Is it normal to gain weight training for a marathon

Runners also may be getting some serious cravings, or give themselves a pass to eat whatever they want, whenever they want. Just to make things clear, runners should be honoring their hunger signals and eat more as their miles increase, just as they should feel comfortable eating what they crave.

Runners who end up gaining weight during training may want to know where to look and how to prevent this from happening. If you need help determining your unique nutrition needs during training, set up an appointment to develop a plan to improve your daily training and race day fueling strategies for your next race by calling Lizzie Kuckuk, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at or e-mail her at Elizabeth.

Even if you're not running with the goal to lose weight, gaining weight while training can be frustrating and confusing. First, it's important to note that these pounds aren't necessarily from fat—as the density of tight, lean muscle mass can result in weight gain, explains Hayden Voss , assistant general manager and trainer at ENRGi Fitness. Still feel like you're gaining fat? Keep reading for some possible causes. Yes, eating a healthy dose of complex carbs, protein, and good fats after exercising will repair muscles and prevent injury, but it's easy to overdo it.

If you get home after a long run and overestimate your calorie burn or underestimate the calories in your post-workout meal, you could easily end up overeating and gaining weight, says Natalie Rizzo , M.

Staying hydrated throughout the day and eating something satiating, but not too heavy on the stomach, before a workout can help limit hunger following exercise, and therefore avoid overeating, one expert told us in How to Control Your Ravenous Hunger After a Tough Workout. Learning how to master intuitive eating can also help prevent overeating by showing you how to better recognize when you're full and satisfied, or really still hungry.

This will also numbers-focused runners to register fullness based on satisfaction, rather than the number of calories.

If running is your only method of training, you might lose muscle and gain fat, says certified trainer Rebecca Gahan, owner and founder of Kick Such steady state cardio can promote fat storage and take away from muscle, if done consistently on its own.

What's more, that feeling of thirst could be mistaken for hunger and lead to overeating, she says. While carbs come from bread and grains, they also come from beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Because of this, the tendency is to load up on bread, grains, sweets and snacks. But hours later since I ran in the morning I would be absolutely famished and would overeat. Does that sound like something that has happened to you?

Marathon training tends to ramp up my appetite and if I end up ravenous usually 3 hours after a long run I may scarf down more than I should. Not to mention, for my last two marathons and ultra-marathon, I was weight training with a personal trainer twice a week in addition to putting in the miles, so muscle gain is certainly a possibility.

Gaining weight but fitting into your pants better is a sign of muscle gain, rather than fat gain. If this happens to you, embrace the change and enjoy your newfound strength! Especially because it was SO out of the norm for me as a non-runner who had a hard time even cranking out a full miles without walking. It was a combination of being hungry all the time, and that sense of entitlement you get when you run 3 hours and then see some donuts.

As you can see, gaining a few pounds during marathon training is actually pretty normal for most people. With all of that being said, here are 5 tips to avoid the dreaded marathon training weight gain. Eating after a run is just as important as fueling up before. Without proper recovery, you will likely feel hungry later in the day or even the next day. If you weigh yourself soon after exercising, even the next day, you may be heavier due to water.

A good way to keep proper track of your weight during marathon training is to only weigh yourself once every two weeks. This will show your results better, as water weight will be less of a factor. As your body burns fat, the difference is gradual, whereas water weight can fluctuate. When you have sore stiff muscles after exercising, they are filled with water. You can store as much as 10lbs of extra water weight at any given time. If you do everything right, within two to three days you can lose that water weight again, once your muscles are back and better than ever.

There are even some supplements that claim to reduce water retention. Do some research into this, however, as water retention is an important part of exercise and recovery. Your body has evolved to retain water in order to repair muscles quickly and get back running.

Even though you look thinner and more toned, you might have actually gained a few pounds. This could be caused by an increase in muscle mass at the same time as losing fat. Muscle is a good thing to have and can help with speed as well as endurance. If however, you are noticing fat gain and not progressing in your runs, you might have a problem. Having more muscle is beneficial to our bodies because it steadies our bodies and makes us less prone to injuries.

Your back and core muscles are especially important to running because they work to keep you upright as you run. You may feel abdominal soreness after long runs. Doing some light-weight lifting exercises can be very beneficial for running. Making sure your body is strong means you can protect your joints from strain. This is a great idea alongside your running regiment. Just make sure not to overdo it, as weightlifting can make you very sore.

If our bodies are given more calories than they burn, excess calories will be turned into fat to be stored. Even if you feel extremely hungry after a long run, you might not need as much as you think. The average 6-mile run—which takes roughly an hour for intermediate runners—will burn between and calories depending on your body size.

So to not lose weight, you will need to replace those calories. If however, you aim to lose weight, eating normally after that calorie run will mean your body will use your current fat stores as energy. Your body will burn your fat, turning it into energy, and it will be breathed out as carbon dioxide.