Running for weight loss

[fitnessobsessed]

I started running a month ago but I feel like I eat way more now for energy. I feel I have no deficit, I'm eating all my burned cals.. but I do feel healthier and more positive? I'm kind of confused. Will I ever lose weight?

[hilcol]

Cardio(i.e. running) is great for your overall cardiovascular health, but in women in particular is not the best for promoting weight loss. I was doing mostly all cardio and saw no progress at all. :*( so I started looking at what I might be doing wrong. Step one, was gaining muscle, which burns more energy even when you are just sitting, and step two was taking a hard look at what I was eating. While most of my diet was "healthy", I ate way too many carbs and lots of sugar. Even just ditching the lattes and sugar in my morning coffee cut way down. I also found that when I switched to body strengthening exercises I ached horribly if I didn't follow it up with a protein shake. My normal diet simply didn't provide enough for my body to build muscle.

Tips:

1) up daily dietary %protein to at least 25%

2) do interval training or weight training

3) cut down your intake of sugar

The protein will help with that whole "EAT ALL OF THE THINGS" feeling that cardio triggers. Weights, b/c they are less intense both build muscle and your body kicks out less cortisol. Another up side is that by building muscles you can run faster. You can try alternating your routines so you get the benefit of cardio and weights.

[Heybales]

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@fitnessobsessed wrote:

I started running a month ago but I feel like I eat way more now for energy. I feel I have no deficit, I'm eating all my burned cals.. but I do feel healthier and more positive? I'm kind of confused. Will I ever lose weight?

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Not if you don't eat slightly less than you burn.

The only thing exercise has to do with diet is it makes you burn more, so that when you eat less you hopefully are still at an eating level you can sustain and adhere to.

But don't confuse and mix the 2 things together.

Diet is for weight loss - done right just fat loss, done wrong includes muscle mass. Very bad.

Exercise is for heart health and body improvement - done right can encourage just fat loss, done wrong can encourage muscle loss.

Don't go on feelings. Usually that's what leads people to point they need to lose weight. Feeling they are hungry. Don't trust your body, not for along while anyway.

The response to exercise is never weight loss, improvements are always weight gain.

So that water weight gain because of running can mask fat loss that is still going on.

Now, cardio only and unreasonable deficit is a great recipe for losing muscle mass upstairs that isn't being used. So confirm your deficit is reasonable for amount of weight to lose to healthy weight.

While muscle does burn a tad more than fat (6 cal/lb/day compared to 2 for fat), it's not actually the biggest calorie burner in the body compared to 5 biggest organs.

The reason to retain as much muscle mass as possible is because it's difficult to put back on - and you'll gain fat doing it.