Running is a vigorous activity that burns a high number of calories.
The science of losing weight is not exact, but there are specific, well-known facts. In order to lose weight, you must expend more calories than you take in. Moderate to vigorous activity is a good way to burn more calories than you take in, and running is a good way to get vigorous activity. Running 10 miles a day is a worthy goal.
Instructions
1. Create a plan to gradually build up the miles you can run until you get to 10 miles per day. Gradually increasing your running distance can help you avoid injury.
2. Calculate the net calories you need per day in order to lose weight. Start with your daily caloric requirement, subtract the calories required for losing weight and then add the caloric expenditure for running. Calculating your daily caloric requirement this way ensures that you have enough calories to fuel both your body and your running activity.
One way to figure out your daily caloric requirement is to use an existing calculator, such as the one online at Baylor College of Medicine listed in the references. For example, a 38 year old, 5-foot, 8-inch female weighing 154 lbs who is moderately active needs 2,228 calories per day in order to maintain her weight.
The amount of the calorie deficit you need in order to lose weight is based on your weight loss goals. A generally accepted healthy rate of weight loss is two pounds per week. Losing one pound requires a deficit of 3,500 calories, so losing two pounds in a week requires a deficit of 7,000 calories in a week. To figure out the daily caloric deficit to achieve your weight loss goal, divide 7,000 calories by the seven days in a week. That means you need to have a caloric deficit of 1,000 calories per day.
Lastly, you need to know how many calories are burned when you run, which is based on your weight as well as your pace. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides some estimates of calories burned for different activities, including running. For example, the CDC says that a 154-lb. woman burns 1,180 calories when running for two hours at a pace of five miles per hour.
Putting it together, take 2,228 calories, subtract 1,000, and add 1,180. In this example, the net calories required per day in order to achieve weight loss of two pounds per week is 2,408.
3. Create a nutrition plan with total calories per day that matches the caloric requirement you calculated in Step 2.
4. Implement both your running plan and your nutrition plan.
Tags: caloric requirement, daily caloric, daily caloric requirement, deficit calories, lose weight