Hey women!

I was on a plateau a month or so ago and met with a personal trainer. She said that the ONLY way I was going to keep losing weight was to start running. I tried, and I hated it. Seriously hated it. Fortunately, I kept exercising and started losing again.

Has anyone here hated running and then learned to love it? Do you feel like you have to start running in order to meet your weight loss goals? If you love running, what do you love about it? Has anyone here TRIED to run and hated it, stopped, but kept losing anyway?

I guess I am a little scared about the comment she made that basically, if I was going to make it to the finish line, I'd have to make it by running.

So, thanks for reading!
Alicia

I don't think there is any magic about running. If you hate it, there are PLENTY of other ways to do cardio which burns fat. Maybe what she really meant was that you have to do some sort of high intensity cardio to keep losing. Even that isn't a true statement, but the cardio sure speeds up the process and makes you healthier in the long run (groan)!

Some people can't run- injuries to knees, hips and spine would make it impossible. Others (like you) hate it. Why do something you hate? Yes, maybe you'd learn to love it, but there are alternatives. Does your gym have elliptical cross-trainers? You can get a great workout on those. Meg lost and has maintained her loss of over 120 pounds using a cross-trainer for cardio. I do my cardio on a combination of recumbent bike, elliptical, spinning classes, and running. If I run every day, my hips and knees are in agony. I've been experimenting this last week with different forms of cardio and my heart rate monitor. Running feels like the hardest workout, but I can get my heart rate higher, burn more calories, and stick with it longer on either the recumbent bike or the elliptical. All that jarring just makes it feel like you are working harder, but the heart rate monitor tells a different story.

Mel

Are there times I do NOT want to get on the treadmill? Of course
Do I ever feel worse after running than before I run? Not usually

For me, running is my main source of exercise and the most efficient way I've found for me to burn a large amount of calories in a short amount of time. I like getting on my treadmill after work and turning on the TV and getting a good run in...

I enjoy training for races. I really enjoy it when I run a personal best (like 3.5 miles in under 30 minutes). Stuff like that keeps me (a naturally competitive person) motivated. Plus, when I see the scale continue to move downward, I feel even more inclined...

Another reason I run: because I can...I know it sounds kind of weird but I like to run long distances, etc...just to see if I can...

Now, I'm not one of these "I wake up at 3:00AM so I can run two hours every day type of people" but I like to run between 15-22 miles per week.

More than anything else, I love to run because I love the results I see from it.

Years ago, I hated running. But I gave it a try and once I started running longer and longer distances I grew to enjoy it even more. In the beginning it’s really hard but with time as you get better you may grow to love it. Before I packed on the weight I was an avid runner, 3 miles 4 times a week was my standard. I would blast my headphones and run a 2 mile course throughout my neighborhood or I would listen to books on tape while running the track.

Now, I hope once I lose another 10 lbs I can get the nerve to start running again. But I know it’ll be hard in the beginning.

Hey! I've tried running and I completly hate it. If I run to long I get side cramps and stuff. Which I know is mainly from being out of shape, but running is just something that I hate and probably will never love. I'm going to try and start running again to see if I can change the way I think.

Running is so hard on my knees! I ran around the outside of the house a few times with my dog a few weeks ago, and it almost killed my knees! I feel like an elliptical trainer is practically the same as running, only without all that hard impact on my knees, so that's what I like to do instead.

I figure if I hate running and that's the only cardio I let myself do (or tell myself will work to get me to my goals), I'd probably give up altogether.

So do what you enjoy and don't force yourself to do something you hate. You WILL reach your goal if you keep at it!

I dislike running also; I can jog for only 1 minute at a time. I figure, at my age, that's good enough, so the one minute jogging has become my intensity level during my HIIT cardio. I am up to 7 minutes jogging (one minute at a time). I don't worry about taking extra recovery time in between- sometimes it's 3 minute intervals and sometimes 5 minute intervals. I also alternate HIIT with moderate cardio during the week, so it doesn't seem like such a chore.

As long as you are pushing yourself to improve in whatever kind of cardio you do, it doesn't matter if you jog or not.

I'm just beginning to run. I try not to hate it, but it's hard I am using it as my HIIT too, at the moment, whilst I learn to string the minutes together. I've not noticed the weight fall off me yet

I lost 63 pounds and never ran a step, so don't stress about it. For me running is something I really want to do, because its quite sociable activity, and there are lots of events and things, and the gym gets slightly boring!!

I'm the same as Lucky...I don't always WANT to run but I know that I get the best results by running. For some people that may not be the case. Once I start running I'm usually good but again it depends on the day. Sometimes I would just rather do the elliptical or stairmaster so find what works for you but mix it up sometimes to challenge your body. I agree that setting goals like running a 5-k or something along those lines is really motivating. Maybe try a bike race if that is more your thing....good luck!

I hate running, too. Hate it with a passion. It is just uncomfortable and unpleasant for me. Too much flopping around. Not just the ladies-- they can be *somewhat* contained by a sportsbra. But there is no sportsbra for my butt. Or outter thighs. Or cheeks.

I don't like it, so I don't do it, unless there is a serious, emergency-type reason for it. Does that mean I'll hit my goal later than if I was a runner? Perhaps. Oh well, I'm willing to live with that consequence. I'll get there eventually.

ME ME ME in response to the original post. I use to hate running. My teeth would hurt when I ran and I felt like my lungs would burst! But At some point last year I decited i wanted to run around the lake by our house. It is just over a mile around. When I started i did intervals of 3 mins running then 2 mins walking. Going up 30 seconds more each day (running 3-4 times a week) By the end of the month I was running 2 laps around the lake.

Of course I made the mistake of stopping throughout winter. Since I started my diet march 1st. I have went to the lake 3 times. I can't run around the whole thing anymore. But I can run half. So I did 2 steps forward 1 step back. But not back to the beginning thank goodness.

I am doing a varity of cardio excersize though. Like Tae bo at home and some boot camp dvds. I wear a heart rate moniter and I avg about the same heart rate during running as I do during my cardio at home. In fact I think the tae bo may be doing more for me because Im using all kinds of muscles throughout my body.

i don't particularly like to run. i can only jog about 3/10 of a mile at a time. although, i do like the results you generally get after about a month of it. but it was starting to hurt my knees. but last night i started jogging around my front yard, so i may try that. it was a good way to get my cardio in for the night. i spent 30 minutes jogging around my grassy front yard, doing jumpin jacks and jumping rope (not real jump rope, pretend jump rope) and more jogging and more jumpin jacks ....etc. ect. ect. great workout!!!

Me! I hate running and will not do it. I’ve given it a try for no other reason than it’s so popular and seems like a really good way to burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time, but at present I just have no patience for it. I am so bad at it that I would have to teach myself to do it properly and I get really frustrated when what I’m trying to do is jog but I end up mostly having to walk. Also all that jostling literally gives me a pounding headache before too long and I end up feeling like afterward and all the next day. My knees, lower back and hips ache.

Right now I get most of my cardio by walking, swimming and elliptical. I might give jogging a try after another 15 or 20 lbs to see how it feels, but it's not on my to-do list at the moment.

Bah! I can't run to save my life! lol Well ok, if it was to save my life, then yes, but otherwise, I don't enjoy it. And it's not because I'm heavy, I hated it when I was thin too!

My weight loss had stalled for a while so I added more incline to the treadmill and my heartrate goes up the same as if I was running on a flat surface. It's more of a very brisk walk, very light jogging but I'm not bouncing all over the place LOL It was hard at first but I can keep it up for 45 minutes now. I try and run for short periods here and there but no way I could run for an extended period of time.

I like biking too but I find it harder to get my heart rate up for a long period of time without my thighs catching on fire. LOL Once the snow melts, I'll definitely take the bike out, but the stationnary bike is just too hard. Love it for a good leg workout though. Maybe if I had bikes like they have in those spinning classes...but mine. Ugh! Feels like I'm climbing a mountain all the time. hehe