Just because you're using the excellent calorie burning activity of running to lose weight doesn't guarantee that you'll be successful.
Yes it provides you with a great chance of success when following the right running methods, but there are also various reasons why you may be struggling and finding it harder to lose weight than you should be.
Take a look at the three reasons below and you're likely to see why you're using running for weight loss yet still finding it difficult to lose weight.
1. Losing fat but gaining muscle
When first using running to lose weight you may gain a small amount of muscle mass because your muscles are not accustomed to running and therefore grow due to being challenged.
The weight of this increased muscle is usually cancelled out by losing weight from fat which means that overall your weight doesn't change and it can be difficult to understand why.
When this happens your body fat percentage will have reduced which shows that you're still making excellent progress even though your weight hasn't changed yet.
This is why it can be very useful to measure your body fat percentage and determine the exact changes that are happening to your body.
Don't worry about building too much muscle because running is an activity that makes you look fit and toned rather than bulky. Your muscles will not keep growing.
They may grow slightly when you first start running but from then on your body will be burning fat while trying to maintain its muscle.
To measure your progress it's also important to understand that muscle is more dense than fat which means that it takes up less space on your body for the same weight.
So if you're not losing any weight you could also consider taking some body measurements such as your waist and hip sizes, or see if your clothes are becoming looser. You may find that you're making much better progress than you first thought.
2. Eating more
When using running to lose weight it's easy to consume more food without even realising in order to provide your body with more energy.
By doing this you can end up cancelling out all your running efforts by consuming just as many calories as you burn. This obviously becomes very frustrating when you lose little or no weight and have no idea why.
Keeping a food diary can help to monitor what you consume and by comparing the diary from week to week you can ensure that your calorie intake isn't increasing and that your weight loss is staying on track.
Another problem that some people have is consciously consuming more food. So you may complete a run and then feel that it won't do any harm to reward yourself with extra food or a treat.
Again by doing this you're cancelling out some or all of your running efforts and making it harder to lose weight.
3. Running stopped improving
Very often people start running to lose weight and their fitness improves very quickly. They become better and better at running and because of this their calorie burning ability keeps increasing and they keep losing weight.
Then they reach a point where their running progress plateaus. Suddenly they are no longer improving and therefore their ability to burn calories stays the same.
As they keep losing weight their metabolism decreases which means they burn fewer calories each day until eventually their weight loss plateaus.
This is why an important part of running for weight loss is to keep improving your running ability which keeps improving your ability to burn calories.
Eventually you can reach the stage where weight loss becomes fairly easy because you're able to complete more advanced running methods and burn loads of calories in the process.
Take a look at the three reasons below and you're likely to see why you're using running for weight loss yet still finding it difficult to lose weight.
1. Losing fat but gaining muscle
When first using running to lose weight you may gain a small amount of muscle mass because your muscles are not accustomed to running and therefore grow due to being challenged.
The weight of this increased muscle is usually cancelled out by losing weight from fat which means that overall your weight doesn't change and it can be difficult to understand why.
When this happens your body fat percentage will have reduced which shows that you're still making excellent progress even though your weight hasn't changed yet.
This is why it can be very useful to measure your body fat percentage and determine the exact changes that are happening to your body.
Don't worry about building too much muscle because running is an activity that makes you look fit and toned rather than bulky. Your muscles will not keep growing.
They may grow slightly when you first start running but from then on your body will be burning fat while trying to maintain its muscle.
To measure your progress it's also important to understand that muscle is more dense than fat which means that it takes up less space on your body for the same weight.
So if you're not losing any weight you could also consider taking some body measurements such as your waist and hip sizes, or see if your clothes are becoming looser. You may find that you're making much better progress than you first thought.
2. Eating more
When using running to lose weight it's easy to consume more food without even realising in order to provide your body with more energy.
By doing this you can end up cancelling out all your running efforts by consuming just as many calories as you burn. This obviously becomes very frustrating when you lose little or no weight and have no idea why.
Keeping a food diary can help to monitor what you consume and by comparing the diary from week to week you can ensure that your calorie intake isn't increasing and that your weight loss is staying on track.
Another problem that some people have is consciously consuming more food. So you may complete a run and then feel that it won't do any harm to reward yourself with extra food or a treat.
Again by doing this you're cancelling out some or all of your running efforts and making it harder to lose weight.
3. Running stopped improving
Very often people start running to lose weight and their fitness improves very quickly. They become better and better at running and because of this their calorie burning ability keeps increasing and they keep losing weight.
Then they reach a point where their running progress plateaus. Suddenly they are no longer improving and therefore their ability to burn calories stays the same.
As they keep losing weight their metabolism decreases which means they burn fewer calories each day until eventually their weight loss plateaus.
This is why an important part of running for weight loss is to keep improving your running ability which keeps improving your ability to burn calories.
Eventually you can reach the stage where weight loss becomes fairly easy because you're able to complete more advanced running methods and burn loads of calories in the process.
James Porter is a qualified UK Athletics Coach and has been an active runner since 1997. He specializes in helping people use running to lose weight and make a real difference to their life in the process. To discover exactly how you can use running to lose weight, visit: http://www.RunningandWeightLoss.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_R_Porte
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