Putting on weight!!!

[Sillyyak13]

On week 2, run 3 tomorrow. On the scales this morning and put on 2lb since I started c25k last Monday. I'm a vegetarian coeliac so no animal fats or processed foods. I'm eating tons of fruit and veg. My carbs are 2 slices of gf (gluten free) toast in the morning (can't eat cereals obviously) and potatoes, rice or gf pasta for dinner. THAT'S IT. Almost tearful. Was hoping for weight LOSS, that's the point of the whole thing for me.

[Hidden]

Hi there, I'm 64 and 16.5 stone just completed w3 r3 and yes I was hoping to loose a little weight but seem to be putting it on. My wife says my moobs have almost gone and she can see the difference so something is happening. They tell me muscle weighs more than fat and that's the reason, maybe. For me it's better to be fit and fat than just fat.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

1lb muscle 1 lb fat weighs the same 1 lb it doesn’t weigh more what it does is 1 lb muscle take up less space than 1 lbs fat = less inches but will weigh the same

[Realfoodieclub Graduate]

Hang on in there, The weight loss only really starts from wk 7 onwards. I would check your hydration as well because if your down on fluids your body can store. Also double check quantities at wk two you really shouldn't be eating any more than usual. But honestly it will happen with a bit of patience, most people notice clothes fitting better before weight loss.

[Aurelius7]

It's pretty common. Your body retains fluids so you may even gain weight in the beginning too as much as 6 lbs. Just Google "exercise gaining weight"

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Sorry, but weight loss is unlikely to come from running C25K alone. As you have found, it is possible to increase weight even if diet has not changed, simply because muscle weighs more than fat.

You will definitely tone up. Weight loss or gain, for most people, is simply a matter of balancing intake with output. If you run further, for an hour or more, then you will notice weight dropping off.

Your diet sounds good, but if you need to lose weight there must be an excess going in, so look carefully at what you can cut down on. Many people have success with the My fitness pal app which I can track your input.

C25K should not be viewed as a weight loss programme, more a kickstart to a healthy lifelong lifestyle

[Sillyyak13 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

I was certainly hoping for more endurance, tone and stamina but wasn't expecting to pile on the pounds. I could understand if I was eating crisps and cake. I also thought running would increase metabolism.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Sillyyak13]

You may well be correct regarding metabolism. My wife claims she did not change her diet (she did, she cut out biscuits) and is convinced that her metabolism has changed since starting running. Her weight dropped and then has remained stable for four years. She was never overweight by BMI standards.

[Hidden in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Untrue I’m doing WW and ultra strict I eat 1100 calories unprocessed foods a day and I started c25k and Zumba classes last week and gained 3 lbs so what you say isn’t true sorry

[Sillyyak13 Graduate]

Well, I'm only on week 2 so early days. I feel fitter and can run for 60 seconds which I couldn't do last Monday so I must be improving..... I'm not quitting. Just despondent lol.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Sillyyak13]

Don't be despondent. This training plan can change your life. You will find so many benefits, both physical and mental, from regular strenuous exercise and if you stick with it and run further, you will see weight loss.

Can I just ask, what do you drink?

[Sillyyak13 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Water, I have a Berkey water filter and I drink the stuff by the gallon. I'm constantly thirsty and been tested for diabetes on many occasions. I have a genetic high cholesterol problem which makes me worry about not exercising. I'm enjoying the challenge so far, just don't want to put on any more weight. It's a struggle moving as it is.

[misswobble Graduate]

It's week 2! Get real 😃

Watch the portion control! You don't need any extra grub while doing the programme

Weight loss, like C25k, takes time and patience

Metabolism really improves! Help it by eating healthily as a habit. Ditch any junky type stuff and switch takeaways for home cooked versions 🙂🏃‍♀️✔️

[Running-girl Graduate]

Don't despair. I don't think running will help you lose much weight but you'll tone up and look slimmer. I'm just using the 5:2 strategy for losing weight and finding it amazing and so doable. 😀

[Sillyyak13 Graduate in reply to Running-girl]

5:2 strategy???

[Davoda Graduate in reply to Sillyyak13]

thefastdiet.co.uk/

It's very doable. I did it a few years ago & lost all my excess weight. I still do it, but in a different way as maintenance.

[Davoda Graduate]

Put the scales away! Weight fluctuates all the time so don't worry about it. (Unless you are eating more...😉)

Get the measuring tape out instead. Measure yourself now & then again at the end of the programme & honestly I would be surprised if there's no change in those numbers at the end.

Enjoy the programme & progress that you'll make from week to week.

[bareliz]

All of the above really. I haven't lost any weight (just finished week 6) but HAVE lost centimetres. I'm not an expert but week 2 is early days and maybe your body needs to get used to the changes before it settles down. Don't give up, I'm sure the weight will settle as you progress through the programme. My aim is to get fitter first, then lose weight but my clothes definitely fit better now.

[Hidden]

Keep the faith as everyone says here this takes time and running alone can't do it. I noticed my portion sizes were increasing as I felt more hungry, oh and sneaky flapjacks didn't help either... but seriously up your water intake before eating, slowly sipping helps get you a feeling of satiation. I found my fitness pal to be quite useful at getting me to focus on my nutrition. I don't use it now but early days when my weight went up, it was worth the inputting for me.

[Rignold]

Well, several things here:

first off, 2lbs plus or minus can be fluctuation withn a day. I regularly go up and down 3 lbs or so depending on the time of day, my hydration levels, what I have been doing etc. If you want to accurately monitor scale weight, weigh yourself every day at exactly the same time (best is just after waking up in the morning as least variables), add together all results for the week and divide by 7.

Secondly, whatever anyone says I am afraid you do not put on muscle by running. It simply doesn't happen. Look at Mo Farah. He is not bulging with muscles. Nor can your convert fat into muscle.

Neother, really will running up to 5k siginificantly result in fat loss. It can enhance it but on its own is not sufficient. The calories you expend per run in W1 equate to around a banana. Which leads us on to the food isue: if you are not tracking calories, it is highly possible that you are, perhaps unconsciously repsonding to the new efforts of running with additional calorie intake. If your diet is predominantly fruit, potatoes, bread, pasta and rice, that is all effectively sugar which the body will respond to the new demands by storing as fat.

I would suggest calculating your TDEE then establishing your base caloric intake and macro split (and reducing the carbs in favour of protein) and tracking meticuously in My Fitness Pal or similar. Doesn't have to be for ever, just for a couple of weeks, by which point you should a.) have reversed the trend and b.) have a clearer pisvture of your intake etc.

[Sillyyak13 Graduate in reply to Rignold]

My post reads wrong lol. I have 2x carbs per day. Toast for breakfast and pasta or spuds or rice with my main meal. Normally quorn.

I've been with fitness pal for years and it's connected to my fitbit charge 2.

I eat do well it's untrue and drink mega amounts of water.

[Rignold in reply to Sillyyak13]

Ah okay. So what is your daily calorie target, and are you hitting it?

Also are you counting the tons of fruit in your daily carbs?

[Sillyyak13 Graduate in reply to Rignold]

EVERYTHING is logged on fitness pal. Normally between 15-1600 cals per day

[Rignold in reply to Sillyyak13]

where is that in relation to your TDEE?

[Sillyyak13 Graduate in reply to Rignold]

You know what i'm going to ask now. Lol

What's a tdee?

[Rignold in reply to Sillyyak13]

LOL. Total daily energy expenditure. The amount of calories you are burning a day.

[Rignold in reply to Rignold]

effectively there are two possible answers: you are either eating too much or eating too little.

As any fule kno, in order to lose weight you need to be in caloric deficit. So it could be you are compensating for what you perceive as energy burned during exercise, and that is putting you in caloric surplus, hence gain. TBH if you are consistently hitting 1500 cal/day that seems very unlikely.

Alternatively, if you are too far in caloric deficit, your body could be going into starvation mode and hanging on to every last fat cell it can and laying down emergency stores. At 1500 cals that really depends on your height, weight, and other factors. Which is why you need to establish your TDEE. It is your BMR (Basal metabolic rate: the number of calories you burn just breathing and existing all day) plus the calories expended in your lifestyle and exercise etc.

It could be that you actually need to up your calories by a hundred or so a day to trigger fat loss again, as counterintuitive as it sounds. I did a 8k fat cut recently and increased my caloric intake to do so.

It is a numbers game and you need to calculate the numbers to start it though.

[Stoozie Graduate in reply to Rignold]

What's an 8k fat cut?

[Rignold in reply to Stoozie]

8kg

typo

[Hidden in reply to Rignold]

Not true I do strict WW and eat 100 calories all weighed and measured all clean eating and since I started c25k I have gained 3 lbs. Of course you’ll develop muscle using mo as an example is silly his muscle mass will be extremely high and he’s very very slim and h is fat % is very very low.

Anyone overweight who starts exercising will gain more muscle the scales won’t tell us what’s fat and what’s muscle so we only see a number and muscle and fat can weigh the same but muscle take Sui less room so the fat your losingbia hudden by the muscle weight on the scales so you can lose 2 lbs fat and gain 2 lbs muscle. I 100% know this is true as I’ve lost 32 lbs doing 7-10 miles walking every day and WW in 20 weeks and lost 47 inches off my body and 3 dress sizes. I started c25k and Zumba classes and gained 3 lbs in this week- I’m still ultra strict with food so it’s nit eating to much.

It’s more to do with your muscles are torn they fill with water to repair so you’ll retain water = scales show this and ya hat the answer.

Please don’t always presume people are eating more than they are as that’s not true.

[Rignold in reply to Hidden]

Mo Farah really does not have extremely high muscle mass. He is very slender and has quite low muscle mass. He has a high muscle to bodyfat ratio, but not very large muscles. He is 5'9" and weighs 58kg. If you want an example of someone with 'extremely high muscle mass', think of The Rock.

You will not gain muscle by doing cardio. It is a catabolic exercise. It burns calories from fat and lean tissue. It doe not tear the muscles. Resistance exercise and progressive overload is anabolic and builds muscle. It is not possible to build muscle and burn fat simultaneously. You can only burn fat if in caloric deficit and you can only build muscle if in caloric surplus. You may gain 3lbs in water retention over the course of a week. I can go up or down 3lbs in a day depending on how much water and exercise I have done but this would only be temporary so would even out over the course of a few days.

Even if you were hammering the weights and necking steroids, you would not put on 3lbs of muscle in a week. It takes months to build muscle. Months of consistent hard progressive overload and caloric surplus.

It is fairly easy to establish changes in bodyfat , simply by taking regular bodyfat measurement (not on those electrical impedance scales).

[Jell6 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

The original post that you responded to is quite old, you seem a little angry, perhaps disappointed that starting this programme has not resulted in additional weight loss?

I actually stopped weighing myself after about 1 month on the programme, my focus became fitness, not weight.

I may lose a bit now I am running further, my clothes will be the judge that.

Rignold is very experienced in running, and nutrition , I've always been inclined to accept his advice, whoever he is advising.

This is a friendly forum, and everyone on here is offering advice, support , often with humour.

It's not an angry place.

[Hillrunner2201]

All I did was stick to the program, avoided processed food/added sugar and was mindful of portions (just using common sense-no weighing food or calorie counting which would frankly make me fed up enough to give up and eat a cream bun!!). I stuck to the programme and just used my clothes as a measure of fat loss. Patience is important and scales are misleading. Who cares what you weigh if you feel fit and look slimmer?

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Oh dear... I agree with a lot of IannodaTruffe 's comments... and in fact, I put weight on... which was good for me.. the tightening and toning bit is so right though..leaner and tighter!

My daughter is a coeliac with a dairy allergy.. she makes all her own cereal... I can message you some of her recipes from her blog if you like.. She is practically vegetarian too

Try not to get down...it is only Week 1...

Lots of positive advice in the replies too

[auranya Graduate]

Time of the month can cause you to gain up to 5lbs?

[rolysmate Graduate]

Forget the scales and rely more on the mirror and tape measure, your body shape will change,fat will go mussel will appear, your clothing will fit differently etc