"The Run Your Butt Off!" program is founded on the simple concept that in order to lose weight, calories burned must exceed calories consumed. No gimmicks, no shortcuts, no silver bullets can circumvent that reality. With this program, you'll learn to burn fat from both sides of the weight-loss equation - the calories in and the calories out - at the same time. "Run Your Butt Off!" will make you fitter, stronger, and leaner.
I've never been a runner but have always wanted to be. I recently started a Couch to 5K program (I have the app on my phone). It's been tough but I made it to day 2/week 5 last week. I found the jump from day 2/week 5 to day 3/week 5 HUGE and couldn't do it (it meant going from running for 8 minutes twice with a walking break to running for 20 minutes straight). I got discouraged and considered quitting the whole idea of running but instead decided to read a couple books for beginner runners to find inspiration and guidance. In the meantime, I decided to repeat day 1/week 5 (which I did today) until I feel comfortable enough to move on.
This book is written by a writer who loves to run (Sarah), a director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Leslie) and the senior director of health and fitness with the company that publishes Runner's World (Budd).
In each chapter, a stage (there are 12 stages in total) of the running plan is revealed along with information about nutrition, injuries, when and how to run, etc. It was interesting that there weren't individual chapters focused on each of the topics (like a chapter on nutrition, exercise, etc.). I thought this worked well as the information was given in bite-sized chunks and built on the information provided in the previous chapters. I read the book straight through but it would probably work better if you read a chapter a week and practiced what was discussed before moving on. Also in each chapter were results and stories from a test panel and tips and lessons from Leslie and Budd.
The running program is directed at beginners with the first week just walking. By week 12, you should be able to run for 30 minutes non-stop. This program is more gradual than the one I'm doing so I'll have to check to see if there is an app available for my phone. I thought it was interesting how they explained going from running for 9 minutes to 13 minutes (stage 9 to 10) and from running from 14 minutes to 30 minutes (stage 11 to 12) ... apparently it's a mental thing.
The chapters were:
- Get moving!
- It starts with a single step
- Timing is everything
- Sticking with it
- The race is on!
- A jog, not a sprint
- Fight the urge to sit
- Sometimes it's not about the scale
- Boredom busters
- Don't stop now
In the appendices, there is a summary of the 12 rules for weight loss success and the 12 stages of running for beginners (the running program). Keeping track of calories eaten, calories needed, exercise, etc. is encouraged. In fact, there is a link to a 65 page personal workbook pdf provided to use. Participants are also encouraged to take things slow, not to rush and to not skip any stages.
I thought this book provided a lot of good information for beginners and is a good support guide.
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