u/Any_Swimmer_3981

This has always been a thing that people lie about, but I’ve noticed it significantly more when I see a plus sized runner posting their 5k or whatever other race times. 10 minute miles are a jogging pace for pretty much all people—plus size, straight size, man, woman, whatever—unless you’re a competitive speed walker or 8 ft tall.

But suddenly when someone is posting their perfectly normal, not slow race times, everyone can walk a 10 minute mile. I can’t tell if these people are lying deliberately or if they’re overestimating how far they’re walking. Or maybe they’re overestimating how fast they’re walking because they’re a bit faster than everyone else walking around them. Either way, there cannot be this many people who are just walking at 6 mph. Less than 1% of the population can walk 6 mph. For the vast vast vast majority of people, the second the speed up past 4 mph, they’re jogging.

But also, this is the hill you’re gonna die on? That you can walk a 10 minute mile? That’s your best lie? You can’t be more creative than that about the lies you tell?

Had a stressful winter, binged a lot, gained 15 lbs, and now I’ve decided I want to lose it. This is not the first time I’ve tried to lose weight, and I’ve always been successful with it before. I know how to track calories and macros and everything. I used to lose weight really easily and sustainably by eating 1800-2000 calories and walking 4-6 miles a day. I would lose about 1.5 lbs a week doing that. I also walk that much while not in a calorie deficit. I picked up running last year while not in a calorie deficit, and then winter happened, so I decided to go back to my regular deficit of 1800-2000 calories, this time running 2-3 miles and walking the other 1-3, and I’m gaining weight.

The only thing that’s really changed are my method of exercise and my water consumption. I don’t think the weight gain is from just water retention because it’s been six weeks of not losing weight at this point. I’m wondering if this has happened to anyone else who switched from walking to running? I have gained a considerable amount of muscle, but I’m not (visibly at least) losing any fat. It’s also an amount of muscle that I’ve had before when I would hike frequently, but I was still 20 lbs lighter back then.

My waist measures the same, and my hips are wider than before. I’m not going to stop running because I’ve now committed to being a runner lol. I’m hoping to keep doing longer distances, but my max is 2.5 miles straight right now, and I’m happy to report I’ve gotten much healthier overall. I just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this when switching from walking to a higher intensity form of cardio.