Shall I give up running?!

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lottieelsie2016
lottieelsie2016 Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm trying to lose weight. I'm 5'3 and weight 9 stone 7lbs. The last three weeks I have been running at least 3x 5k per week. Mostly four runs per week and I am eating a calorie deficit (1200/day). And get this.... I've put on 3lbs?! How has this happened? I'm eating well no cookies or crisps or chocolate or anything. Is running just not that good for losing weight? Or am I missing something? Please help! X
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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    a calorie deficit is good for losing weight.

    do you weigh everything you eat?

    have you put on a pound a week for 3 weeks, or just 3lbs when you've weighed this week?
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Are you weighing and measuring all your food? Do you have a digital scale? Most people make their mistake there. Sometimes it's just water weight if you haven't exercised before.
  • lottieelsie2016
    lottieelsie2016 Posts: 8 Member
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    Well it's been gradually going up... I haven't done this much exercise in years and years... I would say I am eating much less that before but I do not have scales so perhaps this is where the problem lies. I am eating a full meal less than I usually do! And snacking on grapes and satsumas... It's really demotivating!
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    You have no idea what your calorie intake is. Eating good food makes no difference. You can overeat on it without even knowing it. I recommend weighing and measuring for a couple of weeks, then come back if you're still having problems. A digital scale costs very little, and can save you from spinning your wheels--which is only frustrating.
  • lottieelsie2016
    lottieelsie2016 Posts: 8 Member
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    I'm using my fitness pal and scanning the barcode of everything. Is that not accurate?
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Not everything you eat will have a barcode.
    I assume you may eat loose vegetables, etc. Also when you scan your pasta for example, do you just assume that what comes up is the same as your portion? You need to weigh stuff.

    By the way I can easily temporarily gain 5lb in a week around TOTM. Could it be that?
  • jacquifrench304
    jacquifrench304 Posts: 131 Member
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    Try using a food scale to be sure of your calorie intact .I suspect if you are a little sore after your new running exercise you may be retaining water , sore muscles for me can be = to up to 2kg of water weight. This can take up to a few months to settle down. When I started running at deficit my weight went up a little to start with from water ... But then dropped by 4kg in 2 weeks.
  • ironhajee
    ironhajee Posts: 384 Member
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    Don't give up.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited March 2016
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    how on earth do you run with only 1200 calories!
    If you are accurately tracking your cals then you have not gained 3lbs.
    There is likely some water retention from either new or increased running/exercise..or other factors like hormones/ more sodium than usual, or more carbs etc.
    New exercise can cause scale fluctuations for around 3 to 4 weeks.
  • lottieelsie2016
    lottieelsie2016 Posts: 8 Member
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    Ok yes I will get some scales I think that's a good idea thank you. I am hoping its water weight as eating so much less than before. I will buy scales and keep trying.... Thank you
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Shall I give up running?!
    In your circumatances of complaining about gaining weight surely you meant "should I run more?".

    Suggest you have a good read of all the sticky threads at the top of the various forums.

    Also ever time you change your routine give it at least a month to see the effect of th change on your weight trend.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,416 Member
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    You also mentioned you're fairly new to working out. People store more water when changing their workout routine. It might take a while to get rid of this extra water weight. Also time of the month: another moment where woman store more water (for me it takes about 4-10 days to lose again. though I hardly ever stop with the pill), been on a flight or a long bus/train journey? Another reason for more water weight. Eaten more salt lately? yes, another reason.

    But the most important thing really is: don't give up, and do weigh everything you eat on a digital scale in grams.
  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,268 Member
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    I would assume you need more calories to fuel your runs...your body will hold onto weight if you don't. Otherwise, running melts the weight.
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
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    amgreenwell wrote: »
    I would assume you need more calories to fuel your runs...your body will hold onto weight if you don't. Otherwise, running melts the weight.

    What? No it won't. If you maintain a calorie deficit over an extended period of time, you will lose weight. Your body won't hang onto it. Eating more will not cause weight loss.

    OP, I agree with the others about using a food scale. Also, make sure you are verifying the numbers of the food database entries you are choosing. Some of them are wildly incorrect and could cause you to be over on your calories without realizing it. Are you eating back your exercise calories?
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    amgreenwell wrote: »
    I would assume you need more calories to fuel your runs...your body will hold onto weight if you don't. Otherwise, running melts the weight.

    The answer to 'help, I'm not losing' is never 'eat more' unless the person can't get a deficit going because they're burnt out. Then they could benefit mentally from a break. But they won't be losing weight on it.

    OP, first, you're at a healthy weight, so weight loss will be slow. I recommend you start using TrendWeight to see what your weight's doing long term. It can help when it looks like the scale's not moving but it's actually slowly trending downward.

    OP, if this running is new to you - longer distances or faster than you're used to running you can easily be holding on to water weight that masks actual weight loss. If you jumped into 3x 5k from nothing, you'll probably hold onto it for a long time. Your body has a lot of repair work and adaptation to do. But eventually the scale will start moving down if you are in a deficit.

    Do tighten up your logging so you know you're eating what you think you are and can make adjustments if you're not.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    amgreenwell wrote: »
    I would assume you need more calories to fuel your runs...your body will hold onto weight if you don't. Otherwise, running melts the weight.

    Running doesn't 'melt the weight', a calorie deficit does
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,671 Member
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    You can run around the world and you won't lose weight if you're still in a caloric surplus.
    Weigh and measure EVERYTHING you eat.
  • rsenor
    rsenor Posts: 57 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Don't give up!!! When you are running make sure you going at a reasonable pace. That's the biggest question for me: Am I pushing myself? Its easy to get into the groove of a pace with any repetitive cardio and not really get a lot out of it. I personally really don't enjoy running so when I do it I do short bursts of Fartleks- sprinting as hard as possible followed by walking. There's a lot out there about the benefits of very high-intensity cardio for short periods...

    Also you are close to a healthy weight- I would highly suggest taking measurements and photos and not obsessing about the scale too much. You're probably gaining muscle- which weighs more than fat- and so its not uncommon to see a bump in weight as you swap them out. I am about your size and entered a fitness competition years ago, and when I did I lost a whopping 4 pounds!

    Finally, not all calories are equal in terms of how your body responds. Grapes and satsumas are super high-sugar and if your body's glucose stores are full, it will convert any sugar to fat. On portions, if you don't have a scale you could also use measuring cups; I'm not entirely clear on why folks here are stressing a rather expensive scale when a set of measuring cups would do just fine.





  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    edited March 2016
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    rsenor wrote: »
    Also you are close to a healthy weight- I would highly suggest taking measurements and photos and not obsessing about the scale too much. You're probably gaining muscle- which weighs more than fat- and so its not uncommon to see a bump in weight as you swap them out. I am about your size and entered a fitness competition years ago, and when I did I lost a whopping 4 pounds!
    No one is gaining muscle mass doing mid-intensity running on a calorie deficit.
    Finally, not all calories are equal in terms of how your body responds. Grapes and satsumas are super high-sugar and if your body's glucose stores are full, it will convert any sugar to fat.
    How will it do that in an energy deficit?
    On portions, if you don't have a scale you could also use measuring cups; I'm not entirely clear on why folks here are stressing a rather expensive scale when a set of measuring cups would do just fine.
    Because the difference in weighed portions versus using measuring cups can run into the hundreds of calories.

    There's a lot of wrong information in your post.
  • steph2strong
    steph2strong Posts: 426 Member
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    My husband used to snack on grapes (you mentioned these were one of your snacks). Well when he started accurately measuring and logging his food he noticed he was consuming over 500 calories from grapes. That essentially canceled out any deficit from exercise... for something he considered healthy "free" food.

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