Lose weight running, at a pace you can keep up

Running helps you lose weight, but not on its own: your plate creates most of the deficit, and exercise helps you stick with it. The right rate is measured as a percentage of your body weight per week, not in promised kilos. You set your target weight, with or without a date. Trainetic calculates your needs from your profile, adds what today's session costs, and gives you a target for calories, protein, carbs and fat. It never imposes a menu: your food log shows you where you stand.

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Five rules for losing weight running

They come from public health guidelines and sports nutrition research.

A rate of half a kilo to one kilo per week. That is the range recommended by the UK's National Health Service. Beyond that, you also lose muscle, and the weight comes back faster.

Running helps, your plate decides. Your body partly compensates for the effort: you get hungrier, and you move less the rest of the day. Exercise alone leads to little weight loss; combined with a moderate deficit at the table, it makes the difference and helps you keep the weight off.

More protein while losing weight. It protects your muscle when calories go down. For athletes, guidelines range from 1.4 to 2 g per kilo of body weight per day.

Don't go too low. An intake too low for your training load causes fatigue and injuries and lowers performance: this is relative energy deficiency in sport, described by the International Olympic Committee.

Aim for a healthy weight, not a dream number. Losing 5 to 10% of your body weight, if it lasts, already clearly improves your health. Staying stable matters as much as going down.

The safeguards built into your weight loss goal

They apply automatically, and every adjustment is explained to you.

Benchmark	In Trainetic
Default calorie deficit	500 kcal per day below your needs
Maximum deficit	1,000 kcal per day
Maximum rate	1% of your body weight per week
Minimum intake	1,500 kcal per day for a man, 1,200 for a woman
Minimum target weight	The one that matches a BMI of 18.5: below that, the target is raised
Protein	2 g per kilo of body weight per day

If you set a date too close for these safeguards, Trainetic offers you two safe options: keep your target weight and push back the date, or keep the date and adjust your target weight. Nothing is saved until you choose.

How your sessions factor into the calculation

Your baseline needs come from your profile; today's session is added on top.

Your baseline needs

Calculated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the most reliable of the common formulas, from your weight, height, age and sex. It is an estimate: your weight curve will tell you whether it fits you.

What your session costs

On the days you run, your target goes up by what the session costs on top of rest: the session you did if your watch recorded it, otherwise the one planned in your training plan.

Your food log

A single field to search for a food in the official Ciqual table and in Open Food Facts, a barcode scanner, and your daily summary against your target.

When this feature is not for you

If you are pregnant, under 18 years old, on medication, or if your relationship with food is difficult, talk to your doctor first: a weight goal should not be set on your own in these situations. If you think you may have an eating disorder, talk to your doctor: they can point you to the specialist support service in your country.

Five mistakes that bring the kilos back

Wanting to go too fast. Too big a deficit holds for a few weeks, then cracks. And the more diets are repeated, the more the weight tends to come back.

Eating every calorie your watch displays. Smartwatch estimates are often off by a quarter, sometimes by much more. You are better off following your weight trend.

Running more to "earn" your food. Compensation quickly cancels out the effort. A consistent training plan and a moderate deficit at the table work better.

Cutting carbs on training days. They are the fuel for running. Without them, sessions go badly and motivation follows.

Weighing yourself every day and trusting the number. Your daily weight varies with water and salt. What matters is the trend over several weeks.

Where these figures come from

Every benchmark on this page comes from a public source.

The rate of half a kilo to one kilo per week: the NHS, the UK's public health service. The benefits of losing 5 to 10% of body weight: the Haute Autorité de santé, the French National Authority for Health (overweight and obesity care pathway, 2023).

The compensation that limits the effect of exercise alone: work by Pontzer (Current Biology, 2016) and by Thomas (Obesity Reviews, 2012). Its exact size is debated; its existence is not.

Protein from 1.4 to 2 g per kilo: position stand of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2017). Relative energy deficiency in sport: consensus statement of the International Olympic Committee (2023).

Smartwatch errors on calories: Stanford University study (2017) on seven wristbands. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation: review by Frankenfield (2005).

Common questions about losing weight running

Does running help you lose weight?

It helps, mostly because it makes it easier to keep off the weight you have lost. But on its own, it leads to little weight loss: your body compensates for part of the effort. What works is combining a moderate deficit at the table with consistent training.

How many kilos can you safely lose per week?

Half a kilo to one kilo, according to public health guidelines. Trainetic caps your rate of loss at 1% of your body weight per week.

How many times a week should you run?

Three sessions a week, kept up, beat five a week for two weeks. If you are just starting out, the beginner running plan gets you running thirty minutes in nine weeks.

What pace should you run to lose weight?

Mostly at a pace where you can talk. What counts is your total energy expenditure over the week, and an easy pace is what lets you run often without getting injured.

Should you eat more protein?

Yes, while losing weight: it helps you keep your muscle. Your target is set at 2 g per kilo of body weight per day, spread across your meals.

Can you trust your watch's calorie count?

Not to the last calorie: studies show large discrepancies. Trainetic only adds to your target what the session costs on top of rest, and your weight curve tells you whether the calculation fits you.

And once you reach your weight?

You switch to maintenance: your target goes back up to the level of your needs. See the page maintain your weight.

Is it free?

Yes: setting your goal, tracking your intake, searching for and scanning your foods. Access only requires your consent to the processing of this health data. Automatic estimation of a food or a dictated meal is included in a limited amount, with more under the subscription.