I ran my first 10-kilometre race a year ago tomorrow. Like many poor fools before me, I'd taken up running to lose weight. As I huffed and puffed my way around the course I noticed that many of my companions were portly just like me. The popular image of rake thin runners is a myth.
After the race I struck up a conversation with a fellow fatty. To my surprise he was not a beginner, but a regular runner for many years. With his rotundity staring me in the face it dawned on me that running is not the answer to weight loss. So what is?
The first step is to recognise the problem.
A UK-based study examined public perceptions of overweight over an eight year period. Participants were asked to report their weight and height and classify their body size on a scale from very underweight to obese. Self reported weights increased dramatically over time, but the weight at which people perceived themselves to be overweight also rose significantly.
The authors concluded, "Despite media and health campaigns aiming to raise awareness of healthy weight, increasing numbers of overweight people fail to recognise that their weight is a cause for concern. This makes it less likely that they will see calls for weight control as personally relevant."
No kidding. If we don't even recognise our national fatness how can we hope to solve the problem? What we need is an objective measure. Fortunately one such measure exists, Body Mass Index or BMI. Here is the BMI scale with euphemisms like obese replaced with plain English
| less than 18.5 | Skinny |
| 18.5 - 25 | Normal |
| 25 - 30 | Fat |
| more than 30 | Really Fat |
There is a BMI calculator in the right margin. Go now and enter your weight and height. A year ago my result was -- Your BMI is 27.3. You are considered overweight by the BMI scale. If you get a similar result stand naked in front of a full length mirror and say out loud ten times "I am fat. I am fat. I am fat. . . .". That should help cure the perception problem. If you are obese a diet/walking program may be a good place to start.
Once we recognise we are overweight all we need to do is eat less. EAT LESS. That's it. That's the answer. Full stop. End of article.
Well, not quite.
There is a downside to eating less. Humans don't enjoy feeling hungry -- hunger is painful. Dieting and diet products are a $100B+ industry worldwide, all to sell us the lie that we can slim without those pesky pangs. There are no magic bullets, but here are a few tips I discovered along the way:
- Feel a little bit hungry but not excessively hungry - i.e. don't try to lose weight too quickly - one to two pounds a week is good.
- Go to bed hungry - it doesn't bother you so much when you are asleep.
- Use running as a motivator - lose weight and it is easier to run, your race times improve and you are less injury prone.
Recommended shoes for overweight runners : Asics Gel Nimbus 12, Brooks Beast Shoe, New Balance 1226
footnote: I now have a BMI of 24.5 having lost 20lbs over the last year.
