Long distance running and weight loss

I didn't start running until at goal weight.

I found that I actually gained a little bit (five to seven pounds) when training for a half marathon last fall.

I was fueling up the day before my long runs and then was hungry later in the day of my run. I ate within reason...not huge amounts or anything but you do need to be sure to fuel the body when going longer.

But, my pants, etc. still fit me the same.

I think you have weight to lose, you will still see a loss but wanted to throw out there that it is possible to GAIN weight instead of losing while training for a longer distance.

I think the fueling up the day before is why the weight gain happens. I've worked with training groups and my coaches have always said that you have to be careful with how many calories you consume the days before a long run. Calories in/calories out.

That's largely and issue of diet then, not exercise/running, right?

I'm not a dedicated runner, but I do a lot of triathlon training so I do consider myself an endurance athlete. Yes, all that work does require carbs, but it also requires protein (which is something a lot of endurance athletes neglect, which is why people can end up skinny fat. Not to mention that with all that running often times people do very little strength training... another factor in skinny fat.

I agree that diet is why some runners report weight gains when training for an event.

When you run specifically to lose weight you are more likely settle for a sub standard run as long as you are hitting your weight loss goals. When training for a distance event there has to be a shift in mind set. In this instance you are much more likely to place a higher importance on the quality of your training runs and be be much more worried about avoiding illness/injury (many runners feel that training on a calorie deficit makes illness or injury more likely). So, distance runners often eat more in order to train at the required level.


Add to this the fact that many people underestimate calories consumed and overestimate (even with the aid of MFP) calories expended and you have a great scenario for weight gain.

Are you guys talking about 2 or 4 hours run assuming long distance? Which frequency? I mean if you run 2h/day 6 days/week, you spend about 14000 cal in the week (if you have some training and are abble to maintain a quick running speed). I would sometimes change it with 2 hours bike or one hour of each. In such a spirit, of course you eat healthy food and your carbs (fruits & bread for me) have no chance to transform into fat. No the appetite increase is not enough to stop weight loss, not with me at least but this appetite increase for oranges, carrots and banana for me. Staying away from junk, I see no way not to lose weight. That is radical. The only issue is keeping the level of proteins high enough. The reason why I would eat less when running like this in comparison with pure strength training is that I do not want to weight too much, I just want my muscle to hold the 2 hours effort. That is a personal choice that you can easily overcome with protein supplements.
To me, it is impossible to lose weight with strength training and I go for cardio to lose weight, the only thing that woks for me

Those of you who have been told they don't work together... was any reasoning given as to why? I'm just curious.

What I've been told is that to be able to run long distances you need fuel, ie calories, especially carbs. A lot of them. And that running burns muscles so you might end up "skinny fat". And that running increases you appetite so you end up eating too much to lose weight. I've also read some articles saying that some runners actualy put on weight whilst training for a marathon.

What we are told about what to eat is a lie. I have been running marathons and half marathons for 4 years, and every single one of them leads to an increase of about 10 lbs of fat on race day. The reason being that I fueled myself with excessive carbs because that is what we're told we need to do. Turns out when you overfeed on carbs, your body burns primarily glucose during runs, leading to extraordinary hunger afterwards to replenish. If you eat a lesser degree of carbs and more fat and protein, you adapt to burning more fat, which means you can run longer without hitting "the wall", and you don't get excessively hungry between runs. Carb eaters become "sugar burners" with their ups and downs of energy and hunger. Its hard to manage.

So in short, you burn the most of the energy sources that you eat the most. So if you want to burn more fat, eat more fat.