“I started training for a triathlon, and I haven’t lost ONE pound” a friend announced to the group of moms, shaking her head with disbelief.
This is a real conversation I had with a fellow 4th grade mom at our monthly Bunco night. I know you will be interested in hearing my response.
It’s Really Common to Run More and Not Lose Weight (or Even Gain Weight)
After taking quite a bit of time off running due to injury and changing jobs, she picked up swimming, cycling AND running all at once. In her effort to have more energy and feel better about her body, she’s been exercising 30-60 minutes daily, and sometimes twice a day.
Like so many clients when they find me, she eats pretty healthily, increased her exercise by HOURS per week, yet she didn’t lose a single pound.
I know this contradicts everything we think about losing weight, and begs the question: how is this possible?
Why Women Don’t Lose Weight When They Run More
The reality about losing weight that doesn’t get talked about much?
It’s not just a matter of burning more calories. Your body really likes the weight you’re at (this is called “set point theory”) and works pretty hard to keep it there.
Think of it like a thermostat – your body has been living just fine at 160 pounds. When you increase your running mileage, your body makes some small tweaks involving your blood sugar, hormones (including hunger) and activity level to keep you right where you are.
There is a big difference between maintaining your weight and losing weight.
When you’re already an active person who eats relatively healthy, you simply can’t eat a salad for lunch and run 10 more miles a week and expect to lose weight. And you can’t trick your body by just eating less food or skipping meals (a protein bar for lunch is not a meal!).
But the good news is, you CAN change your weight’s “set point” and keep it there (even if you’re 40+), even while enjoying wine & cheese at your monthly Bunco night.
What I suggested to my friend at Bunco night is the same thing I’ll tell you now – when you’re wanting to lose weight don’t focus on the calories your Garmin watch tells you that you burned.
Instead, you need to change your body’s set point.
How to Lose Weight While Running
Here’s a few ways I teach my clients to do this inside my signature program Run Fuel:
- Creating a daily minor calorie deficit that is sustainable. Not only does creating a massive deficit backfire for runners (you’ll feel like garbage while running), it allows your hormones (leptin and ghrelin in particular) to re-calibrate. Plus, a major calorie deficit will eat away at your muscle, meaning you’ll lose more weight, but you’ll end up less toned and be more likely to gain it back. (GLP1s do this to you too). You CAN do this without the mental burden of counting macros or calories every day using my Runners Plate method.
- Prioritize fiber, protein and whole food carbs. It’s not just calories in, calories out. These types of foods fill you up, burn more calories in digestion, lower insulin resistance and improve muscle mass. Plus, they’re filled with micronutrients that boost running performance & help prevent disease too.The recipes in my 5S Meal Planning system make these foods delicious and easy to prepare.
- Instead of running 5 miles at 6 AM and then sitting at your desk all day until it’s time to pick up the kids from school or take them to activities, add a short walk after at least one meal a day – this boosts your digestion, regulates your blood sugar and helps your body keep burning calories all day long. Tracking your walks daily can help you stay consistent when building this habit, which is why they’re included in our Fuel journals in Run Fuel.
If you’ve increased your mileage, but didn’t lose weight or even gained weight- it doesn’t mean you don’t eat healthily. And it doesn’t mean you need to give up your weekly family pizza night to lose weight. It just means that you may need to learn a specific way of fueling to change your set point.
Run Fuel – Weight Loss Program for Female Runners
Join Run Fuel now to implement these changes step by step so you can lose weight and look & feel great while you’re running.
Steps 1-3 in my Run Fuel 4 Step Method will show you how to sustainably lose weight as a runner or endurance athlete who also has a career and/or family.
Step 4 shows you exactly how to maintain your weight and how to make small adjustments to your carbs, snacks and dinner plate to ensure you’re fueling well for your marathon or half marathon too.
Throughout the entire process, you’ll get recipe and meal ideas & I am there to help you personalize it to you & stick with it through my posts in our community & my 1:1 check ins. Enroll in Run Fuel now.
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