Great sense of achievement but also slight disappointment...

[I-can-do-this]

I’m in the middle of week 5 now and I’m really proud of how far I’ve come in terms of the running and fitness. However, part of the reason I started the programme was to lose some weight as I’ve been battling the bulge for years and thought exercise might be the key to help me along. I know it’s not an overnight fix but after 4 weeks I’d hoped to see some results either on the scales or in my measurements but nothing!! It’s quite disheartening ☹️ I’m not following a strict diet plan but also I’ve not changed my eating habits since starting so simple science says I should be burning more than I’m eating!! Any advice out there??!!

[GoogleMe Graduate]

My 30 minute runs burn 200 calories according to my various bits of kit. Obviously it would be more if I ran faster.

I remember a good many years ago both MrGM and I set out to lose weight. He lost hand over fist the first four weeks, I lost nothing at all. One of us went on and lost all the weight needed... the other gave up... so I think decoupling the 'reward' from the practice can help.

Running helped me lose 20kgs over 2 years and go from obese to healthy BMI. It's not enough on its own but having done it once before when I wasn't able to exercise, it was a lot easier to achieve mentally as I didn't have to restrict my eating as much so didn't need to be thinking about it all the time and it feels positive to *do* something towards weight loss rather than just *not* do something if that makes sense?

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Great advice from misswobble ...be proud of yourself.

You are doing wonderfully and these things take time 😉

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Simple science says if you eat enough calories, and eat well, and take some exercise you’ll be healthy and fitter. There’s no science I’m aware of that says you’ll burn more than you eat. If you eat the recommended calories daily and do nothing daily you’ll put weight on daily. Add exercise and you should maintain.

The average person burns 100 calories per mile run... a pound of body fat is around 3500 calories, so even running a marathon won’t lose a pound. You cannot outrun a bad diet, it’s not possible... you can put C25K alongside healthy eating and be well... or you can put with a healthy weight-loss programme (not a diet as such) and lose weight slowly, then maintain that new weight.

The pseudoscience about calories in and calories out is flawed. If you don’t eat enough calories your body will go into starvation mode and you’ll gain weight. Also, regardless of calories, there’s a higher percentage of obese people that skip breakfast than in the population as a whole.

You’re doing great in this programme, be proud of that, it will tone you up, but for weightloss you’ll need to use the determination you obviously have to tackle nutrition too.

[Whatsapp Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

UnfitNoMore has it correct, average 100 calories per mile. That goes for both walking or running. Running being more efficient in the fact that you can cover more miles in less time. Faster running is only relveant if it results in you running further, otherwise what you gain in activity levels you lose in the duration of that activity. Anything telling you any different.

Now as for you running, yes its early days and chances are you havent been running a great deal of distance in the early weeks. Moving on though, you will soon be running around 5k 3 times a week, so you will notice changes more and more.

Use you rest days to undertake cross training, and calorie counting in isolation is a cold and difficult process. Change your calories from bad calories to clean calories. Try not to consume 'empty' calories. The following article shoulds clarify: bbc.co.uk/news/health-45549259

[Ang33333 Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

You can't outrun a bad diet - so so true! I've drastically improved my diet and weight is dropping! It's the only way. I wish I could eat cake every day but I can't! 🤪🤪

[BenderRodriquez]

I had the same concern. I expect to lose weight straight away. I can see I am losing bits here and there. But not the massive drop I envisioned. To be honest, in my opinion, that will come with time. What I am happy about is that I’m doing this. I’m getting fitter. I can walk up a hill without looking like I’ve run a marathon...😜

You’re doing great. Be proud of that and enjoy it. Think about how far you’ve come... it’s amazing...👍👍👍

[Slowburner]

I’m on week 8 now and the scales steadfastly remained the same until week 6. Apparently your body retains extra water for muscle repair when you first start exercising- then in the last two weeks half a stone just dropped off! Maybe the longer runs helped? Keep at it and don’t reward yourself with extra food. Good luck!

[Hidden]

I can't really add to much to what has been said already except that muscle is denser than fat .. this explains it better

" Muscle, by design, is denser and more fibrous in nature, as it serves to help support and move your entire body. Since dense muscle tissue takes up less space than fat, it’s possible you may weigh the same (or even more) yet appear slimmer than another person with the same weight and a similar height and frame because of the difference in your body composition "

Don't be to hard on yourself it does take time .. you will get there

[icklegui Graduate]

Humans are amazing, part of which is how efficiently we run, so we don't burn many calories. Also, when we run we cause micro tears in our muscles which fill a bit with water, all part of the healing process by which they get stronger, so it is even possible to gain a bit that way. But it is all getting you fitter.

Have a look in the FAQ posts (in the pinned posts), there is one called "why am i not losing weight" which should tell you everything you need to know!

My own advice is use the scales only for weighing your luggage when you go on holiday, and after a few more weeks, use the fit of your clothes to judge how you are doing. And if you want, check out the weight loss community on here, which is apparently very good

[I-can-do-this]

Thank you all for your replies, very kind and helpful ☺️

[Amandana]

Woohoo, you're half-way there!

There are so many benefits to leading an active lifestyle that go beyond the scale. Fitness is not measured in pounds, and while I can certainly relate to your post, I am trying to focus on doing what feeling good, physically and mentally, not what will make the best impact on my waistline at the moment. If you look at some other measures of health, like your resting heart rate, blood pressure, how well you're sleeping, etc, I'm sure there are measurable changes that indicate you're becoming fitter.

I find it hard to do everything all at once, so while I'm doing c25k, I'm not making any massive diet changes because creating a bunch of habits at once is mentally exhausting for me. So I'm continuing with the dietary goals I already had (eating more vegetables, cooking at home most of the time, drinking lots of water), focusing on getting adequate physical activity with c25k, yoga and walking, and when I feel I've got that in hand, I'll refocus on food to see what other positive changes I can make there.

Keep at it, you're making good changes for your health!

[I-can-do-this in reply to Amandana]

Thanks - that’s great advice 👍 and well done you too! x

[Gadget04 Graduate]

I joined slimming world in January and I have lost 3st 1lb so far. I'm just starting week 5 and since I have started C25K I have only lost 1lb. When I started I accepted that i might put on weight or maintain...grudgingly.

What i wasn't prepared for how it made me feel. I run with a sweaty smile say hello to everyone and feel amazing...got to love those endorphins lol. I feel stronger and more confident in away that i never got from just loosing the weight. Stick with it x

[I-can-do-this in reply to Gadget04]

Ha! I know what you mean 😃👍🏃🏼‍♀️