Local news story this AM -- Running will help you lose weight

I do find this a bit funny as well.  I never ran before this year and knew it could help with weight loss. 

What I think they should have focused on is that a proper running program is what will best help you loose weight, and keep it off, with minimal injury.

I assume that it was in reference to a study that compared running to resistance training. Looks like it was recently published in Journal of Applied Physiology. So to be fair the study was comparing 2 different activities rather than just saying running will cause you to lose fat.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/12/17/running-not-weights-burns-fat/

I find these studies very funny.  Exercise = weight loss.  I don't know anyone that doesn't know that running will result in lost weight.  

Breaking news, breaking news...Fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains are part of a healthy diet, Harvard Medical School reports after $3 million study.

Except that wasn't the study. The study was running vs resistance training for fat lose.

Except the OP didn't say anything about running vs resistance training.  

True.  

There are always stories like these that happen around the New Years (due to resolutions, etc).

It's one of the biggest "duh" things out there, but there's no real harm in it.

ChrisM - 2012-12-17 1:13 PM LOL, well running won't help you lose weight if you burn 800 calories in an hour run and use that as an excuse to eat 3,000    Guess it will make you get fat a little slower though

This is right on point! You see it all the time in threads on this site. People say "I'm training hard and gaining weight, how is that possible"? It's possible because you eat too much!

Last year around this time, I saw one of those news stories.

While it wasn't new news to me, it was something that kick started my desire to lose weight, become healthy, and participating in triathlons..

& some people don't get it.  I know that it's easier for you to sit here and poke fun, but honestly some people just don't know where to start, maybe one of these news stories can help that...

Here's the one from NBC news.  Maybe the local TV station read this, then did their own version and maybe left out a few details.....

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/16/15947237-running-burns-more-fat-than-weights-study-finds?lite

Is this any different than all the diet pills that they hock on TV that have in small print "when combined with diet and exercise"?  Drinking water or waking up in the morning will help you lose weight when combined with diet and exercise.

That said, I knew what I needed to do to lose my excess pounds I just lacked the will to do it.  Fortunatley for me that changed.  If these sotries need to run to motivate people, go ahead and run them. 

That almost sounds like one of the Faux News Articles from The Onion newspaper:

Obese Salmon Unable To Swim Upstream To Spawn
NEWS • Science & Technology • Nov 14, 2012

http://www.theonion.com/articles/obese-salmon-unable-to-swim-upstream-to-spawn,30373/

Absolutely...

The only caveat to that is many people truly don't understand what they're putting in their bodies...They know they're overweight but have no idea just how many bad calories they are putting in their bodies..

Until large food manufacturers and the fast food industry make healthy food as affordable as the heat and serve crap we as a nation as pounding down, I'm afraid obesity rates won't go down much if at all....

I personally struggle to get to my desired race weight because my appetite (even with good foods) exceeds my calories burned so I need to accept feeling hungry or less than satisfied in order to lose the necessary pounds..

I hope you don't mind a dissenting opinion here.  Your premise of people not knowing how many calories they are consuming is spot on but blaming the fast food industry is looking at the wrong party to lay blame.

As with your final paragraph I was 70# over weight for over a decade and the only person to blame is ME.  I never ate much at fast food places and as odd as it sounds, I have never eaten at McDonalds in my 57 years.  I simply ate too much.  Most fast food places do have healthier items on the menu but people choose poorly.

I have a friend who decided to avoid fast food places.  So now his favorite thing is a Jamba Juice large Peanut Butter Mood (770 calories)!  I wonder why he can't seem to lose weight?  Or how about we drop by Starbucks for a little holiday cheer of a vendi Eggnog Latte (610 calories).  FYI - a cheesburger and fries from McD's is only 530 calories.

You and I have both taken responsibility for what we put in our bodies and the results are ours to own, good and bad.  Blaming fast food places is too easy an excuse for people who need to look in the mirror first.  Example - No one could ever get killed by a speeding car if only car manufacturers would stop making cars that went faster than 65 MPH.  Ok, I will step off my soapbox now.

We can expect to see more articles like this over the next month to prepare the New Years Resolutioners for their usually unrealistic resolution to lose weight.  This is why the gyms will be crowded until around Valentines Day.

Like other posters mentioned.  These articles never mention that running will help burn calories to offset calories consumed.  Running five miles burns around 550 calories which is about as much as a Big Mac.  

The problem that I see with obesity in the U.S. is in education. To lose one pound of fat you need to burn/eat less than 9 calories per gram or 3,555 calories per week, you can do this by eating less per meal or burning fat through exercise.  Of course the best way to lose weight is to do both.  What most people do not realize is that losing and maintaining weight requires more of a lifestyle change rather than a quick fix diet.

Agree with the sentiment that people tend to make poor choices, but you are implying that Starbucks and Jamba Juice are not fast food places.  They are, in disguise, and this is part of the problem.  America was a lot thinner when we cooked the majority of our food at home.