Many people who take up running to lose weight expect it to hurt: long, hard runs that leave them soaked, with no stopping to walk. These plans ask for something else. Look across any of them for the hard days and you'll have to hunt. The 12-week beginner plan on 3 days, for example, holds 24 strength sessions and 3 harder runs.
Start from the week you can do now. All 20 plans here are Buena Vida plans, from 8 to 24 weeks long and from 2 to 6 run days a week. If running nonstop is still ahead of you, the Start Running for Weight Loss plans go from jogs of a minute or two between walks to 30 minutes of running, 2 days a week. The beginner plans start around 5 to 10 miles a week, with walk breaks whenever you want them. The intermediate plans start around 10 to 15, and the advanced 21 to 32. Pick the one whose first week already looks doable.
8, 12 or 24 weeks. The 8-week plans are a short first block, a way to see whether the habit takes. The 24-week plans are for the long haul, and they suit anyone who has started a plan before and drifted off somewhere in the middle.
Strength is in every plan. Each week has 2 strength sessions. When you're losing weight, strength training protects your muscle, so more of the loss comes from fat. Keep them, even in weeks when the runs feel like the real training.
Where the running fits. The plans say it plainly: the runs are one part of what moves the scale, and most of that change happens away from them. Food is part of it, and that includes eating enough. Your body adapts to training only when it's fed enough to, so running on too little food works against you.
What changes first. Other things move before the scale does. Regular running tends to lift mood within weeks, and within a couple of months the same easy run starts to feel easier. Those changes are the running doing its job, whatever the scale says that morning.
Too hard, can't keep up, getting hurt. A run with walking in it still counts. Every few weeks the running steps back so your legs can catch up. If you have a health condition, or it has been a long time since you were active, check with your doctor before you start.
If none of these fits your week, Buena Vida can get you a personal weight-loss running plan set to your schedule, and the app pairs it with daily nutrition targets. Try it free for 7 days.
No plans match. Try another level or a different number of run days.
Buena Vida running plans for weight loss
Want a plan made for you?
Buena Vida is a running app that puts training plans, workout tracking and daily nutrition in one place. Tell it your race, your fitness and the days you can run, and you'll get a personal plan set to your schedule and pace, with coaching on every run and food targets that keep up with your training.
Try it free for 7 days. After that, it's $99.99 a year or $14.99 a month, and you can cancel anytime.