I’m here today to talk to you about a side effect of running that perplexes many runners. I’m running so why can’t I lose weight? When I first became a runner, my weight dropped quickly, but here I am several years later, with a full marathon and 9 (soon to be 10) half marathons under my fuel belt and the weight won’t budge.
Has this ever happened to you? If it has, you are not alone. Many runners, and especially women, find it very difficult to lose weight while training for an endurance event. There are a number of reasons why this might be the case. (As with any exercise/diet program, consult with your doctor – we aren’t physicians here.)
Efficiency – To train to run for over an hour, your body must learn to become a very efficient machine. This is why as you become a more experienced runner and you start increasing your distances, the weight loss doesn’t happen as easily. Your body has learned to reserve its energy for the long haul and has adapted. It burns less calories than when you first started running. Mixing things up with speed rather than distance may help combat this phenomenon. Steady state running, such as running 3 miles, at the same pace, 3 times a week, probably isn’t going to result in much weight loss (it IS valid exercise though, so don’t think you are doing nothing). Adding in other forms of cardio can also help. Your body needs to be challenged in new ways to burn fat.
Fueling – If you are skipping your post run snack to save a few calories, you may be doing more harm than good. Your body needs to replace its glycogen stores and send protein to muscles for repair. So don’t skip that healthy snack. Give your muscles what they need so you can work even harder on your next run. Most experts say about 200 calories containing both carbs and protein within 30 min of finishing is ideal. A glass of chocolate milk is an excellent choice.
Calories in & calories out – You just ran 10 miles and burned roughly 1000 calories, so you think heading to the sports bar to watch football the rest of the afternoon and eating the entire left side of the menu is totally acceptable. Not that I know anything about this. Chances are, you are eating far more calories than you just ran off. Those 12 boneless wings you stuffed in your pie hole have about 1100 calories. Add in fries and a few beers and you’ve just negated your entire run and then some. You are eating too much in relation to what you’ve burned. If you are really trying to lose weight, you can’t eat like you’ve just run a marathon – unless you actually have, but that only happens at most a few times a year. Watch out for hidden calories in sports drinks and gels, too. They can really add up.
The scale lies – Speaking as someone with a chronic scale obsession, your weight will fluctuate naturally day to day. This can depend on whether you had a salty meal the night before, if Aunt Flo is planning a visit, or even whether you’ve been sleeping well. It’s very natural for our bodies to retain water after a hard workout to repair muscle fibers. I can almost guarantee my weight will be up after my weekend long run. Some of this is due to water retention. If you are very sore, your muscles are also trying to tell you something. That soreness is a result of a buildup of lactic acid. You may also be hydrating more than you normally do when fueling or refueling from your runs. Also, as you gain muscle you may notice a bump up on the scale. (I refuse to use the phrase “muscle weighs more than fat because 1 pound is 1 pound no matter what it’s made of.) A tape measure or just noticing how your clothes fit may be a better test of weight loss.
There you have it, 4 reasons why you may be having difficulty losing weight while training for a race. Recognize that it is common and there are some things you can do to help the scale move in the right direction, even with that marathon on the horizon.
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