Getting there slowly

[fittyboomboom]

I was looking at my diary and am pleased with what I saw - 11 workouts in the past 24 days!!! The scales don't seem to be shifting though, so starting to feel the disappointment creeping in. Having only restarted the programme 3 weeks ago and skipping forward abit, i am now at week 6, and enjoying my runs again which is good, but I'm doing the marsden march in 2 weeks time so was hoping to not have to carry 18 stones around with me. Maybe I can really buckle down with the diet over the next 2 weeks and get some of the weight off. Thanks for all your fantastic stories, they are keeping me going x

[Fingalo Graduate]

It seems to be a common misconception that this programme will help you lose weight as a by product to getting you fit, the 'move more, eat less' principle. While that may be true for some, it's certainly not true for many and certainly shouldn't be assumed.

True that once you've qualified and are running regularly for half an hour it might kick in a bit more but it's not a given.

For example, I lost two and a half stone before I started C25k, in the three months it's taken me to graduate, despite maintaining a similar diet (I went for regime change rather than a particular structured diet) I've lost only a further half stone. It's not been a big issue with me as it was losing the weight that gave me the incentive to get fit rather than taking it up to lose more pounds but I feel it should be mentioned as otherwise folk can become disillusioned.

[RainbowC Graduate]

Wise Fingalo speaks very true! Exercise is brilliant for fitness - but weight loss/gain happens mainly by eating. If working on your fitness helps you find the incentive to eat better, then that should help the scales move.

(There's an often-quoted figure of 3500 calories per pound of weight. My runs have generally given me an estimated calorie burn of 250-350 - so that would be 10-14 runs to lose 1lb with no other changes factored in, and not eating *anything* extra 'because I've earned it'... Even now I'm running longer, it's still around 400-500 according to the treadmill or the app on my phone - and given that these estimates are often overly generous, that's still a lot of running to shift a pound.)

Keep at it - DON'T be disappointed. You've come a *long* way from your starting point if you're on week 6, and it's all good!

[greenlegs Graduate]

On the plus side, completing the c25k programme is great for confidence building, and for discovering that we *can* make ourselves do things that don't always have immediate rewards (ie some runs are stinkers!) - and that has got to be positive, if you're also trying to change eating habits. Change takes time - just keep stepping in the right direction and you'll get there.