Running...weight loss

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Bribrayy
Bribrayy Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just curious in hearing what others think...

I have a friend who wanted to join the national guard last year and he had to loose well over 30 pounds in order to join. With healthy eating and a ton of running he lost well over that weight in about 3 months.

When I go to the gym should my main focus be on cardio? Running, walking, stair climbers, bicycle, elliptical?

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  • cgarcia_0914
    cgarcia_0914 Posts: 16 Member
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    I wonder those SAME things! The struggle, I hate running!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Your main focus should be whatever you enjoy most.

    There are benefits to doing a mixture of both cardio and strength/resistance.

    The weight loss comes from your calorie deficit though.
  • rachel29hart
    rachel29hart Posts: 23 Member
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    I had a friend who counted calories and exclusively did cardio until he was about 20 pounds away from his goal, then he dramatically increased his protein and started only strength training. He was incredibly successful, and more importantly, finding it relatively easy to maintain his weight loss. I'm following the same plan right now and it's been working very well.
  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
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    Do both cardio and strength training. If you want to run, I'd run outside instead of on the dreadmill.
  • Bribrayy
    Bribrayy Posts: 13 Member
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    cgarcia_0914 wrote: »
    I wonder those SAME things! The struggle, I hate running!

    I do too, but I love to walk! I'm slowing trying to build my tolerance up with running cause it's horrible I can only run a minute or two then I'm out of breath
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    bribrayyycsu wrote: »
    cgarcia_0914 wrote: »
    I wonder those SAME things! The struggle, I hate running!

    I do too, but I love to walk! I'm slowing trying to build my tolerance up with running cause it's horrible I can only run a minute or two then I'm out of breath

    Try c25k
  • Bribrayy
    Bribrayy Posts: 13 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    bribrayyycsu wrote: »
    cgarcia_0914 wrote: »
    I wonder those SAME things! The struggle, I hate running!

    I do too, but I love to walk! I'm slowing trying to build my tolerance up with running cause it's horrible I can only run a minute or two then I'm out of breath

    Try c25k

    Yeah I downloaded it and I tried it one day it was alright. I think I'm going to end up doing it again to help me. At the gym I do the same thing how they have it set up
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    edited July 2016
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    bribrayyycsu wrote: »
    Just curious in hearing what others think...

    I have a friend who wanted to join the national guard last year and he had to loose well over 30 pounds in order to join. With healthy eating and a ton of running he lost well over that weight in about 3 months.

    When I go to the gym should my main focus be on cardio? Running, walking, stair climbers, bicycle, elliptical?

    Running is not the reason your friend lost weight, it's because he ate less calories than he burned. I am an avid runner and have gained weight while running because I ate too much, lost weight while running because I ate too little and now maintain my weight while running because I eat about the same amount of calories I burn.

    As for exercise, do the type that you enjoy. If you eat your exercise calories back, make sure it's only steady state cardio and only count about 75% of them back. Everything else is included in your activity level.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    rachel29hart wrote: »
    I had a friend who counted calories and exclusively did cardio until he was about 20 pounds away from his goal, then he dramatically increased his protein and started only strength training. He was incredibly successful, and more importantly, finding it relatively easy to maintain his weight loss. I'm following the same plan right now and it's been working very well.


    That's one way to do it, but it is also very likely that your friend wasted some time by waiting so long to start increasing protein and lifting weights. Those are both things you should be starting on day 1.

    Increasing protein intake is critical to preserving lean mass while maintaining a calorie deficit (among other things). It is a big error to assume increased protein intake is only associated with weight training.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,574 Member
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    Weight loss is based on calorie deficit. How achieve it is based more on how much you consume, NOT the activity you're doing.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • niblue
    niblue Posts: 339 Member
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    Running is a good way to burn calories quickly - it's certainly helped me lose weight in conjunction with keeping a track on what I eat.
  • eileen0515
    eileen0515 Posts: 408 Member
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    My seventy pound loss was achieved by what I did in the kitchen. My fitness goals came about through an evolution, starting with walking to my mailbox. Fast forward over three years, now I run, lift weights, kayak, hill and mountain hiking. Maintaining my weight loss, and having a great time at 58! But...none of that would be possible without a calorie deficit.

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