Not Running My Butt Off

Many people think that just because they are running, they can eat as much as they would like. Your diary is set to private, so can't take a look and see if that is what is going on.

But know for me personally, I run nearly daily and still have to watch what I eat to lose weight. Even if I do a two hour, five mph, (significantly more than you would be doing in c25k), I earn just over 1100 calories. As I am 5'10, many women would earn less than that. Now 1100 calories may sound like a lot, but realistically that and more could easily be blown with one meal out.

Always remember that it is 90% Diet and 10% Exercise. You are not going to lose unless you are being honest about your consumption.

***edited because apparently I don't know the difference between five miles, and 5 MPH***

It's unlikely that you'll lose a lot of weight by just running, unless you curb your diet too.

The amount of calories you burn when running is absolutely tiny compared to the amount of calories you eat every day. I'm only on Week 5 and burn maybe 180 calories in a really good hard 30 minute C25K session. Maybe you run harder than me, so say 300 calories a session.

If it takes 3,500 calories to lose 1lb of fat, and if you're doing three 300 calorie runs a week, that's 900 calories a week, so it would take 3500 divided by 900 = 3.8 weeks to lose one pound of fat.

So, by just running, without reducing the amount of calories you eat, you'll lose only about a pound a month.

If you really want to lose weight without further restricting your calorie intake, weight training would be far more effective than cardio. But really - eating 300 fewer calories will have the same effect as running a C25K session, which do you think is easier? :bigsmile:

Many people think that just because they are running, they can eat as much as they would like.

When I was training for my first half marathon, I was eating about 3k calories a day and still losing weight. So there is some truth to this level of thinking. With that said, my goal during this training wasn't losing weight, it was being able to run 13.1 miles. I haven't done the C25K training myself, but I looked at the training plan. It is similar to the 12 week training plan I used for my half marathon training, just with lower mileage goals. I didn't start losing weight weight right away either but didn't care too much since every week I was improving my distance and time. And my resting heart rate dropped from about 70 to just a little over 40 bps. So I know my heart and body was getting healthy. But as time went on, I noticed I was hungry all the time and I made sure to eat "good" snacks and meals. By the end of the 12 week plan, I dropped 10 lbs and my legs were ROCK SOLID!

Keep at it. Don't over eat and watch those snacks. You will get there!

I'm in somewhat of the same boat as you. I've been running consistently for almost a year and I'm only a pound lighter than when I first started. I have however lost over 5% body fat and 3-4 inches in my hips and waist.

Now I certainly haven't been eating my best and unfortunately, as much as I enjoy runnng, my body doesn't really respond to cardio like it does to resistance training. I've started lifting weights again, cutting back on my carb intake and pushing my protein back up (which kinda hard being a vegetarian). All in all, don't just go by the scale. Take other measurements (body fat too), mind your meals, and stick to it. You'll see the results.