Why you won’t lose weight running but 3 things you can do to feel better!

I know. You won’t lose weight running. Odd statement coming from me. But sadly, very true.

Recently I had a Transformation Session with a lovely lady called Heidi, who has been trying to lose weight for years.

Things finally came to a head for her during her summer holiday a couple of months ago. She’d spent the whole time hiding under a sarong (had to spell check that!) or a towel, and hated every single photo of her. Heidi ended up making sure she was taking pictures to avoid being in them!

She returned home with a renewed sense of purpose – this time was going to be different.

This time, it was going to work.

This time, she was going to stick to it.

And she did.

5 times a week, for 2 whole months.

(Round of applause for the lovely Heidi please!)

But week after week, Heidi would eagerly climb onto the scales, only to see that the weight wasn’t budging.

Each Friday she’d try on “those jeans” and still find them too much of a squeeze.

Heidi was understandably distraught, she’d done the work – why didn’t she see the results and lose weight running?

So Heidi took the plunge and applied for a Transformation Session with us.

And I told her the same thing I’ll tell you – it’s not enough to go for a few runs each week.

Now I don’t want anyone getting their knickers in a twist. If you enjoy running you should absolutely get your trainers on and do it. It is far superior to not doing any exercise at all, and has a whole host of impressive health benefits.

But weight loss isn’t one of them.

Without wanting to over-simplify this, if you’re looking at losing a significant amount of weight from running, you would need to be doing it for upwards of 2 hours, a minimum of 3 times a week.

That’s a lot of running and a massive time commitment that most people, Heidi included, simply couldn’t fit into her week.

And on top of that, Heidi had been succumbing to a very common temptation.

“I’ve been good and done my run, so I’ve earned a reward”

So a 30-minute run which burns around 200 calories, was translating into a bigger portion of dinner or a dessert afterwards, which would quickly add those 200 calories back on, and then some.

We’ve got to step back and look at things more holistically. We can break it down into three main areas:

1. Exercise

Simply by switching out the jogging or steady state cardio for high-intensity resistance training such as squats, lunges, press ups, etc. you’ll burn far more calories, raise your metabolism through the roof and see better gains in fitness and definition.

2. Nutrition

If you haven’t got this on point then you’re essentially wasting your energy. Look at making simple, sustainable changes, such as including high-quality fats in every meal (avocados, eggs, good quality oils, fish), or only drinking alcohol with food which will help to lessen the blood sugar spike.

3. Sleep

First off – I don’t care who you are, you need 8 hours sleep a night. Yes, you might be able to function on 5 hours, but your mood, energy levels, productivity, ability to focus, health and body composition will all be suffering. So get to bed earlier!

There you have it. Making a few of these simple changes will have a bigger impact on your weight and body composition than all that jogging.

Simple doesn’t mean easy of course.

So pick just one of these changes each week to focus on and within a month you will start to see real results that will last.

If you’ve got any questions about weight loss, weight management or anything else health and exercise related then feel free to drop me an email or give me a call at the studio on 020 3874 6626.

Ps. Fancy a sweet healthy treat to cool you down in the warm weather? Click here to download the recipe for this delicious Mango and Chocolate Sundae!