No
doubt you’re really excited about finally achieving the weight loss you want
and you should be - it is achievable. However, some runners subconsciously gear
themselves up for failure before they have even started without even realising
it.
The
reason for this?
Unrealistic expectations.
Some
people will start running thinking “Great I’m running, I’ll lose 10 pounds per
week in my first month!” Of course it’s great to be excited and positive about
what you’re doing, but you’ll having a much higher chance of succeeding if you
focus on realistic weight loss goals.
Current
thinking is that sustainable weight loss is achieved by losing 1 to 2 lbs per
week. This may be higher in the earlier stages of your weight loss program
particularly if you are very overweight, but the key is to focus on the long
term goal.
And
what is your long term goal? To take the weight off and keep it off
permanently. That’s the aim.
The
reason that aiming for small amounts over a longer period works is because it
requires only modest changes to your diet. Crash dieting to lose weight faster
will ultimately jeopardize your efforts as we have already discussed. You’ll
feel hungry, tired, depressed and you won’t be able to exercise effectively and
this leads to….
FAILURE
However,
by making a modest change to your
daily calorie intake for a sustained period you will be able to achieve
permanent weight loss and still exercise effectively. AND because you haven’t
starved yourself you won’t swing back to bad eating habits and put the weight
back on.
So
now that we’re talking about making modest changes (and not starvation, hunger
and misery!) let’s take a look at some of the simple to follow rules for
running and weight loss…