Despite popular belief, running is an effective fat loss tool. In recent years, the fitness industry has primarily favorited calorie counting and eating less as the primary tool for fat loss. Those tools are the last of those that you should take from the toolbox. Food is fuel. And before the "foodies" (myself included ) respond with dismay, know that I understand that food plays a prominent role in our culturally, socially, economically, and otherwise. Nonetheless, at its simplest, food is energy. I find this approach to food most helpful for runners as food will quite literally fuel your runs.

Your food intake should increase if you follow this guide, but not so much that you're in a calorie surplus. How would you know if you're in a calorie surplus? Well, you'd gain weight. I don't promote calorie counting in any way and suggest you adopt the approach mentioned above. Nonetheless, weigh yourself a few times a week (take the average) and keep track of that. Standing the test of time, weighing yourself is tried and true. Body composition is another conversation and has less to do with overall calorie intake and more to do with nutrient breakdown and muscle mass. This guide will work best in conjunction with a strength program. 

I suggest you first read to this short weight loss strategy I wrote on Twitter; before following these steps and use running as a primary weight-loss tool.

1) 150/300

Unsurprisingly, the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association recommend adults do at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity weekly. Start there. Most working adults don't get anywhere near that. Start with work your way from 150 to 300 minutes per week. In this case, the aerobic activity will be running. I suggest you start with one 10-15 minute run, five days per week. You will see consistent results with this step alone.

2) Miles

Once you've accrued 300 minutes of running per week, it's time to focus on the mileage. Over four weeks, add 10 miles to this number. Repeat this for two months. If you started at 25 miles per week, you should end at 45 miles after these eight weeks. Your weekly calorie expenditure will increase substantially with this method. 

3) Speed

It never hurts to include some speed and tempo work! Higher intensity running causes a metabolic afterburn known as Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). This means that even after you've worked out, your metabolism is elevated, allowing your body to burn calories at a higher rate. Studies show that sprinting also burns more fat than steady-state cardio, upwards of 50 percent more. Over three weeks, add or replace one of your run days with a sprint/tempo day. To offset some of the initial soreness, start with hill sprints. Hill sprints limit end range knee and hip extension, making it, so the eccentric component is lessened. Since these primarily work concentric contractions of your lower body, your muscles will experience less overall stress. Less initial soreness means more initial adherence! Over another three weeks, add a second (and final) speed session. This second session can be less intense than the first. For example, you might perform 3k tempos. Both of these sessions will also have notable carryover to your general run performance.