If you are looking to lose weight in a healthy way, incorporating exercise into your lifestyle is a must. Jogging is a popular exercise choice for weight loss because it is a high calorie burner and can be a very rewarding process. It’s important to remember when you are starting a jogging program that if you can’t jog, walk until you can jog.
Here are some tips and guidelines to follow when you are starting to jog for weight loss.
Follow a training plan
Following a training plan will give you direction for how much, when and how fast to run.
Following a training plan specifically for beginners is recommended if you are new to jogging or are starting again fresh even if you’ve run before.
Beginner training plans usually have some walking breaks built into the program that taper off as the training goes on.
If you are training for a race, a training plan is designed to help you build up the endurance to run your race in the future. Training plans are specific; a plan to run a 10k will be much different than a plan to run a marathon.
When you start jogging to lose weight, it’s important to build up your milage slowly and vary your length and intensities.
Following a correct training plan will take this into account and have your workouts laid out in a way that builds your endurance but lowers risk for injury.
If you have specific questions about a training plan, talk with an exercise specialist.
Be consistent
Consistency is key for long term results. If you only stick with jogging to lose weight for a few weeks, it won’t make that much of a change. If you are serious about losing weight by jogging, you need to stick with it.
Sometimes you won’t feel like going for a jog or pushing yourself to jog further than you did before. However, getting past these mental barriers is an important part of reaching your goals.
Eat a balanced diet
A common misconception when you start exercising is that now you can eat whatever you want because you just burned so many calories exercising.
Having this mentality will work against you when you start jogging to lose weight.
Your diet needs to be balanced while you start your training program. Eating a diet that is high in nutrients is important to fuel your muscles properly and you could use some extra antioxidants from foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes as you are exercising more.
Getting the right kind of proteins, healthy fats and fiber are also important during weight loss.
Focus on your diet along with starting your workouts for the best results. Don’t think you can eat whatever you want now that you are jogging and expect to see your best weight loss results.
If you want more direction or an individualized eating plan, speak with a dietitian.
Add in other types of workouts
If you are just starting to jog, adding in other types of workouts can help you lower risk of getting injured. Strength training can also ensure you are keeping your lean muscle mass as you are losing weight.
If your knees bother you, doing non-weight bearing exercise once or a couple times a week can be helpful. Non-weight bearing exercises can include biking or swimming.
Vary your intensities
Using a training plan should provide some structure for varying your intensities while exercising.
There are different types of muscle fibers in the body, and different exercise intensities use different fuel systems.
For example, during medium or low intensities, the body is able to utilize fat more efficiently as a fuel. As intensity climbs, different muscle fibers start to kick in and carbohydrates are primarily used as a fuel.
Doing some workouts in a comfortable, challenging pace really helps teach your body to burn fat as a fuel.
Doing some workouts at a higher intensity, like interval training, helps keep your metabolism high hours after exercise and can help you run faster in the long run. Both types of training help you get weight loss results.
Changes in muscle tone not just the scale
Remember as you are starting any exercise program, it’s not always about the scale on the number. Inches lost from your waist or gains in muscle strength are important indicators of health too and shouldn’t be over looked when starting to workout.
Conclusion
If you want to start jogging to lose weight, you should follow a training plan. Joining a local running group can also give a support system and questions you have with training can be answered by others.
Stay consistent with jogging for best results; don’t quit after just a few weeks!
Varying intensities during workouts can help your muscles utilize fat as a fuel and boost your metabolism. Adding in strength training and other types of exercise can lower risk for energy and help you increase muscle mass through weight loss.
Last but not least, the diet needs to be in balance when you start jogging in order for weight loss to be successful.
