The Golden Rules of Weight Loss

From Runner’s World online…

Run Your Butt Off

The Golden Rules of Weight Loss

Running keeps you fit, healthy, and happy, but to lose real weight, you also have to focus on what you eat.

By Sarah Lorge Butler

From the April 2011 issue of Runner's World

Runners know the miles they log on the pavement, trails, and the treadmill are great for keeping them fit and healthy. High on the list of the sport's many virtues? It is an amazing tool for weight control. But weight loss is a different story. Because you run, you may think you can eat whatever you want and still drop pounds. Unfortunately, that's not true. Running is only half of the equation. You have to look hard at what and how you eat, too.

Leslie Bonci, M.P.H., R.D., pinpoints eight crucial nutrition rules of weight loss in Run Your Butt Off!, a new Runner's World book for beginning runners who are coming to the sport to lose weight. (The book also includes a sensible beginner's training plan and tips for runners of all abilities from Runner's World coach Budd Coates, M.S.) Bonci's advice can help any runner who wants to lose weight—whether it's five pounds or 25. She'll show you how to track your food intake, space meals to ward off hunger, and honestly reckon with the calories you consume in a day (brace yourself). These methods were tested by real runners who overhauled their eating habits and shed dozens of pounds over 12 weeks. And if they can do it, so can you.

Read on here.