I just got a new treadmill, and my goal is to be able to run for 45 minutes straight without stopping. When I was in high school, our physical education class made us do that. We worked ourselves up to it, and just by doing that without changing my eating habits, I lost over 30 pounds. I wonder how its gonna work with calorie counting???? Wish me luck!

That's a great goal and running will definitely help you burn the calories and burn the fat.

It will definitely work, just make sure that you are eating enough calories to keep up with your workouts. I find that now that I work out 6 days a week I'm eating more (healthy foods) than I did before I started working out.

45 minutes straight? That would be impressive, right now i cannot even run a few minutes. How long do you take to work up to that? I would like to work up to that, that's why i ask. Good Luck! You can do it!

I did it in high school and it took about 4 months. All we did was warm up, and then run. We started from 2 minutes (which about killed me) and worked out way up, and eventually u just get so used to running it no longer becomes a problem. And it is definitely doable, because there were 30 of us in my class then and we all ran 45 minutes in 4 months. So yeah, You should try it! when I did that it made me feel great!!

That is an awesome goal! I'm interested in trying Couch to 5k at some point but I think the 45 minute goal would seem insurmountable to me right now. I can only run about 3-4 minutes before I feel like I'm dying!

Kimberly - the couch to 5k will help you build up to the 45min. Also, running.about.com has a 30 day intro to running program too - they send out daily emails with what to run/walk for that day and work you up to running for 30 mins.

In both programs, you start off slow with 1 to 2 min runs interspersed with walks. ANd remember, when you start you don't have to run full speed. A slow jog and learning how to breath while runningare just as important to being able to run for longer amounts of time. It takes practice.

Sounds like a good plan, Tonya.

Hi, Tonya! Congrats on the new treadmill.

I started jogging about 3-4 times a week about 2 months ago. Yesterday, I ran 4 miles w/o stopping for the first time.

Two months ago I could not have foreseen myself being able to do that this soon, but I tried to push myself to go just a bit faster, just a bit farther every week, and here I am. When I started, I was just doing intervals - walk a few minutes, jog a few and could barely go much faster than 3 mph walking or jogging.

I don't know about the losing 30 lbs without dieting (WISH it worked that way for ME!) but I can attest that it will shape up your lower body in a hurry. My pants fit as if I've lost 15 pounds (but have only 6 lost so far).

Jogging gives such great results, even if you're slow and lumbering at it like me.

Good luck - and enjoy your new treadmill!

You are doing great! I hope to make it up to that point as quickly as you. I don't walk very fast, because the majority of my weight is in my legs. I was also 16 years old so I think the weight was a lot easier to fall off then, I don't know. I will continue giving updates later on though!