muscles. You don't gain any appreciable muscle running...at least not that quickly. Your average Joe at the gym lifting heavy weights and eating at a surplus of calories MIGHT be able to add 5-6 Lbs of muscle in an entire year of working very hard at that target objective.

Also, maybe you increased your calorie intake too much and are overcompensating for the added work.

lizplawman

Like I said, I have been doing this for two years now. Slowed down in the winter and picked back up in the beginning of March. I run 4-5 days a week for an hour or more. My calories have increased only 400. I have a very good hr monitor that monitors cal burn. If I go by another cal burn, it says I am burning more then that. I have added four small hills to my running plan.

Armyantzzz

Are you sure it's not increased muscle mass:glasses: .... ?

lizplawman

Thats what I am trying to figure out. I do notice that my butt looks more lifted then before. I know its just a number, but I dont like the increase and dont know what to do or how to tell if it is muscle.

srp2011

If you're gaining weight, and clothes are tighter, it's not water or muscle (unless the tightness is in a very specific place, like quads). You've obviously increased your daily intake too much. An extra 1.5 miles per day is very unlikely to burn an extra 400 calories. You may also be underestimating the amount you eat if you're not using measuring cups and a food scale. It all adds up.

There was actually an interesting study (it was peer reviewed, but I don't know the citation off-hand) on the impact of marathon training on weight loss. Participants in the study went through training for a marathon, but were told to eat normally (ie, they were not given a diet to follow). What they found was that men lost weight overall, while women gained weight - presumably there is an innate mechanism operative in women that overcompensates by taking in more calories than burned (makes sense evolutionarily, like the increased fat to muscle ratio in women vs men).

lizplawman

the tightness is in the quads and butt area. The amount I burn total is about 500 but i only ingest 400 extra for a total of 1900 a day on the days I workout. I make sure that I write everything down that I put in my mouth including liquids. Thanks for all the help