Why Runners Do Not Always Lose Weight

Why runners do not always lose weight is one of the more frustrating questions in fitness, because the person asking it is usually doing a lot of work. They are running three or four times a week, sometimes building toward a race, and the scale has not moved in months.

Running makes you hungry, which is the point

Endurance exercise reliably increases appetite, and the body is very good at replacing the energy it used. Research on exercise and weight loss consistently shows people eat back a large share of what they burn, usually without noticing. A forty minute run might cost four hundred calories and be matched by a slightly bigger dinner and a recovery snack.

The body also gets more efficient

As you get fitter, the same route at the same pace costs fewer calories than it did when you started. This is excellent for running performance and unhelpful for fat loss. It is one reason that adding mileage tends to produce diminishing returns, while adding strength work and watching intake produces better results for the same time spent.

What to change instead of running further

Most runners who plateau do not need more running.

• Add two strength sessions a week to hold muscle and raise resting expenditure
• Track food honestly for two weeks, since post run eating is the usual gap
• Keep protein high, which most endurance athletes under eat
• Do not treat every run as licence for a reward
• Judge progress on how your clothes fit and your running feels, not only the scale

Frequently asked questions

• Will strength training make me slower? No. The evidence suggests it improves running economy and reduces injury risk.
• Should I run fasted to burn more fat? It changes which fuel you use during the run but not total fat loss, which depends on the daily deficit.
• Why did I gain weight during marathon training? Usually a mix of increased appetite, more glycogen and water stored in the muscles, and larger portions.