Lose Weight With Running

Starting a running program is one of the best ways to lose weight. Running is one of the most efficient forms of exercise and it tones your body without bulking you up into a body builder. Losing weight is not one dimensional and requires a healthy diet for best results.

For running to lose weight to be most effective you will want to be mindful (or count for best results) of the amount of calories you are consuming. The basic concept of losing weight is that you must burn more calories than you consume. So if you wanted to lose 1 pound a week, which is considered to be a safe amount to lose, you would need to create a deficit of 3,500 calories (there are 3,500 calories in a pound) over a week.

The average person burns 100 calories running one mile so if you run 2 miles 5 times a week that is 1,000 calories a week. Now say in your previous diet you ate 2,000 calories a day. If you lowered your caloric intake by 360 calories a day, over a week that would be 2,500 calories plus the 1,000 calories burned from running and you have lost 3,500 calories or one pound. If you kept this up for a year, you could lose almost 50 pounds.

If you are someone who is serious about losing weight through running, I recommend either getting a GPS watch or an electric treadmill. A GPS watch can save you a lot of time tracking your workouts while also telling you how many miles you have run, at what speed and most importantly how many calories you have burned. I highly recommend treadmills to those who can afford them. Having a treadmill inside the comforts of your own home can be extremely helpful. Having the convenience and privacy of a treadmill might just be what keeps you going on your program.