What am I doing wrong?

mrsoft

I'm hope I'm in the right place looking for advice.I started running about 8 weeks ago in order to lose some weight and get fit as part of the new me. I'm not 39 years old, was a smoker for over 20 years and recently gave up in January and I'm over 2 stone overweight. I've had little or no excercise in the past ten years but I did play sport prior to that. As you can see I'm starting off on a very low base. I genuinely struggled to run a km non stop when starting off.My plan was to get a small bit fit first and then hopefully lose the weight. I'm now running 3/4 days a week between 3 and 5k at a time (at a poor 7m 20sec pace). Sometimes I might up the pace depending on how I'm feeling.However I am disappointed that I haven't even lost half a pound after 8 weeks of regular running. I don't think my diet is that bad but maybe I'm codding myself.Obviously I'm hoping to up the ante over the next few weeks and hopefully by mid May I'll be doing 10k at the pace mentioned above.Is there something else I should be looking at? I'm hoping the experts on this forum might see something a complete novice can't see.

Susie_Q

Can you post up your daily diet?

mrsoft

Susie_Q wrote: »

Can you post up your daily diet?

Thanks for reply suzie_q.Breakfast - Bowl of Rice Krispies with full fat milk & Coffee11am - Usually brown scone with real butter & tea1.30pm - Sandwich/Wrap withe usually filling of chicken/ham/tuna with tomato & onion and sometimes cheese6pm - Dinner could be anything. Usually involves potatoes/rice/pasta/chips with veg and meat.9.30pm - Bowl of cereal. Sometimes a bit of fruit.Might be slightly different at weekends. For lunch I might have something like scrambles eggs or bacon & sausages.I don't eat a lot of sweet things. Maybe once a week if even that might have a dessert or a biscuit. I usually go out one night a weeks for a few (5 or 6) pints. Thats about it.

farmchoice

I’m no expert but i was in the same boat as you a few years ago 2-3 stone over weight just giving up the fags and no previous exercise. In regard to the running i think you are doing really well.

The weight loss comes down to diet, to be honest your diet is pretty bad. There is loads of helpful info on the diet and nutrition thread in the stickies section. You need to be eating less calories then you burn everyday in order to lose weight. So if your daily calorie requirement is 2500 calories and you only eat 2000 you will lose weight. The running is great but even a 5k run is only burns about 350 to 400calories (this is a very rough estimate and will vary from person to person).

mrsoft

farmchoice wrote: »

I’m no expert but i was in the same boat as you a few years ago 2-3 stone over weight just giving up the fags and no previous exercise. In regard to the running i think you are doing really well.

The weight loss comes down to diet, to be honest your diet is pretty bad. There is loads of helpful info on the diet and nutrition thread in the stickies section. You need to be eating less calories then you burn everyday in order to lose weight. So if your daily calorie requirement is 2500 calories and you only eat 2000 you will lose weight. The running is great but even a 5k run is only burns about 350 to 400calories (this is a very rough estimate and will vary from person to person).

I was a bit worried in case I wasn't doing enough running.I suspected it might be diet ok. I'll check out the nutrition and diet threads and see where I need to improve. I guess if I'm really serious I'll prbably need to cut out the beer so. First fags and now beer - I'll be living like a hermit. ;-)

farmchoice

again I’m no expert so don’t rely too much on anything I say but I didn’t give up drinking, life’s too short and I think the secret with this, like a lot of things in life is everything in moderation.



Once you get your diet sorted, start calorie counting and stat to see the weight drop off you will be more aware of the amount you drink and the amount of calories involved but you have to have the odd treat and reward built in for yourself.


for me the big problem with going out drinking was not the beer itself it was the takeaway afterwards and then the next day hung over eating crap and sitting on the couch. So if you can stick to the rest of your revised diet don’t worry too much about the few pints.

Stench Blossoms

Your diet isn't great.

Try see if you can cut out the cereals and bread. Plan your meals around a source of protein.

mrsoft

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Your diet isn't great.

Try see if you can cut out the cereals and bread. Plan your meals around a source of protein.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll cut out the cereals and bread so and work from there. Much appreciated.

Stench Blossoms

Read the stickies and work out how many calories you should be consuming.

Maybe look into logging your food into fitday or myfitnesspal.

physioman

I'd have to agree with what is said above. Cut out the scone, full fat milk and cheese. Reduce the carbs by a good bit. Like you in Jan 2011 I was over weight and wanted to lose 1 1/2 stone before June 2011. I never realised that it was not so much the food I was eating but portion sizes. I followed the meals on the operation transformation website http://www.rte.ie/ot/recipes.html and found them useful and tasty. I kept going with my normal running pattern and I found a massive difference. I lost the 1 1/2 stone in 3 and half months. Try it and see how you get on but you need a goal to aim towards or you'll find it difficult

kennyb3

Your diet isn't great (being nice), but if you weren't putting more and more weight on weekly prior to running you should be seeing some sort of fall.

I ll bet you are either

a) eating more as a result of the running

b) eating more as a result of giving up smoking


It's been said before it really is a case of calories in v calories out.

Most people who are sedentary who take up sport should see weight fall off them. Those that don't generally don't realise how few calories their exercise burns and that extra treat or two they give themselves is the killer.

Best piece of advice i ever got was - you cant outrun your diet.

mrsoft

physioman wrote: »

I'd have to agree with what is said above. Cut out the scone, full fat milk and cheese. Reduce the carbs by a good bit. Like you in Jan 2011 I was over weight and wanted to lose 1 1/2 stone before June 2011. I never realised that it was not so much the food I was eating but portion sizes. I followed the meals on the operation transformation website http://www.rte.ie/ot/recipes.html and found them useful and tasty. I kept going with my normal running pattern and I found a massive difference. I lost the 1 1/2 stone in 3 and half months. Try it and see how you get on but you need a goal to aim towards or you'll find it difficult

Thanks physioman. I'll certainly have a look at that. To be honest I don't have an a specific aim. I was hoping to do 10k non stop by mid may and thats about it.Thanks for your help

mrsoft

kennyb3 wrote: »

Your diet isn't great (being nice), but if you weren't putting more and more weight on weekly prior to running you should be seeing some sort of fall.

I ll bet you are either

a) eating more as a result of the running

b) eating more as a result of giving up smoking


It's been said before it really is a case of calories in v calories out.

Most people who are sedentary who take up sport should see weight fall off them. Those that don't generally don't realise how few calories their exercise burns and that extra treat or two they give themselves is the killer.

Best piece of advice i ever got was - you cant outrun your diet.

I'm happy enough with the truth and I'm not bothered about the 'not nice' part.Genuinely don't think I'm eating more since giving up the fags. I was mindful of that when I gave them up. I've more of less stuck to the same eating pattern as prior to giving them up.But having said that I will be extra careful from now on and cut a few things out and see how I go.Thanks again.

menoscemo

mrsoft wrote: »

I'm hope I'm in the right place looking for advice.I started running about 8 weeks ago in order to lose some weight and get fit as part of the new me. I'm not 39 years old, was a smoker for over 20 years and recently gave up in January and I'm over 2 stone overweight. I've had little or no excercise in the past ten years but I did play sport prior to that. As you can see I'm starting off on a very low base. I genuinely struggled to run a km non stop when starting off.My plan was to get a small bit fit first and then hopefully lose the weight. I'm now running 3/4 days a week between 3 and 5k at a time (at a poor 7m 20sec pace). Sometimes I might up the pace depending on how I'm feeling.However I am disappointed that I haven't even lost half a pound after 8 weeks of regular running. I don't think my diet is that bad but maybe I'm codding myself.Obviously I'm hoping to up the ante over the next few weeks and hopefully by mid May I'll be doing 10k at the pace mentioned above.Is there something else I should be looking at? I'm hoping the experts on this forum might see something a complete novice can't see.

A 3-5k Run will generally burn off about 250-350 kcals for a male. So 3/4 times a week would be burning around 1000kcals through your running. In order to lose a pound through your running you need to keep this up for 3.5 weeks (and that's assuming you eat absolutely no more than before you started running).

In other words, if you want to lose weight by running you need to be doing a hell of a lot more of it than you are currently doing (think 50km/week+). This is not a good idea since your current fitness levels would not allow for it. Therefore you really need to be looking at the diet first and foremost if your goal is weightloss.

mrsoft

Thanks menoscemo. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be able to do a combination of both.

the groutch

Alot of small changes can make a big difference with the diet you described.

eg.

replace full fat milk with semi skimmed, if you're drinking alot of tea/coffee you don't realise how much you go through in a day

replace the butter on your scones with reduced sugar jam or something similar

if you're eating white bread replace it with wholegrain

look for extra lean rashers (ie. rindless), or even better turkey rashers

UL_heart_throb

mrsoft wrote: »

I'm hope I'm in the right place looking for advice.I started running about 8 weeks ago in order to lose some weight and get fit as part of the new me. I'm not 39 years old, was a smoker for over 20 years and recently gave up in January and I'm over 2 stone overweight. I've had little or no excercise in the past ten years but I did play sport prior to that. As you can see I'm starting off on a very low base. I genuinely struggled to run a km non stop when starting off.My plan was to get a small bit fit first and then hopefully lose the weight. I'm now running 3/4 days a week between 3 and 5k at a time (at a poor 7m 20sec pace). Sometimes I might up the pace depending on how I'm feeling.However I am disappointed that I haven't even lost half a pound after 8 weeks of regular running. I don't think my diet is that bad but maybe I'm codding myself.Obviously I'm hoping to up the ante over the next few weeks and hopefully by mid May I'll be doing 10k at the pace mentioned above.Is there something else I should be looking at? I'm hoping the experts on this forum might see something a complete novice can't see.

Firstly, like to congratulate you on giving up the fags. That's probably the best thing you can do for your health right now. The fact that you're getting out exercising and looking at your diet is just fantastic bonus marks. Well done!

So would just like to reiterate, make keeping off the fags your number one priority, the weight will come down eventually, if you make sure you're doing the small things right.

I actually wouldn't worry too much about the pace of the run right now. As long as you keep them fairly consistent and regular, I think you're going in the right direction. I recommend you aim for a 40 minute run and not look at the time/distance too much. But I guess if you're running a circuit you really have to make sure you get home again!

Next, it isn't entirely impossible, that you're getting fitter but not losing weight. You might consider taking some nearly nude photographs, or asking someone with a critical eye to look you over in your undies as the weeks go by. It might be that you're getting a second wind of muscle group etc. and you might be looking better but not actually losing weight (due to small increases in muscle at the expense of fat). That's something to think about.

Finally, as almost everyone has said, diet is the critical factor in weight loss. I know you don't think you're not snacking too much, but almost everyone i've met who gave up cigarettes started nibbling and snacking more often. It's time you really got self-aware about that and find out whether or not you're actually eating more. If you are snacking, try and replace crisps/chocolate/cakes with a healthier alternative fruit/vegetables/nuts/seeds.

Next look at your main meals - are they balanced? Are you eating enough at meal times to prevent you snacking later on bad food? Are you eating enough before and after your run. If you're starving yourself around your run, instead of insuring you burn off fat rather than glycogen stores you could just be tricking your body into a energy retaining state. E.g. your body will adjust it's basal metabolic rate to reduce energy consumption to fend off the starvation it thinks is happening (well that's my bro-science explanation).

So in a nutshell, keep off the cigarettes, keep getting out for the runs 3/4 times a week, eat healthy and reduce the snacks. Don't starve yourself but don't be a glutton neither.

If you're still seeing no progress in front of the mirror or on the weighting scales, you will have to go through your diet with a fine tooth comb, post it up here and try and find out where you're going wrong.

just my five cents.

Brian?

UL_heart_throb wrote: »

Firstly, like to congratulate you on giving up the fags. That's probably the best thing you can do for your health right now. The fact that you're getting out exercising and looking at your diet is just fantastic bonus marks. Well done!

So would just like to reiterate, make keeping off the fags your number one priority, the weight will come down eventually, if you make sure you're doing the small things right.

I actually wouldn't worry too much about the pace of the run right now. As long as you keep them fairly consistent and regular, I think you're going in the right direction. I recommend you aim for a 40 minute run and not look at the time/distance too much. But I guess if you're running a circuit you really have to make sure you get home again!

Next, it isn't entirely impossible, that you're getting fitter but not losing weight. You might consider taking some nearly nude photographs, or asking someone with a critical eye to look you over in your undies as the weeks go by. It might be that you're getting a second wind of muscle group etc. and you might be looking better but not actually losing weight (due to small increases in muscle at the expense of fat). That's something to think about.

Finally, as almost everyone has said, diet is the critical factor in weight loss. I know you don't think you're not snacking too much, but almost everyone i've met who gave up cigarettes started nibbling and snacking more often. It's time you really got self-aware about that and find out whether or not you're actually eating more. If you are snacking, try and replace crisps/chocolate/cakes with a healthier alternative fruit/vegetables/nuts/seeds.

Next look at your main meals - are they balanced? Are you eating enough at meal times to prevent you snacking later on bad food? Are you eating enough before and after your run. If you're starving yourself around your run, instead of insuring you burn off fat rather than glycogen stores you could just be tricking your body into a energy retaining state. E.g. your body will adjust it's basal metabolic rate to reduce energy consumption to fend off the starvation it thinks is happening (well that's my bro-science explanation).

So in a nutshell, keep off the cigarettes, keep getting out for the runs 3/4 times a week, eat healthy and reduce the snacks. Don't starve yourself but don't be a glutton neither.

If you're still seeing no progress in front of the mirror or on the weighting scales, you will have to go through your diet with a fine tooth comb, post it up here and try and find out where you're going wrong.

just my five cents.

A fine post.