I’ve dutifully doing my run 3 times a week for the last 5 Weeks (successful too). I’ve swim twice a week and cycled once per week also. But not lost an ounce of weight. My shape has started changing. But no scale movement. Anyone else in the same boat?
Weight ???: I’ve dutifully doing my run 3 times... - Couch to 5K
Weight ???
Written by
Laurarees
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49 Replies
•
Yep same here I’m on week 7 and noticed my shape changing and my clothes hanging better but no weight loss, oh well I started this to get fitter which I am
You are not in caloric deficit then.
Haven’t changed my eating habits admittedly. but I have massively increased exercise. It doesn’t make sense. 🙄
running doesn't burn a *lot* of calories until you're running longer distances (or carrying rocks maybe). Maybe check out the swimming and cycling values too - basically, listen to Rignold, he knows loads, and he'll get you doing squats and burpees and all sorts, but don't let that put you off 
You need to be in caloric deficit to lose weight. Record everything you eat and drink for a week in My Fitness Pal, then calculate your energy expenditure in TDEEcalculator.com.
Compare the two and adjust accordingly
thegirlfrommarzGraduate
Apparently, weight-loss is c. 75% what you eat and only c. 25% exercise. So if you want to lose more weight, you'll need to change what you eat to some extent. However, if your shape is changing, you're probably losing fat and putting on muscle, which is all to the good.
You're doing a lot of cardio (although for most of us, running, swimming and cycling aren't that high-intensity, unless you're doing HIIT workouts), but have you thought about doing some strength training? A lot of women avoid it, but it's really good for you, makes you much more toned, builds up your strength, and you burn more calories at rest from muscle than fat. I promise you won't bulk up! If you have a local gym that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, you should be able to get an instructor to come up with a programme that suits you and helps you towards the C25K goal.
I am not an expert, but I spent a couple of years working with a personal trainer and I learned how helpful - and fun! - strength training can be. It's weirdly empowering to feel yourself getting stronger and it also makes cardio SOOOO much easier if you've got muscles to back it up - think of how good it would feel to have extra power when cycling up a hill, for example, or to have a few extra steps left in your legs towards the end of a run.
Ahem, I'll stop evangelizing about strength training now. It feels very un-British to be so enthusiastic... 
• in reply tothegirlfrommarz
What a fantastically informative post, thanks so much!!
Love enthusiasm. Thanks.
Dexy5Graduate
Muscle weighs more than fat I believe!
but you don't gain muscle running
• in reply toRignold
Oh really ? Why ?
Then why are my calves and thighs more solid since I’ve started running? 🤨
Because you have lost some fat around them. If you look at marathon runners and distance athletes they are not big muscular people. They are wiry and have small but defined muscles. Paula Radcliffe does not look like Xenia Warrior Princess. muscle is built by resistance training nd progressive overload, coupled with caloric surplus. It also takes many months to make muscles increase in size even so if that. Measure the circumference of your calves and thighs then measure again when you have finished the programme, or further into your running career. See if they have increased or decreased in size.
• in reply toRignold
So basically he's built muscle ?
Rignold• in reply to
No. You do not build muscle from running. We just went through this.
• in reply toRignold
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.
Rignold• in reply to
No. You don’t build muscle doing running. Or cardio of any kind. To build muscle you need resistance training and progressive overload. Not low intensity steady state cardio. Also, in 99.99% of situations you cannot build muscle and lose fat at the same time. To burn fat you need to be in caloric deficit, to build muscle you need to be in caloric surplus. You can’t simultaneously be in a deficit and a surplus.
I disagree to some extent 🤔 the more you run the more your leg muscles and glutes work and they get stronger. I’ve seen a visible change to the shape of my legs and I mountain bike a lot and the shape of them since running has shaped my thighs and calf muscle. I agree though that gym / resistance training is also the way forward 👍
Stronger muscles yes. That is not the same as bigger muscles. Look at athletes like towers, footballers, gymnasts etc. They are extremely strong, but still slim and not bulky musculature. They need a high power to weight ratio. Whereas bodybuilder s have huge muscles but are not extremely strong relative to their size.
Running will make your legs stronger,Not bigger.
Yes isn’t that what the goal is?. I want shapely legs not bodybuilder tree trunks😁
• in reply toRignold
We never said bigger muscles we said we had muscles 😉
A visible change 😁
Stronger muscles
Gee
• in reply toRignold
Running uses your glutes, quadriceps, hamstring and calves constantly, meaning that your leg muscles are working and this will cause them to develop and get bigger in size. Any form of exercise that engages your muscles will cause them to grow in size. However, some exercises cause more muscle growth than others.
Rignold• in reply to
So ultra marathon runners must be massive?
• in reply toRignold
😂
• in reply toRignold
Do they eat roll mop herring for breakfast? Or choice peanut butter on toast 😉
• in reply toRignold
Seriously? I have just graduate Would anyone be even thinking ultra marathon runners ?
Come back down to earth love
This is C25K we have just got off bloody couch and yes I have muscles so 👍🏻🙌🏻🎊🎉and take a chill pill
A bit too late to start measuring as I have graduated but I do know that my calves which were slim, not fat, are now muscle.
Whereas before they were just bone?
• in reply toRignold
I certainly ain't bone 😳🙈😩
I have little to add to this, apart from I'm in a calorie deficit ( honestly) and I'm pretty sure I have gained weight . My baggy boots now are not baggy , but my legs look better. I am not for a minute suggesting that I have transformed from Olive Oyl to Popeye, but there is a difference.
I think maybe I just wanted to poke the bear, as this lengthy string amused me.
• in reply toDexy5
😂😂😂🙌🏻 I with you 😘
OldflossAdministratorGraduate
Happens to many folk.. as this is not a weight loss programme.. you may lose weight or not
But, your shape is changing... and you will feel fitter and stronger Take the advice of Rignold he does know what he is talking about
• in reply toOldfloss
Really ? Anyone who eats roll mop herring for breakfast I ain't listening too
Who in England eats that for breakfast ?
I certainly ain't following him 😂
No offence but he has opinion and I have mine
Yes Rignold does know what he is talking about. Opinion maybe... but sound, and based on years of consistent steady exercise and accumulated knowledge.
Tasha99Graduate
Need to diet to lose weight
pianoteacherGraduate
Hi Laurarees,
As others have said you need to be in a calorific deficit to lose weight - basically burn more calories than you consume.
In order to build any significant amount of muscle you must be in a calorie surplus combined with progressive overload in strength training (what body builders term "bulking"). Females have to work especially hard as we don't have enough testosterone to help grow that muscle. Running is primarily cardio and most people would decrease the amount they do when bulking not increase it.
Exercise causes water retention which is one reason why the scales don't move - in my case fluctuations 3 or 4lbs. There are lots of other things which cause this retention too eg menstrual cycle, lots of sodium in the diet.
I'm not an expert in any way this is just stuff I've picked up during my own journey to a healthier lifestyle
ForestgrumpGraduate
Yup diet is the key.
Try a low carb diet. I know you can get hungry after a run and the thought of “ ive run today so a bit of bread, pasta, rice ect won’t do any harm” but your body is sneaky that way and any carbs you take your body stores as fat for the next hardship. “ a throwback to our hunting caveman/woman origins when carbs were at a minimum.
If you would like some low carb diet inspiration menus go to the diabetes.co.uk website and search for recipes.
As a type 1 diabetic which is an auto immune disorder I got when I was 2 and unlike they lifestyle type 2 diabetes, lowering carbs reduces the hormone your pancreas produces called insulin that basically turns the carbs you eat into something your body can use as fuel , namely fat.
If you reduce the amount of insulin you produce after each meal and continue your excersise program you should see the lbs drop off 👍
Your doing good and the shape change your seeing is muscle building up. Once your body starts using its store of fuel it has you will one day look in the mirror and say “holy crap! Look at that !” 😁👍👍❤️❤️
Love it. Thank you ☺️
No worries if you’d like a link I can send it for you. All the best on your quest 👍
• in reply toForestgrump
👍🏻
Rachells71Graduate
That’s why Joe wickes aka ‘ the body coach ‘ calls scales the sad step 😔 your exercising , getting fit , body shape is changing, all massive positives 👍🏻
• in reply toRachells71
I for one couldn't do his fitness program, now that's very intense 😳
Thanks. Love a bit of positivity
Rachells71Graduate
😀😀 some of his HIT sessions are ok ... but yes I agree it’s a tough program he does !!
DbbdGraduate
Snap!!! I’m mean wats goin on?? Not even one pound! Apparently u need to be running long distances to see a difference..
I was hoping to lose weight. I put on half a stone when I had to stop exercising a year ago but I just can't shift it. I've lost a couple of pounds but still got at least 6 to lose! I know it's not a lot but all my clothes are tighter & I can feel it. I have cut back on what I'm eating & trying to follow the Slimming World plan. I think it's said that weight loss is 80% diet & 20% exercise. It's frustrating but hopefully when we graduate we can start to build up speed & that will burn off a few more calories! Interestingly I run on a treadmill at the gym and it tells you how many calories you are burning. I've just finished W6 R2 & only burnt 170 that run. I probably ate more than that when I came home so it's understandable why I haven't lost weight when you look at it like that
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