Running for weightloss

First of all, you are not gaining muscle. Running does not build (much) muscle. You are however, retaining fluid. That will account for a little bit of the scale increase. When you exercise, your muscles retain fluid to repair themselves (because exercise tears your muscle fibers). To counteract this, drink plenty of water and take rest days.

Second, running is not the magical key to weight loss. A calorie deficit is. Your diary is missing a lot of entries and some days only look partially completed. You need to log every thing you eat (and drink). You need to weigh and measure your food. If you do that, and stick to a moderate calorie deficit, you'll lose weight.

Finally, carbs are not evil. They are a good source of energy. They will not limit your ability to lose weight. Eat them as you see fit. And eat back your exercise calories (because that's how MFP works).

I am not an Atkins expert, but I was under the impression that when you reintroduce the carbs back in that you will see a weight gain? I could be wrong.

I would make sure to eat a good mix of protein and complex carbs to fuel your workouts. You need carbs to run - but hte good ones. And you need teh lean proteins to recover. I am a runner and come from a family of runners. I know when I train for marathons I don't lose any weight as I generally start eating more and not watching it.

As far as training goes - intervals will not only get you faster but they will burn fat like it's nobody's business. Any time you do an interval or speed work have two days of recovery before the next day. When I worked with a running coach I would do one hard workout day followed by one recovery day - which was at least a minute per mile slower than my average pace, followed by an easy day and then another workout. If you aren't running tons of miles yet I would maybe do a hard workout and then the next day even a one mile slow recovery jog. You will need it and it will feel sooo good.

Weight loss is mostly diet.. You may be gaining muscle too..

Op isn't gaining muscle from running, especially appreciable muscle that would cause the gain in the scale.

Agreed it's mostly diet.

Are you eating exercise calories back?

If so, how are you estimating?

I get busy and or lazy with logging that is why there are missing entries but I can assure you I don't eat crap. I try my best to eat "clean". But I can be more strict with my logging and see if I notice a pattern. I also am bad with drinking water so I'll try to up my fluids.

Crap or clean doesn't matter. You can eat too many calories in "clean" foods. Too many calories = weight gain (whether those extra calories came from broccoli or ice cream)

Log everything.

My thoughts in no particular order.

Eating clean is great but a calorie deficit is needed for weight loss.

By starting running it is highly unlikely you've any appreciable amount of muscle mass...Mayb some if you were a complete newbie, but still unlikely.

You introduced carbs back into your diet, which is getting stored in your muscles and liver as glycogen. Glycogen binds to water, which carries weight. None of those things are fat.

My guess would be with the introduction of carbs and weight training you are experiencing some water retention plus your glycogren stores being replenished. I've heard some comment that when you are on a very low carb diet like atkins, there is also a supercompensation effect. If the logging is inconsistent its possible you are overreating but I dont know. The only way to know is to log.

I would update your stats with the higher weight now that you are eating carbs and track your progress from there. Here is why. I weigh 235 lbs today. I eat around 200-250 grams of carbs a day. I could weigh 225 by the end of this week if I went on <50 grams of carbs a day diet. That would not accurately reflect real fat loss progress made. So if I started out at 225, added carbs, and went to 235, I might get worried, when actually there is nothing to be worried about.

My thoughts in no particular order.

Eating clean is great but a calorie deficit is needed for weight loss.

By starting running it is highly unlikely you've any appreciable amount of muscle mass...Mayb some if you were a complete newbie, but still unlikely.

You introduced carbs back into your diet, which is getting stored in your muscles and liver as glycogen. Glycogen binds to water, which carries weight. None of those things are fat.

My guess would be with the introduction of carbs and weight training you are experiencing some water retention plus your glycogren stores being replenished. I've heard some comment that when you are on a very low carb diet like atkins, there is also a supercompensation effect. If the logging is inconsistent its possible you are overreating but I dont know. The only way to know is to log.

I would update your stats with the higher weight now that you are eating carbs and track your progress from there. Here is why. I weigh 235 lbs today. I eat around 200-250 grams of carbs a day. I could weigh 225 by the end of this week if I went on <50 grams of carbs a day diet. That would not accurately reflect real fat loss progress made. So if I started out at 225, added carbs, and went to 235, I might get worried, when actually there is nothing to be worried about.

+1

when you begin a low carb diet, the scale will show a moderate loss which is attributed to depleted glycogen stores (to oversimplify, it's water weight). how long has it been since you reintroduced carbs and started running? reintroducing carbs and beginning a new exercise program will restore these glycogen stores which may show as a gain on the scale. eating "clean" is great but you can still overeat clean foods.

lastly, you really do need to log better. you say you drink on Fridays and Saturdays - how much exactly? the correct answer is that you do not know because you are not keeping an accurate log of your intake. I also find it interesting you specifically you mention eating "clean" in order to keep your sodium low when your diary directly contradicts this. based on your last post there will be a bunch of "eat more" advice to follow, but you cannot accurately adjust your intake if you do not know what your intake is. you're on a calorie counting site, use the tool as precisely as possible for the best results.

I don't eat a lot. I've been at this "logging" thing for years now. I know how many calories i'm eating in a day even if i'm not logging. When I say I eat "clean" I mean I don't eat high fat, fried, processed foods which can make you gain faster than fruits and veggies due to the sodium content alone. The most calories I will eat in a day is around 1300 calories. And I'm burning in my cardio routine a day around 400 calories. I also do weight training for 30 mins 2x a week.

Then the best advice is see a doctor. With a cal intake of no more than 1300 per day and a burn of 400 per day you should be losing weight. Even if you ate dirty fried foods amounting to 1300 per day you would lose weight.

It's your diet that is stopping you from losing weight.. If you are running and only eating 1200 calories you are not fueling your body properly. I run, lift and do aerobic classes. I eat between 1600-2400 per day and I am probably still under eating. I don't lose unless I get over 1600 cal each day. I also eat clean, but over eating is still possible. I eat very little sugar or processed foods. I cook from scratch. I log every morsel that passes my lips, because i'm not totally in control of my diet otherwise. I also thought I was logging well until i bought a scale. Under estimating veggies and over estimating meat, every single time. Which means I wasn't eating as much as I thought I was. Starting eating better and logging correctly and I started losing again. Despite having a few very bad high calorie days.

Abs/weight loss happens in the kitchen, not in the gym.

First, congratulations on getting into running. It's definitely not for everyone.

My suggestions: you really need to take a hard look at what you're eating. Your body is an engine and if you put crap fuel in it, you'll get crap results. I won't go into the deeper analogy of this but I have a feeling you get where I'm going.

Also, are you cross training? Lifting weights/strength training, swimming, climbing stairs, yoga, Zumba etc. are important since it sounds like you're getting more competitive with running. It will help your body to work together and run more efficiently by using the muscles different.

About this complex carbs stuff -- yes you need them as your distance is going up. What kinds of complex carbs are you eating though? Are they all refined? Full of additives, sugars, preservatives, etc?

Eat clean. Train dirty.

Good luck!

One other thought on this (and sorry if someone else said it and I missed it in the above thread) - if you are looking to lose weight as a runner, I'd recommend some interval or speed training in your weekly run schedule: e.g. intervals, fartlek,, hill training and/or tempo runs. Those runs are much more efficient at burning calories that the long, slow ones. Although I'm not saying quit doing the long, slow distance runs as those are great for building your running endurance; just add in some interval-type training for calorie burn (and to improve your speed).
Finally, just make sure to add these runs to your running routine slowly to avoid an injury from overtraining! Good luck!!

Also, for those who have said running doesn't help much with weight-loss - it did for me! I went from originally 155 to 122 over that last few years from running. Then I got injured this spring, which prevented me from running from June - late September, and I gained back 6 pounds. So at least for me, running is really effective for weight-loss, when combined with a healthy diet of course.

I get busy and or lazy with logging that is why there are missing entries but I can assure you I don't eat crap. I try my best to eat "clean". But I can be more strict with my logging and see if I notice a pattern. I also am bad with drinking water so I'll try to up my fluids.

It doesn't matter if you eat "clean" or "dirty"...if you over consume calories you will gain weight. When I'm actively training for an event it is very difficult for me to eat anything much below my maintenance as my training suffers for it...this is common for most people...achieving optimal fitness goals and dieting don't really go hand in hand because your body just wants more energy than your fat store can provide for.

Running does build your leg muscles. Mine are, I must say, looking pretty good after running about the same amount per week as the OP (although much slower - I guess I'm more of a fast jogger at this point). And I don't do squats or much of anything else.

Running provides for sub-optimal conditions for hypertrophy. You also cannot build any substantial muscle while in a deficit of energy...certainly nothing measurable on a scale. What is happening is that you are shedding fat and revealing the muscle underneath. You are probably also witnessing "pump"...which is where your muscles become engorged with water and look bigger. You know like when people do an exercise and all of a sudden they look a little more pumped than they did before they started.

I get busy and or lazy with logging that is why there are missing entries but I can assure you I don't eat crap. I try my best to eat "clean". But I can be more strict with my logging and see if I notice a pattern. I also am bad with drinking water so I'll try to up my fluids.

It doesn't matter if you eat "clean" or "dirty"...if you over consume calories you will gain weight. When I'm actively training for an event it is very difficult for me to eat anything much below my maintenance as my training suffers for it...this is common for most people...achieving optimal fitness goals and dieting don't really go hand in hand because your body just wants more energy than your fat store can provide for.

Running does build your leg muscles. Mine are, I must say, looking pretty good after running about the same amount per week as the OP (although much slower - I guess I'm more of a fast jogger at this point). And I don't do squats or much of anything else.

Running provides for sub-optimal conditions for hypertrophy. You also cannot build any substantial muscle while in a deficit of energy...certainly nothing measurable on a scale. What is happening is that you are shedding fat and revealing the muscle underneath. You are probably also witnessing "pump"...which is where your muscles become engorged with water and look bigger. You know like when people do an exercise and all of a sudden they look a little more pumped than they did before they started.

^^^Yep. That's all I've really got.

Who is claiming to be running on a deficit here? I wasn't, when I built mine. OP's deficit is quite questionable we have already gleaned from her posts.

Funny, that the muscles I STILL have 20 years later, are only due to temporary water swelling. In your opinion.

You are gaining because you are eating more than you are burning.

I get busy and or lazy with logging that is why there are missing entries but I can assure you I don't eat crap. I try my best to eat "clean". But I can be more strict with my logging and see if I notice a pattern. I also am bad with drinking water so I'll try to up my fluids.

It doesn't matter if you eat "clean" or "dirty"...if you over consume calories you will gain weight. When I'm actively training for an event it is very difficult for me to eat anything much below my maintenance as my training suffers for it...this is common for most people...achieving optimal fitness goals and dieting don't really go hand in hand because your body just wants more energy than your fat store can provide for.

Running does build your leg muscles. Mine are, I must say, looking pretty good after running about the same amount per week as the OP (although much slower - I guess I'm more of a fast jogger at this point). And I don't do squats or much of anything else.

Running provides for sub-optimal conditions for hypertrophy. You also cannot build any substantial muscle while in a deficit of energy...certainly nothing measurable on a scale. What is happening is that you are shedding fat and revealing the muscle underneath. You are probably also witnessing "pump"...which is where your muscles become engorged with water and look bigger. You know like when people do an exercise and all of a sudden they look a little more pumped than they did before they started.

^^^Yep. That's all I've really got.

Who is claiming to be running on a deficit here? I wasn't, when I built mine. OP's deficit is quite questionable we have already gleaned from her posts.

Funny, that the muscles I STILL have 20 years later, are only due to temporary water swelling. In your opinion.

Weird, I've been running for over 20 years too, many of which at competitive level (5K, 10K, 1/2). Wonder why my legs aren't the size of tree trunks.......

Steady state cardio doesn't build substantial muscle (I would argue it builds none at all) as stated by the previous poster about hypertrophy.

Whateves....Special snowflake I guess.

Hmm. So you twist my assertion that I gained muscle weight in my legs when I started running, to mean that I think the muscle mass gains are never ending?

Go write yourself another fairytale junior. Or at least try to come up with a half-way decent strawman arguement! LOL