Running and gaining weight?!

[R_A_C_H]

Hi,
I have been training for a 10 k since February and have been really improving at it. The only thing is I weighed myself the other day and realised I have gained weight! I have been desperately trying to get back to 132 which was my weight last September and when I hit 31 in November it has been suddenly a struggle to keep from going to 140. Last January I was 135. I have been exercising more and doing the PS series and haven't changed my diet. I don't think it's possible to put on that much muscle in that short a time. What is going on?

 

[kotacam]

Could be a couple of things. First, do you know what your body fat percentage is? It could be that you have gained muscle mass, and not fat. The scale won't tell you that though - it is just a mechanical thing that tells you what the whole package weighs, not the percentage of lean body mass or fat.

Another you said is that you are exercising more and haven't changed your diet. You might not be eating enough to support the extra training you're putting into the 10K. You can use fitday.com or something similar to track and check how much you're actually eating. If you're not getting enough and execising more, this is a signal to the body that says, "Famine is coming! Store up fat!". Obviously, that's not want you want to tell it.

I am in my early 30's too, and yes, it takes more work to stay fit, but fit isn't always a number on a scale - as long as the clothes fit right and I'm cardiovascularly healthy, I'm thrilled.

HTH.

 

[macska]

Hi

This is a very popular subject on this www.coolrunning.com forum -- you are not alone.
There are many ideas and explanations about this strange weight gain.
I know as an ex marathon runner that my weight was always the highest when my mileage was the highest.
My own explanation is that your body "knows" that you are running now and you need extra fuel -- mostly glycogen. Now, your body is getting very good at storing glycogen -- after each run a little more than before "just in case". This process needs extra water too, so that adds a few pounds too.

Unless your clothes start to fit too snug, don't worry about it.

 

[R_A_C_H]

But there were also posts that said if you replaced the calories burned by eating you'd have negated the calorie deficit...or if you decreased your activities later in the day you'd be doing the same thing. So how would increasing your nutritional intake help you lose weight if you're trying to drop it?