Running to lose weight.

thehack

I've been running / ploddding for a few years now and still carrying a bit of weight around the belly and as someone said to me recently 'you don't look like a runner'. I run at the same kind of pace all the time which has to be burning up the fat. What am I doing wrong?

JohnnyCrash

A. Healthy diet. You have to burn more calories than you consume
B. You say you are plodding around at the same pace.You could try to shake this up with some speed work/intervals
C.Some other form of excercise in addition to running to tone up mid section i.e core strengthening

Im no expert by any means,so hope some of these suggestions may help

TFBubendorfer

thehack wrote: »

I run at the same kind of pace all the time which has to be burning up the fat. What am I doing wrong?

The pace thing is a red herring. At faster paces you're still burning fat, but with a higher percentage of carbohydrate in addition to that. And anyway, the total calories burned are more important than the question if it was fat or carbs you burned.

Anyway, my real question was, how much are you running?

HardyEustace

Rule 1. You can't outrun your mouth *




*unless you are doing exceptionally crazy distances

mloc123

thehack wrote: »

What am I doing wrong?

Eating too much

huskerdu

Exercise really does help you lose weight and exercise is good for you anyway, but you cant outrun a bad diet.

Here are some numbers to illustrate the point.

You burn approx 100 calories per mile run ( average for someone weighing 70kg).

Therefore, if you run 4 miles, 3 times a week you have burned 1200 extra calories. That is great, but a Mars Bars is 250 calories, a large muffin is 450 and a pastry is 500 calories. Alcohol is also full of calories. It doesn't take much to make up that 1200 calories.

3500 calories is one lb of fat.

So, if you need to lose weight, then start calorie counting. If you drop your daily intake by 150 calories, every day, you will lose a lb every 24 days.

Have a long hard look at your diet, start an eating diary and find out where you can drop 150 calories a day without noticing it too much.

Keep up the running and I agree with the advice to mix it up a bit.
It sounds like ti has become a bit of a chore. Try a bit of fartlek
or enter a race to challenge yourself and get a bit of a buzz going.

Keep it up, and don't get downheartened.

HelenAnne

You sound like you're doing really well -- I find it hard to fit in 5 runs a week. Also, it was pretty rude of someone to tell you you 'don't look like a runner' -- I know elite runners all seem to have a pretty similar body type, but as far as 'recreational runners' go, I know I've passed people in races who looked younger / fitter / more 'like a runner' than me, and I've OFTEN been passed by older, heavier, less fit-looking runners. You're out there running nearly every day, so you ARE a runner, so obviously some runners look like you!

Emer911

Might be a controversial question but, man or woman?

We girlies carry more weight around the mid-section and most of us really only get that 'greyhound' body (like Sonia, for instance) if we're doing serious miles. Very hard to be that slim and svelte with a normal lifestyle (and probably some genetic dispensation, though I may be corrected on that)

These are 2 ultra running twins, Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva, that are nothing short of machines, winning races all around them. When I saw them running and winning - by MILES - the Two Oceans race this year, I was (pleasantly) surprised at their shape. They are NOT skinny whippets but are short and stocky. Love that.



Saying that, we all strive to improve, and core strength exercise (like pilates) are great for both your shape and your running, so maybe that might be something to pursue?

..but yeah, if you want to lose weight you have to look at your food intake

Good luck with your training.

thehack

Thanks for all the replies. Im a male and run roughly 5K 3 or 4 times a week and that gets me back to the house in 40 minutes. My plan now is to keep a food diary after reading huskerdu's post and i'll take it from there.

Thanks again..