Help: On W3R2, also do a lot of walking. Ate... - Couch to 5K

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Shazb66 profile image
14 Replies

On W3R2, also do a lot of walking.

Ate healthy since new year,

No cakes, chocolate or bread.

I've put 2lb on, how can this be possible?

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Shazb66 profile image
Shazb66
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14 Replies
Edlene profile image
EdleneGraduate

Are you actually eating enough? If you don’t eat enough, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. Think about easy swaps like sweetener for sugar, skimmed milk, frylight instead of oil, they all make a big difference. Also don’t despair as often it balances out in time. Even if you haven’t lost much weight you should be healthier so keep going.

Shazb66 profile image
Shazb66 in reply to Edlene

I've cut out all junk food, and guess I'm not having enough calorie intake.

Agentmay profile image
AgentmayGraduate

That happened to me but my body soon settled down and it started moving again. Make sure you do eat proper meals, just swap out some things like you have done with bread. I always have a small snack after a run as well, latest is a banana as it keeps nice in the car while the weather is cold!

Shazb66 profile image
Shazb66 in reply to Agentmay

Wow, how long was it before you started to loose weight?

Amerynthe profile image
AmeryntheGraduate

It's annoying, but it's not unusual. There are (probably more than) a couple of reasons for this. When you are a relatively new runner or you significantly increase your exercise, your muscles develop little tears, and retain water to help them repair - so some weight gain may be down to water retention. This is also why it's important to have a rest day between run days, to give your body time to repair. If you have those whizzy scales that show your overall weight, BMI, body fat and water, you may notice that the water content has gone up a bit (mine has, by about 2%, since I started exercising).

The other reason is that you may well be losing body fat, but you are replacing the weight with increased muscle, and that is heavier than fat, but takes up less space.

Although the scales may stay the same or even increase, if you take your measurements you may well find that they are decreasing. I have been doing Slimming World for 18 months but haven't lost anything since starting C25K on 1 October last year - but all my clothes are significantly looser, and I've had to throw out a pair of trousers that literally fell down around my ankles just before Christmas. Fortunately I was at home at the time!

So don't let the number of the scales get you down - it's only one measure of health and fitness, and the weight will start to come down again. Keep going with C25K, it really is worth it in the long run (no pun intended!) :-)

Edlene profile image
EdleneGraduate in reply to Amerynthe

That’s a really excellent reply, I’ve been doing SlimmingWorld for years, target member for over 3 years.

Amerynthe profile image
AmeryntheGraduate in reply to Edlene

Congratulations on getting to - and remaining at - target!

Shazb66 profile image
Shazb66

Ahhh, thank you, this makes sense.

Amerynthe profile image
AmeryntheGraduate in reply to Shazb66

There is another element that someone mentioned to me while I was talking about this recently (during a Park Run, funnily enough!) She said that maybe I was subconsciously eating a bit more than I thought because I was exercising more and therefore on some level felt I could get away with it. I'm not sure that's the case but I am trying to be a bit more careful!

UnfitNoMore profile image
UnfitNoMoreGraduate

Could be not eating enough... or it could be the muscle build. If you were eating exactly enough calories to maintain weight then you’d gain at least a few pounds on the programme. The other suspect would be better hydration... 2 pounds is less than a litre of water, if you’re better hydrated that you were that could be a factor. You should get smaller doing this as it tones you up and muscle is smaller than fat for the same weight... I use a tape measure rather than the scales.

IannodaTruffe profile image
IannodaTruffeMentor

This might help anitabean.co.uk/https-anita...

Have you read the guide to the plan? healthunlocked.com/couchto5... it is full of tips.

Enjoy your journey.

Shazb66 profile image
Shazb66 in reply to IannodaTruffe

Thank you, makes sense. I'm a chocoholic, I honestly thought I'd see a difference on the scales after a month of no chocolate/ cakes/ biscuits.

ktsok profile image
ktsokGraduate

Let zipping up the skinny jeans be the test! You should start to see a change in your body as the weeks go by that the scales won’t necessarily reflect for the reasons already given.

Shazb66 profile image
Shazb66

Hopefully, fingers crossed... I do feel fitter. Thanks for the reply

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