Wk 4 completed - very encouraged

[Lane]

I am so pleased with myself that I have completed week 4 and am ready to begin week 5 tomorrow. I would never have thought it possible. In fact I am so surprised that I have got this far that I am nearly convincing myself that I am not doing it correctly. Pity about the 5 3/4 extra pounds I have put on in the past four weeks though!

[Amy-M]

I'm sure you are doing it right. Like you I have just finished week 4 and am surprised at my progress but the that is the whole point of the program- to get better at running! As for the weight gain, don't be too worried about it at this stage. But if you are really determined to loose weight try modulating what you are eating; it can be very easy to over eat after a run. Well done finishing week 4 and enjoy your running.

[Lane in reply to Amy-M]

Hiya - glad you are doing well as well. I am going to make a determined effort not to over eat this week, she says reaching for the biscuit tin - Woops!

[stayinbed Graduate]

Perhaps you're building up muscle, as muscle is heavier than f*t!!!

[Lane in reply to stayinbed]

Ha ha muscle! Very funny, this is Lane you are talking about! You have given me a good laugh!

[pingle Graduate]

Someone recently blogged (sorry can't remember who) that their doctor was not at all surprised that they had gained a small amount of weight in the start of this programme. The theory was that if someone is unfit and then starts exercising then the body responds by retaining more fluid to maintain blood pressure. It's a fairly short term thing but accounts for why lots of people who have been losing weight steadily before starting C25k hit a plateau when they start. Some people then have a dramatic weight loss a few weeks in when the body sorts itself out again with a new equilibrium.

That said I found that when I started I would be ravenous about 30 mins after a run but when I made a conscious effort to drink more water after a run this disappeared - it's fairly common to misinterpet thirst for hunger in this way but is an obvious pitfall. You also need to watch out for so called 'sports' drinks which are loaded with sugar and very high in calories. In the early weeks of C25k sadly you don't run enough to burn loads of calories so you can't go mad with the biscuit tin but as the distance builds up so does the calorie burning effect. As for me I stayed the same weight for the first 6 weeks or so and since then I haven't changed my diet at all but have lost about 1/2 stone but the effect on my 'spare tyre' has been dramatic!

Good luck. You have done brilliantly to get to week 4. Even if you have gained a bit of weight the effects of this will have been more than offset by your improved fitness.

[Lane in reply to pingle]

Hi thanks for taking time to reply to me and for the encouragement, yes I did wonder if I was not listening to my body correctly - think I will try the extra water exercise when I think I am hungry for a few days and see what happens.

[Ade_Dennis Graduate]

Well done on completing week 4! I started that week this morning and, after spending the whole of last night worrying that I wouldn't be able to manage the 5 minutes of running, I really enjoyed it and can't wait until Wednesday to get out there again.