10k training but haven't lost weight

Your running is giving you something like 1200 extra calories A WEEK. A nice bonus, but you have to still watch your diet. Couple Starbucks Lattes or 1 McDonalds meal and you've neutralized the deficit.

I run a lot, and so I can eat some junk but it's never as much as I think it should be (so I track).

Try moving to 4 then 5 days a week. You'll find there's some huge changes that happen then - IF you're consistent.

katiezi wrote: »

I do watch what I eat and track my different carb, protein, dairy, and sugar intake. Part of the reason I'm back on MFP is because counting calories was the only thing that really worked for me when I initially lost around 40-50 lbs.

Right. And watching what you eat and counting calories are not necessarily the same thing.

I feel like I sort of have the same problem. I'v been working out for a bit more than a month lately and I'v actually gained weight. However if you look at my diary you'll see I eat pretty healthy. I'm trying different caloric intakes to see what may work for me. Measuring with a tape has shown me my inches are the same but weight is increasing. It's driving me nuts. Plus, sometimes when I eat something unhealthy that I love( usually carb loaded) I gain two pounds right away. And takes me 2-3 weeks to work it off. I suspect that it may have something to do with an increase in glycogen stores in my body since I went from a total lack of exercise to plenty. I have noticed this pattern of gaining weight after adding exercise a lot on myself. Although many say it may be that I'm gaining muscle, I don't notice any particular differences in my appearance and the numbers on my scale keep increasing.

RadhikaMakadia wrote: »

I feel like I sort of have the same problem. I'v been working out for a bit more than a month lately and I'v actually gained weight. However if you look at my diary you'll see I eat pretty healthy. I'm trying different caloric intakes to see what may work for me. Measuring with a tape has shown me my inches are the same but weight is increasing. It's driving me nuts. Plus, sometimes when I eat something unhealthy that I love( usually carb loaded) I gain two pounds right away. And takes me 2-3 weeks to work it off. I suspect that it may have something to do with an increase in glycogen stores in my body since I went from a total lack of exercise to plenty. I have noticed this pattern of gaining weight after adding exercise a lot on myself. Although many say it may be that I'm gaining muscle, I don't notice any particular differences in my appearance and the numbers on my scale keep increasing.

It's not unusual to see post-exercise weight swings, or post-carb swings. Exercise can have varied effects (both fluid loss and fluid retention) and for every 1 gram of carbohydrates that are stored as glycogen, four grams of water are retained as well. Try to be as consistent as possible about when you weigh yourself, but your weight can fluctuate by more than 10 lb. over the course of a normal day, entirely from fluid retention or loss.

If you're gaining weight consistently but keeping your inches the same, you're building (denser) muscle and losing a bit of fat.

katiezi wrote: »

I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?

Decrease your portions, remove sugar & processed foods from your diet.

Exercise alone doesn't equal weight loss, unfortunately!

The calorie deficit is absolutely vital! You are probably progressing amazingly with your fitness goals (good job!) but you can't be in a deficit if you are not losing weight (assuming nothing 'medical' is at play here).

I stopped counting calories and caring about what I ate a few years ago but I kept up my 3 day-a-week hardcore gym work-out's. I was so shocked a few months later when I discovered that my lack of discipline with the food had caused a 28lb gain! I assumed that the exercise would stop that from happening, unfortunately not!

I definitely wish training alone would help me lose, but I've found that running, while a great burn, doesn't create the deficit I used to think it did. In my experience, I've had to meticulously log and maintain my calories at a baseline (the number MFP gives me to lose 0.5 lbs a week), and then eat back about half of my exercise calories (MFP's calorie count is typically noted to be a gross overestimate and many people find that eating back half or so is accurate). Most of all, listen to your body. It will tell you if you need more energy to fuel your runs.

Keep in mind that gaining or maintaining weight may not be a bad thing. If you are exercising then there could be muscle gain going on too. Hard to say without a lot more info though.

katiezi wrote: »

I've been training for a 10k since mid august. I haven't lost any weight. In fact it feel like I've gained weight although I haven't really tracked my weight, I've been trying to focus on my endurance. I eat healthy run 3 days a week and do arm, leg, and ab exercises on my between days. I take about 2 days off. I'm to the point where I'm running about 5 1/2 miles every other day but haven't lost any weight? What am I doing incorrectly?

Are you taking measurements? You may be losing inches but not weight

What's really funny is that people (friends, relatives, colleagues) who ask me about my weight loss absolutely insist that I must have done it with exercise. They simply will not accept explanations like "oh, I just cut back on what I ate" or "I counted calories". They'll find out that I'm running and say things like "oh, that explains it, it must be the running, then". They can accept that as an answer -- even though it's totally wrong -- but in their minds, you can't lose weight simply through diet. They don't seem to understand that cardio doesn't lead to weight loss. But hey.