Running 20-25 miles a week...no weight loss

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cpbateson
cpbateson Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been an off and on again runner for the past 5 years. I would typically run around 3-4 miles per run and lost about 25 pounds in 2009. Fast forward to 2013...I've gained it all back and then some. Currently I'm 190 lbs, 5'9", 25 years old

Anyway, about a month ago I started running again, about 4-5 times a week. I've been slowly increasing the distance of each of my run, my longest being 8 miles just 2 days ago and have also started incorporating HIIT into my running regimen once a week (granted this was my first week). I have been sensing an increase in leg strength, endurance and overall health, but I have not seen a single pound of loss except for fluctuating between 186-189 (water weight?).

During this time I've been using MFP set to the lose 1.5 pounds a week for someone who typically lives the sedentary life of a sound engineer, which is ~1600 calories a day (On the days I run, I increase my caloric intake based on what MFP tells me). I'll admit there are some cheat days here and there, especially on the weekend, but I never let myself go.

I feel like I'm doing things right for the most part.. eating somewhat well, exercising about 6-7 hours a week, drinking the required amount of water, but I still don't see anything changing. Am I just impatient, or am I doing something wrong?

Also, as a side note, my upper back tends to ache after long runs (compression?). Any suggestions?

Replies

  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    You cannot outrun your fork. I would guess that MFP is overestimating burn or you are not tracking calories eaten closely enough.
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
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    What are you using to estimate the number of calories burned on the runs? HRM? online calculator? guess-timation?

    Also, what do your "cheat" days look like... are we talking like an extra 2-300 calories or an extra 1000? That makes a huge difference.
  • Lemongrab1
    Lemongrab1 Posts: 158 Member
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    You're treating your diet loosely as if it matters less than your exercise amount.
    Most of your weight loss will come through diet, not exercise. Exercise obviously helps and makes your body look far better, but to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit by at least 500 which is easiest by controlling your food calories.
    So weigh your food, be a little obsessive initially, and you'll start to lose weight.
    I personally think 1600 is low for a man, but stick to that if you want.
    Be aware that MFP overestimates exercise calories as well, so don't eat back all of them. Eat back about 50-60%.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
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    5'9, 190, 1600 calories.. that is low.. but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be losing..

    Buy a digital food scale, and measure everything.
    On days you run and do HIIT your max calories probably shouldn't be over 2400-2500 calories
    Protein number should be around 150g or more
    Watch your cheat meal/days and make sure you track it.. a big meal with some drinks can easily be 1500 calories
    Looked at your diary, start logging and stop eating fast food for a few weeks til you get your numbers down
    Patience
    Patience
    Patience
  • cpbateson
    cpbateson Posts: 4 Member
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    I forgot to mention that I use a the Garmin Forerunner 210 with HRM. My last run with 1.5 hours and came out to 1100 calories. Is this too high? My heart rate typically stays between 155-170bpm, but can get as high as 180-185 during my high intensity portions of the HIIT.

    My cheat days vary. I'm young and I go out and party with friends and drink a little bit. Nothing excessive and I typically use diet pops for mixed drinks, but I do like the darker beers. The problem is when I drink I also eat horrible..2-3 pieces of pizza or something similar. I'll go a whole week following the diet mfp plots out for me, but then the weekend tends to be a bit off.

    I'll make an effort to watch more closely. Unfortunately, I'm on vacation all next week in Chicago. I'm going to try and get a run or 2 in, but I'll get most of my exercise walking around the City.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Forget the Garmin for calorie burn. Use this:

    burn = .63 x weight in pounds x miles run

    In your case, 5 miles comes to about 600 calories.
  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
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    Running is actually fairly accurate using MFP's numbers as long as you're pushing yourself. Guesstimating 100 cal/mi will get you close enough, really.

    Sounds like the main issue is poor diet. You're probably eating a lot more than you think.
  • cpbateson
    cpbateson Posts: 4 Member
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    I typically look at the MFP calorie count when I run. I'm not that fast, about 10 min/mile. I typically have to drop the calorie count when I look at the Garmin. Damir, I think I'll start using that as my calorie count. I'd rather air on the side of low calorie burn that too much.

    Thank you everyone for your advice. I agree that it is mostly my diet. I tend to eat alright, but it's always the damn beers with friends that take me over... perhaps I should start drinking light beer? Ugh..
  • cpbateson
    cpbateson Posts: 4 Member
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    Damir, I just ran 5 miles and comparing the 2 values I got roughly the same thing with the Garmin (598 calories) and the formula (595.35).

    I'll use your formula to double check the garmin from now on.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Ah, dude, my bad - I totally missed that you're using a Forerunner. With the GPS tracking, it knows how far you've gone, so much of the error introduced by "huffers and puffers" using only (artificially elevated) heart rate data is generally avoided.

    Beer...yeah...awesome recovery fuel but....lol...
  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
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    I typically look at the MFP calorie count when I run. I'm not that fast, about 10 min/mile. I typically have to drop the calorie count when I look at the Garmin. Damir, I think I'll start using that as my calorie count. I'd rather air on the side of low calorie burn that too much.

    Thank you everyone for your advice. I agree that it is mostly my diet. I tend to eat alright, but it's always the damn beers with friends that take me over... perhaps I should start drinking light beer? Ugh..
    Beer is 180 cal/12 oz. Not to mention alcohol gets metabolized first so any extra dietary fat you have in you gets converted to stored fat until the alcohol is used up.
  • albertine58
    albertine58 Posts: 267 Member
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    What I've done is try to limit drinking to 1 night a week- it's helped a lot! Living in NYC, I have friends that go to happy hour all the time and before you know it, you've had beers or cocktails 4 nights in a week. It's how I gained 10 lbs since May- too much summertime drinking!
    I just drink rum+diet coke usually, but sometimes I'll share a nice good beer with someone. I'm SO anti light beer, haha. The lower the calories, the lower the alcohol content, until you're basically just drinking a nasty piece of bread that won't even get you buzzed.

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