How Much Weight Can Be Lost After Running Six Miles?

Performing a six-mile run three to five days per week can help you burn enough calories to build or preserve a healthy body, but a single run of this distance won't exactly melt away the pounds. Weight loss should be a result of consistent exercise and attention to your diet. Instead of concerning yourself with losing weight after a single run, focus on making this exercise a part of your regular workout and you'll soon see results.

A healthy rate of losing weight is in the neighborhood of one to two pounds in a week. As such, don't look for a single workout to result in weight loss. Instead, think of the big picture. By committing to frequent exercise -- such as six-mile runs -- you'll be able to burn enough calories to put your body in a caloric deficit. This deficit is the secret to weight loss; as you burn more calories than you consume, the fat will begin to melt away.

Even if you won't burn enough fat to experience noticeable weight loss after a six-mile run, the workout will burn several hundred calories. The specific number of calories you'll burn during your run depends on your weight and your average speed. A 185-pound person, however, who runs at a speed of 6 mph, will complete the six-mile run in 60 minutes. During this span, the person will burn around 888 calories, notes Harvard Health Publications. Using these data, this person's run would theoretically burn about one-fourth of a pound, given that a pound is equal to 3,500 calories.

Although factors such as your calorie consumption partially dictate the rate at which you'll lose weight, taking a six-mile run several days per week can put you on the right track for weight loss. In general, three to five cardio workouts per week are ideal. By running this frequently, you shouldn't have trouble meeting the goal of 300 minutes of weekly cardio exercise, which is the figure that can typically help you experience weight loss.

If you're a profuse sweater, it's possible that you'll sweat enough during your run that your pre- and post-run weights will be slightly different. The noticeable weight you lose on your run, however, is related to water loss, rather than fat loss. Losing weight through sweat isn't a healthy form of losing weight -- and upon post-run hydrating, you'll quickly regain the weight you lost through sweat.