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Running and Not losing

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Posts: 7 Member
edited February 1 in Fitness and Exercise
So here it is...Iam 5'9,,170lb with a goal of 150. I run 10 to 12k every other day with long distance runs almost every two weeks ( which iam up to 20k). I count my calories every day and try to aim for 1200 to 1400. My scale has not moved at all!! I am starting lose all determination. Anyone have thoughts or ideas??? helpful tips?

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  • Posts: 2,037 Member
    Sounds like starvation to me - eat more!
  • Posts: 1,984 Member
    Are you measuring and logging and counting everything? absolutely everything? and are you using a food scale?
  • Posts: 1,267 Member
    Are you measuring and logging and counting everything? absolutely everything? and are you using a food scale?

    This.

    If you aren't losing weight, there's a problem with your energy equation...
  • Posts: 16 Member
    congratulations on the 10-12km! I can barely do 5km without wanting to die. lol.

    That said, are you doing any weight training at all? Adding weight lifting into your regimen can do a great deal toward helping you burn calories faster (ergo, lose more weight) AND will help strengthen your body which in turn will help you run better.

    but...1200-1400 calories seems pretty low to me for the amount of running you're doing. Perhaps you aren't eating enough?

    or maybe you might want to look at measurements as your gauge to success (ie. waist etc) since the scale itself is a poor judge of one's fitness. Muscle weighs more than fat after all....
  • Posts: 22,511 Member
    Sounds like starvation to me - eat more!

    tumblr_m9w4o3rgLN1qf2269.gif

    I am 5'9 as well, I maintain on 1800-2000 and up to something like 2700 a day or more while running high mileage. Eat more!
  • Posts: 6,109 Member
    Wow how do you even have the energy to run that much on that intake?

    Do you weigh, measure and log everything you eat?

    Are you honest about it?

    If the answer is yes (and you are being honest about it), then how long have you been dieting for? And doing this level of activity? It would appear that you are severely under-eating if the above points are accurate.
  • Posts: 169 Member
    Def not eating enough. Starvation plateaus... try eating more. Use this calculator:

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
  • Posts: 8,701 Member
    You don't eat enough to support that much running. Proof positive is that your weight loss has stalled. Next step is overtraining symptoms and running injuries.


    ETA: I thought more about the calories...you must only be netting a couple hundred calories MAX every other day, and negative on the long run days. How long have you been doing this? It's seriously very concerning and if it's been going on long, you may need to talk to someone professional about it. If it's a recent change, please get yourself back on a healthy track before you start exhibiting signs of Anorexia Athletica.
  • Posts: 5,424 Member
    That doesnt add up at all. I am about your size and if I ate like that for more than 2 days I would pass out 1/3 of the way into the run.
  • Posts: 432 Member
    Even though you are eating way too little calories you should be still be losing. Are you sure you are logging everything accurately?
  • Posts: 521 Member
    Maybe your scale is broken? Have you weighed yourself on other scales? When I started running, I didn't lose right away, but when I mixed it up, ran hills, fast/slow, etc. scale moved. I was getting muscle in my legs but ate a lot of carbs. I don't know how often I went over 1200, didn't log then, but I'm sure I had days over and under that with my schedule.

    Make sure you are eating and logging well and check your intensity level.
  • Posts: 19,809 Member
    Your numbers don't add up!
    I'm 5'9", 168lbs and maintaining on an average of 2,400+ a day.

    Why are you eating so little?

    Suggest you make a fresh start and eat and train at sustainable levels.
  • Posts: 1,304 Member
    Even though you are eating way too little calories you should be still be losing. Are you sure you are logging everything accurately?

    I agree with this.

    For the people speaking about starvation mode, go learn something: http://www.leighpeele.com/starvation-mode

    She would be losing some weight regardless, this seems to be ANOTHER case of human error and inaccuracy of logging, or even worse, not logging - I've seen several people not weighing foods, not even bothering to log their foods and their diaries are empty for the last 3 weeks and they're still complaining. I've said it before, I'll say it again; you're not a special snowflake. Eating between 1200-1400 just makes me think you're counting nothing correctly.
  • Posts: 5
    Def not eating enough. Starvation plateaus... try eating more. Use this calculator:

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    Thanks for that link! It was really handy :)
  • Posts: 432 Member
    So here it is...Iam 5'9,,170lb with a goal of 150. I run 10 to 12k every other day with long distance runs almost every two weeks ( which iam up to 20k). I count my calories every day and try to aim for 1200 to 1400. My scale has not moved at all!! I am starting lose all determination. Anyone have thoughts or ideas??? helpful tips?

    Eat.
  • Posts: 6,663 Member
    So for grins I entered your info into Scooby's TDEE calculater, and set your age to thirty, used the height and weight you gave us and entered your activity level at 5-6 hours of strenuous exercise per week. They gave me the following info:

    BMR: 1571
    TDEE: 2711 (to maintain current weight)
    Calories you need to eat to lose weight (TDEE-20%): 2168.

    Even if you set your activity level lower, (3-5 hours/wk strenuous) the numbers are as follows:

    BMR: 1571
    TDEE: 2436 (to maintain current weight)
    Calories you need to eat to lose weight (TDEE-20%): 1948


    I don't know how you can function on so few calories. I'm 5'7", 156# and am eating 1600 daily, and some days that still doesn't seem to be enough fuel, especially if I'm jogging.
  • Posts: 5
    show previous quotes

    I agree with this.

    For the people speaking about starvation mode, go learn something: http://www.leighpeele.com/starvation-mode

    She would be losing some weight regardless, this seems to be ANOTHER case of human error and inaccuracy of logging, or even worse, not logging - I've seen several people not weighing foods, not even bothering to log their foods and their diaries are empty for the last 3 weeks and they're still complaining. I've said it before, I'll say it again; you're not a special snowflake. Eating between 1200-1400 just makes me think you're counting nothing correctly.

    And thanks for sharing this article. It was very illuminating. All this talk of reaching 'starvation mode' and ceasing to lose any weight never quite made any sense to me. Sure, you are probably comprimising your metabolic rate, but you will still lose.

    The part about 'short term' re-feeds in order to maintain quality metabolic or psychological behaviour was particularly interesting for me.
  • Posts: 1,304 Member
    show previous quotes

    And thanks for sharing this article. It was very illuminating. All this talk of reaching 'starvation mode' and ceasing to lose any weight never quite made any sense to me. Sure, you are probably comprimising your metabolic rate, but you will still lose.

    The part about 'short term' re-feeds in order to maintain quality metabolic or psychological behaviour was particularly interesting for me.

    Glad you found it useful :)
  • Posts: 1,934 Member
    Stop running so much.
  • Posts: 684 Member
    I'm going to agree with the others and say to eat more (and don't listen to the guy above who said to stop running so much).
  • Posts: 1 Member
    Hi GM you need to change up ur workout... good luck let me know how it goes
  • Posts: 69 Member
    also, when you say the scale is not moving, can you add since when? from Nov 2011? or do you refer to a shorter period?
  • Posts: 991 Member
    Change it up! Running is about adaptation. If you do something often, eventually you become more efficient and as a consequence burn less energy doing it.

    You can break the adaptation cycle somewhat by changing up your workouts... make sure you run a good variety of Hills, Intervals and Long Slow runs. Aim for a high intensity during your workouts where possible. Likely the best measure of intensity is via Heart Rate Monitor.

    Adding in some cross training or strength training never hurts a runner either. You get stronger, you get faster and you work alternate muscle groups. A consequence of having more muscle is that you burn more energy.

    I can't and won't comment on your diet other than suggest you keep a well balanced diet and are hitting all your required vitamins and minerals.

    Good Luck!
  • Posts: 8,701 Member
    Change it up! Running is about adaptation. If you do something often, eventually you become more efficient and as a consequence burn less energy doing it.

    You can break the adaptation cycle somewhat by changing up your workouts... make sure you run a good variety of Hills, Intervals and Long Slow runs. Aim for a high intensity during your workouts where possible. Likely the best measure of intensity is via Heart Rate Monitor.

    Adding in some cross training or strength training never hurts a runner either. You get stronger, you get faster and you work alternate muscle groups. A consequence of having more muscle is that you burn more energy.

    I can't and won't comment on your diet other than suggest you keep a well balanced diet and are hitting all your required vitamins and minerals.

    Good Luck!

    You can burn *slightly* less calories doing the same running workout repeatedly, but it's still physics- it takes a certain amount of energy to move a certain amount of mass over a certain distance. There's no way any adaptation would account for the gap between her distance and her reported calories.
  • Posts: 991 Member
    show previous quotes

    You can burn *slightly* less calories doing the same running workout repeatedly, but it's still physics- it takes a certain amount of energy to move a certain amount of mass over a certain distance. There's no way any adaptation would account for the gap between her distance and her reported calories.

    Disagree... when I first started running my HR was significantly higher than it is now running the same distance at a similar pace.
    We are talking 20-30% higher. As your body adapts to an exercise, it becomes easier. For example... if I were to run for 30 minutes when I started running my heart rate was about 175... my calorie burn was approx. 1200 calories per hour. My heart rate now seldom exceeds 140... all other things being equal, my calorie burn would be about 875. That's close to a 30% difference. I now need to work significantly harder to have the same calorie burn.
  • Posts: 309 Member
    The same thing happens to me, OP. When I exercise, my body just won't lose, but let me stop for a week or two and I'll drop weight like magic. I don't understand it.
  • Posts: 673 Member
    Up your calories and incorporate some weights.
  • Posts: 340 Member
    EATING WAY TO LITTLE.
  • Posts: 340 Member
    I'M @190 on average and i need about 2200 cals thats with my deficit.
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