Whether you lose weight if you run four miles a day depends chiefly on one matter -- how many calories you consume. It's not that the calories you burn running is irrelevant. The number of calories you burn running four miles depends on several factors, including how much you weigh, how fast you run and the nature of the terrain or the amount of slant on your treadmill. Still, the number of calories you burn running four miles will be limited, and the number of calories you can potentially consume is far less limited. Ultimately, how much you lose and how quickly you lose it depends on your conduct at the feeding trough.
Weight
Here's good news for those who carry extra weight. The more you weigh, the more calories you burn running. You have greater mass to propel, so it takes more energy to move that fat mass of yours along the running path. Running is an aerobic activity, so you burn plenty of calories no matter what you weigh, and you reduce your risk for many health problems, including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, cardiac disease and certain types of cancer. The 150-lb. person who runs four miles at 6 mph burns about 476 calories over the 40-minute run, estimates BodyBuilding.com. The 200-lb. person who runs four miles at 6 mph burns about 635 calories.
Speed
The faster you run, the more calories you burn while you're running. Of course, since the distance you run is set at 4 miles, when you run faster, you run for a shorter period of time. A 170-lb. person running at 5 mph takes 48 minutes to run 4 miles and burns an estimated 518 calories. He burns 540 calories running at 6 mph for 40 minutes and 532 calories running for 34 minutes at 7 mph. Running at 8 mph for 30 minutes, he burns an estimated 547 calories. Increasing your running speed has a variable effect on the calories you burn running four miles, but generally, the 170-lb. person burns from 518 to 547 calories.
Slant
If you run on hilly terrain, you will burn more calories, but the calorie burn is somewhat tempered because it requires somewhat fewer calories running downhill. Running on a treadmill and adjusting the slant causes more of a burn because you never run downhill. For example, the 170-lb. person who runs at 5 mph burns 518 calories, but burns 673 calories running at a 5-degree angle.
Diet
If your weight is stable now, and you increase your caloric burn by running off 500 calories or so per day, you will lose about 1 lb. per week. However, you'll do this only if you don't increase your caloric intake. A few power drinks, a double-burger at a fast food restaurant, a "reward" muffin after your run or any of a nearly infinite number of other possible high-calorie indulgences can more than reconstitute the fat stores you so diligently emptied on your run. So, run off that weight and keep it off by eating wisely.
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