jogging and weight loss

Question
My Friend is trying to lose more weight but is having trouble shifting another 5lb. She runs regularly approx 3 miles every other day. Her calorie intake per day is approx 1000. Is it that she is not eating enough for the amount of exercise she is doing ? She recently gained about 3lb. Could this be muscle weight?

Answer
Hi, Jackie

First, your friend is definitely not eating enough for her activity level.  Not even a sedentary person should go below 1200 calories per day.  She needs to be up near 2000 calories or so.  That may help lose the 5 lbs, but those last few are the hardest to lose, so it will take some time.  Also, her 3lb weight gain could be muscle, but it is more likely a result of low caloric intake and so her body is storing everything as fat because it feels like it's starving.

Remember, even elite athletes have to consume thousands of calories while they are in training in order to sustain their activity level.

I hope that helps.