could weightlifting be stalling my weight loss?

So I have been running 5-6 days consistently for about 7 months now, around 25-40 miles a week. In the past two weeks I have begun incorporating some light weightlifting and plyos (? not sure if that's the right term) every day after my run- pushups, crunches, leglifts, some arm stuff w/5 lb dumbbells. Nothing really hard core, but since I have started doing this my weight has COMPLETELY stalled.

Normally if I run and maintain a calorie deficit over the course of the week, I reliably lose at least 1 lb. These past two weeks though I have weighed in at 157.8-158.2 every single day!! At this point I'd even be ok with the number going UP a pound so I would know I am not going crazy! My weight fluctuates by 2-3 lbs every day so this lack of fluctuation is very strange. (note: I weighed myself holding a dumbbell to see if the scale is broken, and it's not.)

Could this weight loss stall be from building muscle? And what can I do to start losing again while still getting more toned?

Oh yeah I am a 23 year old woman, 5'8. Also, as of 2 months ago, I had lost 20 lbs but I have now gained 5 back. Could that be affecting my renewed weight loss efforts? As of now my trend line juuuuuust seems to be getting ready to go back DOWN after a distressing creep up.

THANK YOU ALL. You guys are amazing.

How many calories per day are you eating?

I eat between 1500-2000, depending on how far I ran that day. My deficit is usually around 600-700.

I don't think your weight gain / stall is due to the routine you described.  With the exception of the pushups, none of that is really heavy resistance training that would either build muscle or cause water retention.  You're missing out by not incorporating squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, etc.  Visit the fitness forum for lots more info on good routines if you're interested in incorporating more of that and building muscle or at least maintaining what you have while you lose fat.

Sometimes our bodies are just weird and there's not much you can do about it.  My weight normally fluctuates 1-2 pounds from day to day, but there was a period of almost two weeks where it was within 0.2 pounds every single day, and then proceeded to drop 3.5 pounds within a week.  It's since gone back to normal fluctuations.

Now...are you being careful with counting calories?  Are you counting every day, tracking salt and sugar intake and your macros?  Drinking enough water?  Getting enough protein, fiber and fat?  Did your scale get thrown out of whack at any point (sometimes digital ones need to be reset)?  If you're confident that all of that is ok, give it another week and then try to change something - play with your deficit, switch up exercise or foods, etc.  The longer you do the same exercise, the easier it becomes for your body (i.e. running 10 miles 6 months ago took a lot more effort and burned more calories than running that same 10 miles now), so think about what else you can add in.

Sounds like you hit a plateau.  Try eating maintance calories for a week and then go back to weight loss calories.  Also, you can try interval running.  Do you have a local track you can use or some place where you can measure distance?  An example of this is run  an 800 jog 400 x4 for a total of 3 miles.

awestendorf, I do lunges and squats and stuff, anything I can do at home (no $ for a gym membership). I do like 45 minutes of various exercises that I have gotten from the fitness forums, online, Shape magazine, etc. I do not want to do any heavy resistance training because I do not want to bulk up, just get toned (high reps, low resistance).

I have been really careful about counting calories, and I have not been eating really differently than I have for the past several months. Also, what is a macro?

Thanks for the advice about mixing up the running; I didn't really think about that. I realize that running 10 miles burns fewer calories now that I weigh 158 than I did when I weighed 173, but I definitely log many more miles now than I did when I was first starting. Shouldn't that make up for the difference?

jdunckel, how often should I do interval training for weight loss? I kind of hate it so right now I only do it like 2x/month. I occasionally race 5 or 10Ks and am building up to do a marathon, so I know I should be incorporating it more often as part of my training anyways.

Original Post by lak32:

I do not want to do any heavy resistance training because I do not want to bulk up, just get toned (high reps, low resistance).

And this is why you shouldn't get fitness advice from Shape magazine. You won't bulk up because you are eating at a deficit and a woman. Lifting lighter weights at high reps (more than 12) means you are just doing endurance training... not weight lifting.

Read Strength without size: How to get stronger without getting bulky.

amethystgirl, I think you rock and you give awesome advice. But I am a vegan and I can't take an article seriously that uses "self-cutting emo vegans" as an example of someone who doesn't have any muscle. Also my cross country coaches in high school were fanatical about making us do really high reps and low weights, so it's not just Shape telling me that.

Edit: I should clarify- getting toned would be nice, but I really just want to get in the best running shape I can. If the kind of "weightlifting" I am doing is really endurance training, I am okay with that if it is going to make me a fitter runner!

Yeah, the picture he paints is a tad stereotypical.

I was listening to Fitcast this morning (Episode 152 - you can get it on iTunes) - and in the mailbag was a guy who is a serious marathon runner (6:30 miles). And on the off season, he lifts to help prevent injury - deadlifts and squats mostly, 5 sets of 5 or 2 sets of 5 - in other words, quite the opposite of "high reps and low weights". The response of the Fitcast guys/gals was that he was doing exactly the right thing to train for his running, and (going off of memory here) that while it might be ok for him to mix it up and go up to 10 reps, he wouldn't be better served with higher reps.

You might want to check it out to hear their response.

your not going to like this but we used to do interval running 1-2 times a week when i was running track.  Also,  I dont know how your form is so.  Make sure you run with your posture straight and concentrate on landing mid food dont roll off the heel of your foot it could lead to shin splints.  I say this because interval running is alot more demanding then just running three miles.  It is an anaerobic workout while running straight distances is an aerobic workout.  Trust me it will kick your butt if you do i right.  I was more tired after doing intervals then just running straight three miles:D

Thanks for the advice from everyone! I am going to try to do more interval training (ughhhh) and do some strength training with higher resistance. If it gets me out of this rut I'm all for it! =)

DON'T STOP WEIGHT TRAINING!

Even if you've plateaued for now, that weight training will do more for your body then cardio ever will.

Cardio will only make you a smaller version of your former self; but weight training will add muscle, decrease fat, and shape your body beyond your wildest dreams.

I stopped seeing results with just doing cardio, so I incorporated more weight training, calisthetics, and resistance excersizes, and now I'm seeing more and more results everyday!

I've lost inches, firmed up, and have TONS more deffinition in my arms, legs and stomach... see my profile picture? Well, I need a new one!! I don't look like that anymore!!

...

a pound of muscle burns an extra 50 calories a day, so add muscle and you'll be able to eat more!

besides muscle weighs more the  fat but takes up less space, allowing you to lose inches and drop sizes, even if that stubborn scales not budging.

remember people judge you on how you look, not how much you weigh.. if you look good, you feel good, and everyone else notices.

Here's one more article showing lifting heavy is best for fat loss. It has scientific evidence to back up each claim. Hierarchy of fat loss. Please excuse the picture.

and to help break plateaus, focus on intensity rather then duration

20 mins of HIIT will do more for you then 2 hours of cardio.. it's intense enough so that you won't even be able to go for longer then 20 mins. HIIT will burn fat, and spare muscle, causing you to look leaner faster. It will also strengthen your abilities, so that you'll be able to run FASTER on your steady-state days.

long bouts of cardio will eat away at your muscle, so don't over do it

try to incorporate more strength training 3-4x a week, focusing on major muscle groups... and try compound excersizes to hit multiple muscle groups at once; like squat-curl-presses to hit legs, shoulders and biceps

also try adding hills/incline to your runs for more challenge

and ALWAYS mix up your workouts, avoid doing the same routine more then 1-2 times a week, and change your routine every 4-6 weeks... ALWAYS challenge yourself, if something gets too easy, make it harder. Run at a faster pace, add more hills, increase weight or reps.. etc

for best results do mixture of steady state cardio, intervals/HIIT, and weights.. and remember to eat a clean diet!

Original Post by bmx419:

Here's one more article showing lifting heavy is best for fat loss. It has scientific evidence to back up each claim. Hierarchy of fat loss. Please excuse the picture.

LOL, I have to laugh every time I see the picture on that site, makes me not want to have it open at work!

To the OP - glad to hear you do lunges and squats, they are great!  Since you don't have $ for a gym, try adding free weights (you can even make your own if you don't have / can't afford them - empty milk cartons filled with water, for example) to your existing exercises to make them more challenging.

Macro stands for macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) - basically, are you getting enough protein and fat and are you within recommended levels for each.

Also want to add that I wholeheartedly agree with the advice above re: weight lifting not making you bulk up, and HIIT being amazing!  HIIT can suck to do cause it's so hard, but the good new is that it's over in under 30 minutes, including warm-up!  Hope you'll keep us posted on your changes and any results...

Original Post by awestendorf:

Original Post by bmx419:

Here's one more article showing lifting heavy is best for fat loss. It has scientific evidence to back up each claim. Hierarchy of fat loss. Please excuse the picture.

LOL, I have to laugh every time I see the picture on that site, makes me not want to have it open at work!

The version on T-nation has less work-inappropriate pics (same article, different audience, I guess)... although I get a little freaked by the pics on the side bar.

Haha, I was actually talking about the side bar pics...I can just scroll past the other ones, but the side bar ones are always there!

Original Post by carmenxox:

long bouts of cardio will eat away at your muscle, so don't over do it

I think I have misled you guys by using the word "weightlifting" in the subject line. I am training for a marathon. I have to do long bouts of cardio or I will not be able to run 26.2 miles on race day. I absolutely appreciate that weightlifting can help me look and run better (and I be incorporating more useful weight training from now on!) but at the end of the day I still have to log a lot of miles, end of story.

Also, and I think more importantly, I love long distance running and I would NEVER give it up, not for faster weight loss or a better body or better muscle capacity.

I am definitely intrigued - and somewhat intimidated - by HIIT but I want to give it a shot... I'm sure there are a zillion threads on here about it so I am going to go read up. Thanks for all your help.

PS. That picture will haunt my dreams

Original Post by lak32:

I think I have misled you guys by using the word "weightlifting" in the subject line. I am training for a marathon. I have to do long bouts of cardio or I will not be able to run 26.2 miles on race day. I absolutely appreciate that weightlifting can help me look and run better (and I be incorporating more useful weight training from now on!) but at the end of the day I still have to log a lot of miles, end of story.

Also, and I think more importantly, I love long distance running and I would NEVER give it up, not for faster weight loss or a better body or better muscle capacity.

I am definitely intrigued - and somewhat intimidated - by HIIT but I want to give it a shot... I'm sure there are a zillion threads on here about it so I am going to go read up. Thanks for all your help.

That's not true, but that's a debate for another day.

If you're training for a marathon you should definitely weight lift. Ryan Hall does and he's doing pretty well. It'll greatly improve your core and help prevent injuries.

You should definitely do HIIT as well, or a lot of speed work. That will increase your overall pace for a long run. The higher VO2 max, the better.