Can you lose weight running??

Givemewings

I started losing my weight doing all sorts of exercise, then became more serious about running as I got fitter. I'll be honest, I probably should be running more regularly, but even with the running I am doing I expected to lose some more weight. My weight is not budging and I still have at least another stone to lose .However, I feel great when I am running, my stomach is pulled in and my waist has got smaller and I feel fit. I am not overeating although i haven't been counting calories religiously for a while. I'm interested to hear from anyone with advice on this. If I ramp up my running will this help? Should I incorporate other exercise into my routine again? Do I need to bring my calories right down again? Any advice or comments welcome!

Givemewings

Anyone?

BerryH

Anecdotally from the experience of myself and my friends, there's a law of diminishing returns with running. When you first start, the weight flies off, but as you get more experienced, not only do you adapt and become more efficient, burning fewer calories for the same distance and speed, but you will not burn twice as many running for an hour than half an hour. Unfortunately you'll still work up an appetite!

Myself and several friends have found we put on weight while marathon training, despite attempting to not eat back more than we burned. If you use an HRM and take off what you'd be burning during that time anyhow (sedentary TDEE/24 per hour) you'll get a decent estimate, but even the best HRM calculations are only 75% accurate.

So yes, running will help lose weight - it still burns more calories per minute than many other aerobic exercises - but only when calories are tracked carefully and within certain limits.

As far as other exercise goes, resistance training, especially body weight for lower body such as squats and lunges, will help prevent injuries, as will sticking to a low/non impact exercise like walking or swimming on non-running days.

waterwing

Running is good and definitely helps with weight loss.

I have found that when I get in a groove and run the same miles at the same speed for about the same time every day.. my weight loss slows down. You need to mix it up a bit.. go harder, faster, longer so your body doesn't get used to it. Some days do sprints, other days go long.. variety is important.

There are some rather chubby marathon runners out there so obviously it's not a quick fix to get skinny but running plus cross training things (weights) and a healthy diet.. should work wonders!

Susan_Rae_1

if you're feeling tighter and your waist is shrinking -- you're making progress. keep it up!

NdBuk

If you use an HRM and take off what you'd be burning during that time anyhow (sedentary TDEE/24 per hour) you'll get a decent estimate,

Hang on - take off sedentary? I always assumed these exercise trackers / HRM.s etc tracked the additional calories burned by the exertion of the exercise rather than the total for that time period.

aphid

you're probably losing fat if your waist is smaller but building muscle in your legs so you don't weigh any less

darrensurrey

Anecdotally from the experience of myself and my friends, there's a law of diminishing returns with running. When you first start, the weight flies off, but as you get more experienced, not only do you adapt and become more efficient, burning fewer calories for the same distance and speed, but you will not burn twice as many running for an hour than half an hour. Unfortunately you'll still work up an appetite!

Myself and several friends have found we put on weight while marathon training, despite attempting to not eat back more than we burned. If you use an HRM and take off what you'd be burning during that time anyhow (sedentary TDEE/24 per hour) you'll get a decent estimate, but even the best HRM calculations are only 75% accurate.

So yes, running will help lose weight - it still burns more calories per minute than many other aerobic exercises - but only when calories are tracked carefully and within certain limits.

As far as other exercise goes, resistance training, especially body weight for lower body such as squats and lunges, will help prevent injuries, as will sticking to a low/non impact exercise like walking or swimming on non-running days.

From anecdotal evidence (ie talking to many runners and cyclists), I've found this to be true. Indeed, to start off, it's a great way of burning fat but in order to get to a size you want, and not have your body adapt to become more efficient, I think you need to run at least 50 miles a week, which is something most people cannot afford the time to do. (For cycling, you need to be doing at least 100 miles a week.)

I'd be interested to see any research done on the subject.

(Obviously, 50 and 100 are arbitrarily high values and may vary according to individuals but you get the idea.)

sijomial

Any exercise will help balance the calories you eat versus the calories you burn but you need to realise how many hours you will need to exercise to burn the fat.
Rough rule of thumb - need to burn approx 3,600 calories to burn a pound of fat. 600 calories an hour would be a fairly average slow run. So that's six hours of jogging.

Run for health and fitness. Eat sensibly for weight loss.

NocturnalGirl

If you are in a calorie deficit then yes.

VictoriaWorksOut

Definitely!

Another option to consider, that actually burns even more calories per minute, is power walk (walk as fast as you can while swinging arms like you are running), and it is easier on knees. If you want to use 1-3 lb hand weights while walking, it will add to calories burned, but don't use ankle weights, since it puts strain on knees.

chosengiver

there's a law of diminishing returns with running. When you first start, the weight flies off, but as you get more experienced, not only do you adapt and become more efficient, burning fewer calories for the same distance and speed, but you will not burn twice as many running for an hour than half an hour. Unfortunately you'll still work up an appetite!

^^^I TOTALLY agree with this!!

I've been running for about 12 yrs. I've had a couple of injuries which set me back a little.
This yr, I ran my 1st 1/2 Mary and am presently training for my 2nd (December 1).
I can say this about myself ONLY--running has only taken me so far with weight loss--then, it STOPPED!
I've been the same weight for 15 months, despite running and weight training--I know some of it is muscle--I can see them.
I stopped relying on the scale weight & just started using my clothes and a tape measure as a guide to assist with how much progress I've really made in this journey.

ooshlet

i also put on weight when training for a marathon. i couldn't run those distances without eating more! so much for imagining myself crossing that finish line all lithe and fit-looking. but i had to thank my body for getting me there, so i didn't mind. i'd rather have that extra half a stone and be able to say i'd done a marathaon.

darrensurrey

In addition to the above post I made, on a personal note, I never, ever, EVER run for ANYTHING. And I refuse very strongly to do any Long Steady Distance exercise since earlier this year, I noticed that when I did it, my body started storing fat. If my friends ever ask what exercise to do, I advise them to stay away from running (let's face it, it's not running, it's jogging as you never see non-pro runners going at a decent pace) or cycling.

Nowadays, I only do HIIT (in various forms whether on a gym bike or with lumps of metal) for cardio purposes. If you insist on putting on running shoes, sprint and nothing less.

The result of me never doing LSD? I weighed myself yesterday and found I was 5kg below my target weight, despite increasing in strength over the last 6 months.

Givemewings

Thanks guys.

A question: If I have logged myself as sedentary in my profile do I still need to take off the TDEE?
An observation: 50 miles of running a week is an awful lot!

sarafil

What some others have said: your body does adapt as you get better and more efficient at endurance type activities (like running), so you may see that weight loss slows down. It is also difficult, at least for me, to do something like marathon training and eat at a calorie deficit. I actually gained weight while training for a half marathon that I ran in September...I am now focusing on strength training to try to lose some of it. If you want to run for weight loss, I would suggest a lot of fartleks to get some interval training.

DaveC29

Longer, slower runs will help burn more fat. The faster you run the more your body uses glycogen to fuel your muscle. If you run long and slow (an hour at a slow pace- where you could hold a conversation with a friend) your body will be able to convert fats to fuel. Run too fast and your body burns what is available to keep up with the demand.

wrevhn

Any activity thats not sitting or sleeping, actually moving, can help with weight loss.

Dragonfly1996

Anecdotally from the experience of myself and my friends, there's a law of diminishing returns with running. When you first start, the weight flies off, but as you get more experienced, not only do you adapt and become more efficient, burning fewer calories for the same distance and speed, but you will not burn twice as many running for an hour than half an hour. Unfortunately you'll still work up an appetite!

Myself and several friends have found we put on weight while marathon training, despite attempting to not eat back more than we burned. If you use an HRM and take off what you'd be burning during that time anyhow (sedentary TDEE/24 per hour) you'll get a decent estimate, but even the best HRM calculations are only 75% accurate.

So yes, running will help lose weight - it still burns more calories per minute than many other aerobic exercises - but only when calories are tracked carefully and within certain limits.

As far as other exercise goes, resistance training, especially body weight for lower body such as squats and lunges, will help prevent injuries, as will sticking to a low/non impact exercise like walking or swimming on non-running days.

I would agree with this.

I trained for a mara in April & put on 4lb. I then didn't carry on running much & put on even more!!

I have now gone back to running & hoping it will kick start the weightloss for a while but I do expect it to then plateau again. Running is the fastest burn exercise & I wouldn't give it up but you do need to cross / strength train as well & mix things up every 6 weeks or so as your body gets used to the same exercise. I feel you need to keep surprising it!!!

Good luck though & keep with esp if it makes you feel great!!! :flowerforyou:

chedges9090

So, I love the running too. (as you know). So, I say keep it up. It is good for maintaining the weight---and has so many other beneficial factors (e.g. heart). I would switch it up -- or add- other things. Have you tried Spinning- AMT- ? And, weight training is really important. But... in weight training-- keep your heart rate up also. When I had a PT-- they made sure I was jogging in place in between sets-- etc. Moving quickly from one exercise to another. So, don't forget that as you weight train. You are doing a fantastic job!!! And, for my 2 cents--- don't quit running!!

bluefox9er

I started losing my weight doing all sorts of exercise, then became more serious about running as I got fitter. I'll be honest, I probably should be running more regularly, but even with the running I am doing I expected to lose some more weight. My weight is not budging and I still have at least another stone to lose .However, I feel great when I am running, my stomach is pulled in and my waist has got smaller and I feel fit. I am not overeating although i haven't been counting calories religiously for a while. I'm interested to hear from anyone with advice on this. If I ramp up my running will this help? Should I incorporate other exercise into my routine again? Do I need to bring my calories right down again? Any advice or comments welcome!

i watch the calories ( but not religiously..i usually have a decent deficit) and run 3-5 times a week and losing weight. it's absolutely true that you burn less and less the fitter you become, but I guess I am at a place where I have reconciled my weight goal and eating habits, and running is for fitness and FUN :-)

if i want cake, then i'll eat cake as i know i'm running the next day.

darrensurrey

I was jogging in place in between sets

Evil. I love it.. That'll burn fat like nothing else.

I think they call it Hurricane training.

ardisia32

Any exercise will help balance the calories you eat versus the calories you burn but you need to realise how many hours you will need to exercise to burn the fat.
Rough rule of thumb - need to burn approx 3,600 calories to burn a pound of fat. 600 calories an hour would be a fairly average slow run. So that's six hours of jogging.

Run for health and fitness. Eat sensibly for weight loss.

^^ This.

dsjohndrow

Weight loss it's mostly about food. . If you are not losing, you are rating too much. Running it's a great burn. Too can add some strength training for balanced fitness.

Enigmatica

I lost over 90 pounds with a mix of walking, jogging, hiking & elliptical. The key for me is calorie control regardless of exercise. Jogging is currently my favorite because it's good stress relief and I need that lately.

daniellegreig14

fat weighs more than muscle

BerryH

A question: If I have logged myself as sedentary in my profile do I still need to take off the TDEE?

Strictly speaking you should, as the calories MFP gives you is its own calculation of TDEE -500 (if your weekly weight-loss goal is 1lb, for example). But honestly it's not a huge amount.

MFP gives me 1350 calories a day for 1lb weight loss, which is 1850 for maintenance. If I run for an hour and burn 600 calories, I should take off 1850/24 = 77 calories.

But I don't as that's only a 13% variation and that's too much faff when after all there's all that lovely afterburn going on for the rest the day :flowerforyou:

chosengiver

If you are not losing, you are eating too much.

This is not always the case.
I've seen people plateau on 1200-1300 cals/day and weight loss becomes like molasses.

00Melyanna00

Most of weight loss comes from food: eat healthy and create a calories deficit to obtain weight loss. I would say this counts around 80% of your efforts (not an accurate figure, it's just to give you an idea of how important food is).
Running is good as a tool to help weight loss, as much as any other kind of exercise.
Exercise should be a tool to make sure that you lose fat and not muscle, to improve your overall health (running is very good for your heart) and to create a little bit of calories buffer, so that you can still eat at a calories deficit without feeling miserable.

TL;DR: Yes, but most of the weight loss will come from eating right.

BerryH

Hang on - take off sedentary? I always assumed these exercise trackers / HRM.s etc tracked the additional calories burned by the exertion of the exercise rather than the total for that time period.

Some may, but you'd have to check the manual with yours

chosengiver

A question: If I have logged myself as sedentary in my profile do I still need to take off the TDEE?

Calculate your TDEE, then subtract 20%. Put this # in MFP and set your activity to sedentary.
Don't eat your cals back.