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austepants
austepants Posts: 356 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Can I lose weight if my only exercise right now is running 4 days a week? I run for 25-30 minutes and vary my speed and incline differently each time. I know I will need to add some strength training but I still have a lot of fat around my midsection that I would like to trim down before I really focus on toning. Advice??

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  • poseyj88
    poseyj88 Posts: 140 Member
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    Running is a valid exercise and you can lose weight with that! It's actually an extremely efficient form of exercise. It's more beneficial to have weight training to... but just running is fine.
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
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    Increasing your lean muscle tends to boost metabolism and help you burn the fat you want to lose.
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
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    Depends on how you are eating.

    Eat healthy... then yes.

    Most of my weight loss has been thru running and lifestyle change.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    You should throw in 20-30 mins of weight training 2-3 times a week. It'll help you build muscle and burn more fat.

    You will lose by running, but adding in the weights will help keep your metabolism up and burn even more fat.
  • CommandaPanda
    CommandaPanda Posts: 451 Member
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    DEFINITELY! I'd focus on running and cardio for now and then when you start to his a plateau, look to weight training and incorporating it into your workout schedule!

    *edit* (adding onto this post)

    When you do start lifting, do it before your cardio. That way you're burning the optimal amount of calories. Weight training is low impact while running is high impact. So you'll burn a fair amount of calories during your weight training, put your body into "fat burning mode" and then when you begin your running, your body will start to burn more quicker (and whatever leftover energy you have!)
  • photorific
    photorific Posts: 577 Member
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    I hope so, 'cause it's pretty much what I'm relying on. :laugh:
  • austepants
    austepants Posts: 356 Member
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    Depends on how you are eating.

    Eat healthy... then yes.

    Most of my weight loss has been thru running and lifestyle change.

    I eat healthy and log my calories and exercises. I know I could eat healthier but am kind of limited on what we can purchase at this moment so I have consuming more carbs and sodium than I should be but have upped my water. We have been relying on food from family right now so we use what we can get buy what we can. Would love some healthier suggestions for meals and snacks :)
  • austepants
    austepants Posts: 356 Member
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    DEFINITELY! I'd focus on running and cardio for now and then when you start to his a plateau, look to weight training and incorporating it into your workout schedule!

    I have been running a solid 4 days a week for the last 2 weeks and have not lost any weight I have actually gained a 3 pounds could I have already hit my plateau or should I focus on cleaning up my eating a bit more?
  • k8edge
    k8edge Posts: 380
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    Nope.

    You can't... I have done that an failed.

    Last summer I was training for a marathon and that is all I did. I ran and ran and ran... I also gained 15 lbs.

    Your body can go into survival mode and stores fat.

    I would add in weight training, yoga, or swimming to balance it out.

    Good Luck!
  • mdspierce1
    mdspierce1 Posts: 4 Member
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    Are you just starting to run? Running is a great way to jump-start weight loss if you haven't made it a regular part of your fitness routine before. But after several weeks of just running, I found that I plateaued with my weight loss. In fact, even after doubling my original mileage, I didn't lose any additional weight after those first few pounds. I really hate strength-training but have read enough articles that promote it for weight loss that I'm finally giving in and trying some free weights and training with an exercise ball at home. From what I've read, it's best to have both strength training AND cardio as a part of your workout. And cardio is even more effective when you do interval-training--varying speed and incline as you say you are doing. Continue to ramp that up periodically (for ex. sprint 100 meters and then run again, building up your sprinting distance and shortening your recovery time between sprints) and add a little strength training and I think you're bound to drop some pounds! Good luck!
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    Starting lifting sooner will provide you with much more results later. Running can only take you so far. If you start lifting now, that's that much less time that it will take you to get you where you want later.

    I only did cardio first and I got "skinny fat" as a result (see first link in signature). I am now kicking myself and working gaining back the muscle I lost.
  • austepants
    austepants Posts: 356 Member
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    I just started running. I've been doing it for 2 weeks now 4 days a week for 25-30 minutes. Before running I was doing the elliptical and had stopped losing then as well. So I decided to start running and I love it.
  • taem
    taem Posts: 495 Member
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    Hi,

    There are a couple of books, I recommend, The China Study and the McDougall Plan. These are essentially, a veggie and starch lifestyle change and will help you with your weight loss (you can eat as much veggies and starch as long as you don't eat, meat, dairy, fish and certain other foods like soy and no oils, even olive oil). You can search for them via google or youtube to get a sense of what they are about before investing or deciding.

    Good luck with your food choices.
  • Mommawarrior
    Mommawarrior Posts: 897 Member
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    The thinnest I have ever been was from running every other day and eating very low carb. YES I KNOW, everything you read says runners need to boost up on carbs, but I know that isn't true, at least not for me.
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
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    Its an easy stress relief and the scenery is constantly changing. I had to get off the treadmill and get my butt outside to enjoy.

    Pay close attention to your calorie counts and keep running and you should lose weight. Make sure you eat back your exercise calories... kind of counter intuitive but you need to feed the engine to lose weight.

    Like others have said, try and work in a little strength training... it will help you become a better/stronger runner.
  • jossrox
    jossrox Posts: 3
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    Running is how I lost all of the weight from my twins. It's one of the best ways to trim down! Enjoy!
  • Starkle09
    Starkle09 Posts: 238 Member
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    durning my trainging for a half marathon i only did running and lost very little weight. i did have very toned legs but the scale didnt move at all. i think incororating some strength training is important. best of luck to u.
  • lovejoydavid
    lovejoydavid Posts: 395 Member
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    DEFINITELY! I'd focus on running and cardio for now and then when you start to his a plateau, look to weight training and incorporating it into your workout schedule!

    I have been running a solid 4 days a week for the last 2 weeks and have not lost any weight I have actually gained a 3 pounds could I have already hit my plateau or should I focus on cleaning up my eating a bit more?

    I think the untrained, but dieting, can expect an initial increase in weight. That is, running on something similiar to a fasting status can result in a deep increase in your ability to store glycogen. Some people can increase glycogen storage by double with cardiovascular training, and there is some evidence (including a fairly recent New Zealand study) that showed a huge increase in glycogen storage capacity (and VO2 max) in the untrained when they ran on a partial fasting status. These gains were early, as well. Glycogen requires a huge amount of water to store, making it relatively heavy (just look at the molecule, CH2O, to get a hint as to why). While weight loss may be your end goal, there is no subsitute for cardiovascular fitness, and I advocate running for its own ends, including a training program that focuses heavily on building glycogen reserves, training lactate threshold and vo2 max systems, and just plain getting fast. In fact, I only diet for the 1) decrease in cardiac event profile, and 2) because it makes me a faster runner.
  • austepants
    austepants Posts: 356 Member
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    Its an easy stress relief and the scenery is constantly changing. I had to get off the treadmill and get my butt outside to enjoy.

    Pay close attention to your calorie counts and keep running and you should lose weight. Make sure you eat back your exercise calories... kind of counter intuitive but you need to feed the engine to lose weight.

    Like others have said, try and work in a little strength training... it will help you become a better/stronger runner.

    When eating back exercise calories do I eat all of them even if I'm not hungry? I usually leave about 100 calories just in case my HRM overestimated calories or calculated something I ate wrong. What is the most effective?
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
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    I usually strive to eat back 50% plus and don't feel obligated to eat them all back. Case in point is if I run a half marathon, I'll burn 2200 calories on top of my days allowance. I eat really well those days, but don't try to eat back the full 2200 calories.

    Too low on the calories and your body treats it like its starving and clings to calories.

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