Started running 3 weeks ago and have gained weight.

Chief of

I have been runninig a few weeks now and have built up to 5 KMs three times a week. My problem is weight gain. My initial motivation was weight loss, but I have enjoyed the benefits of running, as in increase energy etc.
Before I started I weighed 96 Kilos. I am 5' 11''. After three weeks of running I have gained nearly 5 Kilos. I find this very frustrating. I have a near set menu that I stick to daily.
Before work: 6am Banana or apple and coffee
Breakfast: 9.30 am Alpen mixed with cornflakes, two slices of mccambridges brownbread with butter and jam.
Lunch: Wholegrain sandwich with butter ham cheese and tomato, Tayto LFC's.
Dinner: Meat, potatoes,or rice,or pasta and some veg.

After either lunch or dinner I would have a small kit-kat bar. Then I might have a piece of fruit or a small bowl of cereal an hour or so before bed.

Is this a lot? Am I eating the wrong foods? Id appreciate some advice.

poconnor16

Chief of wrote: »

I have been runninig a few weeks now and have built up to 5 KMs three times a week. My problem is weight gain. My initial motivation was weight loss, but I have enjoyed the benefits of running, as in increase energy etc.
Before I started I weighed 96 Kilos. I am 5' 11''. After three weeks of running I have gained nearly 5 Kilos. I find this very frustrating. I have a near set menu that I stick to daily.
Before work: 6am Banana or apple and coffee
Breakfast: 9.30 am Alpen mixed with cornflakes, two slices of mccambridges brownbread with butter and jam.
Lunch: Wholegrain sandwich with butter ham cheese and tomato, Tayto LFC's.
Dinner: Meat, potatoes,or rice,or pasta and some veg.

After either lunch or dinner I would have a small kit-kat bar. Then I might have a piece of fruit or a small bowl of cereal an hour or so before bed.

Is this a lot? Am I eating the wrong foods? Id appreciate some advice.

Maybe its your portion size? It well known that the vast majority of us are eating portions that are way to big. Other than that, it depends -some will advise on lower carb, other on lower fat...am no expert in either.
The jam and the butter jump out at me as something you could cut out. Jam is just pure sugar and if you add that to the fruit, cornflakes etc it might be too much. try a cereal that is higher in fibre, it will keep you fuller for longer and wont cause sugar cravings. As for butter, switch to low fat. Is there butter and milk in your spuds? - again go low fat, for all dairy. A few more salad veggies might fill you up more at lunch as well, or a side salad to your sandwich.
Replace that evening choccie fix with a handful of nuts, Options hot choccie, sugar free jelly maybe? Every calorie counts.....your 5k run is what it probably takes to burn off that Kit Kat.


Have you taken measurements? This can be more encouraging than the scale. Or are your clothes fitting better ot worse?

And whats your water intake like? You're running a good distance, so you should make sure you are getting plenty of water.

Other folks on here might be able to advise you much better than me....or the nutrition forum might help too.

Good luck - and most importantly, keep running!!:D

TFBubendorfer

Chief of wrote: »

I have been runninig a few weeks now and have built up to 5 KMs three times a week.

5 km, 3 times a week = 15 km per week, that's ~1000 extra calories burnt in one week. That's not a lot. If you then take your running as an excuse to treat yourself as a reward, you will gain weight.

menoscemo

poconnor16 wrote: »

As for butter, switch to low fat. Is there butter and milk in your spuds? - again go low fat, for all dairy. A few more salad veggies might fill you up more at lunch as well, or a side salad to your sandwich.
Replace that evening choccie fix with a handful of nuts,

I doubt the butter is the problem rather the Bread/spuds etc it comes on. No-one puts on 5 kilos because of a bit of butter on their bread. Too much bread (carbs) is the real problem.

OP your diet is too carb heavy (bread, cereal, spuds, rice chocolates, fruit etc). If you eat more proteins and healthy fats you won't be half as hungry and will consume fewer calories.

Yes to me it seems like you are eating way too much, and if the scales are going up despite increased excercise then this must be the case.

poconnor16

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

5 km, 3 times a week = 15 km per week, that's ~1000 extra calories burnt in one week. That's not a lot. If you then take your running as an excuse to treat yourself as a reward, you will gain weight.

If the OP is a beginner, it is a lot and should be encouraged! But agree with what you are saying, to lose weight it boils down to the old equation - calories in < calories burned = weight loss.
This is also relative to individual stats....

OP, take a read of this link - explains BMR etc...

http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/a/blcalintake.htm

poconnor16

menoscemo wrote: »

I doubt the butter is the problem rather the Bread/spuds etc it comes on. No-one puts on 5 kilos because of a bit of butter on their bread. Too many carbs is the real problem.

OP your diet is too carb heavy (bread, cereal, spuds, rice chocolates, fruit etc). If you eat more proteins and healthy fats you won't be half as hungry and will consume fewer calories.

Yes to me it seems like you are eating way too much, and if the scales are going up despite increased excercise then this must be the case.

So do you advise a low carb diet? Genuinely asking here, as I know low carb diets do work but always though they should be avoided for a runner.

martin699

what most people dont seem to realize about losing weight is that you need to burn more calories than you take in... its as simple as that...

how intense is your running?? do you sweat alot while running?? if your just trotting along at a reasonable pace then your not working hard enough...

on the diet side of things there seems to be alot of carbs in there... dont forget fruits are all carbs as well... maybe try increasing your protein intake by taking some un-salted nuts instead of fruit in the morning with your coffee... and mix some flaxseeds or linseeds with your alpen instead of cornflakes...
also try to lessen the portion of potatoes/rice/pasta etc and add more vegetables...

dna_leri

Your diet does not look too bad, but as said above portion sizes (plus crisps, jam and choc) may still be an issue. In particular watch that you don't increase portions now that you are running.

When I started back running 3 years ago, I went from 79 to 81 kilos and 3 months later I was still 79 kilos.
I did not measure but I think I had started to lose some bulk around the waist but it took up to 6 months before I saw real weight loss, when I got down to 73 Kg and continued to lose after that.

The point is weight loss may take a while, for me it came after I got some base fitness and was able to throw in some faster runs and a long run. Don't do that too soon or you will get injured. Keep going, have patience, it will happen.

G-Money

As someone who is trying to lose weight myself, I've found it's very easy to think you can over indulge a bit once you are exercising. While occasionally this might be ok, if it's regularly, then you're scundered.

OP, definitely look at your portion sizes for starters. I know with things like rice it's very easy to take a portion that's much bigger than what they recommend but to the naked eye it could still seem very small. I think they recommend about 50-60grams uncooked which is not a lot.

I kind of believe in a balanced diet, no fads, and consuming less calories than you are using up per day to trigger weight loss.

Also you need something that is maintainable. It's all very well eating chicken breasts or plain steak 3 times a day and some veg but is that something you can stick to for the rest of your life?

Consume less calories that you are using up day to day, eat healthy and the weight will come off.

Good luck.

fergalr

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

5 km, 3 times a week = 15 km per week, that's ~1000 extra calories burnt in one week. That's not a lot. If you then take your running as an excuse to treat yourself as a reward, you will gain weight.

I'm not a nutrition expert. I've read a few books.
Most of the books I've read that mention exercise and weight loss say that the primary weight loss benefit of moderate exercise isn't the calories you burn while exercising, its the calories you burn because of the metabolic increase that results from exercising.

So, you don't burn most of the energy through moving your body while running, you burn the energy when you aren't running, because your metabolism has gotten faster.


OP:
You say you've gained weight despite starting exercising. Have you also increased your calorie intake, compared to before?
You should work out your daily calories, and see if thats more or less than your RDA for your height and weight.

I'm not really in a position to give advice, but if it was me, as long as the daily intake isn't too much above RDA, I'd just watch my portion size, and gradually increase my running over time, in a sensible way.

I personally find that as long as I'm careful to keep it up, and build mileage, the weight eventually sorts itself out. By the time you get to running fast 10k, 4 times a week, then unless you are eating huge amounts, you'll be losing weight.

I think its about aiming for a consistent sustainable healthy lifestyle, rather than shorter term trends.

hot to trot

Good luck and dont give up. I tend to over eat , eating more than you do , but I have to run more so I can get away with it .
one mile is 100 calories roughly
5K is 3 miles so you are basically running well for a beginner. Keep at the running. Could you add an extra day running or perhaps throw in an exercise session/class if the legs arent used to more running?
YOu are a tall lad so it is hard to cut portions down. I would look to burn up more calories. Apart from planned exercise like classes cycling, swimming runing I woudl try and get as much extra as you can , stairs , extra walks, situps while tv adverts are on. squats while on the phone. anything that will add in an extra bit of activity.measurements can be very useful.

TFBubendorfer

fergalr wrote: »

I'm not a nutrition expert. I've read a few books.
Most of the books I've read that mention exercise and weight loss say that the primary weight loss benefit of moderate exercise isn't the calories you burn while exercising, its the calories you burn because of the metabolic increase that results from exercising.

So, you don't burn most of the energy through moving your body while running, you burn the energy when you aren't running, because your metabolism has gotten faster.

If you do hard training, you will still be burning extra calories after exercise due to the increased metabolic rate (that's called EPOC, Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). However, at best this will add an extra 10% to the calories burnt at exercise.

Running 5k 3 times a week is unlikely to yield any significant number of additional calories.

I you do a lot of weights, the additional muscle will eventually indeed increase your metabolic rate. I presume that's what you were referring to. However, since you don't gain a lot of muscle from running, this is not significant in that case.

TFBubendorfer

poconnor16 wrote: »

If the OP is a beginner, it is a lot and should be encouraged! But agree with what you are saying, to lose weight it boils down to the old equation - calories in < calories burned = weight loss.
This is also relative to individual stats....

OP, take a read of this link - explains BMR etc...

http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/a/blcalintake.htm

I am not belittling the OP's attempts of losing weight via running. On the opposite, I think it's great. But fact is, his (or her) weekly mileage will burn about 1000 calories, and from a weight loss point of view this is not a lot.

menoscemo

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

I am not belittling the OP's attempts of losing weight via running. On the opposite, I think it's great. But fact is, his (or her) weekly mileage will burn about 1000 calories, and from a weight loss point of view this is not a lot.

3500 calories is 1lb so the OP will lose only 0.27 of a Pound ( or 1 pound a month) from running, assuming (s)he eats the same amount of food as before.

tunney

Agree - weight loss solely due to running - I don't find until you get to 80+ km a week.

Running and calorie reduced diet on the other hand........

menoscemo

poconnor16 wrote: »

So do you advise a low carb diet? Genuinely asking here, as I know low carb diets do work but always though they should be avoided for a runner.

For a serious long distance athelete a low carb diet won't work (for obvious reasons).
For someone trying to lose weight, cutting out processed carbs (cakes, sweets, cereals, pasta rice etc) is the way to get fastest results. Said foods, nutritionally, offer very little for the amount of calories they contain.

The OP is running 15km a week which is not enough to justify the amount of carbs (especially the low quality ones) he is eating.

Chief of

Thanks a million, good solid advice and no pulled punches. Thats great I know what I have to now. Thanks to all.

huskerdu

Also, don't forget that weight fluctuates by quite a few kios over the course of a week
naturally. Make sure you are weighting your self on the same day of the week.

I am always heavier after the weekend ( alcohol is the culprit), but it's gone by Thursday.

And finally - don't get disheartened.

Running will benefit your health and ultimately help you
lose weight, once you are eating the right food.