running and weight stall?

  • so i started running about a month ago and since then I've lost 5lbs. i eat right on the money everyday and have only cheated once since starting, so my question is whether or not its possible that I'm building muscle and that is what is causing the weight stall?


    y'all are always so helpful thanks in advance
  • How long are you running and what amt of calories were you eating before and are you eating now? Were you exercising before?
  • Hmmm well before i was probably eating around 2500 to
    3000 calories a day then i atarted running and doing my fitness pal to track calories and now im eating 1200-1400 a day. The treadmill says im burning 270 calories and i factor that into my fitness pal. I was a couch potatoe before also lol. Everytime i've lost weight before it was with a jillian video and i was losing 1 1/2 to 2lbs a week like clock work and now its just stopped
  • We all hit that weight plateau. We're stuck at a certain weight and we're doing everything right. Yes it could be you've hit your weight set point--and or you're getting skinnier but it's just not showing up on the scale. Remember that muscle only takes up 1/3 the space that fat does. So watch your pants, are they looser now than a couple of weeks ago, etc. If so, you've just answered your question.

    If you're still not loosing inches or weight--consider doing some cross-training to work other muscles and that should do it.
  • Don't trust the treadmill's calculations. They're always high.

    That said, if you're eating what you say you're eating, just keep it up and ride out the stall.
  • I have stalled at the moment with working out and running. I run five miles most days and do weight training and for the past few weeks my weight has just bobbed around the 180s which is most unlike me (check out my graph).

    I have noticed that my salads have gotten bigger though with exercising more, so the first thing I am trying is to cut back on my portion sizes. Sore muscles doesn't help either for water gains.
  • First, a 5 lbs loss is a good loss. Be happy about it. You are not massively overweight anymore and losses will slow eventually. If you never exercised before, you are probably retaining water. You may build some muscle, though I am not sure this works that fast. Just keep on doing what you are doing. If you continue loosing 5 lbs every month, you will be at goal in no time.
  • You lost 5lbs, you are not stalled. That said, any new exercise regimen can cause your loss to slow down or stop as the body adjusts to the change. often it is because it is retaining water in muscles etc.

    I second the fact that calorie counters on machines or on MFP are not very accurate. as such I advise against eating back those calories because it could be overestimating it.
  • I hate a lot of things about the fitness industry, but over-prescribed cardio would have to be at the very top of my list. I’m not talking about walking here, nor am I referring to appropriate HIIT cardio. This is about running, cycling, stair-climbing, or elliptical cardio done for hours at or above 65 percent of your max heart rate. The anaerobic threshold factors into this, obviously, but I’m painting gym cardio in very broad strokes here so everyone will understand what I’m railing against.