STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Tati · Chanel

for you fitness/excersice experts :)

madison · Nine West

wow! good job! i am definitely not a fitness expert, but i know how good it feels to finish a mile.

i can't really answer your questions unfortunately. i'm not familiar with ww, and while i know both running and walking are both effective means to lose calories, i'm not sure which has more benefits. i personally prefer running, as it gets my heart rate up faster. but i'm interested in what you guys have to say.

poptart · Coach

Congrats on your first mile! That is awesome!

I am by no means a fitness expert, and I don't know much about ww, but here is what I can tell you. Over time, you will definitely burn more calories and tone your body more with running. But, obviously it depends on how long you run vs. how long you would have walked. What I would recommend is that you base your exercise on the number of calories your burn and consume. To lose weight, you want to burn 300-500 more calories each day than you consume.

So, first determine your approximate basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn daily doing absolutely nothing), then calculate your approximate caloric intake each day, and then determine how many calories you need to burn through exercise.

For example, my basal metabolic rate (I have had it tested professionally, but there are lots of calculators online that approximate) is around 1100 calories. I eat about 1600-1800 calories each day. That means, to maintain, I need to burn through exercise about 500-700 calories a day.

I used this calculator to determine that your 10 minute mile burned around 100 calories (assuming you weigh around 130). Anyway, this calculator is a pretty good one for activities: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.html.

HTH!

ETA: I am assuming that ww is basing your "exercise points" on the number of calories burned in a 10 minute mile versus a 30 minute walk, or some such.

-- Edited by Lisa at 09:30, 2005-09-16

ILoveChoo · Hermes

I really don't know much about exercising, but I do know that with WW you get one point for about every 100 calories or so that you burn. If you ran two miles, there is a good chance you would have gotten 3 points instead of 2, and you would have still only gotten one or 2 for walking that far.

jen · Kate Spade

Running is the best cardio period. But in order to be effective here is what you must do. This is a secret I don't share often. You must mix steady state, low intensity, and HIIT (high intensity interval training).

I personally do not like steady state running and it won't really do much for your body but burn calories but it is the basis for cardiovascular health. Low intensity is great after a workout to break up lactic acid that can stand in the way of fat burn. It also keeps you in your heart rate zone which burns a ton of fat. Now, my little trick is HIIT. I just started this new program and it's awesome. I do it for 20 minutes. I warm up for 3 minutes, then I all out sprint for 20 second (I ran at 9.0, but you can choose your speed) and recovered with 40 seconds at 4.0 (again choose your speed). This workout kicked my ass. I had sweat dripping in puddles off of me and I was really sore the next day in my quads and glutes.

If you do this, do it no more than 3 times a week. Mix it up because different levels burn calories, fat, tone you etc. Steady state is kinda worthless though. Go on a 3-4 day split with lifting and you'll be set. Add in abs 3 times a week and you're gold. This is what I have found truly works through my reading and also through personal experience. hth!

ico · Dooney & Bourke

what I found out reading various sources is that a mile is a mile, whether you run it or walk it. The amount of energy needed to move your body for 1 mile is about 100 Kcal (I think this is the value for a 145 lb person? what's the average person they consider in physiology books?) I don't want to get into the physics details, but that's pretty much the story. But it makes perfect sense that you got 1 point for the 1 mile, if they give 1 point for 100 Kcal!

Now, if you run for 15 minutes vs walking for 15 minutes, you cover more miles, so the caloric expenditure would be more. Besides, running is a high impact sport, so it helps strenghtening your bones and preventing ostheoporosis. It seems also that running increases you caloric expenditure for some hours after you are done runing.

As for what is better: that really depends on you! The best is the one you stick with.
I prefer running when I want to "wake up" and walking for relaxing, but it's really personal.

Just keep the good work!

JoceyBaby23 · Gucci

My personal trainer and my dietician at my gym have told me many times that of all the Diet Programs out there.. if they had to endorse one, Weight Watchers would be it. HOWEVER, they both agree that WW doesnt give you enough credit for working out and exercising. Exercise is crutial to weight loss and WW doesn't focus enough on exercise plans. Eating right is obviously a huge part too, but WW's plan should give more credit/points to the exercise part.

Running a mile is great and you should def give yourself more credit than WW does. You will continue to burn calories after working out and into the night the more you run. Remember to vary your exercise too, so you body doesnt get too used to the same exercise. Throw some biking and ellipical training in there and you will be successful!

Tati · Chanel

thank you all for the info. its helped a lot in my thinking....

I'm just going to try to get used to running one mile (since it was my first time EVER in my whole life to run one without stopping) and go from there. and I will try and change things up jen and JoceyBaby23