The waiter was standing next to her, waiting for her order while she was flipping the menu. Finally, she ordered a bowl of salad, and dismissed the waiter. Ah, again, she was on her weight-loss diet, and she never managed to lose weight. “Brenda, since you want to lose weight, why don’t you start jogging right away?” I blurted.
Yes, she is Brenda, a friend of mine since high school. Whenever she dates a NEW boyfriend, she will have her weight-loss diet. – And, she has countless weight-loss diets so far!
“Nah, you know I hate workout. I can maintain my diet, just fine!” She replied and shrugged.
NVM. I would just listen and laugh in my head because I knew she would relapse, again! LOL
Honestly, I really think it is awesome to start jogging to lose weight. Even a beginner without any experience can do this!
This perception imprints in our mind, though somebody dismiss this. – Because they even gain weight!
Well, we know weight-loss is complicated. Some people succeed but some fail.
However, it is scientifically proven. Jogging is an aerobic exercise. You know. I know. Everybody knows. This study shows that aerobic exercise alone can result in significant weight loss.
For those who want to lose weight, they seriously need to start jogging and prepare to see the results. No worries if you are a beginner, because you can also do this!
So, let’s get started!
1. Choose where you want to jog
Jogging is flexible, meaning you can start without any preparation. But, since you want to lose weight, why not start jogging strategically? – You have the choice.
First, look through the windows and observe your household surrounding. Think whether you wanna run OUTDOORS or on a TREADMILL.
Don’t presume it is not crucial. Think about this. Both options have pros and cons respectively.
For example, you wanna run outdoors because you like fun. But, you are afraid of your own safety. Or, you wanna run on treadmill because you can run anytime. But, you know treadmill running is boring……
Assess both options carefully and choose the option that really suits your needs. In case you have further concerns, you can check out my earlier posts:
- Why Run Outdoors: 8 Reasons You Should Run Outdoors
- Treadmill Running Benefits: 8 Reasons To Run On Treadmill
If you decided to run on treadmill, you might need to consider signing up a gym membership or buying a treadmill and jog at home. – Here, you need to weigh the cost and benefit of each option, too!
But, you could choose both outdoors or on treadmill if you are ok with both options! In fact, this is the best option.
Mix them up to jog both outdoors and on treadmill to make your jog more fun and enjoyable!
2. Create your own plan
Ok, you’ve decided where you are gonna jog. But, how much do we need to jog to stay healthy?
According to American Heart Association, an adult should get a least 150 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both.
Since you just start out as a beginner, your focus is on moderate aerobic activity first, and gradually to increase the intensity (discussed below) as you progress.
Alright. Do simple math and plan the FREQUENCY of jogging, depending on your schedule. For example, you could jog 3 times and 50-minute each, or jog 5 times and 30-minute each, or any session that you deem fit.
Next, think whether you prefer jogging early in the morning or after work. You know what? You’ll have tonnes of excuses for not jogging.
For example, you are reluctant to sacrifice your sleep and wake up early to jog; you may be too tired to jog after work.
That’s why you have to think clearly and be determined! You want to get rid of the ugly belly fat, right? Then, you must sacrifice and just do it!
Again, your plan doesn’t have to be rigid. Be creative and imaginative, play around with the possible outcomes. You have the full right to create your own plan, and nobody can hinder you from doing this!
Once you form your plan, whether in your mind or in writing, remember to stick to it.
3. Running gear
Running gear is all you need for jogging. Obviously, you need (at least):
- A pair of running shoes
- Running clothes
There are various types of running shoes out there. How do we choose the right running shoes?
Well, this is a technical topic which we can cover in a separate post. But right now, since you just start jogging, you need a pair of average and yet comfortable running shoes. – Affordable, of course.
Though you can start with any types of shoes you want, running shoes are designed to reduce risk of injuries. You may need to consider that whether you wanna own a pair of running shoes or not.
Speaking of running clothes, you could have those fibres, polyesther or nylon for instance, which are good at sweat drying. And never ever think of wearing cotton clothes while jogging.
Believe me, wearing cotton while jogging will definitely make you hate jogging. You will soak wet as if drenching in the rain. And, you will smell like “dead fish”. – I’m not joking, it’s true!
Yet, many beginners are not aware of this and make this mistake. I did. And I hope you are not the one.
4. Jogging & brisk walking
You are enthusiastic. You dream of jogging 6 miles within 1 hour without catching a breath.
First of all, be kind to yourself. For your first jogging session, you may not want to expect too much from yourself.
Be realistic, because it all depends on your stamina. Remember, start small.
Jog for 3km, for instance, is a good start. Test your own stamina to see whether you could continue jogging without any rest. – Remember, control your speed and jog, not run!
If continue jogging is too hard for you, then you can break your session into both JOGGING and BRISK WALKING.
Well, what is brisk walking? Essentially, it is a slightly harder and faster version of walking. When you brisk walk, your heart rate is supposed to rise. You are breathing faster but not out-of-breath.
Usually, you will consume 100 to 300 calories within 1-hour brisk walking, depending on your weight and speed. That is why it’s a good transition to jog fully.
For example, you could jog for 2 minutes and brisk walk for 4 minutes. Repeat the cycle until the end of jogging session.
You’ll notice your stamina gets better and you can gradually shrink your brisk walking time and eventually be able to fully jog!
Of course, jogging technique matters, too! Remember to pay attention to your jogging posture and technique. This is another technical topic which we can cover in a separate post.
5. After run food & drinks
Have you ever heard of long-distance runners experiencing side stitches or muscle cramps while running marathons? Sometimes, the discomfort is so bothering that they have to discontinue their run. What a waste, do you agree?
But, what causes this annoying side stitches and muscle cramps?
Dehydration and insufficient ELECTROLYTES due to prolonged running. Our body needs sufficient water and electrolytes to function properly.
We sweat when jogging and electrolytes can be found in the sweat! – Sodium (NA), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg).
Although you are not running a marathon now, you need to replenish these items after jogging. Your body needs recovery, too.
Food & drinks
Remember to drink enough water right after jogging. And, do you remember the sensation where you drink water after a rigorous workout earlier? – That feeling is heavenly!
And to replenish electrolyte, you can consider the following:
- Isotonic drinks
- Almonds
- Bananas
- Avocados
6. Reward yourself
Again, be kind to yourself. You have already taken the first step to start your weight-loss journey. Don’t criticize yourself by saying something like “This is not good enough. I should’ve done this…”
Instead, reward yourself to acknowledge your effort. – Small, but worth celebration.
Do something that you like. It doesn’t have to be a great celebration, like throwing a party or whatnot.
It can be as simple as watching a favourite movie, shopping, sleeping, reading a book, or cooking. Remind yourself that you deserve this and let yourself enjoy the sensation of your “achievement”.
But, avoid rewarding yourself with junk foot or greasy or high-calories food and drinks. Remember, your ultimate goal is weight loss. Rewarding yourself in such fashion totally counters with your goal.
Yeah, rewarding feels great, but why is it crucial? – Here’s why.
Form a habit
It all boils down to DOPAMINE. Dopamine is a type of hormone in relation to our reward system.
When we achieve our goal, our body produces dopamine, and we feel great. We feel our effort pays off and it further motivates us to continue our effort.
Do you remember how you felt when you first took a flight alone, for instance? It’s hard, right? You were scared as you didn’t quite know how to take a flight. You learned to check in yourself and your luggage, head to the custom and boarding room, etc.
But, you felt great as you did these all by yourself! And, your vacation awaited you!
The more flights you take, the easier it gets. We consume so much brain power to learn how to take our “first” flight. But now, we don’t even have to think anymore when taking flights. – Sort of autopilot mode.
This is how HABIT works! Repetition creates habit. And we need dopamine to initiate the repetition.
If you don’t receive any reward, your body lacks dopamine and you lack motivation. Your body naturally wants to avoid doing something which is not rewarding.
Simply said, our body needs dopamine as a source of motivation to form a habit and this brings to the next point.
7. Stick to your plan
Feeling great for the first time is not enough, because the sense of achievement might gradually reduce when you repeat the same thing.
After all, jogging and weight loss are about journeys, not the results. You need to keep doing them so that they form your habits. And eventually, jogging and weight loss should become your lifestyle, not TASKS.
You know how stressful to perform certain boring tasks that you dislike, right?
Guess what? You use your conscious mind to make decision to jog. And it’s energy taxing. Luckily, you are enthusiastic and highly motivated, so you won’t feel that for first few jogging sessions.
But, you start to get bored. You struggle to continue jogging and start to skip your plan. Then, you won’t form a jogging habit and you won’t lose weight.
PERSISTENCE is the key. In order to maintain persistence, you need to stick to your plan by reminding your goals and reward your efforts. When you form a habit, you start to jog automatically without any mental struggle.
It might sound shallow. If you like posting on social media, why don’t you take this advantage? Many people like to post post-workout videos or photos on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
People might think you are showing off or whatnot, but who cares? It really feels great, right? Of course, you post with the real intention. Never ever post merely for showing off!
This really helps you stick to your jogging routine and form a habit. This is essential for your weight-loss journey.
Try to maintain your routine for a while and then look back. You’ll notice you have achieved a big milestone. Cherish your achievement.
8. Running progress
You compare your weight before and 2-month after you start jogging. You are so happy that you have lost 2kg, for instance.
And, you know that energy deficit leads to weight loss.
You start to calculate in your mind and extrapolate your results. With the same jogging intensity, you can lose 6kg in 6-month time. – Seems perfect, huh?
So, you maintain the same jogging session, with the same intensity and stick to it. You wishfully wait for the magic to happen after another 4 months.
When the time comes, you weigh again. Shockingly, your weight maintains. Utterly devastated, you don’t know why and whether you want to continue jogging or not.
And, this is what you need to know about running progress and how weight loss works.
How weight loss works
In weight loss, there are energy intake and energy expenditure.
When energy expenditure is greater than energy intake, it creates energy deficit and hence, weight loss.
When we lose weight, our basal metabolic rate will reduce accordingly and hence it reduces energy expenditure.
Because of this, and if we were to maintain the same workout intensity, energy deficit will shrink and even reach to an equilibrium point. – Here, we experience weight loss PLATEAU.
How to continue losing weight
To overcome plateau, you need to raise the energy expenditure. There are 3 ways to do this:
- Increasing the frequency
- Enhancing the intensity
- Increasing the duration
Increasing the frequency and duration are simple, unless you don’t have time permission to do so.
Then, you definitely need to consider enhancing your jogging intensity. In fact, you should always raise the intensity, regardless of weight loss, because:
- You have better stamina to do this
- It further improves your stamina and cardiovascular function
- You challenge yourself to run faster and longer (or even a marathon!)
9. More people to jog
I’d be happy for you if you became an avid runner. Now, why not spread and share your passion and happiness with others?
It’s time to expand your jogging horizon! Ask your friend or family to go jogging with you! Or, even joining a running community……
You know, sometimes solo jogging is a bit dry and boring. You finish jogging, then you go home alone…… But, that’s not the case for group jogging. – And, it’s more fun!
Everyone jogs in different pace. Wonder why some could run fast? Ask them! And, you guys could share experience with each other!
Remember, we are social animals. We feel great when doing fun and crazy things together. And this also reinforces our habit formation.
10. Hire a personal trainer
Let me ask you. Losing 3kg within 3 months, is it good? While you might feel it isn’t good enough, others might be thrilled.
The point here is: personal expectation is unique.
You want to lose more than 3kg within 3 months. So, you increase your intensity or duration of your jog. But, you still can’t meet your expectation.
What should you do? You don’t want to simply say “it’s like that” and just accept it, right?
So, you need to do something else. And, that is hiring a personal trainer.
Hiring a personal trainer costs money. That’s a fact, we won’t argue this. But, it’s worth if you are really serious about losing weight.
Look at those celebrities. They are fit, slim and attractive. They aren’t aging, are they? In fact, you’ll be surprised to learn that personal trainers are their magical potion.
The personal trainer assesses you personally. Then, he’ll set a specific training program based on your expectation and various relevant factors.
He might modify your jogging routine. Or, he might include weight lifting and sprinting into your training program.
It’s tough. And you need to be self-discipline. But, once you see where you shed 6kg within 3 months, you know you’ve made a right decision.
Final thought: start jogging to lose weight
Jogging is a good aerobic exercise. Hence, when you want to lose weight, you can start jogging as your first step.
However, bear in mind that weight loss is a journey, not a result. – So as jogging.
You have to motivate yourself to keep jogging and make it a habit and lifestyle. When you are better at jogging, then it’s time to raise the intensity.
That’s why after you start jogging, push yourself further if you want to lose more weight. Losing weight is an achievement. So, cherish yourself.
Jogging should be fun and exciting. So, start jogging with your friends to lose weight together!
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