Running Won't Help You Lose Weight?

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  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Wouldn't the running put you in a caloric deficit...therefore causing you to lose weight?

    Well now that depends on how much you eat now doesn't it? *LOL*
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I hate running... but imagining how much more awesome I would be if I ran may get me out there yet....

    I resemble this remark.
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
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    Dumb article is dumb.
    Knocking off 100 calories a day from your evening snacks can theoretically result in 10 pounds of fat loss in a year. Does one less cookie a day seems simpler than hours of sweating...?

    So they're saying skipping a cookie > running. Derp! Running can help you lose weight and running will do a lot more for your health than skipping a cookie. Of course you can still get fat running. Eating calories is easy but adding running to your plan can help with weight loss because it raises your daily calorie need.

    What if I told you that you could not only eat that cookie, but that you could have 3 cookies and still lose weight and have fun. Yep, that's running.

    (For me it's like 12 cookies, but I digress)
  • shrinkingbrian
    shrinkingbrian Posts: 171 Member
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    Personally, I think for weight loss, especially if you are obese, walking is better than running. Running puts a lot of stress on your knees and joints which can cause long term problems. Walking is more enjoyable than running for most people who are overweight. Plus, you can walk longer than running. You also avoid more injuries with walking. You can burn about the same calories walking or running a mile-it just takes more time to walk a mile. I think walking is a much better option for losing weight. You just have to stick with it. I have used walking, swimming, and lifting weights for my main forms of exercise to lose over 180 pounds in the last 15 months.
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
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    Interesting how "they" say to lose weight it is diet AND exercise. While eating at a caloric deficit is the primary reason for weight loss, exercise helps maintain and build LBM, which is a metabolically superior for burning calories. If you want to "just lose weight," then you can do it by diet alone, however, with running or any other form of exercise, you're losing weight in a way that will be more beneficial in the long run, especially for helping keep the weight off.

    Or..something like that.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Interesting how "they" say to lose weight it is diet AND exercise. While eating at a caloric deficit is the primary reason for weight loss, exercise helps maintain and build LBM, which is a metabolically superior for burning calories. If you want to "just lose weight," then you can do it by diet alone, however, with running or any other form of exercise, you're losing weight in a way that will be more beneficial in the long run, especially for helping keep the weight off.

    Or..something like that.

    ^ Five.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
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    Exactly. I can walk and burn around 420 calories in an hour. If you compare that to Keebler Pecan Sandies, that is only cutting out around 5 cookies.

    Diet alone can help you lose weight.
    Cardio also burns calories to increase the caloric deficit, helping you lose weight.
    Strength training also burns calories and increases your bodies need for calories and helps you lose weight.

    Diet does not improve your cardiovascular system, nor improve your fitness level.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    Uhhh. It's a poorly worded way of saying...you can't out exercise a bad diet. Not only is it common sense, it's just math.

    All that being said...running really helped me with losing weight and keeping weight off, and feeling good. So, not sure why running is singled out here other than someone has an axe to grind.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
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    That article is dumb. Weight loss=caloric deficit. Running is fun, makes me awesome and helps create a caloric deficit so I can eat lots of food and lose weight. However, I am very cognizant of how many calories I consume and how many I burn running (and otherwise). Provided I maintain a deficit, I'm good. I know people that think because they ran 2 miles they have "earned" a super-sized Big Mac value meal. Then say they didn't lose any weight when they were running. Running has helped me be awesome and lose 75lbs. That article is dumb.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
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    yes it will
    just like walking will
  • LuHox
    LuHox Posts: 136
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    Hmm... In defense of cardio:

    I started out at 240 lbs and did nothing but interval running to lose the first 25 lbs.
    Lost 10 more after modifying my diet as well.
    Got stuck at 205 for a long time & quit like a whiney baby and just kept complaining about my "plateau".
    I tried everything: eating more, modifying macro ratios, strength training like crazy, and...

    ....started toning down the cardio & doing very little of it based on advice from people on MFP forums who swear cardio is almost worthless and you should just do a bunch of strength training...

    Stayed at 205 a long time. Body composition may have improved slightly, but I wasn't losing anything.

    Recently started interval running again and BOOM I'm losing again. Thank goodness.

    Personally, I'm for it.
  • liliawodna
    liliawodna Posts: 31 Member
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    The good exercise does for physical and mental health is much more important than just simply losing weight alone, which you can do with lowering your calorie intake. Exercise (including running/walking) has helped my depression and self esteem.
  • lisahewitt22
    lisahewitt22 Posts: 102
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    Weight loss is mostly calorie deficit but without exercise and trying to tone muscles and all that whats the point? Without exercise you'll be losing weight but eventually you could just end up as a flabby person with a low number on the scale. With exercise, especially running, your weight will drop and your body will look completely transformed in all the best ways.
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
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    I am not going to read the article. I can already tell it's stupid. It may have some valid points but there is this. If you don't exercise no matter what your weight is you are at a greater risk for developing diabetes. Exercise burns off glucose /end rant.

    It's also stupid because it sets up people to just read the title and think "see I don't need to exercise". Sure running isn't for everyone. It certainly isn't for me, I have bad knees and I have arthritis. But, I can walk and I will do that for as long as I can.

    Now for a personal story. I had a job about 7 years ago. I was on my feet all day long. My TDEE was around 4000 calories a day. I did manage to eat over that even lots of times. But, that isn't my point. My point is that it is nearly impossible to cut enough calories from anyone's diet that would equal what I could burn in a day just by being on my feet all day and running around a warehouse picking orders. It was a very physical job and I did stuff after work and on weekends as well. There is no freaking way I can possible drop enough calories from my diet now to equal that burn. As a matter of fact I can't even exercise enough due to my health issues to equal that burn. But, I can cut some calories and I can walk enough to get a decent deficit and exercise will definitely contribute to a bigger deficit even if the exercise I can do is walking and not running. I am a big advocate of the slow burn, it's more sustainable and it does lead to deficits when combined with not eating a large amount of calories.
  • broscientist
    broscientist Posts: 102 Member
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    Runners are going to defend to the death that running is going to help you lose weight.

    Running will make you better at running.
    Running will make you more fit.


    Running will do little to help you lose weight.

    Also, running will not really make you more aesthetically looking. Marathon runners look pretty weak and anorexic for the most part.
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
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    It's fairly widely accepted now that the man factor in weight loss is diet, not exercise.

    I love running but this is pretty much right on.
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
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    Also, running will not really make you more aesthetically looking. Marathon runners look pretty weak and anorexic for the most part.

    Bwaaa ha ha!

    Qx0pTb0NtccYiwSfD6qv.jpeg
  • scoutbelly
    scoutbelly Posts: 8 Member
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    If marathon runners are "anorexic looking", that seems to support the argument that running does help you lose weight...
  • liliawodna
    liliawodna Posts: 31 Member
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    If marathon runners are "anorexic looking", that seems to support the argument that running does help you lose weight...

    THIS

    Being a runner doesn't mean you're anorexic looking.
  • marie_2454
    marie_2454 Posts: 881 Member
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    I've always hear that diet is 80-90% of weight loss, but they've also done studies showing that you lose more fat compared to muscle (you retain more lean muscle mass) when you combine exercise (especially some form of weight/ strength training) with eating less. For me personally, I lost 8 pounds the first month I started running. I was still eating the same as before, and still lifting weights, I just also added running 3-5 times a week 1-3 miles (most days it was closer to 1.7 miles). I didn't keep losing that fast, but I do lose slightly faster when I'm running.

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