Research shows that 54% of the running Europeans start running to lose weight. Running is good for your physical health, and the same goes for other ways of moving. Besides this it is also good for your heart and blood vessels. In short: it is good for your holistic health. Running and losing weight go very well together, but only if you know how to do this. It is not something which you do for two weeks and then quit again. Discipline, motivation and trust play a big role in this.
When you are running, it is important to reach an as high as possible burning of fat when you set the goal of losing weight. The heart rate plays a big role in this. The ideal heart rate for burning fat is between 45 and 50 beats under your maximum. This is different according to your age. Make sure you are running at a good pace, then you will ensure that you are starting to burn fat at not just sugars and carbohydrates. When you are running at a low pace you can keep up for longer and in this way you can burn more fat. If you run at a really high speed, you will lose less weight. It is not bad, but you are working more on your cardio here. Your body will use more sugars and carbohydrates. You will also get tired sooner, and you will thus burn less fats in this way too.
If you really want to see some results, then you have to run with regularity. Your body also needs several rest and recovery days. When starting to run, you have to build it up slowly. You can think of for instance twice or three times per week for 20 minutes. Then you can interchange running and walking. You will notice yourself when it is going better and then you can run for longer distances and walk less. When you are not able to keep up anymore, then train one week on the same level so that your body can get used to it. After this you will be able to keep it up for longer. When you really want to lose weight with running, then you are best off running three to four times a week.
Motivation is important to keep up with running. When you only like to walk and you are keeping it up, fine. But often it is fun a few times and then you are not enjoying it anymore. Then you do not reach your goal and you are back to where you started. Therefore it can be a good idea to find a buddy that you can run with together or join a running course. You can motivate each other and doing it together is more fun than alone!
Running with a goal
What is your goal when you are running? When you want to lose weight it is a good idea to set yourself a goal. How many kilos do you want to lose and how soon do you want it gone? Make sure that you don’t set yourself a goal that is too difficult, but a realist goal. For instance, losing half a kilo per week is a good goal. Losing weight through running is an effective method to lose weight, but there are a few aspects to which you need to pay attention to:
If you are a beginning runner, then it is important to start off slowly. You are best off jogging for one minute. Then you strongly walk for one minute. You can do this for 20 minutes and change every minute. When you do it for a shorter amount of time, it will not really help you to lose weight. Keep going and change it every minute with walking and jogging. Are you doing great? Then you can change to running for two minutes and then walking for one minute. When you notice that it is going well you can also go up from 20 to 25 minutes. And when that goes well you can build it up to 30 minutes. Keep training a while in this way, to be sure that your body can take it. You need to listen to your body but at the same time also challenge yourself. You will get satisfaction, really get something from it and will look better. This will keep you being motivated to keep running.
When you start running, then you can start on Monday with 20 minutes:
First a minute of running and then a minute of walking. Tuesday is your day of rest and on Wednesday you repeat what you have done on Monday and the same goes for Friday. In the weekend you can recover.
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday you train but then two minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking for 20 minutes.
Expand to 25 minutes with three minutes of running and two minutes of walking.
25 minutes of training, four minutes running and two minutes walking, repeat three times in the week with at least one day rest between training sessions.
When running with this schedule is going well for you, then you can set yourself another goal. You for instance want after the training of twelve weeks to be able to run for 45 minutes. Keep listening to your body and stop during your resting days.
Nutrition plays a big role when you want to lose weight. Running can support you when you want to lose weight, but what you eat is even more important than the exercise. And thus you should pay close attention to your diet. Losing weight through taking the right nutrition will amount for 70%, the rest will be lost through moving. Pay close attention to what you are doing, moving more is good, but also change your diet. Eating healthier, smaller portions and eating more often in a day. Through this your body will start to process the nutrients more effectively. You will have a fuller feeling throughout the day and that results in less, or even better, no snacking.
When you are thinking of your nutrition, and will change this, then you can achieve your goal really quickly with running. Give it time and keep going! You will be more satisfied with yourself with every pound that you lose. You may be very proud, because every step is because of your own efforts. After a while you know from experience that you get more and more energy from running. So go outside and run that short or long distance, even though you are very tired from work.
