Jogging good or bad?
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Almoshposh
Posts: 139 Member
Hi all
As part of my Just 1 June challenge I doubled my walking and saw very good results on the scale. I used to jog quite a bit back in CICO days and didn't lose much at all. I have so much energy now I would like to start jogging again but I'm scared it would hurt my losses. There is so much bad rap on the Internet these days about how bad cardio is for you, especially in the low carb community. Had anyone seen a general improvement in their weight loss journey when they started jogging?
I appreciate the concept of exercising for fitness and not for weight loss already. I just want to get some feedback on how jogging has actually improved weight loss rates.
Thank you in advance for all the lovely advice.
As part of my Just 1 June challenge I doubled my walking and saw very good results on the scale. I used to jog quite a bit back in CICO days and didn't lose much at all. I have so much energy now I would like to start jogging again but I'm scared it would hurt my losses. There is so much bad rap on the Internet these days about how bad cardio is for you, especially in the low carb community. Had anyone seen a general improvement in their weight loss journey when they started jogging?
I appreciate the concept of exercising for fitness and not for weight loss already. I just want to get some feedback on how jogging has actually improved weight loss rates.
Thank you in advance for all the lovely advice.
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Hmm. I don't jog much but I walk 10-12k steps a day. I mainly do it to purchase some more calories to eat and I eat about 75% of them back so I have no idea how it affects my weight loss but it does make me less miserable at having no calories to eat!
Back in the day when I did CICO I had excellent results with jogging but I eventually burned out on the cruddy diet.0 -
I have started jogging this week and though I can't go far or fast, it isn't having any negative effects at all. I've lost more this week than I have in a very long time.0
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I like biking over jogging for knee wear and tear.
I do jog moderate distances. The cardio glide has turned out to be a great calorie blaster!
CICO still matters I my world. I choose a more filling and enjoyable lower carb diet plan.
Exercise is great for you! Get some!0 -
I jog. I don't think my 40-50 miles a month is rough on my body. I like what it does for my heart. I don't think it would hurt your losses to jog a few miles a few times a week.0
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See how you do. If you want to, do it. I prefer to walk/hike and do bodyweight exercise strength training. The problem with running is what happens if you do it in excess. The point isn't "don't do cardio," IMO, but that excessive cardio doesn't help and can sometimes tear you down. It isn't necessary to literally "run" yourself into the ground. And in many cases it's harmful to the person or their efforts. But if you want to run a few miles a few times a week, as Sabine suggested, that will be fine.0
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I walk about 5 miles/day, 7 days/week.
I run about 3 miles/day, 5 days/week.
I do body-weight exercises occasionally, maybe 3 days/week.
I don't think any of it has made a big effect on my weight loss, because they all increase my appetite. It's mostly a wash in terms of calories, with maybe a slight win for exercise.
But I think exercise makes a HUGE difference in how I look and feel, and also makes a pretty big difference in health markers, including HDL, heart rate, and blood pressure.
So jogging is good for health, good for strength and endurance, good for pretty legs, neutral-to-fair for weight loss.0 -
baconslave wrote: »See how you do. If you want to, do it. I prefer to walk/hike and do bodyweight exercise strength training. The problem with running is what happens if you do it in excess. The point isn't "don't do cardio," IMO, but that excessive cardio doesn't help and can sometimes tear you down. It isn't necessary to literally "run" yourself into the ground. And in many cases it's harmful to the person or their efforts. But if you want to run a few miles a few times a week, as Sabine suggested, that will be fine.
This is my thinking exactly. I used to do C25K and ran a few races. I'm looking at 3 to 4 times a week for about 30 mins. I'm not likely to run myself into the ground. Too lazy!
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I walk at a moderate to fast pace with small sprints (2-3 miles)-4x week. I can't really jog any length due to ankle injuries but I still move it walking. Bicycle 1X week, Swim 2x week weather depending. The more I do, the more I lose, plus if I do it in the evening I think I sleep better from all the fresh air.
Exercise helps my mood and feel it helps me tone while losing weight. Everything in moderation and seems to going ok. Anything to keep me off the couch, being bored then mindlessly grazing. Two thumbs up for cardio.
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Reading all of these responses I see something that brings it into focus for me.
It is all part of a new healthier lifestyle.
Some biking, jogging, lifting, gym free weights, machines.
Someday Zumba !!
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baconslave wrote: »The problem with running is what happens if you do it in excess.
I'm interested in how much is excess, and that's one of the reasons I limit my runs to 30-40 minutes each.
The research is ambiguous. In almost all cases, more is better, and more intense is better.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/the-right-dose-of-exercise-for-a-longer-life/
But there are some interesting threshold effects. For example, athletes have bigger/stronger hearts than non-athletes. If you want a bigger heart, it seems to require at least 3 hours of exercise per week. (I'm not sure I want hypertrophy of the heart.)
Also, intense exercise causes oxidative stress. Your body can neutralize some of it, but maybe only for an hour at a time. That's why I limit my sessions.
Interestingly, becoming "fat adapted" like many of us both lowers oxidative stress and increases endogenous anti-oxidants. So we can probably exercise longer than "normal" people.
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IMO the best forms of exercise are the ones you enjoy and will keep doing over the long haul. If you like jogging, do it. I do a mix of walking and yoga. I play racquetball once per week. I need to do more strength training but am inconsistent with it because I don't enjoy it as much as some other forms of exercise.0
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I run with friends once or twice a week and love it! I do find I crap out faster than I did pre-keto though. Around kilometer 5 my body starts to say wtf lol. So just listen to your body.
How far into low carb are you?0 -
I have had to change my mind on exercise a little.
I used to dread wind sprints at the end of foot ball practice.
Now I see the wisdom of it. That was just HIIT without the fancy name and marketing.
The role of leg muscle mass in longevity is interesting. A huge study that found a correlation in grip strength also was neat to read.
It seems our bodies thrive on a bit of work.
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It just makes me hungrier, doesn't help me lose weight (since I'm not monitoring calories). It was helpful in CICO days because it allowed me to eat more. Now that's irrelevant. I think jogging is enjoyable when I'm in the mood to do it. Keeps you fit. Would never excessively do it again; there's just no reason to other than if you enjoy it.0
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The jogging is a chance for me to be really alone. I don't ever get to feel alone as a stay at home mother with a toddler that sleeps next to me. The 'me time' is helping my emotional state and I've had the best week with food than I have had in a long time.
As I said before I have only just started this week, I can only manage 15 minutes at a time at the most. I'm not fast and it feels good on my body.0 -
baconslave wrote: »The problem with running is what happens if you do it in excess.
This is not meant as a personal attack but it will be a bit aggressive in response.
Do you have a great deal of personal experience with this? I ask because most often those who dole out such advice have very little running experience at all.
Some folks just can't run due to health issues. But otherwise healthy individuals with healthy joints can certainly give it a go. If one doesn't like it... fine - find something else to do.
But running is not harmful to one's health. What defines "excessive" running? We've not seen any examples of that in this thread.
A "few miles" a "few times a week" is barely a warm up and is far removed from anything considered excessive. Ramp that up by an order of magnitude and we are still not anywhere near excessive.
Excessive needs to be looked in context. @wabmester is on to something there by looking at oxidation and fat adaptation. Casual / recreational distance runners, or endurance athletes, are not the same as some high performance runners who can quite easily reach "excessive" by virtue of their effort level... in a race. Yet most training even for the super-speedy is done at much slower and aerobic capacity levels where oxidation is not the factor and fat burning can supply the body's needs rather than glycogen burning.
My own experience... for most of my life I've been a distance runner with a longish and sad break in between. From grade school right through age 35 I was a distance runner, also a vegetarian for many years, a meat eater for others, and was always healthy and fit. Very fit.
And then... not so much. Working away from home week in week out for many years started to eat into that regular fitness routine, and I started gaining slowly. An ankle injury of significance -- not from running but from playing a kids soccer game -- sidelined me and I never really got back into what had been a life-long habit of fitness. Another 10 years later and I'd ballooned by 105 pounds over ideal weight. In September last year I resolved on my birthday to change all that.
From September 2014 through March 2015 I did not switch diets, did not measure my intake, didn't really take into account my calorie burn yet I dropped about 45 pounds. Why? Because regular activity raised my day to day base metabolism from very sedentary to active, and I didn't indulge in a corresponding increase in intake. Sure, I eventually started cutting out ice cream at night, every night, because I was noticing the changes. I'd cut out consuming very high levels of carbs -- dinner was fine but carbs for breakfast, lunch and snacks used to be my rule rather than exception.
Since March I adopted CICO observance albeit not slavishly so and have made some minor tweaks to my diet. My running has continued to increase to the point where a 250 - 300km month is not a stretch. I've lost a further 26 pounds and am continuing to drop steadily.
Did running help me lose 33kg / 77 pounds? Sure it did, via building a calorie deficit and improving my metabolism. Could I have lost that much without running? Sure I could but a) it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun and b) I would not be in the shape I am in now. I still have some more weight to lose but I am already very, very, fit.
So I'm a distance runner again and have zero health issues, zero joint issues, and haven't been sidelined by injury once since I started 10 months ago. My BP is down from cautionary to lows not seen since I was in my 20's. My resting heart rate is 45. I can power up a mountain all day long, running, while essentially fasted and on very little water.
But what is most important is that I feel tremendous and that has made a positive impact on every part of my life.
I enjoy running (and mountaineering and trail running and back-country skiing and distance cycling and all sorts of endurance style pursuits) which is why *I* engage in what to many will seem like a lot of running although to an ultra marathoner will seem like not very much at all. I could back off a little and still gain the health benefits and most of the fun, but around 200km monthly would seem to be my low end baseline.
Is there such a thing as too much running? Yes, I do believe there is. Have I reached that threshold? Not a chance.
Some folks can't run for various health reasons and shouldn't try. But most can, and of those, some, if not many, will find they like it... if only they can get past the negative nellies suggesting that running is bad for them, however obliquely.
Activity is good for the body, and especially good for our joints.
Use it or lose it.
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Maikanyenga wrote: »I used to do C25K and ran a few races. I'm looking at 3 to 4 times a week for about 30 mins. I'm not likely to run myself into the ground. Too lazy!
@Maikanyenga You'll be just fine. Don't forget to stretch afterwards.0 -
AngInCanada wrote: »I run with friends once or twice a week and love it! I do find I crap out faster than I did pre-keto though. Around kilometer 5 my body starts to say wtf lol. So just listen to your body.
How far into low carb are you?
I've been low carb for about 4 months and have lost only 7kg. I'm hoping running will help me lose a little faster.
@mwyvr Thanks for the encouragement. I'm definitely shaking out my running shoes today.0 -
baconslave wrote: »The problem with running is what happens if you do it in excess.
This is not meant as a personal attack but it will be a bit aggressive in response.
Do you have a great deal of personal experience with this? I ask because most often those who dole out such advice have very little running experience at all.
Some folks just can't run due to health issues. But otherwise healthy individuals with healthy joints can certainly give it a go. If one doesn't like it... fine - find something else to do.
But running is not harmful to one's health. What defines "excessive" running? We've not seen any examples of that in this thread.
A "few miles" a "few times a week" is barely a warm up and is far removed from anything considered excessive. Ramp that up by an order of magnitude and we are still not anywhere near excessive.
Excessive needs to be looked in context. @wabmester is on to something there by looking at oxidation and fat adaptation. Casual / recreational distance runners, or endurance athletes, are not the same as some high performance runners who can quite easily reach "excessive" by virtue of their effort level... in a race. Yet most training even for the super-speedy is done at much slower and aerobic capacity levels where oxidation is not the factor and fat burning can supply the body's needs rather than glycogen burning.
My own experience... for most of my life I've been a distance runner with a longish and sad break in between. From grade school right through age 35 I was a distance runner, also a vegetarian for many years, a meat eater for others, and was always healthy and fit. Very fit.
And then... not so much. Working away from home week in week out for many years started to eat into that regular fitness routine, and I started gaining slowly. An ankle injury of significance -- not from running but from playing a kids soccer game -- sidelined me and I never really got back into what had been a life-long habit of fitness. Another 10 years later and I'd ballooned by 105 pounds over ideal weight. In September last year I resolved on my birthday to change all that.
From September 2014 through March 2015 I did not switch diets, did not measure my intake, didn't really take into account my calorie burn yet I dropped about 45 pounds. Why? Because regular activity raised my day to day base metabolism from very sedentary to active, and I didn't indulge in a corresponding increase in intake. Sure, I eventually started cutting out ice cream at night, every night, because I was noticing the changes. I'd cut out consuming very high levels of carbs -- dinner was fine but carbs for breakfast, lunch and snacks used to be my rule rather than exception.
Since March I adopted CICO observance albeit not slavishly so and have made some minor tweaks to my diet. My running has continued to increase to the point where a 250 - 300km month is not a stretch. I've lost a further 26 pounds and am continuing to drop steadily.
Did running help me lose 33kg / 77 pounds? Sure it did, via building a calorie deficit and improving my metabolism. Could I have lost that much without running? Sure I could but a) it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun and b) I would not be in the shape I am in now. I still have some more weight to lose but I am already very, very, fit.
So I'm a distance runner again and have zero health issues, zero joint issues, and haven't been sidelined by injury once since I started 10 months ago. My BP is down from cautionary to lows not seen since I was in my 20's. My resting heart rate is 45. I can power up a mountain all day long, running, while essentially fasted and on very little water.
But what is most important is that I feel tremendous and that has made a positive impact on every part of my life.
I enjoy running (and mountaineering and trail running and back-country skiing and distance cycling and all sorts of endurance style pursuits) which is why *I* engage in what to many will seem like a lot of running although to an ultra marathoner will seem like not very much at all. I could back off a little and still gain the health benefits and most of the fun, but around 200km monthly would seem to be my low end baseline.
Is there such a thing as too much running? Yes, I do believe there is. Have I reached that threshold? Not a chance.
Some folks can't run for various health reasons and shouldn't try. But most can, and of those, some, if not many, will find they like it... if only they can get past the negative nellies suggesting that running is bad for them, however obliquely.
Activity is good for the body, and especially good for our joints.
Use it or lose it.
I'm happy you are doing so well and have found physical activity you enjoy.
If you had read the rest of my response you would have noticed that I'm not anti-running nor anti-exercise.baconslave wrote: »See how you do. If you want to, do it. I prefer to walk/hike and do bodyweight exercise strength training. The problem with running is what happens if you do it in excess. The point isn't "don't do cardio," IMO, but that excessive cardio doesn't help and can sometimes tear you down. It isn't necessary to literally "run" yourself into the ground. And in many cases it's harmful to the person or their efforts. But if you want to run a few miles a few times a week, as Sabine suggested, that will be fine.
The OP was talking about transitioning from walking to jogging. And asked if that would be bad.Maikanyenga wrote: »Hi all
As part of my Just 1 June challenge I doubled my walking and saw very good results on the scale. I used to jog quite a bit back in CICO days and didn't lose much at all. I have so much energy now I would like to start jogging again but I'm scared it would hurt my losses. There is so much bad rap on the Internet these days about how bad cardio is for you, especially in the low carb community. Had anyone seen a general improvement in their weight loss journey when they started jogging?
I appreciate the concept of exercising for fitness and not for weight loss already. I just want to get some feedback on how jogging has actually improved weight loss rates.
Thank you in advance for all the lovely advice.
I was addressing the conditions under which running would be bad. I was addressing the arguments people have against cardio, which OP did mention. I've done a C25k, but I prefer other things. Not my thing. But there's nothing wrong with running at all. I never said there was. In fact, I told her it was fine to run a few times a week.
I personally workout in some form 6 days per week. Sometimes 45min, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. I do brisk walking/hiking, some HIIT cardio, and bodyweight strength training. I used to lift (dumbbells) but I got bored with them. There isn't anything wrong with cardio in itself. Workout if you feel like it. Pick something you like. But you don't have to do hours of exercise daily to lose weight or be healthy.
This is the motivation behind some of the backlash against cardio in some communities (other than selling books
: There are many articles or fitness gurus which insist you have to slog through many hours of cardio. Some people then take that as gospel (I certainly fell prey to this advice in the past) then run themselves into the ground doing stuff that exhausts them, and they might not particularly like, only to see no benefit past a certain point or to become injured. I've done it with high impact cardio, not running, but it's the same principal, became injured, and been run-down and out-of-commission for awhile. It does happen. They go too far maligning all cardio however. Throwing the baby out with the bath.
Nobody here said not to be a runner. If running is what you like. Do it. Until you don't want to any more.
Weight loss is in the kitchen. Fitness in the gym. But...even if you aren't required to exercise to lose weight, it sure as heck is nice for your health to be physically fit. You feel loads better, and it's a point of pride, at least to me, pride in myself, to be able to give my kids a run for their money when we play soccer and be able to hike for miles and miles, then go bike some miles more.
Exercise if you want. Not too much-for you. Enjoy yourself and get fit. Be happy. The end.
I hope that extensive clarification of my position is sufficient.
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