Losing weight by running; sounds wonderful of course! If your primary goal is to lose weight through running, there’s more to it than meets the eye. We will clarify that in this article!
Running is a very popular way to exercise. This obviously has a lot to do with it being so easy to do; you step outside and there you go. In addition, running is simply very good for you. So if you’re already running, keep going and if you’ve yet to start, we’ll get you started in this article!
Table of Contents
- Why would you run to lose weight?
- What distance and at what speed should you run?
- Do this if you have yet to start
- Tips to maximize weight loss
- How many times a week should you run to lose weight?
- How do you stay motivated?
Why would you run to lose weight?
You lose weight by burning more calories than you get through your diet. Running is an excellent way to burn calories so that you can achieve this faster. Know that your diet is also very important, so keep this in mind as well.
The approximate calories you will burn with an average speed of 8.36 km/h:
| Weight -> Duration ↓ | 60 kg | 70 kg | 80 kg | 90 kg | 100 kg |
| 15 min | 143 kcal | 166 kcal | 190 kcal | 214 kcal | 238 kcal |
| 30 min | 285 kcal | 333 kcal | 380 kcal | 428 kcal | 475 kcal |
| 45 min | 428 kcal | 499 kcal | 570 kcal | 641 kcal | 713 kcal |
| 60 min | 570 kcal | 665 kcal | 760 kcal | 855 kcal | 950 kcal |
The approximate calories you will burn with an average speed of 9,65 km/h:
| Weight -> Duration ↓ | 60 kg | 70 kg | 80 kg | 90 kg | 100 kg |
| 15 min | 158 kcal | 184 kcal | 210 kcal | 236 kcal | 263 kcal |
| 30 min | 315 kcal | 368 kcal | 420 kcal | 473 kcal | 525 kcal |
| 45 min | 473 kcal | 551 kcal | 630 kcal | 709 kcal | 788 kcal |
| 60 min | 630 kcal | 735 kcal | 840 kcal | 945 kcal | 1050 kcal |
The approximate calories you will burn with an average speed of 10,78 km/h:
| Weight -> Duration ↓ | 60 kg | 70 kg | 80 kg | 90 kg | 100 kg |
| 15 min | 173 kcal | 201 kcal | 230 kcal | 259 kcal | 288 kcal |
| 30 min | 345 kcal | 403 kcal | 460 kcal | 518 kcal | 575 kcal |
| 45 min | 518 kcal | 604 kcal | 690 kcal | 776 kcal | 863 kcal |
| 60 min | 690 kcal | 805 kcal | 920 kcal | 1035 kcal | 1150 kcal |
The approximate calories you will burn with an average speed of 12,07 km/h:
| Weight -> Duration ↓ | 60 kg | 70 kg | 80 kg | 90 kg | 100 kg |
| 15 min | 195 kcal | 228 kcal | 260 kcal | 293 kcal | 325 kcal |
| 30 min | 390 kcal | 455 kcal | 520 kcal | 585 kcal | 650 kcal |
| 45 min | 585 kcal | 683 kcal | 780 kcal | 878 kcal | 975 kcal |
| 60 min | 780 kcal | 910 kcal | 1040 kcal | 1170 kcal | 1300 kcal |
The approximate calories you will burn with an average speed of 14,48 km/h:
| Weight -> Duration ↓ | 60 kg | 70 kg | 80 kg | 90 kg | 100 kg |
| 15 min | 240 kcal | 280 kcal | 320 kcal | 360 kcal | 400 kcal |
| 30 min | 480 kcal | 560 kcal | 640 kcal | 720 kcal | 800 kcal |
| 45 min | 720 kcal | 840 kcal | 960 kcal | 1080 kcal | 1200 kcal |
| 60 min | 960 kcal | 1120 kcal | 1280 kcal | 1440 kcal | 1600 kcal |
Besides the fact that you burn a lot of calories with running, another advantage is the many muscles that you target. The real power to move forward will of course come from your leg muscles, but you use a lot of other muscles to stabilize your body when you run.
What distance and at what speed should you run?
The speed and distance of the run are, of course, very personal factors. We will first discuss the speed. Your gut feeling probably tells you that as fast as possible is best. However, this is not entirely true. If you run a little slower, you will burn more fat in percentage than if you go faster. The faster you go, the more you switch to carbohydrate burning.
Opposite this advantage is of course that you will simply burn more calories with a higher speed. So you have to make the decision yourself. Choose a pace that is comfortable for you.
Then we will now look at the distance, or the time you run consecutively. A similar mechanism applies to this. When you start exercising, your energy will come about 50% from fats and 50% from carbohydrates. The longer you run, the more you switch to fat-burning in percentage. So it has a positive effect on fat loss to run long distances.
Do this if you have yet to start
Haven’t started running yet? No problem! We have a tip for you that will help you on your way. Many people start running without a plan. They just do something in principle. And this is of course not bad at all at the beginning, but you see that people who do this give up quickly.
We therefore strongly recommend that you make a clear plan before you start. Write this plan down on paper and state, for example, how often you want to run per week and what distance or time you want to run. Not sure where to start? Then click here. You will then be referred to an article that contains a program that works towards a 5 km run.
Tips to maximize weight loss
We will now share some tips that can make your weight loss journey a success.
- Keep track of your nutrition : You will lose weight if you consume fewer calories through your diet than you burn. That is why it is very important to keep track of your nutrition. Click here to get to a step-by-step guide that will help you with this. So it is very important to watch your calories, but also look at the type of food you take. For example, make sure you don’t get too many saturated fats.
- Make sure you get enough sleep : You might not expect it, but sleep is very important if you want to lose weight. Research has shown that sleep deprivation is associated with a higher BMI. As an adult, try to get about 8 hours of sleep every night.
- Also practice other forms of sport : It is important to get exercise every day. However, most people will not want to run every day, and this is not bad at all! Therefore, make sure that you also find other ways to get extra exercise that you can alternate with running. If you are short on time, a HIIT cardio workout can be a good solution. This is a short, but very intensive workout that burns a lot of calories. Read more about it here. If you’ve found something else you like, that’s totally fine too! The important thing is that you like it, then you will be able to keep doing it longer.
- Stick to your schedule : Of course this sounds very easy, but in practice it is more difficult than many people think. We’ve just explained why it’s important to create a schedule. Once you’ve made a schedule, there’s only 1 thing left to do; keep following it. We’ll give you some motivational tips in a moment to keep doing this!
- Take advantage of social support : Social support can give you a huge boost to persevere, even when you are having a hard time. Let people around you know that you’re running so they can motivate you to go all out. Also, see if you know someone in your area with whom you could possibly run together. Don’t do this too often, though, because if you’re running with someone else, you probably won’t be running at your favorite pace. Still, it can be very pleasant to run with someone once in a while.
How many times a week should you run to lose weight?
We’ll just get straight to the point; There is no magic number for how often you have to run to lose weight. However, it is advisable to run at least 2 times a week, otherwise the results will probably be disappointing. Also try not to go more than 4 times a week at the beginning, so you make sure you give your body enough rest.
Of course, it also depends a lot on the distances you run. If you run for long stretches in a row, it is advisable to run less often per week. On the other hand, do you mainly run short distances? Then go a few more times a week.
Your calorie intake also plays a major role. If you eat very healthy and do not consume too many calories, you will have to run less to lose weight than if you do not pay attention to your diet at all. Nutrition is therefore very important!
How do you stay motivated?
This is also an incredibly important topic. For people who start running, their thought process looks something like this; some nice bits of running and losing a lot of weight, they can already see it for themselves. However, this usually does not end well.
People often want to see results too quickly and if they don’t see this, they often give up quickly and often say something like ‘running didn’t work for me’. If this happened to you, sorry to bring it up like this, but it has to be said. Please don’t expect results too quickly; If you keep going, the result will come, 100%.
Another good tip is to set goals. Goals can be very motivating. Set both short and long term goals. For example, as a short-term goal you can set that you want to run 4 times in the coming week and not have more than 1 snack per day. As a long-term goal, you can say that you want to lose 5 kilos in the next 3 months.
Lifestyle coach [5+ years of fitness experience]