Hello, well I’m 16 and going to start running and eating healthy. I weigh 240 and I want to lose 70 pounds or more in 6 months what should I do? And if I walk and run at the same time around a football field for a hour or more how many calories could I lose every week cause I’m want to do this every day until I reach my goal and drink lots of water only water and how many pounds u think I could lose every months? Could you help me Heather? Could you give me tips and answers, please.
Good morning,
Thanks for such a great question. Let me preface this by saying first and foremost, you need to go and see your doctor to make sure there are no health precautions you need to take from high blood pressure and more. Your physician can give you good advice on how hard and how long you should work out and what signs you should watch out for.
That being said, losing 70 pounds in six months is an admirable goal, but it may be setting the bar too high. Instead of focusing on pounds lost, let’s focus on building on a strong workout that you can perform and maintain without overwhelming yourself in the numbers game. Eating healthier will help, you want to reduce your portion sizes and eat more frequently. Avoid excess sugars and fats in foods like chips, snack cakes and more.
If you need a snack, reach for carrots instead of chips and more. Aim for drinking 8 glasses of water a day and reducing how much soda you drink to one or less per day. Avoid heavy sugary drinks too, although fruit juice is a good kick-start to your day. Be sure to eat breakfast every day because studies indicate people who eat a healthy breakfast are less likely to binge later in the day. Avoid starving yourself because that also leads to binge eating.
As for your workout, let’s talk about that for a minute. If you haven’t workout previously, an hour every day may be pushing yourself too hard to begin with. You might want to start the first week by setting yourself up for 30-minute workouts 5 days a week. Rest days are equally important to achieving your overall goal. You may want to split it up in a manner that is 2 days on, 1 day off, 3 days on, 1 day off, etc.
For your first week, your workout may look something like this:
- Day 1: 5 minutes of walking at a comfortable pace, warming up, 5 minutes, pick up the pace, be sure to swing your arms, 2 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking, 2 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking, slow the pace and cool down
- Day 2: 5 minutes of walking at a comfortable pace, warming up, 5 minutes, pick up the pace, be sure to swing your arms, 2 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking, 2 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking, slow the pace and cool down
- Day 3: Rest Day
- Day 4: 5 minutes of warm up walking, run for 3 minutes, walk for 5 minutes, run for 3 minutes, walk for 5 minutes, run for 3, cool down for 5 minutes
- Day 5: 5 minutes of warm up walking, run for 3 minutes, walk for 5 minutes, run for 3 minutes, walk for 5 minutes, run for 3, cool down for 5 minutes
- Day 6: 5 minutes of warm up walking, run for 3 minutes, walk for 5 minutes, run for 3 minutes, walk for 5 minutes, run for 3, cool down for 5 minutes
- Day 7: Rest
Three things to keep in mind while you are performing this type of workout. It’s cardio intensive and it will get your heart rate up and beating. You want to make sure that you are getting enough oxygen, if you feel light-headed, in pain or doubled over from a stitch in the side or other, slow down and walk. If you can’t maintain your run for the full time allotted, don’t worry about it. Seriously – you are building up your endurance at the same time as you are getting started on this workout program.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to keep at your program and that means not hurting yourself or overdoing it in a manner that prevents you from working out the following day. Always do a good bit of stretching before and after your workout to prevent cramping and injury. As you get more comfortable performing the cardio and plan to expand the time you spend doing it, you may also want to add a weight-training component to your workout.
Building muscle will help burn more calories because muscle requires more calories per day. A workout like this should burn around 300 calories per day and that’s just based on the 30-minute walk/run program at 240 pounds.
Work out in the morning if possible because studies show that when you work out in the morning, you are more likely to stick to your work out program than if you leave it till later in the day when circumstances may prevent your workout. I hope this helps, remember to listen to your body and to believe it if you are becoming overwhelmed. Don’t over do it drinking water because you can hurt yourself if you drink too much water, stick with the standard 64 ounces a day and be sure to hydrate before your workout, during and after. Good luck and I hope you let me know how you are doing!
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