A Frustrated Girl who Runs and Lifts

I highly recommend this group.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

The OP should consider herself blessed if Sara and SideSteel are feeling gracious enough to help after her reactions to Sara in this thread (I wouldn't be feeling very gracious if it were me). Just saying.

This. Crapping on the advice of one of the more knowledgable females on the boards with regards to body composition just because some guy was saying exactly what she wanted to hear was pretty silly on the OP's part.

Ranae,
Just a thought but is there possible some health issues? I'm an RN and in the field we some times see people who do take great care of themselves but it is actually a health issue that is causing the fat gain. I would suggest going and talking with your doctor and may be getting some blood work done to see if there is something else going on. I wish you well.

Sincerely,

Jen

In to learn how all men are genetically preidsposed to being sexually attracted to the same thing. As I am predisposed to being sexually attracted to men all men must also be sexually attracted to men...SCIENCE!

I no longer have to feel guilty about hitting on 'straight' guys. *phew*

This thread was useful and informative for the above reasons.

Yeh, but not those fattie straight guys that think they have "curves", right?

It's not me being harsh. It's science. Sorry if I offended you all so much lol.

Seriously, google pictures of marathoners vs sprinters. This is not opinion, it's widely accepted scientific fact lol. Long distance burns your muscle. Not to mention all the negative effects it has on your hormones...

SERIOUSLY!!!!!!! It's a widely accepted scientific fact that sprinters look better than marathon runners!!!!

OMG....!!

Yes clearly you're right the OP should quit running and just lift cos that way she can get to have guys like you letching at her fit bod all the time which will be so much more satisfying than any athletic successes that she may achieve as a runner!!

Beyond shallow!!
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ETA: for some reason MFP doesn't want to separate out my post from the above quote, so here.

1) Reading comprehension. The OP isn't going to stop running. She should keep running. Guys are going to look regardless.

2) Sprinters strength train.

3) Not all marathoners look flabby. Look closely at the photo of those two world-class marathoners. Do you know why they have so little fat on their bodies? Pace. The average 4-hour marathoner is going to have a good bit more fat than a 2.5 hour runner. Look at the people as they finish a marathon. The athlete versus the novice. Don't compare the world-class ones because who have little fat on their bodies to the ones who finish in the middle to end of the pack.

4) She wants a healthy blend between her lifting and her running and a sub-16% body fat percent. Running less is the way she's going to get there, unless she suddenly doubles her running speed, in which case she's also going to lose a lot of strength and muscle mass when she leans out She can't have the development she wants and keep up the marathon without changing her body composition. She has to choose what she wants more.

I know everyone says this but I really don't think you're eating enough which I'm sure you can see from your bodymedia device. You're burning a crazy amount of calories you really need to fuel your body more. I think this has something to do with the fat you gained but that is just a guess.

How much do you eat? With all that cardio and weight training, you should eat a LOT! You need to fuel those workouts.

Yeah I agree. That was probably my problem...along with the wrong types of food. Its easy to convince yourself that a slice of pizza wont matter because of what you just got done doing.... I was only eating about 2000 calories a day....and I was burning on average 3600. This information was from my bodymedia device.

Wait, now we are down on skinny women? I thought we didn't like women with muscles. I am confused.

Where is the balance? At what point do you start using your muscle as fuel instead of fat? Can you trick your body?

I trained and ran a marathon in 2012....all the while still weight training. Results: FAT! 10lbs heavier the day of the marathon.

From what I understand your body isn't going to turn into a cannibal until you start doing 20+ miles which is why most marathon training plans stop short at this distance. Of course you're going to do some muscle damage during long runs. You do this during strength training too but your body's preferred fuel is always carbs and when you run low on those the body mostly relies on the conversion of fat for ATP production. (see Krebs cycle) Fat and stored glycogen in your muscles are the primary source of energy during longer runs. After your run your body will go into repair and anabolic (rebuilding) mode so make sure and get a nice recovery protein drink to help with this.

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but if you're gaining weight you're eating too many calories. You might not be burning as many calories as you think on these longer runs. Hopefully your body is being conditioned to be more efficient and use less fuel than an untrained person would. You can't gain mass with without adding energy in excess of what you need. That's just a law of nature.

You are doing everything right. Don't worry about the weight, it is most certainly muscle gain from the weights. I went to a sports nutritionist presentation. She explained how the body uses stored energy; carbohydrates you consume for the upcoming exercise first then stored fat. The eye opener was that you have to train the body to move over to the fat consumption and it has to do with time. This is more of your puzzle because of the amount of running and the time. I suspect because you now have more muscle your body can store more energy and use it while running before it has to move on the stored fat.
I encourage you to talked with a sport nutritionist not just because you are clearly into the exercise and have a specific goal but also you can learn quite a bit about how the body functions while training hard. You can then tailor your nutrition to the goals, both event and weight control.
I am training to cycle 200 miles in a day and would like to lose 20 pounds. I could have listened to the nutritionist for hours!
Just my two cents worth.

I recently ran a marathon and gained some weight too, but I think it was water weight because after the race it fell off pretty quickly. You have to remember that a race that long does some damage and our muscles retain water then. Also, I've noticed that after I hit about 13 miles in my long run training, I crave butter and bacon like CRAZY!

So, while training, I fueled my body, no big deal. Now that it's done, I want to focus on moderate runs, cross training, etc to lose weight and hopefully pick up my race speed since I won't be lugging around an extra 25 lbs! Good luck to you hun!

It's not me being harsh. It's science. Sorry if I offended you all so much lol.

Seriously, google pictures of marathoners vs sprinters. This is not opinion, it's widely accepted scientific fact lol. Long distance burns your muscle. Not to mention all the negative effects it has on your hormones...

It's a widely accepted scientific fact that sprinters look better than marathon runners!!!!

"Looking better" than anyone is aesthetics; aesthetics are subjective, i.e., opinion-based. Therefore, your statement that sprinters "look better" than marathon runners is not a fact, much less a scientific one.



ETA: OP, you're beautiful, and you look very strong and lean. I would love to have your body. I wouldn't stress about the number on the scale. Take measurements instead and avoid the scale.
However, you've come of as pretty rude in this thread. I don't know you, so obviously I'm not saying you're a bad person or rude in general, but when you're being offered advice, try to be a little nicer, even if you don't like the advice. You can still thank people for taking their time to try to help you, and if you choose not to follow it, that's fine.

Well this thread certainly took a turn since the last time I looked at it a few hours ago.

FYI to the OP, you may want to listen to Sarauk2sf. The reason she has so many posts is because she is very knowledgable, especially about body recomposition and lifting and spends a lot of time and effort helping others. You'd be wise to listen to her. And I agree about the body shaming. Not okay. Stop it.

^this. Sara helps a lot of people. Not only does the body shaming on here appall me, but the attacks on Sara just blow my mind. and OP, you bring up some thing on her profile and don't even know why. Just doing it to cause a stir. Best of luck on your goals. Too bad for you that you'll miss out getting to really know one of the most supportive, helpful, and knowledgable people around.

I can't believe anyone would actually bash or even DOUBT what Sara has to say!!! She is probably THE most knowlegable and helpful person on this WHOLE site- especially when it comes to lifting and body composition.

" Muscle is heavier than fat, but, of course, it is much more compact. " A pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh the same. How they look on your body is what makes the difference.

In the past month I've increased my running to 30+ miles a week, including 1 long run of at least 16 miles. I've gained 5 pounds. BUT my clothes are getting looser every day. I may have gained a few pounds, but my body overall is smaller and more toned. I eat more now than I did before, but then I eat to train, not eat to lose weight. A three hour run is easily 1800 cals burned.

I'm so much more than the number on the scale.

(Oh and this cracks me up:
"It's a widely accepted scientific fact that sprinters look better than marathon runners!!!! " On what scale of evidence is science measuring good looks?)