Hi Miranda,

Running is actually not a great way to lose weight. No reason to stop doing it however, as it's good for a lot of other things. The 'problem' is that running tends to give you an appetite and as a result you eat more. Diet is 80-90% of losing weight. If you are tracking your eating and are avoiding the extra eating because of running you will lose weight.

Looking at my results it expects me to use about 450 calories for a run, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. With the recommended 3 runs per week and 8 weeks of the program that's a total of 24* 450 = 10800 calories burned. As losing one lbs of fat equals about 3500 calories burned that's about 3 lbs you could lose over the course of the 8 week program. With dieting you could lose this in a few weeks of course. So the running is a nice bonus, but you really need to have your food in check to make sure you get the benefits from it.

Hi Miranda! Welcome to Abel Township! :flowerforyou:

I have had great results since I started the Z5K. The weight loss ticker in my signature is my progress, which of course I take as proof that I am awesome.

Here's the thing though: What everyone else has been saying so far is right, running just by itself won't get you great results in the weight loss department. Running builds stamina and lower body strength, and it does burn calories, but if all you do is running, loss of pounds and inches will be slow for you.

The secret to successful long-term weight loss is to cover the entire big picture. Yes, you need to watch what you eat, and not eat too much, or too much of one nutrient and not enough of another. Since you're on MFP it's probably a safe assumption that you're tracking and monitoring what you're eating.

Almost as important, is that you need to build up your muscles. Not only because the stronger your muscles are the better you will be at running, but because having lots of muscles makes your metabolism run faster and burn more energy to maintain them. Translation: The more muscles you have, the more you can eat. (And for the record, that is one of my main motivating factors for working out.) you can combine the strength training with Z5K by following pduk' sgreat advice: Don't run every day. That is especially important if you are new to running. Your leg muscles are new to this form of exercise and need to recover from a run before you can take them on the next one, or you will end up slowing down your progress, wearing yourself out, and in a worst case scenario you will do yourself injury. Instead, run one day, take the next day off running and head into the gym and the weight rack. Or machines, whichever you prefer. We have a thread for lifting here as well, where you can get help and advice if you're new to strength training, and of course pep talks and encouragements. Look for the thread title "zombies aren't that strong either".

IMPORTANT!

If your arches are already hurting, you need to look into what kinds of shoes would be best for you to run in. I ran the entire Z5K in shoes with inadequate arch support, and as a result, I have spent the past month or so in excruciating pain from a tendon inflammation in my right foot. I am unable to run until it has healed, and I desperately hope that will happen before June 22nd since I'm signed up for a 5K fun-run that day.

Brooks and Mizuno are brands that both have good arch support, but they both come with a price tag that makes me want to strongly recommend you see a specialist that can help you analyze your walk and fit you for a shoe that works best for your particular stride. Specialized running stores can do this for you, and it is very much a worthwhile investment. I am convinced I could have avoided injuring myself if I had bothered to run in the correct shoes from the start.