weight gain or weight loss during training

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For those of you who have lost weight while running, how long did it take before you started seeing results? Do you gain or loose weight while training?

I started running because I love it, but also to help me loose weight. But it seems like I am gaining vs dropping the weight.
I am just not sure what else to do. I upped my calories, maybe is what I am eating? Maybe too much or too little calories or I am not pushing hard enough. I am at a loss I do not want to give up I just want to figure this out.

Thanks for your input.

Replies

  • ibleedunionblue
    ibleedunionblue Posts: 324 Member
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    I lost 75 pounds this summer training for a marathon. When I ran years ago, I would justify eating too much because I was training. This summer, I stayed under 1500 calories a day while training. That is just my experience.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
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    I was losing well before I started running, and running can make it easier or more difficult. Easier because yes, you are burning more calories. More difficult because it is easy to overestimate your burns and overcompensate your intake (and as you get better, your HR decreases and you burn less). Looking at your past few days, I'd say you're not eating enough.

    Currently, I eat about 2K for maintenance, plus I eat back some of my calories. I also did TDEE over the summer. It took me a while to figure out what I needed to eat in order to be happy, and also what my limits were so I wouldn't gain weight. Once I found that threshold, it's been smooth sailing since May. Haven't gained/lost an ounce.
  • RunnerElizabeth
    RunnerElizabeth Posts: 1,091 Member
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    20 miles a week is my sweet spot for being able to eat moderately and lose weight while training. Under 20 and moderate eating, my weight stays the same.

    Now I'm runinng 30-35 a week and I'm hungry all the time and clearly over eating, so I'm gaining. I'm trying to reign this in but finding it very difficult. I know I'm overeating, but I'm hungry! And I want bread all the time. If anyone has any suggestions for this, I'm listening! And I don't want to run less.
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
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    I started walking and then running to lose weight and to take on new challenges (races) and I'd say I started losing slowly and consistently within the first three months or so. I am pretty conscious about what I eat, so I stayed consistent in my calories, but when I was strength training as well, there would be days where I was just ravenous. I called these my "T-Rex" days because I basically wanted to eat everything in sight.

    Are you using a HRM at all? It's very easy to think or assume you're burning more calories than you actually are. I know people say on average it's about "100 calories per mile", but I'm so tiny that this doesn't apply to me - I burn closer to 70 calories per mile. Which means when I run 5 miles, I've earned myself just one extra bloody pancake! So sad.

    I'm currently running about 30-35 miles a week (marathon training) and I have a very difficult time keeping the weight on. I also tend to lose my appetite after running long distances, go figure. Anyway, keep at it. Just give it some time, your body will adjust.
  • TheBrolympus
    TheBrolympus Posts: 586 Member
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    20 miles a week is my sweet spot for being able to eat moderately and lose weight while training. Under 20 and moderate eating, my weight stays the same.

    Now I'm runinng 30-35 a week and I'm hungry all the time and clearly over eating, so I'm gaining. I'm trying to reign this in but finding it very difficult. I know I'm overeating, but I'm hungry! And I want bread all the time. If anyone has any suggestions for this, I'm listening! And I don't want to run less.

    I am having the same issue. Was fine at 20-25 miles a week but now I am up to 30 miles a week and I was getting hungry all the time. I have to eat more on my running days or I just crash and burn after a week or so. I add more calories on my running days but pull them back on my non-running days. It helps with my energy levels and I am not gaining weight. For the hunger I am trying to get more bulk foods (green stuff that has low calories so you can eat a ton of it) into my diet that will make me feel full.
  • Ke22yB
    Ke22yB Posts: 969 Member
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    I am approaching my final goals 175 then under 165 after over 5 years and so I am losing very slowly to ease in to a maintenance mode when I increase my mileage I do get hungry but I change the composition of my foods/meals to adjust to hunger
    1 my daily smoothie more veggie or green in the smoothie celery is my go to great amounts of potasium very low calorie and also carrots in the smoothie usually make about 48 ounces drink a 1/3 in the morning 1/3 after workout and freeze 1/3 and thaw at dinner so it like a frozen ice for dinner dessert.
    2 add more salad and veggie to dinner adding more bulk and keeping my protein about 4 to 6 ounces helps me feel full.
    I will eat more calories but not enough to affect my weight loss because I am running more.
    My daily calorie goal is about 1500 I take my calories burned from my HRM and Mapmyrun and subtract some from that number for BMR so about - 100 calories from burn for each hour run
    I also tend to overestimate calories in food portions a bit
  • sarahz5
    sarahz5 Posts: 1,363 Member
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    I lost the vast majority of my weight last year when I was exclusively running and eating about TDEE-500 calories, with some unlogged/cheat days here and there. When I started lifting more and started trying to run a smaller deficit, my loss slowed down significantly. You definitely need to track all your food and be careful that you aren't overestimating your burns. This fall, I am eating close to maintenance because I want to make sure not to lose too much LBM and I want to maximize my performance in races, so I haven't been losing much. It's really all about intake and not too terribly much about what you doing for exercise.
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    Options
    I lost 75 pounds this summer training for a marathon. When I ran years ago, I would justify eating too much because I was training. This summer, I stayed under 1500 calories a day while training. That is just my experience.

    That is awesome congrats on the weight loss. I am trying to stay under 1500.
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    Options
    I was losing well before I started running, and running can make it easier or more difficult. Easier because yes, you are burning more calories. More difficult because it is easy to overestimate your burns and overcompensate your intake (and as you get better, your HR decreases and you burn less). Looking at your past few days, I'd say you're not eating enough.

    Currently, I eat about 2K for maintenance, plus I eat back some of my calories. I also did TDEE over the summer. It took me a while to figure out what I needed to eat in order to be happy, and also what my limits were so I wouldn't gain weight. Once I found that threshold, it's been smooth sailing since May. Haven't gained/lost an ounce.

    So you think I should be eating more? I know that I upped my calories by doing TDEE. According to the road map my

    BMR is 1347
    TDEE is 1852.
    I have set my calories to 1500 to stay in between my BMR and TDEE.
    50%carbs/25%protein/25%fat

    Setting my calories to 1500 allows to me eat back some of the exercise calories and stay around 1800. I just upped my calories last week. Does this make sense? or should I just set my calories to 1800 and not eat exercise calories back?
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    Options
    20 miles a week is my sweet spot for being able to eat moderately and lose weight while training. Under 20 and moderate eating, my weight stays the same.

    Now I'm runinng 30-35 a week and I'm hungry all the time and clearly over eating, so I'm gaining. I'm trying to reign this in but finding it very difficult. I know I'm overeating, but I'm hungry! And I want bread all the time. If anyone has any suggestions for this, I'm listening! And I don't want to run less.

    I need to keep better track of the miles I am logging per week, I know that I am getting hungrier and I upped my calories to help me with that using the TDEE road map. Not sure if that is what is making me gain weight. My running miles are increasing for my Half Marathon training so I know that I will be hungrier looking to see if you get any advice on this too
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    Options
    I started walking and then running to lose weight and to take on new challenges (races) and I'd say I started losing slowly and consistently within the first three months or so. I am pretty conscious about what I eat, so I stayed consistent in my calories, but when I was strength training as well, there would be days where I was just ravenous. I called these my "T-Rex" days because I basically wanted to eat everything in sight.

    Are you using a HRM at all? It's very easy to think or assume you're burning more calories than you actually are. I know people say on average it's about "100 calories per mile", but I'm so tiny that this doesn't apply to me - I burn closer to 70 calories per mile. Which means when I run 5 miles, I've earned myself just one extra bloody pancake! So sad.

    I'm currently running about 30-35 miles a week (marathon training) and I have a very difficult time keeping the weight on. I also tend to lose my appetite after running long distances, go figure. Anyway, keep at it. Just give it some time, your body will adjust.

    Do you share your Diary so that I can see it? I was not using an HRM I was using runkeeper on my phone to track my miles and it synchs with Myfitness pal and it calculates the calories burned. The good thing is that I am not guessing the calories. I will start wearing my HRM and see how it compares. I have to go and figure out how many miles I am running a week, I am currently training for a half so last week my miles started increasing for my long runs. I am just so frustrated because I still have a good amount of weight to loose and it is just not happening I know that the extra weight is holding me back from increasing my pace as well
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    Options
    I am approaching my final goals 175 then under 165 after over 5 years and so I am losing very slowly to ease in to a maintenance mode when I increase my mileage I do get hungry but I change the composition of my foods/meals to adjust to hunger
    1 my daily smoothie more veggie or green in the smoothie celery is my go to great amounts of potasium very low calorie and also carrots in the smoothie usually make about 48 ounces drink a 1/3 in the morning 1/3 after workout and freeze 1/3 and thaw at dinner so it like a frozen ice for dinner dessert.
    2 add more salad and veggie to dinner adding more bulk and keeping my protein about 4 to 6 ounces helps me feel full.
    I will eat more calories but not enough to affect my weight loss because I am running more.
    My daily calorie goal is about 1500 I take my calories burned from my HRM and Mapmyrun and subtract some from that number for BMR so about - 100 calories from burn for each hour run
    I also tend to overestimate calories in food portions a bit

    wow great job on the weight loss that is awesome. You gave some really good tips thank you
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    Options
    I lost the vast majority of my weight last year when I was exclusively running and eating about TDEE-500 calories, with some unlogged/cheat days here and there. When I started lifting more and started trying to run a smaller deficit, my loss slowed down significantly. You definitely need to track all your food and be careful that you aren't overestimating your burns. This fall, I am eating close to maintenance because I want to make sure not to lose too much LBM and I want to maximize my performance in races, so I haven't been losing much. It's really all about intake and not too terribly much about what you doing for exercise.

    Thanks for the response According to the road map my
    BMR is 1347
    TDEE is 1852.
    I have set my calories to 1500 to stay in between my BMR and TDEE.
    50%carbs/25%protein/25%fat
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
    Options
    I haven't been logging for the past few weeks. Logging for me, can make me TOO conscious of my calories and I have a tendency to not want to eat over an amount. I ballpark the calories in my mind and keep a running score. Since I'm not worried about losing weight, I'm not as uptight about being super close to the "right" number of calories. I'm averaging about 1600-1800 calories a day, which is probably still too low for what I'm burning. Just hard for me to force myself to eat because I eat until I feel satisfied and don't feel like just eating for sport.
  • sarahz5
    sarahz5 Posts: 1,363 Member
    Options
    I lost the vast majority of my weight last year when I was exclusively running and eating about TDEE-500 calories, with some unlogged/cheat days here and there. When I started lifting more and started trying to run a smaller deficit, my loss slowed down significantly. You definitely need to track all your food and be careful that you aren't overestimating your burns. This fall, I am eating close to maintenance because I want to make sure not to lose too much LBM and I want to maximize my performance in races, so I haven't been losing much. It's really all about intake and not too terribly much about what you doing for exercise.

    Thanks for the response According to the road map my
    BMR is 1347
    TDEE is 1852.
    I have set my calories to 1500 to stay in between my BMR and TDEE.
    50%carbs/25%protein/25%fat

    When you calculated TDEE, did you include your estimated workouts? If so, then you should never eat more than 1852, or you will be bulking. 1852 gross would be maintenance.

    With my job, my workouts (unfortunately) vary a lot week to week. Because I couldn't reliably know what I would do each week, I use MFP the traditional way. I calculated my TDEE based on no working out (apprx. 1800), then subtract whatever deficit I want (from July-Sept, -300 per day to lose about 1/2 to 2/3 lb per week). So it set it 1500. Then I eat back all my exercise calories.

    You need to be careful about your calories, even with technological assistance. :wink: They can still be overestimated.
  • MinimalistShoeAddict
    MinimalistShoeAddict Posts: 1,946 Member
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    I lost weight quickly last fall when I first started running and achieved my ideal running weight near the beginning of the year. I have been eating at maintenance ever since.

    I agree with the warnings about the tendency to overestimate the caloric burn from running. I have used both the MFP method (eating back all exercise calories) and the TDEE method to successfully maintain my weight this year. For both methods I utilize the formula in the article I cite below. I ate back my burned calories for the MFP method. For the TDEE method, I estimated the total burn of my training plan and built that into my TDEE.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning

    My weight has been stable within a few kilograms all year.
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    Options
    I lost the vast majority of my weight last year when I was exclusively running and eating about TDEE-500 calories, with some unlogged/cheat days here and there. When I started lifting more and started trying to run a smaller deficit, my loss slowed down significantly. You definitely need to track all your food and be careful that you aren't overestimating your burns. This fall, I am eating close to maintenance because I want to make sure not to lose too much LBM and I want to maximize my performance in races, so I haven't been losing much. It's really all about intake and not too terribly much about what you doing for exercise.

    Thanks for the response According to the road map my
    BMR is 1347
    TDEE is 1852.
    I have set my calories to 1500 to stay in between my BMR and TDEE.
    50%carbs/25%protein/25%fat

    When you calculated TDEE, did you include your estimated workouts? If so, then you should never eat more than 1852, or you will be bulking. 1852 gross would be maintenance.

    With my job, my workouts (unfortunately) vary a lot week to week. Because I couldn't reliably know what I would do each week, I use MFP the traditional way. I calculated my TDEE based on no working out (apprx. 1800), then subtract whatever deficit I want (from July-Sept, -300 per day to lose about 1/2 to 2/3 lb per week). So it set it 1500. Then I eat back all my exercise calories.

    You need to be careful about your calories, even with technological assistance. :wink: They can still be overestimated.

    Maybe I still do not understand this TDEE thing I followed the instructions in this article

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013?hl=road+map

    I believe I selected lightly active and that is how I came up with the number I think I need to do it again and write down all of the numbers.
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    Options
    I lost weight quickly last fall when I first started running and achieved my ideal running weight near the beginning of the year. I have been eating at maintenance ever since.

    I agree with the warnings about the tendency to overestimate the caloric burn from running. I have used both the MFP method (eating back all exercise calories) and the TDEE method to successfully maintain my weight this year. For both methods I utilize the formula in the article I cite below. I ate back my burned calories for the MFP method. For the TDEE method, I estimated the total burn of my training plan and built that into my TDEE.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning

    My weight has been stable within a few kilograms all year.

    I am sorry but I think I just got all confused LOL!!!
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
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    I've been able to both lose weight while training and gain weight while training, running between 50 and 85 miles per week.

    It's all about what I put in my mouth and how much of it.