How to Lose 5 Pounds without Changing Your Diet

Keep eating your favourite foods and lose weight while doing it!

If you are a runner, you already have an edge on the area of weight management. According to Regina Keys, a fitness expert from the University of Pittsburg, running is one of the top methods of burning calories. A person can burn as much as 1,300 calories in just an hour of running. Of course, the actual amount depends on other factors such as your running speed, your body size and your gender.

Simply running at your current pace will not ensure that you acquire an athlete's body right away. You might have to run for a longer time or add more distance to your regular training. In this program that we will discuss, there is no dieting involved. We will teach you the proper ways to work out, and give you tips for smart eating. After 4 weeks, you will have an improved body and a healthier lifestyle.

Setting up your Workout Schedule

Weight loss basically comes from burning more calories than you consume. You will be able to do that easily with our 4-week program. A week's workouts consist of 3 days of short-distance running, 1 day of long-distance running, and 2 days of strength training.

Every week, you will be increasing the distance of your total runs by 10 percent. If you start the program by running 20 miles the first week, you will add 2 miles to your total distance the following week. You will divide this evenly between a long run and a short run.

You will also be increasing the intensity of your strength training workouts every week. Keep in mind that people burn calories at varying rates, depending on body size, gender, and training pace. Don't worry if you are not losing weight as much as other people. Men generally burn calories faster than women do, and heavier people also burn more calories than lighter people, even if they do the same workouts.

Try your best to spread the workouts evenly throughout the week. In case you don't finish the required distance for a certain day, you can make up for it during the rest of the week. However, don't take it easy for the entire week and then cram the bulk of your workouts into the weekends. Try to balance your training as much as you can.

Getting Started

To give you an idea of how to spread your workouts throughout the week, here is a sample schedule that you can follow. Of course, you can change it around to fit your personal schedule.

Monday:

Short-distance running

Tuesday:

Strength training

Wednesday:

Short-distance running, plus ? of this week's increase in distance. (If your increase for the week is 2 miles, increase one of your short-distance runs and your long-distance run by 1 mile each.)

Thursday:

Strength training

Friday:

Short-distance running

Saturday:

Rest day

Sunday:

Long-distance running, plus ? of this week's increase in distance

Start running!

Week 1

Monday: Breakfast is still the most important meal of the day. Make sure to get something in your stomach, even just an energy bar, before you start running.

Tuesday: The longer you work out at the gym, the more calories you can burn. Even five minutes can make a lot of difference.

Wednesday: Add half of your week's increase to today's short-distance run.

Thursday: Reduce your resting time between sets. Cutting your resting time in half will increase the amount of calories you burn by about 20 percent.

Friday: Studies show that drinking green tea or oolong will boost your fat metabolism. Drink up after today's short-distance run.

Saturday: It might be your rest day but you can still burn calories doing regular house work. For example, an hour of moderate gardening will burn 250 calories. An hour's worth of heavier work like trimming your hedges will make you lose 400 calories.

Sunday: Add the second half of your week's increase to your long-distance run. A relaxing afternoon bike ride is also a nice addition to your week's workout. You can burn as much as 1,000 calories if you bike for 2 hours.

Week 1 Tip: Be extra careful of your food intake if you go out to dinner with friends. Studies have shown that people generally eat more when with friends than when they are alone.

Week 2

Monday: While doing your normal run, include a few short sprints every now and then. Just increase your speed a little bit for half a minute at a time then go back to your regular pace. Every 30-second sprint you take will burn 10 calories more.

Tuesday: It's important to take in a lot of fluids while working out at the gym. While sports drinks may taste good, they also have about 50 calories for every 8 ounces. Drink fresh water instead.

Wednesday: Again, add half of this week's increase to your run. It requires more effort but it also burns more calories. The extra mile you put in burns an extra 100 calories.

Thursday: Toughen up your training by lifting heavier weights and increasing your lifting time as well. You can burn 80 calories more for every 10 extra minutes you spend lifting.

Friday: Do your short-distance run at a normal pace today, but take opportunity of all the times you can spend standing up. It's a fact that standing burns almost twice as many calories than sitting. So next time you answer the phone or have a conversation with your officemates, get up on your feet. You'll get used to it.

Saturday: Enjoy the beauty of nature by taking a hike. You can burn as much as 1,200 calories from a two-hour hike. You can even burn 200 more if you carry a 25-pound backpack with wide straps.

Sunday: Time for your long-distance run. Don't forget to add the second half of your week's mileage increase. Afterwards, get in the pool for a quick swim. Fifteen minutes of a regular-paced swim will take off about 150 calories. Faster laps can burn as much as 200 calories.

Week 2 Tip: You might think you know how much you are eating, but people usually underestimate their food intake by about 20 percent. To determine your actual calorie consumption, it is useful to keep a journal of what you eat. You can also go to www.nutrawatch.com for an online food journal.

Week 3

Monday: Do your short-distance run as before, then run up an incline for about 10 minutes. This will take off an additional 150 calories.

Tuesday: Go to the gym and do your strength training routine. Then for the whole day, eat your meals more slowly, which will lessen your total food intake for the day. Some people believe that slow eaters do not get fat, and there just might be some truth to that. This is because there's some delay between being actually full and feeling full. Slow eaters eat less during that delay.

Wednesday: Increase your running distance. During the day, try to avoid using machines that lessen your movement. Walk to work if possible instead of driving, use the stairs instead of the elevator, or deliver office messages personally instead of emailing. Anything that will make you move more will burn more calories.

Thursday: Do your gym workouts and on the way home, stop at the corner store and buy some peppermint or vanilla. Studies have shown that these can restrain your appetite and reduce food cravings.

Friday: Run your short-distance today. Make sure you eat healthful snacks in the morning and afternoon. Skipping snack time will only make you eat more during your main meals. It will also slow down your metabolism.

Saturday: It's time to start a new sport or any fun cross-training activity. An hour spent moving around will burn a lot of calories. For pickup basketball, it's 450 calories; soccer burns 400 calories, Frisbee, volleyball or badminton can burn 300.

Sunday: After you finish your long-distance run, do 10 minutes of crunches, push-ups and pull-ups. This will take off an additional 80 calories. Also, your muscles will be more toned and your metabolism will be improved.

Week 3 Tip: This week, start the habit of brushing your teeth right after dinner, instead of before sleeping. Brushing will help you avoid snacking before bedtime.

Week 4

Monday: Run at a regular pace for most of the short distance, but towards the end, do about 8-10 100-meter sprints. This will help you burn a lot of additional calories.

Tuesday: Mix in a couple of extra lifting exercises to your previous routine. Make an effort to lift more slowly to burn more calories.

Wednesday: Run a longer distance to include your week's increase. During your morning and afternoon snacks, try eating it will having a walk break.

Thursday: After your regular strength training, do some jump rope work. It won't be as easy as it used to be, but the rewards will be great. You can burn about 50 calories with only 5 minutes of jump roping.

Friday: Finish your run then celebrate another week of working out by hitting the dance floor. An hour of vigorous dancing is not just fun, it also burns as much as 400 calories.

Saturday: Try another fun thing today - inline skating. You can burn a whopping 750 calories with just an hour of blading. Make it more fun by doing it with friends or family.

Sunday: Increase your long-distance run then go home and wash your car for an hour. This will eliminate 300 calories for you. Better yet, wash your spouse's car as well. Not only will it be well-appreciated, you will also lose another 300 calories, so everybody wins!

Week 4 Tip: When food-shopping, select smaller packages. When you eat from bigger packages, you will tend to eat more. This has been proven in several studies.