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Coach JeffDoctors recommend it. Your friends swear by it. Even the celebrities you see in magazines do it. Running is the best way to burn calories we are told, “weight just falls off” once you start running, you hear. If that is the case, why can I not even lose 10 pounds running? Why am I the only one who seems to not lose weight running? Sound familiar? Even though you feel like you are alone in this. It is one of our most popular posts, and every day we get emails about it. Even elite runners have to be conscious of this, and running to lose weight is not even as easy as you would think when they are training 90+ miles a week! Feel better now? So does does running help you lose weight? Here’s the deal: While training for optimal performance on race day is the main focus for our coaches here at RunnersConnect, many of the athletes we coach set secondary goals to use running to lose weight and generally desire to be healthier overall. Certainly, sometimes these two goals – setting a new pr and losing weight – go hand-in-hand, but as coaches we tend to focus on letting weight loss through running come naturally as the body adapts to training and new levels of fitness. You might be wondering: How can I lose weight fast running? This is partly why I wrote this earlier post on losing weight while running. Unfortunately, sometimes when a runner first begins serious training, the needle on the scale doesn’t immediately go down. Especially for runners who believe that running faster will make them lose weight faster. That is not always the case, and may even result in you gaining weight. Now: If you understand the science behind initial weight loss and the practical reasons for why this occurs, you can temper yourself from getting discouraged and make positive and lose that weight for good while also improving your race times. So, here are some reasons why you might actually gain weight when running: Why am I Not Losing Weight Despite Running Often? If the scale were a human, he/she would be considered a deceptive trickster. A scale only provides one number, your absolute weight, which isn’t always an accurate measurement of what is happening in your body. Drink a gallon of water and you’ve instantly gained 8.3 pounds. Remove a kidney and you’ve lost 2 pounds. Extreme examples, I know, but I think it proves that your absolute weight on a scale isn’t always a truthful assessment of changes in your weight, or more importantly your fitness. Here are just a few reasons the numbers on the scale will lie to you: It will take a while to lose water weightWhen you increase your training to gear up for your goal race, your body begins to store more water to repair damaged muscle fibers and to deliver glycogen to the working muscles. Likewise, you may even be drinking more water to supplement the miles and ensure your hydrated. All this water adds pounds to the scale, but isn’t indicative of your actually weight loss. Muscle “weighs” more than fat: true or falseTrue. While you’re not going to turn into a body builder after just a few days of running, your body will slowly begin to build muscle and burn fat. While this is great news for your overall fitness and race times, you’re actually gaining weight by supplementing low density fat tissue for high density muscle tissue. While it may not look great on the scale, it’s much healthier and will help you to continue to get faster and fitter. *Weighs more than fat means that muscle is more dense You want to lose weight fast runningIt takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound. Ideally, you should target a 300-600 a day calorie deficit if you want to lose weight safely and be healthy. This means, you can expect to lose about 1-2 pounds per week. Checking the scale every morning is going to reveal very little about your long-term progress or the actual state of your weight loss. If you weigh yourself everyday, you’re simply measuring day-to-day fluctuations in your hydration levels and other non-essential weight metrics. Just like you wouldn’t expect a 1 minute drop in your 5k PR after a week of training, don’t expect a 5 pound weight loss after your first week of running. Running and Eating Healthy, But Gaining Weight?Here’s the deal: You burn more calories while running than almost any other activity you can do. Unfortunately, while the energy demands of running are high, this does not mean that you can eat a big mac and a donut guilt-free and still lose weight. I often hear runners rationalize their dessert intake by saying, “hey, I ran 5 miles today, I deserve it”. Likewise, I see many running groups meet-up at Starbucks or the local coffee shop after a weekend run. Unfortunately, an iced latté and a small scone will quickly eliminate any caloric deficit from the run and negate possible weight loss. While running does burn calories, you have to be careful not to quickly or inadvertently eat them back with non-nutrient dense foods. Likewise, as mentioned in my article on how to lose weight and still run well, you should be providing your muscles with the necessary carbohydrates and protein to recover. This is a delicate balance, and probably the most difficult element to losing weight while running. As a coach, I think it is more important to focus on recovery and ensure that your muscles have the nutrients they need to rebuild. The harder you train, the more often you will get hungry and the real secret is to refuel with nutrient dense and high quality foods. Remember: Sacrificing recovery for a few less calories is not a good long-term plan. The numbers on the scale are arbitrary and focusing on them can be detrimental to your long-term progression. If you can continue to build your fitness and training levels, you’ll be running farther, faster, and be much healthier overall. Calculating how many calories burned runningOn average, a runner will burn 100 calories per mile, but this will depend on your pace, size and metabolism. Generally, the more you weigh, the harder your body will have to work to cover the distance, and the longer you have been running, the more efficient your body has become, meaning you burn less calories. Hidden Calories are Preventing You Losing Weight RunningMany runners following a marathon training schedule automatically assume they are going shed pounds with all the extra mileage they are putting in. However, not only should you ensure that you’re recovering properly after your hard workouts and long runs by eating the right foods, you also need to account for what I call “hidden calories”. Primarily, hidden calories come in the form of sports drinks and energy gels, which have a high caloric content. If you are wondering how to lose weight while training for a marathon, keep this in mind: It’s critical that you practice your fueling strategy during your long runs and hard workouts for optimal performance on race day. Likewise, to sustain high levels of training and to complete long and arduous marathon workouts, you need to fuel during your training sessions with sports drinks and energy gels. But here’s the kicker: However, this also means that the total number of calories you will burn from these long runs and hard workouts will be less than you might realize. Again, for optimal performance and training progression, you need these extra calories. Unfortunately, they can also be the reason you might not see the weight loss on a scale. Is Running the Best Exercise for Losing Weight?Yes, but with a few stipulations: Running will not automatically result in an immediate weight loss. Sure, running burns more calories than any other form of exercise, but the scale should not be the primary metric by which you gauge your fitness level and training progression. While I understand weight loss is an important goal for many runners, don’t become a slave to the numbers on the scale. Pay attention to how you feel – do you have more energy, feel stronger, starting to fit into your clothes better? While not absolute measurements, these emotions are a much more accurate measurement of your progression. Doctors recommend it. Your friends swear by it. Even the celebrities you see in magazines do it. Running is the best way to burn calories we are told, “weight just falls off” once you start running, you hear. If that is the case, why can I not even lose 10 pounds running? Why am I the only one who seems to not lose weight running? Sound familiar? Even though you feel like you are alone in this. It is one of our most popular posts, and every day we get emails about it. Even elite runners have to be conscious of this, and running to lose weight is not even as easy as you would think when they are training 90+ miles a week! Feel better now? So does does running help you lose weight? Here’s the deal: While training for optimal performance on race day is the main focus for our coaches here at RunnersConnect, many of the athletes we coach set secondary goals to use running to lose weight and generally desire to be healthier overall. Certainly, sometimes these two goals – setting a new pr and losing weight – go hand-in-hand, but as coaches we tend to focus on letting weight loss through running come naturally as the body adapts to training and new levels of fitness. You might be wondering: How can I lose weight fast running? This is partly why I wrote this earlier post on losing weight while running. Unfortunately, sometimes when a runner first begins serious training, the needle on the scale doesn’t immediately go down. Especially for runners who believe that running faster will make them lose weight faster. That is not always the case, and may even result
in you gaining weight. Now: If you understand the science behind initial weight loss and the practical reasons for why this occurs, you can temper yourself from getting discouraged and make positive and lose that weight for good while also improving your race times. So, here are some reasons why you might actually gain weight when running: Why am I Not Losing Weight Despite Running Often? If the scale were a human, he/she would be considered a deceptive trickster. A scale only provides one number, your absolute weight, which isn’t always an accurate measurement of what is happening in your body. Drink a gallon of water and you’ve instantly gained 8.3 pounds. Remove a kidney and you’ve lost 2 pounds. Extreme examples, I know, but I think it proves that your absolute weight on a scale isn’t always a truthful assessment of changes in your weight, or more importantly your fitness. Here are just a few reasons the numbers on the scale will lie to you: It will take a while to lose water weightWhen you increase your training to gear up for your goal race, your body begins to store more water to repair damaged muscle fibers and to deliver glycogen to the working muscles. Likewise, you may even be drinking more water to supplement the miles and ensure your hydrated. All this water adds pounds to the scale, but isn’t indicative of your actually weight loss. Muscle “weighs” more than fat: true or falseTrue. While you’re not going to turn into a body builder after just a few days of running, your body will slowly begin to build muscle and burn fat. While this is great news for your overall fitness and race times, you’re actually gaining weight by supplementing low density fat tissue for high density muscle tissue. While it may not look great on the scale, it’s much healthier and will help you to continue to get faster and fitter. *Weighs more than fat means that muscle is more dense You want to lose weight fast runningIt takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound. Ideally, you should target a 300-600 a day calorie deficit if you want to lose weight safely and be healthy. This means, you can expect to lose about 1-2 pounds per week. Checking the scale every morning is going to reveal very little about your long-term progress or the actual state of your weight loss. If you weigh yourself everyday, you’re simply measuring day-to-day fluctuations in your hydration levels and other non-essential weight metrics. Just like you wouldn’t expect a 1 minute drop in your 5k PR after a week of training, don’t expect a 5 pound weight loss after your first week of running. Running and Eating Healthy, But Gaining Weight?Here’s the deal: You burn more calories while running than almost any other activity you can do. Unfortunately, while the energy demands of running are high, this does not mean that you can eat a big mac and a donut guilt-free and still lose weight. I often hear runners rationalize their dessert intake by saying, “hey, I ran 5 miles today, I deserve it”. Likewise, I see many running groups meet-up at Starbucks or the local coffee shop after a weekend run. Unfortunately, an iced latté and a small scone will quickly eliminate any caloric deficit from the run and negate possible weight loss. While running does burn calories, you have to be careful not to quickly or inadvertently eat them back with non-nutrient dense foods. Likewise, as mentioned in my article on how to lose weight and still run well, you should be providing your muscles with the necessary carbohydrates and protein to recover. This is a delicate balance, and probably the most difficult element to losing weight while running. As a coach, I think it is more important to focus on recovery and ensure that your muscles have the nutrients they need to rebuild. The harder you train, the more often you will get hungry and the real secret is to refuel with nutrient dense and high quality foods. Remember: Sacrificing recovery for a few less calories is not a good long-term plan. The numbers on the scale are arbitrary and focusing on them can be detrimental to your long-term progression. If you can continue to build your fitness and training levels, you’ll be running farther, faster, and be much healthier overall. Calculating how many calories burned runningOn average, a runner will burn 100 calories per mile, but this will depend on your pace, size and metabolism. Generally, the more you weigh, the harder your body will have to work to cover the distance, and the longer you have been running, the more efficient your body has become, meaning you burn less calories. Hidden Calories are Preventing You Losing Weight RunningMany runners following a marathon training schedule automatically assume they are going shed pounds with all the extra mileage they are putting in. However, not only should you ensure that you’re recovering properly after your hard workouts and long runs by eating the right foods, you also need to account for what I call “hidden calories”. Primarily, hidden calories come in the form of sports drinks and energy gels, which have a high caloric content. If you are wondering how to lose weight while training for a marathon, keep this in mind: It’s critical that you practice your fueling strategy during your long runs and hard workouts for optimal performance on race day. Likewise, to sustain high levels of training and to complete long and arduous marathon workouts, you need to fuel during your training sessions with sports drinks and energy gels. But here’s the kicker: However, this also means that the total number of calories you will burn from these long runs and hard workouts will be less than you might realize. Again, for optimal performance and training progression, you need these extra calories. Unfortunately, they can also be the reason you might not see the weight loss on a scale. Is Running the Best Exercise for Losing Weight?Yes, but with a few stipulations: Running will not automatically result in an immediate weight loss. Sure, running burns more calories than any other form of exercise, but the scale should not be the primary metric by which you gauge your fitness level and training progression. While I understand weight loss is an important goal for many runners, don’t become a slave to the numbers on the scale. Pay attention to how you feel – do you have more energy, feel stronger, starting to fit into your clothes better? While not absolute measurements, these emotions are a much more accurate measurement of your progression. Nab Our FREE 4-part Weight Loss Email CourseYou’ll learn the science behind losing weight and still running well so you can understand the “why” of weight loss for long-term success. Lessons include why simply running more and eating less won’t help you lose weight, why your weight fluctuates each day, and the best way to distribute calories throughout your day. Plus more… Start My Course Now Who We AreYour team of expert coaches and fellow runners dedicated to helping you train smarter, stay healthy and run faster. We love running and want to spread our expertise and passion to inspire, motivate, and help you achieve your running goals. ReferencesSome Other Posts You May Like...101 Responses
Leave a ReplyWhy am I not losing weight when I am eating less and exercising more?Muscle is denser than fat.
While one pound of fat weighs the same as one pound of muscle, muscle occupies about 18 percent less space. In addition, muscle burns calories while fat stores them. So, if your weight isn't decreasing but your clothes are starting to fit more loosely, you may be building muscle.
Why do I run but not lose weight?You're losing fat – and gaining muscle.
But you're also gaining muscle. “Though running or cycling aren't necessarily the most effective or efficient ways to gain muscle, it's not unusual for runners or cyclists to add muscle mass in their legs,” says Cane.
Can I lose weight by running and eating less?Losing weight requires you to burn more calories than you consume, and exercise can help you do so. Running is a great option, as it burns more calories than most other types of exercise because it requires many different muscles to work hard together ( 2 ).
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