A little story about me as a runner.
It probably came from my dad - who use to be an athlete , so that's why I went to sport school in Russia at a very early age. I use to be competitive long distance runner. When I finished my Law University I stopped competting and started to run for myself. It was amazing, I use to run every single day in any weather : in minus 30 degrees, in the deep snow, in the strong rain. But words can't describe how running made me feel; so free, so light, so happy and healthy......Yoga and running, I will say, are my 2 favorite things.
When I came here (USA) I understood what it is to run in super hot weather (MIAMI) on the sand, it was a challenge.....anyways, now back to the topic.
Obviously we all know about the benefits of running: it's gonna help you to loose weight, improve your heart and lungs, it's a great stress fighter, body toner etc.
You're gonna loose weight if you just start running (but don't forget nutrition is the key to any weight loss). If you never ran before then start by combining fast walking with little intervals of running so you can get use to, this way you will be able to run longer. These baby steps are so important when you just start any exercising routine.
If you are already an advanced runner then the best way to loose weight is Interval running, a combination of slow, fast, slow, fast running. Also combine your run with up hill slow run (but only if you are not afraid to get bigger quad muscles (quadriceps). From my experience I know if I run so much up hill my quad muscles get bigger.
Over all when you run you engage all your muscles - legs, ABS, arms. So if you can't get rid of your belly fat it is time to start running :))))
Interval running helps you burn a lot of calories in a short time and to improve your resting metabolic rate (RMR - metabolism in the resting stage) so your body will burn calories during the whole day.
When I have overweight clients first what I do I check their VO max and for about 2-3 weeks I put them on the treadmill for intervals - walking slow and fast and after 2 weeks they will be able to add some jogging.
Here are some principles of running for weight loss:
1) Regular regime - running once a week is not going to do anything, Minimum 3 times a week, idealy 4-6.
2) Shoes - is extremely important (specially if you have any problems wit your knees), please choose special shoes for running.
3) 1 hour of running will help you burn about 600 calories, if you are just starting go for 15-30 min, then you will be able to build up your time to 1 hour or more
4) You are gonna feel like eating much more (is normal, cause of course you're gonna spend more energy) but don't go crazy - choose a very healthy diet, try to eat 5 times a day picking healthy snacks like fruits, nuts, veggies etc.
5) Morning or evening? - actually it doesn't matter , but I suggest to run in the morning, a great way to start your day and kind of forget about exercising for a day :))))
Good luck with your running!!!!!!