Couch 2 5kers - week where weight loss kicked in?

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rhonderoo
rhonderoo Posts: 145 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been working out consistently since April, and started C25K in mid-July. I'm about to go into week 4. I've lost inches, and I can see my body "changing" like those that run said it would, but I haven't lost any meaningful weight. I've lost about 3 lbs. that has consistently stayed off.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this to lose weight. I started working out and getting fit in general to lose weight, sure, but running has always been a dream of mine. A few friends that have started running had weight drop offs almost immediately, and some never really had any so I'm wondering - did you lose and if so, in what week was it noticeable?

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  • BAMarsh
    BAMarsh Posts: 72 Member
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    I lost ZERO pounds by running. I can run a marathon and still weigh the same the next day. LOL
  • ghdsmais
    ghdsmais Posts: 31 Member
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    I am up to over 25 miles per week and like you have lost the inches but not much weight. I haven't been logging everything I have eaten but still like how I look now. Training for a marathon actually. I see lots of runners who are skinny as heck but I am not one of them.
    Oh well.......maybe after I begin my swimming, running and biking in Novmber for next year's first Tri.
  • BrunetteRunner87
    BrunetteRunner87 Posts: 591 Member
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    Me too! Been running a year and a half and I lose weight when I lift weights a lot, but never from running.
  • BrunetteRunner87
    BrunetteRunner87 Posts: 591 Member
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    Probably because it makes me hungry
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    A calorie deficit causes you to lose weight. Exercise may contribute to a calorie deficit but exercise alone does not cause weight loss.
  • Otrogen
    Otrogen Posts: 65
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    I'm in your boat, too. I've done C25K and completed it twice before, then stopped running so I could focus on other things and actually lose weight. I, too, always get the inches shift and body recomposition in the first few weeks, and then nothing more.

    I'm at ~218 lbs, started out at 220.5 lbs running, and am on week 7 of C25K. That's only about 2-3 lbs of loss for the whole 2 months. I keep my food right, I make sure I get my cross-training via weights and the elliptical and recumbent bike, but I don't lose weight while running. I couldn't tell you why. I made a thread about it a week or so ago on the forum and had people telling me I must be doing something wrong with nutrition because apparently they still believe that calories in calories out simple math works for the body when obviously it does not =P.

    I'd advise you to stick the whole program out. Increasing to doing something as strenuous as running for lengths of time can throw off your thyroid hormone uptake, which does stagnate your weight loss. However, research points to the fact that it will restabilize within a month or so if you just give it time and keep on training. If you've done the full 9 weeks and are about at the 3 month point and still notice no weight loss to follow up with your body change (and you're eating balanced meals, the right number of calories, and cross training + weight training), THEN consider making a change.
  • chokeslam512
    chokeslam512 Posts: 78 Member
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    I didn't lose weight on the C25K program. I didn't start losing weight until I started lifting and eating better.
  • rhonderoo
    rhonderoo Posts: 145 Member
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    For actual weight loss, I focus on logging my food daily and staying at a about a 400 - 700 calorie deficit. I do eat back my exercise points some, depending the day or what's going on, but for the most part try to stick to eating less than I burn by at least 500 calories. Trust me, I know exactly what goes in because I log faithfully (sometimes I wish I didn't!). I've been successful lowering my carb intake and if I just wanted to lose weight, my body responds to that like clockwork, but I couldn't work out like I do without some carbs, so I plug along with just a calorie deficit.

    I try to strength train at least three times a week, but absolutely no less that twice a week, and have upped my weights. The strength training for me is kind of like the running, it's something I want to do even if I'm at my goal weight, so I'm not really sweating losing weight due to those two, but I would like to lose the weight and once I'm set in my regimen and am a runner (the gym is a given - I'm over 40), I may need to take something else up. I would like to know eventually if I have something that is inhibiting me that I need to get looked at. It is a little discouraging on bad days, until I see my flatter abs, broader shoulders, and thinner thighs. The suggestion of the body having to acclimate may have some merit.
  • Otrogen
    Otrogen Posts: 65
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    Another thing -- are you making sure to stay within your target heart rate? I know one thing I messed up on early on was pushing too hard because I could. When you're starting to run, pace doesn't matter. Endurance and going the distance are what matter. You have to do a lot of long easy runs to build up your body's fitness and ability to take all the impact and stress you've suddenly decided to put on it. A few months of increasingly longer, easy paced runs will teach your body how to use oxygen during a longer session and help it allocate capillaries for increased blood transport and thus more oxygen for use when you run at length.

    So don't worry about times and calories burned or anything other than listening to your body, running at a pace where you can easily talk while you run, and slowly increasing time spent running. Once you get to a certain level of fitness (many coaches say once you can consistently run 4-5 days a week and log 15 miles per week comfortably), THEN you can start doing things like interval workouts for speed. Until then, best advice is this: Run a bit longer each week, adding 3 or so minutes to your total time, and listen to your body. I personally have a hard time not going balls to the wall, so I bought a heart rate monitor and stay in the 145-155 HR zone. Look into it! It'll keep you on track and injury-free.
  • rhonderoo
    rhonderoo Posts: 145 Member
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    Yeah, I'm going SLOW so I've actually been able to make it to Week 5, which I start Sunday! I'm really short (5'1"), so my slow run is what some of my taller friends consider a brisk walk. Seriously, like 3.5mph, lol! I'll start over and worry more about time and distance once I've made it through this session.

    BUT, today, after 3 weeks of the same weight - at week 4 - I dropped 1.5 lbs. :) So there may be something to letting your body get used to the strain, and then evening itself out.

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