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05-16-2008, 3:42 AM yoyojazz Joined on 04-18-2008 Manchester, UK Posts 41 Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight I have a question for all the big losers in the forums (Weight Losers) ofcourse :) I have hit that plateau in my weight when its not dropping. For people that have lost weight should I concentrate more on my running and believe that the weight will comeoff as a by product or should i really drill down to what I am eating and find out why? I just wanted to know what other people went through along with the running to lose the weight they did. Anyway more importantly running wise I completed the Week 5 Day 2  on Wednesday and getting ready for day 3 tonight. I couldn't beleive that I ran for 8 minutes solid a few days back but i done it to my shock. the break in between made all the difference now without the break i don't think i will be able to last any longer than 10 minutes. I have a question did you grately vary your pace over the 20 minute period or did you try and make a concerted effort to maintain a constant pace/speed. Anyway cheers again   Jazz      Report

05-16-2008, 8:19 AM forme2 Joined on 04-22-2008 Posts 7 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight First, 5.3: Make a concious effort to go at a comfortable steady pace. I (and just about everyone here) felt they couldn't do it, but most do!  Just keep moving, and you'll get through.  Weight loss: IMO, you should probably add some strength training to your schedule. Not only will it improve your running, but muscle keeps your metablolism revved.  You may see even see a gain at first, but you'll find your size is shrinking, and then the numbers will fall.  Also, some form of portion control/calorie counting is vital so you will know exactly what is going in.  Even some of my 'healthier' meals had way more calories than I thought, so taking the time to analyze everything has helped me.  You can read my blog for more info... Keep it up, you are doing a great job!     Report

05-16-2008, 8:55 AM Penguinfan Joined on 04-05-2008 Brisbane, Australia Posts 165 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight Hey Jazz, * On weight loss: Both exercise and diet are important in weight loss. Exercise uses calories, boosts your metabolism for a period afterwards, and (especially weight training) helps build muscle mass which increases your metabolism and makes it easier to do more exercise. Looking at your diet makes sure that you have the energy for exercise, the right materials your body needs to  benefit most from doing exercise, and allows you to work out how much you should be eating to safely lose weight. Really, if you want to lose weight you *have* to examine your diet. Crash diets just don't work long term and generally lead to weight yoyoing. I don't think e-mail is working from the forums . Did you end up getting the e-mail I sent about diet stuff? * On pacing: I try to keep a steady slowish pace, but when I get tired I slow down as much as I can while still jogging and wait for energy to return. Penguin Rob    Report

05-16-2008, 10:18 PM NimbleNymph Joined on 03-31-2008 Queensland, Australia Posts 17 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight Good luck with your 3rd week 5 run. I HAVE to vary my pace otherwise I'd die! :) Jokes. My personal aim - always - was to maintain something that looked like a jog for the allocated time. That said though I can pull a bit out if I have too...sometimes my mind wanders to other things that are not running. Re the plateau. Have a look at what you are eating but don't get too anal about it. Mix it up a bit. Do you eat the same stuff every day? If so then try to make some changes. Instead of cereal for breakfast, have an egg and the like. Keep your water up too. Personally I have found the the running has helped changed my shape more than move the kg's...cm's are moving. I have had some good losses when I do follow my plan AND can manage to get 3 interval runs in a week. Oh and of course fitness has increased and my blood pressure is soo much better!    Report

06-17-2008, 4:57 AM Scheezo Joined on 04-06-2008 Posts 165 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight Thats a good point.  Mixing up your diet a bit.  Me and my wife did weight watchers about a year ago.  We didn't pay to go to meetings because the information is all over the internet for free.  We stuck to a plan called the Wendy plan which had us eating a different amount of points a day to keep the body always guessing.  It worked real well and have heard that people who use it don't planteu as bad.    Report

06-17-2008, 6:15 PM favolaus Joined on 06-18-2008 Posts 2 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight I'm on week 4 of c25k, and week 5 of going to the gym for the first time in my life.  I'm working hard and doing a combo of the c-5k, walking on the treadmill with an incline for about an hr. on my days off and weight training 3x's a week.  I've only lost about 2 lbs (144 down to 142-141) but!!  I'm fitting into clothing I haven't for a vey very long time.  I'm talking 6 years and 2 kids ago long time.  So, althought the actual drop in weight is minimal, I know I'm looking much bettter.  But, I've got to add that I'm planning on sticking to this for the long term and if 2-3 lbs a month is what I get, over year that is 25 lbs that will stay off without a diet.  Still, I'd be thrilled at 130.    Report

08-20-2008, 4:08 AM Tortoise Joined on 08-18-2008 Posts 5 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight Hey Jazz, I lost 17kg (37lb) about 5 years ago without really changing my diet.  I just did exercise for an hour or two every day.  Then I started working full-time while studying a post-grad degree and I just couldn't keep up this training schedule so I eventually regained most of the weight I'd lost. Reluctantly, I braved weight watchers last year because I decided I really needed to look at the 'energy in' side of the equation.  To my surprise, I actually really liked it.  I've lost my weight again (it took about 9 months) and I am now comfortably with my healthy BMI range.  I did the 'at home' version of the program because I didn't feel comfortable going to meetings.  It helped motivate me to do more exercise by giving me get extra eating credits for physical activity, but the main benefit for me was helping me learn portion control.  I'd refused to look at my diet before because I believed it was healthy (I'm a vegetarian and I don't often eat fast food or 'junk food').  I believed that I just had an unfortunate metabolic rate (I still believe this, but I try not to lean on it as an excuse anymore).  The truth is I was eating mostly the right things, but too much.  It's was hard to admit this to myself because I didn't think of myself as particularly greedy or gluttonous and my sense of a 'normal' potion size has been distorted by the size of most restaurant helpings.  But I'm very glad to have trained myself to eat less (although it took a couple of hungry weeks to make the adjustment!) I see exercise mainly as a fitness building activity now rather than something I do for weight loss.  My running helps me burn off the excess calories from the occasional fat-filled restaurant meal, obligatory 'morning tea at the office' or chocolate devouring episode that life sometimes still throws at me, but it's no longer my main way to keep weight off.  After my weight watchers experience I will always believe the key to a healthy weight is a calorie controlled diet.  Exercise helps, but it won't do the job alone - at least not in the long term. Hope this helps. M    Report

08-21-2008, 5:29 AM Scheezo Joined on 04-06-2008 Posts 165 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight I did weight watchers a little over a year ago and I preach it to anyone wanting to gain control over their eating.  I felt a little hungry at times durring the day but as Richard Simmons say, "It's ok to be hungry."  Eventually it got easy, I wasn't hungry and felt great.  Unfortunately, I somehow got off it and haven't gotten back on it.  This program has been awesome for me.  I need to start the healthy eating part now.    Report

09-07-2008, 6:56 PM vizslamom Joined on 09-08-2008 Posts 2 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight Just curious how much weight folks are losing . When I used to run about 10 years ago .. i was at my leanest and healthiest alot is diet but at that time, when i started running my metabolism BOOMED!    Report

09-07-2008, 8:51 PM briandk Joined on 08-21-2008 Denmark Posts 123 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight  vizslamom wrote: Just curious how much weight folks are losing . When I used to run about 10 years ago .. i was at my leanest and healthiest alot is diet but at that time, when i started running my metabolism BOOMED! Personally I've lost 16.7 pounds so far, but besides doing the c25k, I have totally changed my eating habits and I track everything I eat now. I stopped eating fastfood, white bread  and drinking soda with sugar and am currently on around 1500 calories/day. Most of which comes from lean chicken, vegetables and some fruits. I did track it for a couple of days before I changed my diet and I was nearly always on +4000/day. I still have about 26 pounds left. // brian C25K finished Oct. 02 - 2008.    Report

09-08-2008, 12:19 AM knoddie Joined on 02-09-2008 Perth, Australia Posts 203 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight That's not a lot of calories Brian. When I was losing weight and I was around your weight I was averaging between 1750 and 2000 calories per day, and losing around a pound a week. I was then eating back most of my exercise calories as well. You don't want it to make you ill. Now because of the amount of running I'm doing I'm on about 2800 calories a day to maintain my current weight, and ingest enough carbs to do the work. Isn't it scary when you track what you used to eat. 2 x whoppers with cheese, a large fries and a large shake = a hell of a lot of calories!    Report

09-08-2008, 2:39 AM briandk Joined on 08-21-2008 Denmark Posts 123 Re: Question about diet and running + Week 5 Day 3 Tonight  knoddie wrote: That's not a lot of calories Brian. When I was losing weight and I was around your weight I was averaging between 1750 and 2000 calories per day, and losing around a pound a week. I was then eating back most of my exercise calories as well. You don't want it to make you ill. Now because of the amount of running I'm doing I'm on about 2800 calories a day to maintain my current weight, and ingest enough carbs to do the work. Isn't it scary when you track what you used to eat. 2 x whoppers with cheese, a large fries and a large shake = a hell of a lot of calories! Yeah, I know it's a bit low. It translates to more than 2 pounds lost a week, which is a bit more than the recommended I belive. I have considered upping it a bit now that I am more active, than when the plan was made. It's so true how scary it is to see what you actually used to eat. I used to eat 3-4 chicken burgers from McD easily and unfortunately sometimes even more. A whole pizza for myself wasn't a problem either. I actually don't really eat much less now, just better foods with less calories, so hunger has not been a problem at all and I'm fortunately blessed with not craving sugar or snacks. Fast food was my thing and I'm finding it pretty easy to avoid. // brian C25K finished Oct. 02 - 2008.    Report

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