Body not changing. : I know I am only on week... - Couch to 5K

Couch to 5K

133,204 members158,928 posts

Body not changing.

Thingy0303 profile image
Thingy0303Graduate
13 Replies

I know I am only on week 2 but I have done 4 runs and a zumba class in the last 8 days. This is more exercise than I have done in the last 6 months. After all this work I am now a pound heavier and measurements are the same. I am eating healthily - fruit and yogurt breakfast, boiled egg salad lunch, chicken salad dinner and no snacking.

What is going wrong???

Written by
Thingy0303 profile image
Thingy0303
Graduate
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
13 Replies
UnfitNoMore profile image
UnfitNoMoreGraduate

Sounds about right to me.

You’ve almost certainly burned some fat... that’s cool. You’ve definitely built some muscle... that’s even better.

Muscle is denser than fat... so, let’s put this in real terms that we can see... a block of butter is (almost) all fat... a block of muscle of the same weight would be smaller.

Yes, it’s only week 2... but if nutrition is good, you’ll be slightly smaller (May at this stage be a millimetre on the arms, 2 millimetres on the thighs etc and so not measurable yet.) and at the same time also slightly heavier. That’s normal.

Add to this that, unless you were really on it before, your hydration should be better now... you could easily be carrying an extra litre of water around now... and that’s 2lbs.

Use the scales by all means... use a tape measure too though... sometimes the scales don’t give you the answer you want... but alongside a tape measure (and the fit of your clothes) you will see the whole thing.

Use the NHS BMI calculator to make sure you’re eating enough too... there’s no bad food... fat is not the enemy, neither are carbs... balance is good. If you don’t eat enough though the body goes into a natural state that animals go into when food is scarce and stores as much as it can as fat. This is normally seen by us as lacking energy.

Oldfloss profile image
OldflossAdministratorGraduate

Losing weight takes time.. a great deal more than a few weeks...BUT... you will begin to feel fitter and stronger..and with each week you will see progress.

This is not however a weight loss programme...so you may or may not lose weight...

Take a peek at our sister site.. Weight Loss NHS... many folk on here are on there also and find it works really well.

Give it time and just run and enjoy!

Lynne1916 profile image
Lynne1916Graduate

Nothing is going wrong - it’s going right!! You are on week two which means you have run for minutes!!

Keep going with the plan and you will see results, but it does take more runs.

You are off the couch which is the main thing !!!

2718281 profile image
2718281Graduate

If you are a woman, your body also changes a lot over the month, at least mine does and even if I lose weight on average over a month, there are weeks that the is no change or it even goes up. Plus there are the changes in body fat to body muscle ratio and other factors... Don't let the scales put you down!

Jogunlikely profile image
JogunlikelyGraduate

Stick with it. It's only now I'm doing the longer runs that I am starting to notice the difference. I was doing this for aerobic fitness any weight/inch loss would be an added bonus.

I do need to lose about 10 pounds but I thought I'd get one major lifestyle change (exercise!) licked before I put more focus on changing eating habits.

You'll find a way that works for you, it just takes time. 👍💪🏃‍♀️

GoGo_JoJo profile image
GoGo_JoJoGraduate

Give it time, Rome wasn't built in a day! 👍😉

Expect to start seeing small differences around 6 weeks in...

Don't let it get to you, you're on the right track! 😁

Hatman profile image
HatmanGraduate

If you didn’t eat for two weeks, would you disappear?

It took you a long time to get to the size and shape that you are.

It will take a little time to change.

Annoying isn’t it?

Week 4 I thought my beer belly looked a bit smaller.

Week 9 it is, and I am 4 kilos lighter too. BUT HEY!

This course is for running 30 minutes, not for weight loss.

If weight loss happens, you are lucky!

If it happens slowly, there’s a better chance of it staying like that.

Be lucky. Enjoy your running

Bookbizlady profile image
BookbizladyGraduate

8 days is not that long! It is also possible to not eat enough and that won't actually help you lose weight, oddly!

I have been following Slimming world (you can do it online or offline locally) and lost 3.5 stone in 6 months (now at my target weight). The running has toned me and build muscle and strength but I'm not sure if it's helped me lose much more weight!

Dawn74g profile image
Dawn74g

At the risk of sounding ‘me me me’ I’m going to talk about me 😁 haha! I read recently that we can lose 1lb every 11 days with a 2 mile run.....and I was like whaaaaat! Not worth it! But then I done the math and realised if I ran for 6 months and lost say 1lb every 2 weeks, that’s 2lb a month, that’s nearly a stone in 6 month.....and to me that’s a lot. Plus as it’s coming off during a complete healthy turnaround/lifestyle then the chances are it will stay off. I googled other people’s journeys from running. This took me to a page with so many regular people’s stories with photos of before/after. Very encouraging! :)

I’ll say also that you can’t be too hard on yourself. You should be typing....’In two short weeks I’ve made huge changes to both my diet and fitness regime’.

Lastly, I’ve been on a journey to change for 3 months now. I’m not on a diet (I have so many Italian style cream sauces) but I don’t eat anything processed. Nothing. Zero. I got used to cooking only food from scratch (which wasn’t as difficult as I expected). I only drink water...and a few coffees without sugar to get me moving. Very little sugar passes my lips throughout the week now.....and I’ve lost 9lbs. I don’t look much different to me, I love that my tummy’s nearly where I want it to be, but I feel totally different!

Stick at what you’re doing and you’re results will come.

‘You are what you continually do’ :) that’s my wee quote to help when I feel lazy and even consider a micro meal haha.

Jogunlikely profile image
JogunlikelyGraduate in reply to Dawn74g

I too am trying to cook from scratch or if a microwave meal it's fish in sauce with veg type from m&s. But I REALLY wish I could be as strong as you and not eat chocolate 😞

New job out in the middle of nowhere and no vending machine so I'm hoping this will slowly make a difference 🤷‍♀️

Can you clarify? Do I have to run 2 miles on each of the 11 days in order to lose 1lb? Thanks 🙂

Dawn74g profile image
Dawn74g in reply to Jogunlikely

Well....I wouldn't recommend running that often. We know better 😇 we need time to repair or we’d end up injured. I was meaning to offer a reference to info that’s out there on our

And I eat chocolate when I feel like it 👍 that’s my thing too!.....I shan’t google ‘will a bar of chocolate of an evening kill me?’ Just incase 🤣

I’m the farthest from knowledgeable on any of this stuff, but I do know eating all of the boring old dinners my mum cooked from fresh, along with some new recipes of my own, I’ve really changed the way I feel. I also drink over 2 litres of water and do Bannatyne’s yoga 3/4 times a week (I love this as it’s the polar opposite of competitive and stretches out my sore muscles). I aim to run 2 times a week. I’m not up for 3 just yet. But joining the gym has given me the use of the swimming pool as well as all of the classes....and the running machine! I’m happy to just do everything at my own pace though. I’m really not good at any of this yet....but I always turn up and I’ll keep on trying. If anyone had told me a few months ago I’d be here I’d have laughed really loudly. I used to sit on the sofa at night and wish I could change. So every single one of us that’s not doing that anymore is going in the right direction.

Thingy0303 profile image
Thingy0303Graduate

Thanks for the comments- even those that ever so politely told me to get on with it.

Nearly finished week 2. Much easier run than earlier this week. I will keep going. I am disposing of the scales and just waiting for my bum to wobble a bit less.

Thanks!!

Soontobefunmum profile image
SoontobefunmumGraduate

Well done for finishing week 2!! I’ve just finished week 4 and I too hoped I would see a change in the scales, nothing as yet. Hopefully when the runs get longer a change might start to happen. If nothing else we are getting fitter!

You may also like...

Body changes/no Laura

whether good or bad? I'm just curious. Set out for last run of W1 this morning. Got to the end of...

Weight loss/body change

putting it out there for the people that have been running a while .... has anyone noticed a...

Body Changes

for tonight's run. Theres a lot to be said for this running malarky!! Have great running day all! :)

Body changes / weight loss

Let's say I ate mostly as normal, but a bit more healthily. Currently in Week 2.

What changes in your body(and mind) have you noticed?

and steps more per day than I have ever done. And I have lost the last few pounds which had...