I am frustrated... rather than lose weight, I have actually gained. I have not really altered my diet at all, but my thinking is that coming from absolutely no exercise to running 3x a week, up to 5K on my longer runs... shouldn't I be losing?

I know it's normal to gain at first... but I'm into the middle of week 7. I also don't notice any change from toning.

I'm not asking for much... 10 lbs would be great so that clothes are easier to buy...

Any suggestions?

Don't forget muscle weighs heavier than fat so you may well be losing fat and 'muscleing up' You may not be toning up that much after 7 weeks did you take any measurements before you started running, i'e waist and thighs? you may find that you've slimmed down and not lost weight.
I've only just joined the forum, is this forum not very populated? cause you didn't get any responses to your question.

I'm guessing there wasn't a response as there was no obvious answer (bearing in mind he(or she?! lol) is apparently not toning/building muscle). Have to admit I just missed it completely.

Thought I'd never run... I know you feel like you're at a complete loss, but something is happening or has changed for you. If you're exercising you're burning off more calories, the reason for you staying the same weight? well either you are building muscle (which may I add does seem to hide quite well behind even the slightest layer of fat), or you've increased your calorie intake without noticing!

Something HAS to be happening, science rules!

Lift weights or do circuits.
Faster running burns more calories

I'm in exactly the same boat - I went back to the gym (3 times a week) and have been doing road runs in addition since October 2007 and have found that I have put on weight. It is a bit disheartening, but as a slight consolation I haven't gone up a clothes size so it must just be muscle weight.

I think you have to just keep persevering and then eventually weight will start to come off. I was expecting the weight to just drop off, but unfortunately it didn't A good fat burn exercise is to put the incline right up on the treadmill and do some fairly fast walking....

How much have you put on ?

Is it a lot?

If it is there could be some underlying reason!

I'll go along with that wholeheartedly. Set it to max and walk as fast as you can. Great for getting the heart used to exertion, even better for burning off the calories and easier on the untrained knees for those just starting out on a fitness regime.

Same problem here, I've not lost weight since started gyming and running. However what I do know (because I kept a measurement record from Jan 2007 when I was 1stone lighter) is that my measurements are not that different now.

I'd like to still lose a little weight but in Aug 2006 I weighed same as I do now and was in bigger clothes for sure. I reckon at least half a stone of my gain is due to muscle.

Same here, been running for ten weeks, the first couple of weeks I expected to lose weight and was shocked when I put a couple of pounds on. Haven't got weighed this week yet, but I did join weight watchers two weeks ago and stayed the same the first week. I did expect to tone up sooner, but have started to notice this week that my legs seem a bit firmer so it is happening, just not as quick as I expected. As for weight watchers if I haven't lost any this week, I will give up cos I eat quite healthy anyway lots and lots of fruit salad and veg and chicken and fish but eating more pasta and potatoes since running as seem to crave carbs. Dont give up, you may not be losing weight but will be losing inches and toning up and you should notice a difference in the way your clothes feel Good luck

I think it's just a sad truth that many people encounter when they change their lifestyle - weight is not easy to lose if you do it sensibly, ie through healthy eating an exercise, and as I'd mentioned in another very similar thread, there can be a million and one reasons why this isn't happening. So again: be very honest with yourself as to how much you're actually eat and how hard you are actually pushing yourself when you exercise.

Just remembered another thing - I think that by the time we hit our late teens we have a like a basal number of fat cells that we'll always have, so what happens when you lose weight inititally is that these are emptied to a certain degree - once you get down to your like basal level or whatever it is then harder to get rid of completely which is why people sometimes plateu and then the weight starts falling again - also your body will take time to adapt. I know I used to have the worlds slowest metabolism, still have a fairly slow metabolism, but over a couple of years it's changed, so I seem to be losing weight quite quickly.

Sorry end of essay... again... but honestly, just keep at it, so long as you're not eating a lot more because of the extra exercise, then it WILL happen, so stay positive

__________________
Mr Octopus has taken over, and you will all bow down his awesome power of massage-magic. Bow little ones... Bow.