It’s tempting to think running is a magical form of exercise that will melt away any weight you're trying to lose. The idea that running leads to weight loss has been alive and kicking for years, fueled by before-and-after stories, run-to-lose training programs, and articles touting the weight-loss effects of this popular sport you can do anywhere.

If you like running, then that’s great and there’s definitely a way to make running a part of your weight-loss plan (if that’s your goal). But if weight loss is your primary goal, focusing your fitness routine on mostly steady-state running—running at a low to moderate intensity at a relatively stable pace—isn’t the best way to get results.

“Relying on running alone isn't the best way to lose weight because it burns relatively few calories for the time invested,” exercise physiology and nutrition expert Rachele Pojednic, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutrition at Simmons College and former research fellow at the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine at Harvard Medical School, tells SELF. While running does have its benefits, there are better things to focus on if your ultimate goal is to lose weight—though that doesn’t mean you need to ditch your running shoes entirely.

First, let’s be clear: Running can be really beneficial in ways that have nothing to do with weight loss.

Weight loss certainly isn’t a goal for everyone, nor should it be. Even if weight loss is a goal for you, running can be worthwhile for other reasons. Running offers a slew of health benefits, from boosting mood and sleep quality to improving heart health. A long-term study on 55,137 people published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology even found that runners had a 30 percent lower risk of death from any cause, and a 45 percent lower risk of death from heart disease than their non-running peers during the 15-year study period. Researchers also observed that runners had 3 years’ higher life expectancy compared with non-runners, although the debate still rages about whether “too much” running (that is, lifelong, marathoner-level running) is good or bad for your heart.

“Just because you haven’t lost five pounds in a month doesn’t mean you’re not reaping the benefits of exercise in some way,” says exercise physiologist Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D.N., adjunct professor of nutrition and health at the University of Bridgeport, and senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Health. “There’s no downside to getting out the door and exercising on a regular basis,” she tells SELF.

Health benefits aside, running can be just plain fun. After all, any runner can attest to the feelings of freedom and excitement you experience when you really hit your stride. So if you love running, definitely continue to run. It just shouldn’t be the only thing you do if your ultimate goal is to lose weight.

One of the reasons running seems great for weight loss is that at first, it is. But the results taper off as your body adapts.

It’s true that for many people during the first few weeks—or even months—of running, the weight may seem to fall off. When you’re new to exercise, your body responds to a lower level of stress, and you may not have to run very far or very long to see results. But after a while, it takes more and more stress to get your body to respond. As a result, the scale stops budging.

“Your body is a machine, and it just wants to do things as efficiently as possible,” Pojednic says. As your body learns to adapt to your new running regimen, you start burning fewer calories jogging your go-to neighborhood loop than you did before. Also, when you start to lose weight, your body won’t need as much energy to function as it did when you were heavier—so your basal metabolic rate (the energy your body burns at rest) will actually start to decrease. This is partly because your overall mass is decreasing, but also because when you're running but not strength training, research shows that you'll most likely lose both fat and muscle mass—the latter of which requires more energy for your body to maintain. A decrease in muscle mass can reduce how many calories your body burns at rest.