Belly's gonna get ya!

Any advice please.
I've been following a running programme for about 2 years. Mainly to loose the gut(the Belly got me).As a motivator I completed the GNR 2001 and the FLM 2002.Not fast times I know (just over 5 for the FLM). I've lost around 2 stone over this time but I cant seem to loose any more!! WHY?? I've applied for the FLM again to keep up with the training. My regime is this:
Mon -Fri mornings 3 miles (to work)
Mon/Tue/Fri pm 3 miles (from work)
Weds/Thurs 5 miles (from work)
34miles per week av 9min miles.
Can anybody suggest what I can do to break this plateau and get into fat burn mode and beat the belly!!
Cheers guys !
Kev H

Comments

  • Sorry Kev, no answer to your question. It just reminded me that this Reeboks advert got me running. Keep up the good work
  • GlennGlenn ✭✭✭
    Kev: check out the Fat Club threads, one for each day, in the Health+Injury forum. You will quickly learn as much as your sanity can stand...
  • i had the same problem - loads of CV exercise and no weight loss! I started looking at what I was eating and found it was too much. Weight loss slow but sure.
  • DustinDustin ✭✭✭
    I'm no expert , but I guess you do your runs at a constant speed.On this basis the exercise you are doing is certainly good for you (most people would be happy to get 30+ miles in a week).
    However if I've read those Heart Rate v age charts correctly you have to exercise at certain HR to burn fat effectively.
    Try running one or two runs quicker , or add in bursts (say 1/4mile) at a fast pace.
    There are plenty of other more qaulified forumites who can help with the true answer to your question.
    Maybe it's worth posting on the Health forum as Glenn suggests.

    2 stone is a huge weight loss (congrats), I tend to worry less on my weight more on how I look
    (I'm around 13 stone and 6ft,with body fat less than 20%).
    After all if you look in the mirror and look better,then what the scales say is to a large degree irrelevant.
    Better to take monthly measurements rather than focus on shorter term weight moves.
    If all else fails muscle is heavier than fat - thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it....
  • I seem to have the same problem. Lost it from the legs which is expected but can't seem to get rid of the tyres. Suppose i need to do some upper body work.
    We are told though that in order to lose weight we have to create a negative calorie intake i.e. burn off more calories in a day than we consume. So keep doing the exercise but now look at what you eat and reduce the calories.
  • GlennGlenn ✭✭✭
    There is no way out of the calorie counting business. 31 miles is about 3,100 calories worth for someone of average weight, more if you're above average. If you eat the recommended calorie intake for a sedentary person the running would therefore bring your weight down by about 1lb per week, all other factors being equal.

    Perhaps I'm wrong about this but is your fat intake too high? The reason for asking is that it's usually a struggle getting enough calories on your kind of milage if you stick to the high carbs, moderate protein, low fat (particularly saturated fat) diet recommended for runners.
  • Jon's post may have been brief, Kev, but there's a lot of sense in it. To get the maximum fat-burning potential out of your running, you need to run plenty of miles (you are, I know, you are!) and you need to harness the fat-burning capacity of the long run in particular. In addition, adding another aerobic exercise (at which you will be less efficient because it's not as familiar as running) may help.

    Do you do any resistance work? Muscle, even in the upper body where distance runners don't really need it (although we run better for it), burns about 20 times as many calories per pound as fat does just to maintain itself at rest - a pound of muscle also takes up less room that a pound of fat. And a good set of abs and good posture from a strong back will go a long way towards disguising a modest-sized G.U.T.

    Do look again at your diet - it's all too easy to relax and cut corners with time.

    The problem may be more basic, though. You don't say what you weigh now. Maybe you're already quite thin enough.

    Come across to Health and Injuries and join the fat club. If that doesn't motivate you, I can't think what will.
  • Thanks everyone for your comments & advice.
    I'm off to see what this Fat Club is all about to see what it's all about. Sounds good!Some of you mentioned the diet well, this is the average week :
    M-F b.bowl of bran flakes(with skimmed milk)
    L.bowl of fresh fruit & a couple of Nutrigrain. D.Pasta or salad with bread. Drink is water.
    w/end nothing too over the top but a couple of beers & wine (just a little treat after the running during the week - is this so bad??)
    By the way, I'm going to try a bit of speed work into the routine next week (shorter distance but faster) to see what effect this has.
    V.Rap as for being thin enough already, let me put it this way The Belly on the Reebok ad was modeled on me!
    Cheers again, Guys!
    Kev H
    "Belly's gonna get ya!"
  • For someone who runs 34 miles a week that doesn't sound an awful lot,lunch especially.
    A mid morning snack of fruit followed by lunch of a brown bread sandwich with lots of chicken or ham and salad followed by yoghurt. A mid afternnon snack and your sensible dinner. Could it be you are not eating enought therefore your metabolism has slowed down ?
  • Susie,
    I never thought of that one.
    Bring on the burgers! But seriously,you might have hit on something there. Let's see what happens!
    Cheers
    Kev H
  • My advice would be similar to Jon and V-Rap, longer runs (even if slower) will burn fat.

    Get to the gym and do some upper body weights and abs sessions (you will be surprised how quickly your stomach will tighten and look different!). The more muscle mass you have the more efficient your body is at burning fat.
  • i would totally agree with susie p and say that for the amount of exercise you're doing you are actually eating too little so that your body is going into hibernation mode and is therefore not burning off any fat. i have seen this happen many times before - i go to weight watchers where they say you need to eat a certain number of points (which are based on the calorie and saturated fat content of food) as a man you get far more points than me - i think about 36 ish. your diet at the moment seems to be quite a bit less than this - add on all that running and you're body's not happy. so my advice is add more into your diet for a while (not just cakes but real food!) and see what happens!
  • I would definitely say try to do some weight training as others have suggested. You get a stronger body which actually helps the running, and the extra muscle which takes up less space than the same weight of fat is far more metabolically active so you use up more calories even when sitting around doing nothing.
  • I really should apologise for my briefness! You get the idea though!
  • It sounds like you're not eating enough.
    As a guideline, to lose weight you have to eat calories equivelant to 10 x your weight in lbs.
    However, that doesn't mean you can spot reduce the fat on your belly, as this website will tell you clearly: www.fatlosstips.com



  • yeh totally agree...i don't know how you're surviving on the amount of food you eat....that would do me 'til mid morning and i'm an 8 stone female.....
    i run 40-50 miles a week and eat 2500-3000 cal a day (more if i've got a long run the day after), but i spread it out over loads of snacks, and eat most of it in the morning....i tend not to eat after 7 pm....your body deals with food better earlier on in the day so it might be an idea to have your main meal as lunch, and add a couple of snacks, say at 11 and 3 pm to keep your metabolism boosted....your metabolism is like an elastic band....give it more and it'll stretch, starve it, and you'll slow down and your body will get much better at holding on to fat.
    i also think you'll run a lot better (and faster after a bit) if you feed yourself more....all i can say now is good luck with it !
    alice
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