Running mileage on the increase.. and so is my weight

[doctorlife]

As title points out - I have increased my running mileage over the last 6 weeks and am really enjoying it (never.. ever... did I think I would ever say this). I urn approx 30-35km a week. I also walk a lot, and am an active outdoorsy person.

I have lost a1.5 stone since January this year (I was writing my PDF Thesis over xmas... safe to say nothing fitted me by the end of it). I eat well and am 'healthy' in the way I am active.. but.. over the last 8 ish weeks.. have gained 4kg and boy do I feel it.

This is definitely fat, as I can feel it all on my hips / bums and belly. I know the diff between muscle gain and fat gain and it's definitely the latter. What on earth is going on? Has anyone else experienced this with running?

Granted, I am probably eating slightly more to fuel my runs. I wake up at 2am after a long run hungry as HELL so end up having a bowl of cereal or something. Is it the increase in sugar?

Insights / experiences welcome :)

PHD.. not PDF! Although it is available in PDF format..

Sounds like you are eating ravenous- which tends to lead to eating too much in compensation- try a bigger tea

You probably need to increase your protein intake as well.

Also, what is your sleep like? When I've been training for half marathons, if I get tired/sleep deprived I find I start craving carbs and sugar to fill that energy gap.

Weight loss is generally as simple as calories in vs calories out. Are you eating enough before you go out for a run? Make sure you're getting a good balance of protein, carbs and fat.
Also make sure you're staying hydrated by drinking plenty before, after and (if it's a particularly long run) during your run.

Do you do any weight training? Doing a bit of weight training to compliment your running will only benefit you as well (particularly core and lower body exercises). As you build muscle, your BMR will increase as your body will start burning more calories while at rest as well as while active.

I'm no expert, but I do go running (2-3 times a week) as well as a bit of weight training and I've been gradually losing weight since the start of this year.

Agreed!
I once took a week off any exercise because I had a cold. I focussed on resting and got plenty of sleep. Not only did I lose a bit of weight, but my performance in running and weight training was MUCH better simply by resting!

I would do the following -
Track your calories meticulously for a bit to see what's really going on
Increase protein as much as you can to stay fuller
Eat high carb low fat 1-2 hours before run - porridge, raisins, banana and oat milk is my go to.
Try to eat as clean as possible - so tempting to have junk when you've been on a long run, esp when it's cold, but you need good quality calories.

i'm also one of those people who doesn't loose weight when they run more, I just about lost a kg whilst training for my latest marathon but my weight went up and down constantly. Protein just doesn't fill me up and I'm dairy intolerant so there's a limit to how much of it i can eat without living on chicken and eggs.

There's an old phrase - "You can't outrun a bad diet"

If you are eating carbs in the middle of the night, it sounds like your diet could do with a bit of rethinking. What do you eat in a typical day?

Thanks all. I weight train alongside my running. I am quite strong but my weight training has taken a back seat since upping running as you cant do it all. It's there to compliment and support my running now.

I definitely crave carbs... hugely after a run. This is perhaps leading me to eat more of them than I realise? In a typically day I tend to eat a protein porridge pot, chicken, salad and rice for lunch, then Bolognese / chilli / wraps and salad etc for dinner. Granted I eat chocolate and cereal on times too.

It’s the runger. I’ve run several marathons and always put weight on training for them. You might burn 2000 calories over a long run but you’ll eat 6000 over the next few days from the hunger.

The increased running has increased the level of adrenaline in your body, which in turn, increases the release of glucose in the body that then stay stored as fat.
Thatsxalso why you crave sugar btw. It’s the whole blood sugar rollercoaster.

Running definitely makes me more hungry than just gym training. I put so much on when I was marathon training which took ages to come off. I’ve come to terms with a little bit, I’d rather be heavier and able to run more.

Try tracking calories to see where the extra calories are coming from.

How hard are you running?
Different intensities pull on the body's energy systems differently.
Lighter "zone 2" efforts use fat most efficiently. This is a level where you can chat easily.
Harder, threshold "zone 4" effort uses your glycogen stores and your body wants carbohydrates to preserve (on longer runs) or replenish them.

There is a school of thought that doing 80% of effort at zone 2 has many benefits at encouraging your body to use energy efficiently, and push harder for the 20%. It's also a lower injury risk.

If every run is being pushed hard, reducing the effort (run/ walking may be needed) may help calm the impact on your metabolism. Strategically eating during a longer session or after may also help with hunger catching up later and disturbing sleep.

That is so interesting! Also the PP about adrenaline. So it's not just about calories in/out.

I always have the opposite problem, especially at the peak of marathon training. Losing on 2500 a day 😶

I always gain weight when I do more exercise. I recently did a half marathon and was so disappointed to put on weight beforehand (and I did a really shit time but I don’t think they’re connected ;-)
I’m now focussing on losing weight instead and know that means dropping back to short easy runs - but will also try to take PP’s advice and add in some weights. I’m just resigned to not being able to do both at once…

This is almost certainly part of the problem - I've lost quite a bit of weight in the last few months by eating more and running less....

I always eat some protein immediately after a long run - usually a couple of boiled eggs. It is not just helpful for recovery but also fills me up. Its worth having a bowl of hard-boiled eggs in the fridge and try eating those rather than cereal if you wake up hungry as cereal is likely to spike your blood sugar too. (Although I'm losing weight eating more I eat very little in the way of refined carbs and have pretty well given up wheat).

normally the body does a version of intermittent fasting naturally overnight, e.g. if you have your evening meal at 7pm and don't have anything until breakfast the next day that's 12 hrs to burn off food without putting anything else in. If you're waking up at 2am and eating again it doesn't get a chance to do this. Maybe try eating a bigger evening meal or even having a late night filling snack if you have to (or warm milk or something) so you're still getting that long stretch?

If you're craving carbs, can you go for something high fibre? Bowl of bran flakes, popcorn, apple, baked potato with skin etc. High fibre carbs are much harder to overeat, it sounds like your running has increased your appetite and that's why you're putting on weight?
Also disrupted sleep affects weight loss, so trying to eat something more filling after a long run so you're not waking up hungry.

Well, yeah, eating a bowl of cereal in the middle of the night will lead you to put on weight...

As others have said, up your protein and your water intake, and watch your portion control. I think that I fell into that trap when training for a half marathon. I thought I could eat what I liked.

I used to have this problem as well. I manage to stay lean if I prioritise other forms of training over running (running only twice a week at most) and run slowly. I’m a big fan of zone 2 running or “Slow Jogging” - I know the approach under the second name after reading the Slow Jogging book. The name is quite misleading, after doing it for some time it’s anything but slow.