Will couch to 5k make me lose weight?

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Fingers crossed it’s a yes..!

It will definitely help, but at least 80-85% of weightloss comes from diet, so you need to be eating well too

Won’t unless you make changes to your diet

Well, unfortunately I find that running on its own doesn't make a big difference to my weight.

But, on the positive side, I do feel much better for it - fitter and more toned. Plus, it is much better to be out running than at home eating. I can never eat in the hour or two before I run, then there's all the time you're out running, plus showering afterwards etc. So if I run on a Sunday morning, for example, it's often nearly lunchtime by the time I'm ready to eat, which definitely helps me stick to a diet more.I

Go for it!

I’m hoping I will find running so painful that it will make me stay away from crap junk food!

I can put on weight when I'm running more believing I can eat what I want as I'm burning it off - I'm obviously not! So as Buffalo said, it's mainly up to your diet.

Running is good for your mind, body and soul. If you lose weight it's a bonus. But if you get into it your life will improve 100%.
(I run twice a week for half an hour. It sorts my head out like nothing else!)

I’m on week 7 and for me it’s a nooooo 😄 haven’t changed my diet at all though so I knew not much would happen. DH and my parents say I’m looking better, and I can see it but my clothes aren’t fitting any differently. I’ve been doing a Pilates plan alongside which has really been helping my pelvis and back strength so my posture is way better, so that might be what they’re noticing.

It didn't for me, I'm doing more exercise at the moment than I have done in years and I'm the heaviest I've ever been.
I'm still not feeling the love for it either tbh, but I'll keep plodding on because it must be doing something, surely.

I can't believe so many are saying no! You'd think it really would make a difference given how painful it is

C25k in itself won’t but once you complete it and ‘can run’ (it won’t feel anywhere near as painful as it does when you start) and do so regularly or long enough then obviously it will make a difference. The struggle for your body when you start unfortunately doesn’t translate directly into calories burned

It didn't for me but it hugely benefits my fitness level, and has stopped me being out of breath and sweating so much
It's also great for my self esteem and general well being. I've come to love it (afterwards- only ever after the run do I feel great)

Nope - unless you eat less. I’ve trained to half marathon and gained weight... which I really didn’t need to as already 2st overweight.

The first time I did (lost a stone). Put it all on again and now back up to 5k but haven’t lost anything 🙄

Interesting. Everyone who tries to convince me to run, assures me it will!

What's a typical day diet wise for you?

As a runner I can say categorically NO.

The only thing that is guaranteed to help me (or anyone else) lose weight is to stop shovelling so much food into my gob.

As a runner, I can say with certainty that running does make you lose weight - if you put in the miles and the effort, and don't eat all your calories back. There's a reason that the people at the front of races are slim! I've lost a couple of stone through running, and keep it off despite eating as much as I did before. But I run a lot.

But C25k on its own probably won't make you lose much, as there's not that much time running involved (comparatively, I mean - I'm not criticising it).
It's great for getting into running, but half an hour a few times a week won't make a huge difference unless you're already doing little exercise and have a lot to lose. And of course you can't eat the exercise calories back!

Good luck -hope you love it. I did it 10 years ago, from being so unfit I couldn't run for a minute, and now I'm hooked.

I’ve found that running does help with weight loss & also toning up, but, I’ve found that I need to run minimum 5k twice a week to start seeing a difference. Longer and/or faster and/or more frequent runs means more weight lost IME. So C25k in itself may not result in weight loss, but it should get you to a point where you can run for long enough to start losing weight.

Only if you burn more calories than you consume.

My friend did it and she lost a lot of weight. Her diet is still poor (90% cakes, biscuits and chocolate) but she's lost a couple of stone and now has a healthy glow.

I never lost weight through running and believe me I tried! Someone (very slim!) told me she didn't lose weight through running until she ran over 40 miles a week - which kind of makes sense if it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound of weight/fat and you burn 80-100 calories a mile running then 40 miles a week to lose a pound sounds logical.

But that's a LOT of running!! it probably depends on how overweight you are to start with, how much exercise you do, how much energy you put into running and most importantly, whether you feel (like I used to ) that you can eat that chocolate bar/cake/pack of biscuits/chunk of cheese 'because you've been running' when you've only actually burned enough calories to warrant a piece of toast and jam!

Bear in mind you will be building muscle which is heavier . Also you may be ravenous - I was when I first started . So make sure you have good healthy snacks for afterwards so you don’t grab the nearest junk

No. But a shit load of people have asked me if I've lost weight.

I've lost about 2lbs all summer.😂

But I reckon I'm more toned, so look a bit narrower or something. They have to be seeing something, I'm just not sure what. But I'm asked it all the time. It's bizarre. Maybe my arse has gotten smaller or something. My thighs are definitely tighter.

Regardless, it is so good for me mentally and physically that it's 100% worth it.

It gets a LOT easier after Week 3.

My big tip is to take several weeks over each stage if you need to. Don't think you have to do it in 9 weeks, hardly anyone does.

I took up running a few years ago, and after about a year lots of people were commenting that I'd lost weight. I hadn't lost an ounce! But my clothes did fit differently, so I can see where they were coming from.

I've been running 20-30 miles a week, every week, for about 4 years now and my weight simply hasn't changed. BUT - I use it as a way to 'allow' myself to have the odd slice of cake or glasses of wine. For me, one offsets the other. If you get to a point when you're regularly running long distances, you may well find you need to fuel that quite well. I know people who have to eat decent carbs before a long run, and also people who can run 20 miles 'fasted'. I think that depends on your own metabolism.

The long and short of it is that if you are coming from a start point of doing no exercise AND you don't eat more to compensate for the run-ger, you may lose a bit, but it's not likely to be a stand-alone weight loss tactic.

It's all about diet unfortunately