50+ miles a week running, no weight loss

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scottishrunner
scottishrunner Posts: 11
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,
I run 6 days a week, cover 50+ miles in that period and have been using Endomondo to log my runs with my Garmin GPS and heart rate monitor.
The issue is I eat all my calories, including my excercise calories and I'm not loosing weight, Ive also tried eating less food than what my daily allowance is and still nothing.

I'm 6"2, currently floating around 13.2 stone, from week to week I go from 13.3 to 13.0 but never get any lower than 13.

My aim was to get down to 12.6 as I find this is a good weight for me when racing.

Any help / suggestions would be great,
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Replies

  • timeasterday
    timeasterday Posts: 1,368 Member
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    If you eat all your calories and your exercise calories then of course you don't lose weight. How much less calories did you try and for how long? That kind of adjustment takes a while and keep in mind there's a decent amount of calorie error in what this site says, what your HRM says, what the Internet says, etc.
  • scottishrunner
    scottishrunner Posts: 11
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    But the point of MFP is that it reduces your calorie intake for you

    i.e. if I want to loose 1lb a week then my calories before excercise are X, if I want to loose 2lbs a week then my daily calorie intake is Y.
    This is the amount I need to eat without excercise to loose weight. If I then eat all my excercise calories this is still going to mean I am minus the daily amount so should loose.

    If I didnt eat my excercise calories then on some days I would have 2000+ calories extra burnt.

    I've been trying since before Christmas, the only thing I havent tried is eating more than what the site says - which could mean some days that I am just constantly eating - more than I am already!!
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
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    You are either over estimating the calories burned or under estimating the calories consumed.

    I run as much (sometimes more) than you do. My weight fluctuates by about 10 pounds. When I need to get to racing weight, I use the TDEE method and eat between 1600 and 1800 calories per day. I lose a pound a week when I do this. I'm lighter than you at 130ish pounds, so those numbers would be a bit higher for you.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    You're eating too much it's as simple as that. You need to be in a defecit to lose weight my guess is your exercise calories have been over estimated.
  • crt714
    crt714 Posts: 19
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    You could be in a classic plateau - your body has become such an efficient machine that it has learned to cling to extra weight while you run.

    It might be time to add in some cycling, swimming, or better yet - some weight training to tone up the muscles so that they burn fat more readily.
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
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    From your picture it looks like you don't have much weight to lose (in the form of body fat). If you are just worried about losing weight (not caring from where it comes from) you simply need to reduce calorie intake. If you are concern about aesthetics, you should incorporate some weight lifting into your workouts.

    ETA: Weight lifting will help your running performance as well. Also, how many calories are you eating?
  • Kirk_R
    Kirk_R Posts: 112 Member
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    You may want to select a different base setup in MFP (e.g., I told MFP I'm sedentary). You can also manually adjust your calories if MFP's automatic calculations aren't doing the trick. While calories in - calories out is simplified from reality it is still the place to start.
  • shell13b
    shell13b Posts: 55 Member
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    Correct me if I'm wrong but you do not eat exercise calorie intake if you want to lose weight.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Hi all,
    I run 6 days a week, cover 50+ miles in that period and have been using Endomondo to log my runs with my Garmin GPS and heart rate monitor.
    The issue is I eat all my calories, including my excercise calories and I'm not loosing weight, Ive also tried eating less food than what my daily allowance is and still nothing.

    I'm 6"2, currently floating around 13.2 stone, from week to week I go from 13.3 to 13.0 but never get any lower than 13.

    My aim was to get down to 12.6 as I find this is a good weight for me when racing.

    Any help / suggestions would be great,

    You're either overestimating your daily calorie allowance, or underestimating your daily intake (or a combination of both).

    Make sure you're getting adequate protein as this can help stave off LBM losses.

    You need to go back to basics and challenge all the assumptions you've made re your intake and expenditure. Weigh and measure all your food and keep an accurate measure of weight changes - adjust your TDEE given the data you harvest (should take 2-3 weeks to get an accurate number).
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
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    Correct me if I'm wrong but you do not eat exercise calorie intake if you want to lose weight.

    Correcting you. :)

    The way MFP is designed, you are supposed to eat back the exercise calories.
  • KyleB65
    KyleB65 Posts: 1,196 Member
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    Review what you have been eating. How have you managed Carbs/protein/fat in your diet? Running 50+ miles per week is huge! I barely broke 30 miles per week training for a marathon! This amount of effort is extremely demanding on your body. You need to make sure you are feeding yourself properly for this level of exertion.

    Also, is there any variation in your running? Example, do you run the same 10 mile route 5x per week? If so, look into running fewer miles but varying the type of running. You body can adapt quickly to long steady paced exercise. To increase the fitness/strength value of the running add in fartleks (short distance sprints with regular pace recovery), hill repeats and tempo runs. These will all help you improve as a runner. There are lots of different running programs on the web. A little research will help you find a program you can adapt to your needs.

    I am also a big fan of adding strength/resistance training to a running program along with yoga style stretching. Both of these will help you avoid injuries and vary the stresses on your body that your high mileage weeks are giving.
  • Kirk_R
    Kirk_R Posts: 112 Member
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    Correcting you. :)

    The way MFP is designed, you are supposed to eat back the exercise calories.

    Although it depends on your settings too. I set mine so that I neither gain nor lose weights if I get to 0 calories at the end of the day but then I manually determine my deficit each day. On long run days, especially like now as I have been ramping up mileage, I either have a very small deficit or none at all. Other days I have a 500-1000 calorie deficit depending on how I'm feeling. While I have done 50+ mile weeks it's not a regular thing for me as I try to alternate focus between lifting and running (currently running wins as I'm getting set for Frederick Half).

    And "hey" to another 45 year old MD runner, although, judging from your PRs, races would be completely different animals for you than for me. ;)
  • wandadars
    wandadars Posts: 25 Member
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    I used to eat back my exercise calories. It basically had my at maintenance. I didn't loose a pound for 5 months. If you want to loose weight, don't eat back all of those calories.
  • outdoorslife
    outdoorslife Posts: 28 Member
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    Nice amount of running! Used to run to do marathons, and what I noticed is that the human body will get much more efficient when it is repetitively doing something. You probably need to mix it up a bit with other exercises. Perhaps throw in something cardio fitness related, i.e. P90X or Insanity or some such. Basically throw your body a curve ball so it has to engage difference muscle groups etc.

    Double check your calorie intake carefully. I found many discrepancies with MFP for calories on food types. You can literally go up or down 100's of calories depending on your picks. I tend to stay within my recent/favorites since I know I have vetted them for accuracy.

    All this of course is dependent on what your current BF% is already, those last few % can be a bear to lose. Or you might already be down low on BF%. Would probably be helpful to others to get a feel on what your other measurements are, BF%, food calorie intake when not exercising, the add-in for exercise, and from where are the values derived.
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
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    And "hey" to another 45 year old MD runner, although, judging from your PRs, races would be completely different animals for you than for me. ;)

    I might beat you in a foot race, but you'd be able to chuck me out of the way without any problem. :)
  • saskie78
    saskie78 Posts: 237 Member
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    I had the same problem! I only had a couple pounds to take off, though. I agree with the others: strength training is key. I don't really know why, I just know that when I add in the strength training, the extra pounds come off.

    Also, I do two high mileage running weeks followed by a low mileage week. I eat all my calories and go into maintenance mode in my high mileage weeks, then shoot to lose one pound in my low mileage week. This has also worked, and I often find I even lose weight in those high mileage weeks when I'm not trying to (IF I'm strength-training). Again, I have no idea why.

    Good luck!
  • scottishrunner
    scottishrunner Posts: 11
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    Thanks everyone for your comments, didnt expect so many replies in such a short time!

    Here is a bit more background about my running.

    I run 6 days a week, with a mix of distances and types of running. A typical week is

    Monday: easy 5 mile run, recovery
    Tuesday: Speed / Track session, usually 8 miles total
    Wednesday: easy 7 mile run
    Thursday: Hill training / speed work, usually 8 miles
    Friday: Rest
    Saturday: 8 miles marathon pace training run
    Sunday: 16+ mile run

    Ive been doing this for a number of months now, in training for Edinburgh Marathon.

    From what some of you are saying, I think my excercise calculations may be going wrong somewhere when I import them from Endomondo in to MFP.

    My TDEE is 2212 from the calculator I found, this is for Sedentary. Interestingly if I put I want to maintain my current weight in MFP I am given 2290 calories, so instantly I have a difference of an extra 78 calories a day.

    If I put very active, training 6 days a week I get a TDEE of 3179* edit (found another website that gives me 2803 cals for 6 days of activity, so many options!!!) .

    As for my food intake, I weigh everything, double check calories on packets etc so I think the calorie side of things are correct.

    Interesting to read about strength training. It's not something I have really looked at much, simply because trying to fit it in to my training is difficult. May sit down and have a look at it though as it could be the kick my body needs.

    I take it if I were to try the TDEE way of doing things, I just give myself 3179 calories a day and then don't eat back excercise calories? What happens on the day off, do I still eat 3179 or 2803?

    Cheers,
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    I take it if I were to try the TDEE way of doing things, I just give myself 3179 calories a day and then don't eat back excercise calories? What happens on the day off, do I still eat 3179?

    Cheers,

    You need a first, best estimate of TDEE (using an online calculator). Take 250 off that figure and run with those numbers for 2 weeks. You should lose a lb over two weeks if you've got the right figures (1/2lb/week for a 1750 weekly deficit).

    Since TDEE calculators are basically estimates, you'll be "off" from 1/2lb/week by some amount. Re-adjust your TDEE figure accordingly and run again for another 2 weeks. Keep repeating until you're happy with your weight and then "reverse diet" your way back up to maintenance over a two week period.
  • scottishrunner
    scottishrunner Posts: 11
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    Cheers Jim, and for for the day off i.e. Friday rest day. Do I still stick to the TDEE calulation?

    Looking at : http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    It gives me 2779 for 6 days a week activity, minus 250 = 2529 a day
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Cheers Jim, and for for the day off i.e. Friday rest day. Do I still stick to the TDEE calulation?

    Looking at : http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    It gives me 2779 for 6 days a week activity, minus 250 = 2529 a day

    A TDEE calculator will give you an average per day (training or otherwise) based on your activity level, so yes eat that everyday.

    I would run with a good, solid 2539 daily for two weeks and then re-evaluate. Hopefully you'll have a fairly accurate estimation right off the bat and minimal adjustment will be necessary!

    At the end of the day it's the easiest method for those of us on a regular training schedule or some sort. For more casual or sporadic peeps, then the MFP method is probably superior.

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