marathons put weight on

Hi,

I seem to be loosing the plot again, this happens every time i train for a marathon. I cant stop eating, my husband says i am like a hoover. Normally i am able to find a balance with eating and training and therefore dont normally have weight issues.
However i dont seem to know how to control myself with food, yes i know its cos of the increased training but i am putting on weight.....does anyone else have this problem.
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Comments

  • Yes!!

    My appetite has ballooned, and so have I!

    First time mara training. Wasn't expecting this side effect!
  • Same here! when i was just running and cross training, i slimmed right down. Now i'm marathon training i xcan't seen to lose the 4 lb from xmas. not usually a problam at all!!
  • Nick LNick L ✭✭✭
    Me too....i feel like a right fat bloater at times! After a long run I normally have a low desire for food, then a few days later...BOOM stuffing all sorts into my head!

    My approach to try to lessen the damage is to chop up lots of veggies (sweet pots, parsnips, sweede, onion, peppers, pots, courgette, etc etc etc) bung em in to roast before you go out to train on a low heat, then by the time you get back theyre done. Lots of good nutrition, but not too much in the way of calories, so you can fill your face! Of course you need to have some meat/fish with it too, and poss some brown rice.

    Trouble is, the large slab of cake afterwards undoes all the good work!
  • I've surprised myself by putting on a wee bit of weight (not "ballooning" by any means - no more than 2-3lb but it's a definite trend) since increasing my mileage in December. Some of it could be blood volume and some of it could be muscle, and a little of it definitely IS F.A.T. but in the right places :o)

    Nick, the large-volume, low-calorie approach doesn't work for me. There's a little meter at the top of my stomach that clocks in every calorie and sends out for more if I don't give it enough.
  • How hard is it though to run, not be hungry and stick to eating the good stuff?
  • Glad it's not just us ladies Nick!

    I usually have some homemade soup/stew ready. So I'll have that when I get in, and a sandwich.

    And then the cake!
  • If i try and eat the calories i did before i trained purley for a marathon, i have to get up and eat a banana at 3 in the morning cos im hungry!
  • So pleased to see that i am not alone out there!!!! although it is very depressing, if i continue like this i will be to fat to run the race. So much going on in my head, feelings of giving up, especially when i make the effort to get up at 5am to do my training and then to find i have put weight on aswell....perhaps i am having a bad day.
  • Nick LNick L ✭✭✭
    V'rap....i just like to 'feel full' after eating, so yeah that approach may not work for all....as with you!

    Arty - nope, not just me...I would like to be about 6lbs lighter...but I guess that is silly. I dont know what % of me is fat though, which clearly is a better indicator of ones weight/size etc.

    I try not to make cakes or buy biscuits, otherwise I just eat them!

    Of course a good way to lose weight would be to eat some slightly off fish/meat/chicken....as the resulting food poisoning would shed pounds!...
  • I know what you mean Lou H, it does make you feel like that, even worse if you can see it on a training log! i don't put my weight on it anymore, its too depressing.
  • Me too, I've only done two marathons, and both
    times I put on weight during the training.
  • Vrap - you summed that up well. That applies to me as well. Large volume, low cal - not working right now!

    GQ - I did that a couple of weeks ago too! Banana and a drink of water in the middle of the night. I was ravenous! hee hee

    Lou - Don't give up! Keep on going. This is a side effect of training, but not a reason to give up.

    Ah Nick - the quickest weight loss diet in the world! lol Not sure I fancy that one.

    I do wonder how much runs would be easier with out the extra weight. I will find out. One day!
  • I know muscle weighs more than fat, and we are bound to gain some muscle but what about the 'bulge' around my belly!!!!
  • Nick LNick L ✭✭✭
    ....ok Arty, then the other approach is an extremely stressful event in your life, which again isnt entirely desirable!!!

    ...or go out and get 'proper' flu (not man flu!) I lost 3/4 of a stone in 2 weeks once and went under 11 stone! I was told that I looked awful though!

    Seeing as I am more or less always training for a mara or similar, then I guess I am not going to lose weight.....sob!

  • i wondered if it was because i stopped weight training (body pump class 2 a week), you know, burn more calories, always. So i've strted again. I'll let you all know.
  • Ah yes Nick! Stress. Must admit to hitting the cake and wine heavily the other week when I had all the trouble with my boss. So that hasn't helped!



  • hoorah, this posting has saved my sanity, thought it was all going wrong. a month away from my first marathon and i've put on a good three to four pounds and just cannot shift, don't think my running has faultered though. my leg muscles are a lot firmer so perhaps that where the weight is ...
  • Thanks everyone for your input, so pleased that i am not the only one out there with this problem.
    I am off to the gym now before its to late and i hit the vending machine....
  • I take issue with one of the swaps recommended - they suggest Gouda over cheddar based on fat content. Whereas Gouda (40-48% fat) is typically higher than cheddar & other hard cheeses (33% fat)
  • Not sure if it's the body rebelling. Knowing that its going to be coming in for some punishment, it could be that any extra sugar/carb etc is being stored as fat because it knows that reserves will be needed. Just started more serious running myself so sure i'll encounter these problems soon enough.
  • I also seem to be constantly ravenous. Am trying to curb it a bit, but not going too crazy, not least because (quite late for most teenage girls) I developed a good bout of an eating disorder aged 17-19. Whilst that is pretty firmly under control nowadays (I'll never get into the clothes I bought back then...), I tend to actually avoid the scales as much as I can. I aim to judge instead by how loose or tight my clothes are. So whilst its probably true that I have put on weight, and am not eating as well as I might, some of my clothes fit better (haven't lost the slight bulge around the tummy area, but my legs are definitely looking more toned - cue much wearing of short skirts!!)

    Not easy, and there are certainly many days when I don't manage it, but your attitude to it all is what's important - if you're able to be proud of yourself for being able to run for 2 hours when you couldn't before, that's what to focus on.
  • WaboWabo ✭✭✭
    same here! I don't think its fat, need a belt to keep trs up and bra size has gone down. Where is the extra weight??? Maybe my legs have got heavier, roflol!!
    possunt quia posse videntur - we can because we know we can 
  • My legs feel like they've been pumped up but thats good, they are 'preparing' and building for the miles to come, but i'm still struggling to lose the extra xmas pounds that otherwise would come off after a few weeks.
  • GSM - like you, I have had an encounter with an eating disorder, so I try to keep perspective on it. I'd rather be the size/shape I am now and be happy with my curves than to go back to eating disorder days. Couldn't agree more about attitude.

    And the fact that I am getting out there at all is pretty damn good for a natural couch potato!

    :-)

    And about legs. Would your calves get bigger with running (muscle?) as I noticed that two pairs of knee high boots felt tighter?
  • i would say defo to the calves!

  • Yes, I've got big solid calves too, though that may have as much to do with hillwalking as with running.
  • I'm training for a marathon just now and I've been trying to do some running in the morning before work but I found that made my appetite worse and I be constantly hungry and I'd spend the rest of the day eating. I don't really get as hungry if I run later in the day after I've finished work. I notice that the more I train the more I eat and I don't seem to lose much excess weight, which was one of my reasons for taking up running in the first place.
  • Exactly Greg....i dont want to get obsessive but running is supposed to help you loose or maintain weight....NOT PUT ON.
  • WaboWabo ✭✭✭
    agree re calves artemis! Sometimes I cannot do boots up at all due the the calves!
    possunt quia posse videntur - we can because we know we can 
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