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Anything that burns calories will help you lose weight. However, running alone may not be enough for weight loss if your calorie intake is high. Also, building muscle mass will help to burn more calories both during exercise and resting that is why strength training is so important. So running alone may not give you a significant weight loss but incorporating it into your daily exercise routine may help reach your goals faster.

@Mrs. Pen: There's not a straight forward answer. It depends on where you're starting from. If you're just starting to exercise, yes, it should, provided you aren't eating all of the calories you are burning (and most people overestimate their calorie burn, even with gadgets!). If you've been exercising for a while, it comes down to the law of specificity, i.e., your body will adapt--and become more efficient--at the activity you do consistently (this is where most people overestimate their calorie burn). And, most of all, you can't out run, so to speak, a bad diet. People think if they can work out harder, they can eat what they want. But that's not the way it works. It really does matter how much protein, carbs, and fat you eat, and where those nutrients come from.

Haha isn't running cardio? I think it's possible to lose weight running, but I think you'll lose weight quicker and tone faster by doing a combo of cardio and strength training. It would take me a long time to lose weight and get toned by only running.

@Mrs. Pen: I think a combo is best, both weight training and running. But running certainly helps me lose weight! Don't let your friend discourage you.

Huh? What does she mean you have to do cardio? I thought running WAS cardio.
I started running about 2 months ago (couch to 5k) and have not changed my eating habits. I haven't lost much, about 5 lbs (my goal weight is losing 10), but I'm sure it has to do with my increased activity level with the running. I think if I ate a bit better and added weight lifting, I'd see more of a difference though.

Running IS cardio. It will definitely help you lose weight if you have weight to lose, and if your body is not used to the exercise... (as long as you don't increase your calorie intake). Like anything else though, once your body adjusts you'll probably have to change it up to prevent from plateauing.

I lost all the weight I put on from college just from running alone. It was such an effective workout for me, better than anything else I previously tried. It's also the only thing I did after giving birth to my first, and helped me lose all my pregnancy weight.

Everybody's experience will vary depending on their metabolism, starting weight, and intensity of exercise.

I went from couch to running a marathon and I didn't lose one pound. A year or so later I started CrossFit and lost about 5lbs. Six months into that I went paleo and lost 25lbs in 6 months. I stopped CrossFit and didn't gain anything back (well, I got back to pre-pregnancy weight easily). I fell away from paleo and now I'm gaining.

@Mrs. Pen: I was never in better shape than when I ran every day. But, as others said, you can't outrun a fork. Whether you run, do the elliptical trainer, crossfit, spin class, etc. diet matters.

I lost my post-partum weight by walking 10,000 steps and going up 50 flights of stairs every day and that's it. No heart-pounding aerobics at all. The key was watching my diet and logging every last dadgum calorie.

@Mrs. Pen: if you like running, but want to boost calorie burn, look into doing intervals. You can do them in lots of different ways- I've done them on a treadmill (I used to print out interval schedules from fitness magazine- sprint 1 minute, medium effort 2 minutes, walk 3 minutes- whatever, something like that), done them on an outdoor track, and even just running my regular loop (sprint to the end of this block, then jog for two or something like that).

I lose the most weight playing soccer even just twice a week, which is basically interval training- sprinting really hard, some medium effort jogging, some walking.

Running has always helped me keep weight off, and when I slack off the scale starts to creep up. I've never attempted a major weight loss, but did lose about 10lbs after college by cleaning up my eating and running (regular runs and some intervals like I talked about above).

It certainly has a place but long distance runners don't typically see a lot of fat burn-typical for endurance athletes. They eat back a lot of what they burn in order to fuel their work outs. I Second/third doing interval running. I can get a serious calorie burn while running when I do sprint intervals. Way more in 30 min than I can a light jog for half an hour

That said, cardio is cardio. If you get a good work out, you got a good work out. Weight training is also critical lest you want to be a skinny fat cardio bunny. Diet's the biggie.

Running is pretty much the ONLY way that I consistently lose weight. It doesn't matter how healthy I eat, if I don't run, I don't lose weight. Period.

@runnerd: hahaha I wish it did. I love running and hate doing anything else for exercise, but know my running could SO benefit from better core strength!

@Beebug: that's exactly my predicament! if only I didn't hate other exercises so much

1- running is cardio
2- I practically melt away to nothing when I run. It instantly makes me drop pounds.

That being said:
1- shocking the body is what burns calories. Try running HIIT style (short distance, high-speed runners burn more than steady and moderately paced, long distance goers).
2- any workout without a healthy eating plan of some sort is pointless (if you're goal is to lose weight).

What @CupQuakeWalk said! I run, but was stuck til I did interval training. (also strength training.)

I used to run all the time (waaaay before having kids) and I never gained weight but I never lost. Just more or less maintained since I was eating enough to run as much as I did. I did Bikram yoga and ran and THAT helped me lose some weight. I feel like I do Bikram every day now with the 90+ (feels like 110+) but nothing is coming off.