For the first 4 weeks of training, I was running more that I'd run in years. I was watching what I ate and tracking everything on myfitnesspal. My weight remained exactly the same. Literally not a fraction of a pound lost.



Not a major issue. The weight will come off anyway as the distance increases, and I'm not that overweight anyway. But why wasn't the weight flying off? There could have been a few reasons:

4) Rubbish Muscle Mass

The higher your muscle mass, the higher your metabolism and therefore the more weight you'll lose. I was barely doing any strength exercises when I started training, which could have been part of the problem.

3) Not Drinking Enough

This could have been true. When your body's dehydrated you don't burn anywhere near as many calories. Drinking half an hour before meals can make a huge difference.

2) Not Eating Enough

For a while I was too good, not eating anywhere near the calories I was allowed to eat. This could have slowed my metabolism so much that it was much harder to lose weight. Sometimes it's worth giving yourself a break.

1) Not Enough Sleep

To be honest this is the most likely one. Lockdown has seriously messed up my sleep patterns, as with a lot of other people, and I've been getting up early on Saturday mornings for my big run. The result is that I haven't been getting anywhere near as much sleep as I'm used to. Research shows that the less sleep you get, or the more stressed you are, the worse your body is at losing weight.