will running boost weight loss?

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  • Samstan101
    Samstan101 Posts: 699 Member
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    At your weight, I would opt to go slower (to minimize chances of injury) and a longer duration...the more you move, the more calories you burn. Trying to increase your speed too quickly is risking injury and injured feet, ankles, shins, knees or hips can set you back to doing zero exercise.

    I started at 300lbs last year and did just this. I did 1 or 2 sessions a week with cross training, swimming or weights on the other days.

    As for helping weight loss the answer is it depends on what you're eating. Assuming you don't have a medical problem that inhibits your weight loss then to lose weight just eat at a calorie deficit. At your weight if you're exercising regularly then a 1000 cal deficit is easily achievable and the weight should come off at around 1.5-2lbs a week. However, make sure you are weighing and logging every thing you eat & drink. Given that running for 30mins will burn somewhere in the region of 350cals for someone of your size then running on its own won't help your weight loss, only diet can do that but running will mean you can eat more and still lose weight.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
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    Running only helps with weight loss because it burns calories. If you are starving because of running and eat more than you burn--no.

    Calculate how many calories you burn from running --don't eat them all back--yes.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    Results of a few longitudinal studies have shown that there's no correlation between weight loss and exercise, but there is one between increasing exercise and weight loss (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21696306; the abstract is misleading, but the paper itself points out the correlation).

    I just started Couch to 5K myself a few weeks ago, but I do a lot of cycling. In 2012, I bicycled 2400 miles and gained 10 lb. In 2013, I lost about 45, not because of cycling, but because I was counting calories with MFP.

    Doing moderate to intense cardio (more intense than walking) will improve your endurance, strengthen muscles, and let you eat more than you would if you were sedentary - those are all great reasons to do it!

    A couple resources if you want motivation:
    MFP's C25K group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/30-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k
    C25K subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/C25K/

    The subreddit is a lot friendlier than much of Reddit.
  • FancyPantsFran
    FancyPantsFran Posts: 3,687 Member
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    I have one more day to go and I'll be done with the c25k program. My first 5k is on March 8th- barring any more ice and snow. Since doing the program ive lost 2 inches on my stomach and 1.5 on my hips ad am down 5 pounds. Runnning helped me punch thru a plateau. I really enjoy running now...Good luck, listen to your body and do what you think is right for you and your journey

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