A lot of people start their running journeys because they’re trying to lose weight or simply get into better shape – for a wedding, for the summer, or for another occasion.
Of course, that logic has its roots in the fact that running as an activity helps you burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time, and it’s an incredibly affordable and accessible workout, as most people can find a pair of trainers and a trail to run around. Additionally, if you want to find training advice or coaching, there are plenty of online developments like the Pace Passion blog.
Having said that, in this article, we’re going to discuss whether you can lose weight by simply running a mile a day and, if not, what else you need to do. So, if that is a topic you’re interested in learning more about, then keep on reading.
Can You Lose Weight by Running a Mile a Day?
Running is an incredible activity that gets your heart rate up, makes you sweaty, and, of course, burns off more calories. However, the extra calories you burn when running a mile a day also tend to make you hungrier, and so, by simply running a mile a day, you’re likely not to be able to lose the desired weight.
So, if we have to give a short answer – running a mile a day and doing only that won’t be enough to make you lose weight. But, if you run every day and you make the needed changes to your diet – then you will see the pounds dropping rapidly. Let’s take a look at how that can happen.
How to Lose Weight By Incorporating Running to Your Routine
But here comes the question – how do you find out how many calories you need to consume in order to lose weight? And how can you know how many you’re consuming now? Most people don’t spend their days counting calories, so they have no idea exactly how much they eat.
Thus, they find it difficult to gauge whether they’re burning more calories than they’re consuming. Typically, making the calculations is easy enough – there are online calculators that help you see your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and how many calories you burn when doing nothing at all, and then by adding your activities, you can see what kind of daily caloric consumption you need to have if you want to sustain your current weight.
From there, you can start reducing your daily intake, depending on how fast you want to lose the desired weight. It’s usually recommended not to lose more than 1 kg per two weeks, which generally happens by lowering your caloric intake by 200-300 calories per day.
What Happens When You Start Running a Mile Day
Eating fewer calories than you need to sustain your current weight is called a “calorie deficit,” and on its own, it’s more than enough to help you drop pounds. However, you may now be wondering how the increased physical activity from running may help this journey move along faster or just make it easier.
Well, the average person who weighs around 150 pounds can burn somewhere around 370 calories in 30 minutes of running at a pace of 10 minutes for one mile. If you reduce that to one mile, you will get a calorie burn of about 123 calories. Now, that’s definitely something, and it can be helpful in your weight loss journey in one of two ways.
The first one is that you don’t have to restrict your calories as much – instead of lowering your daily calorie intake by 300 calories, you can only lower it by 200 and have the rest burn off during your running session. That way, you get to eat more food thanks to the increased physical activity.
Additionally, by running every day, you will start to build muscle, and the more muscle you have, the more calories your body needs to sustain it – again allowing you to eat more without gaining weight.
What Are the Other Benefits of Running a Mile a Day?
Aside from helping you in your weight loss journey, running a mile a day has plenty of other health benefits. Those include improving your cardiovascular fitness so that, over time, your ability to run increases, and you’re able to go for longer and longer runs.
Along with that, running a mile a day will help strengthen your heart and potentially aid in preventing heart disease, which is crucial for people who have a genetic history of heart problems in their family. Last but not least, running is terrific for bone health and for helping individuals (more specifically, women) maintain bone density even as they grow older.
Finally, we can’t talk about running without mentioning the mental health benefits. Spending time outdoors every day and moving your body is certainly going to make you feel better, calmer, and with a generally boosted mood toward life. After all, runner’s high is a real phenomenon and it’s why many people go on runs in all kinds of weather conditions.
In Conclusion
Hopefully, you know by now that running is not the only thing you need to be doing if your ultimate goal is calorie loss. There are plenty of other factors that you need to consider when embarking on a weight loss journey, and most of them are a lot more important than going for one-mile runs daily.
Having said that, frequent physical activity – like running a mile every day can aid your weight loss journey and potentially make it easier and more beneficial. Additionally, they can be key in inspiring you to train more, which leads to even better weight loss results.