Lose Weight By Running

I need to lose 20 lbs in 3 months and have just started Beginner Running Program 3. How many calories per day should I be eating?

I now weigh 215 lbs and in November I want to run a 5k against my nephew.



Answer by Dominique:
Hi there,
Thanks for your question.
In order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume.

A good start is that you have commenced with Beginners Running Program 3, which will set you up to run 30 minutes non-stop 12 weeks from now. It's a good start to getting active.

Thirty minutes of non-stop running should get you to about that 5k mark, maybe a bit more or less depending on how fast you will be able to get.

Back on to your weight loss goal:
When you want to lose one pound of fat, you need to burn about 3,500 calories more than you take in. There are tools available on the internet which go a bit beyond my normal running calculators.

With these tools you can enter some basic information about your lifestyle and exercise habits and can then work out what, roughly, your calorie-intake should be.

It's going to be a bit of a challenge to get into your new exercise and diet habits but it will be well worth it. And that challenge race with your nephew should provide plenty of motivation to keep up the good work.

Best of luck and let us know how you go in the race with your nephew!

Cheers,
Dominique