- Welcome!

- Intro to Fat Loss

- Nutrition 101

- How Strength Training

Can Boost Fat Loss

#everymomentcounts
As you make the commitment to becoming a reg-
ular runner, you might also be someone who is
hoping that this increased running activity is going
to help you shed a few pounds from your frame
and it definitely might.

Regularly running programs are ideal for fat loss

if they are designed properly, such as what youll
get with the C25K or 10K programs we offer.
They help you burn calorie up quickly while also
allowing you to make a large jump in your overall
health and fitness level.

That said, simply hitting the pavement for your

runs isnt enough if you want to really optimize
the results you see.

To take things up a notch and send your

progress soaring, you must take
into account two other element:
proper nutrition and a good
strength training program.
Lets go into a deeper discussion on how both
Get these three all lined up and you will see nutrition and strength training enhance the running
unstoppable results like nothing youve ever seen program youre already doing and give you some
before. quick tips as you move forward.

#everymomentcounts
First lets discuss a little what is required for fat
loss to take place. Some runners think that if they
are doing their regular runs, hitting the pavement
three to four times per week, weight loss should
automatically happen.

Unfortunately, they often find themselves serious-

ly discouraged when it doesnt quite go this way.
While doing the runs regularly will definitely en-
hance the results you see, heres the problem.

To lose body fat, you must take in fewer calories

than you burn off on a day to day basis.
Simple as that.

One grave mistake that many fat-loss seeking run-

ners make is the notion that they can eat whatever
theyd like because they are doing their runs.

They come to believe that the runs serve as some

type of protective mechanism, allowing them to
indulge a little more often. So they eat that piece
of cake for dessert saying they have a long run the
next day, so its okay. Theyll burn it off.

Only they wont. And therein lies the problem.

#everymomentcounts
Many runners who like to eat overestimate how many total calories they are taking
while underestimating how much they actually burn off doing their runs. Running is a
great calorie burner, dont get that wrong, but its not burning up hundreds of calories
each run unless youre doing 10kms on a regular basis.

You can estimate burning around 100-120 calories for every 2kms you
run as a guideline, so use this as you try and factor in how much youre
actually burning during that run.

In addition to that, many people will notice a bump to their hunger lev-
el is they start running too much, so if after your run youre so ravenous
you come home and down 300 calories as your post-run snack, theres
a good chance youve just broken yourself even in terms of whether youll
burn body fat or not.
So the moral of the story here is that you simply must be paying attention
to your nutrition while you do your runs.

FAT LOSS OCCURS WHEN:

Energy coming in (through food) < Energy going out (through metabolic activities and exercise)

Running helps increase the right hand side of the equation, but if the left side is still very high, its going to
spell bad news for your progression. By taking control over that left hand side, you can really guarantee that
your running is going to produce the weight loss results that youre looking for.
So this said, lets go over some of the key secrets to remember

#everymomentcounts
When it comes to setting up your nutrition pro-
gram for faster fat loss and running, you have two
main goals in mind:
Lose weight at an appreciable,
1. but safe rate
Maintain energy for proper
2. running performance
If you arent careful and try and move too quickly
to accomplish the first goal, you will find that you
really miss the mark on the second goal.
Runners do need to approach fat loss much more
differently compared to those who arent partaking
in running activity due to the fact that they have
this additional exercise to support.
Here are the main steps that you should take when
finding a proper diet to follow.
1. ASSESS YOUR CALORIE INTAKE
First, as a runner, you are going to need to eat
more total calories theres absolutely no doubt-
ing that due to the fact that you are burning up
more energy throughout all the runs that you do.
You dont want to take in too many calories though,
or, as we illustrated above, youll struggle to reach
the weight loss goals that youve set.
So where should you be?
Id use a baseline factor and then an activity fac-
tor to help you design your diet.
First, as a baseline, you need to assess what your
calorie intake would be if you werent doing your
running training. For the average individual who is
looking for fat loss, your calorie intake should be
set to around 10-12 calories per pound of body
weight.
Use the higher number if you want to feel slightly
more energized throughout the day and less hun-
ger, or use the lower number if you want to pro-
mote slightly faster fat loss.
#everymomentcounts
So go ahead and make this calculation right now (note,
that for those of you who have 40+ pounds to lose, I would
recommend that you use a multiplication factor slightly less
since fat weight doesnt require many calories to support it).

In that instance, if you have 40+ pounds to lose (and of course you have
reasonable expectations of the body weight you can achieve), I would use
8-10 calorie per pound instead.

Body weight X 8-12 (depending on where you sit on that scale): _______________

Okay, that is your baseline weight loss calorie intake without exercise. If you did no running
at all, that is what you should eat.

Now you need to account for those runs since theyll be burning up energy as well.
As noted, I would recommend adding around 50 calorie per kilometer that you run. So if you were
heading out for a 3 km run that evening, you now need to add another 150 calories to your daily total
calorie intake.

By taking this two-pronged approach, it becomes easier to match your energy consumption with your energy
expenditure. You could just set a calorie intake target for each and every day, but the problem with that is
that it will likely leave you either taking in too many calories on days you arent running or taking in too few
calorie on days that you are.

#everymomentcounts
 2. FOCUS YOUR CARB TIMING WISELY

Once you have your calorie intake worked out prop-

erly to accommodate your running, you need to also
make sure you are being mindful of timing your food
properly.

This means taking in energy providing foods when

you need them most before and after your run. Fail
to take the necessary nutrients in at this time and
you will fail to see the performance youd like to.

What you should be doing is of the calorie that you

are adding to your diet due to your runs, add them
in healthy carbohydrate format (oats, brown rice,
quinoa, barley, fruit) before and after that run. This
will give you the energy that you need to get through
those runs without a problem.

Then during the time periods that you arent doing

your running, you should be focusing on basing your
diet around lean proteins, vegetables, and healthy
fats.

By taking this approach, youll prime your body for

fat loss, seeing better results.

#everymomentcounts
3. DONT NEGLECT PROTEIN

The next nutrient that runners need to take extra special care and attention over is their protein consumption.
Many runners get into a carb craze where they have a tendency to really overdo the carbohydrates they are
consuming at the expense of lean protein.

Remember, as a runner, you will be breaking down body tissues on each and every run you do. If you arent
supplying your body with the building blocks it needs to rebuild these tissues back up so theyre as strong
or stronger than before, youre just going to get weaker and weaker and eventually suffer a large decline in
performance.

Protein is what provides these building blocks. Protein should be consumed both before as well as after your
run and it should also be eaten all throughout the day with each snack and meal that you consume as well.
By optimizing your protein intake, you can make sure that you are recovering quickly between your workout
sessions and making the process of fat loss easier on yourself as well.

Higher protein diets will help you maintain a higher overall metabolic rate as well as help you reduce the
amount of hunger you experience throughout the day due to the fact that protein has very little impact on
blood glucose levels.

#everymomentcounts
4. CARB UP ONCE PER WEEK

Finally, the last step to make sure youre doing regularly is to carb up once per week. This weekly carb up,
where you consume more carbohydrates than you typically would is a perfect way to make sure that your
metabolism is running as strong as it should and to also ensure that you are going to have the ongoing en-
ergy you need to complete those runs.

Lower carbohydrate diets as you will likely be using to prompt faster fat loss do tend to have negative
implications on your total metabolic rate.
If you stay on these diets too long without ever breaking, negative side effects are seen including that slug-
gish metabolic rate and very slow weight loss progression.
Not to mention that your energy levels during your runs will decline considerably as well.

To help get past this, simply carb-up once per week. Take in around 75-100 grams of carbohydrates within
a 3 hour period in addition to your normal daily intake.
As you add these carbs in to your meal plan, avoid dietary in the meal that you raise your intake.
If you take in a high dose of carbohydrates along with a high dose of
dietary fats, your chance of fat gain due to that meal will be
much higher.

By keeping the total fat consumed at a lower level, youll help to avoid any fat gain at all from eating those
additional carbohydrates. Good choices of carbohydrates for this time would be things like brown rice, pan-
cakes (prepared using lower fat recipes), bagels, pasta, or your favorite breakfast cereal. Indulge a little and
you can use this as a type of reward meal for all the hard work with following your plan.

So there you have the primary points to know and remember for how you can best feed your body for opti-
mal fat burning results. Eat right and you can feel great, perform great, and look great.

#everymomentcounts
 STRENGTH TRAINING

While running is definitely giving you a great start on

reaching your fat loss goals, strength training is really
going to boost the results that you could be seeing one
step further.

Heres why strength training is so vital to success.

When someone wants to lose weight and simply choos-

es to diet, they have a very long road ahead of them.
They have to decrease their calorie intake far lower
than normal due to the fact they arent performing any
exercise to raise their total calorie burn up higher.

Also given the fact they arent exercising, they are at a

very large risk for losing a combination of lean muscle
mass as well as body fat.

This is very bad news because your lean muscle is what

keeps you looking fit and healthy and what also helps
to keep your metabolism moving along at top speed.
Muscle is highly metabolically active tissue and will
burn up a lot of energy to simply maintain itself on a
day to day basis.

#everymomentcounts
The ultimate goal of any diet is to avoid the loss of all
muscle and only promote the loss of body fat. If you
do this, then you will become a leaner, fitter, new you.

However, if you do lose muscle mass tissue, then it is

possible that you will end up looking softer and less
toned even though you have lost weight.

This is precisely what you want to avoid since while

you may be lighter on the scale, you could look even
worse than before.

Now, since you arent doing no exercise at all but in-

stead, you are running, you will help to side step some
of these issues. You will be applying some degree of
stress to the body, so from that regard, you wont be
as at-risk of lean muscle mass loss. That said, you do
need to be careful. If you are doing too much running
and using a very low calorie diet, you can actually see
opposite results lean muscle mass loss.

While running can provide some protective effects at

moderate levels, at high levels, it will promote loss of
muscle since muscle is heavy tissue that your body
would definitely like to do without.

#everymomentcounts
All of this said, running is definitely a better option than simply doing no exercise at all.
But, if you really want to take things to the next level, then I would strongly recommend that you start on a
strength training program as well. With strength training, you will be applying a much higher level of direct
force to the muscles, really hitting them with that overloading stimulus.

The result of this?

Much greater muscle mass maintenance. When you combine both strength training and running together,
you will be doing a much better job at making sure you maintain as much lean muscle mass as possible,
while strictly burning up body fat.

Whats more is that if you are strength training intensely enough, you will also see a very strong metabolic
boost once the workout is over, which will then mean that you can eat far more food and still lose weight
or you can lose weight faster than you otherwise would.

A properly designed strength training program can easily increase your resting metabolic rate for up to 48
hours after the workout is completed.

So if you were performing a strength training workout routine three times per week for instance, this is going
to mean that you will see a faster metabolic rate all throughout the day every day of the week.
Its really a win-win as far as fat loss is concerned.

And, this doesnt even make mention of the fact that you will have stronger muscles fueling each workout
you do, which can then translate to greatly improved running performance.
Regular strength training is also critical for runners as it will help them avoid any injuries as well due to the
fact that your bones, ligaments, and tendons will be that much stronger.

#everymomentcounts
So as you can see, when it comes to weight loss, the progression of effectiveness is:

1. Diet only can lead to muscle loss and requires a very low calorie intake
2. Diet plus running leads to fitness increase, but can also lead to muscle mass loss
3. Diet plus running plus strength training the most optimal solution for building leaner, fitter, new you

Hopefully you can now see the value in adding some

strength training to your running routine. When it comes
to adding that strength training, youll want to focus
on full body workout sessions.

These will allow you to hit the muscle groups at an

optimal frequency level, doing two to three workouts
per week. It will till also give you sufficient down time
between these workouts in order to get in your runs
and also promote a faster recovery rate as well.
Too much exercise overall, especially while dieting
needs to be avoided, particularly when on a reduced
calorie intake.

If you do that, you can quickly

move into overtraining mode.

Focus on designing these programs using compound

exercises such as bench presses, bent over rows, shoul-
der presses, leg presses, squats, deadlifts, and lunges.

#everymomentcounts
These will work more muscle fibers at once, thus produce a higher metabolic boosting effect and also
help you burn calories faster both during as well as after the workout is completed.

I would strongly try out one of our strength training challenges, which will give you a great goal to work
toward, all while reaping these benefits.

Remember to gradually build up your strength training program. Just like with running, you definitely
dont want to make the mistake of too much, too soon or you will be sidelined with injuries or burnout
in no time. So there you have your complete runners guide to fat loss.

Remember that at no point should you ever sacrifice

good health and fitness for any weight loss results.

Too many runners go to the extreme, using a very low calorie diet and running their body into the ground
by working out too often throughout the week.

If you do this, youll only burn yourself out, cause a loss of muscle, possibly create an injury, and be com-
pletely miserable in your day to day life.

Instead, choose a wiser approach. One that focuses on moderation getting you to that end goal in a
safe and effective manner. If you do this, once you do lose the weight, youll want to continue on leading
the active lifestyle for years to come.

#everymomentcounts