When deficit is coming just from cardio : a question!

curlsonfire

Hey : )
Does anybody create their deficit just through cardio? I do it now and find it a lot easier as to eat less food. I am more energetic. Do you have any tips on what to do to burn more? I could burn up to 800 calories a day with incline walking with dumbbels, running and cardio classes. Do you have some tips on losing weight this way? Did you lose your weight consistently like this? Does the body adapt?

WhatMeRunning

I'm a little confused by this, to be honest. On a day when I do no cardio I have a set goal as my deficit and I try to hit it. On days that I do cardio I still have the same set deficit goal. I am actually more hungry on days I do cardio at the same deficit than I am on days I do not do cardio.

PositivelyFlawed

I don't see an issue with this, as long as calories out exceed calories in you will lose. My only concern for youwould be creating too large of a deficit and undereating. You also want to be using something accurate to track calories burned.

You also didn't mention if you are eating what I would term "healthy calories" or just whatever and working out to create a deficit.

Excercising to create a deficit AND hitting your macros will be fine, but eating 6 big macs daily and excercising 5 hours a day to create a decifict probably wouldn't be a good idea for overall health, but again, a deficit is a deficit.

edited: for my terrible morning spelling :P

palwithme

I have only done cardio and create about a 1,000 calorie deficit each day. So far I have lost 40 pounds this way. I want to keep doing this, lose 20 more pounds, and then perhaps move to weights and lifting to help me tone. My calorie target is only 1,200 a day and I find if I don't do cardio I just don't lose weight.

tequilastuntman

try intermittent fasting (if you're a women take it easy) and walk every morning on an empty stomach

e.g. I walk 3km from the train station to university and then have my breakfast there about an hour later

my goal is to build muscle and this method keeps fat gain minimal

TavistockToad

palwithme wrote: »

I have only done cardio and create about a 1,000 calorie deficit each day. So far I have lost 40 pounds this way. I want to keep doing this, lose 20 more pounds, and then perhaps move to weights and lifting to help me tone. My calorie target is only 1,200 a day and I find if I don't do cardio I just don't lose weight.

if your calorie goal is 1200 cals then you are already in a deficit...

cheshirecatastrophe

I would say:

Be very, very sure you are tracking your calorie intake right and be VERY sure you aren't overestimating your calorie burn--*especially* as you get smaller. The math for burning calories even in hard exercise is just not there on the thinner end of the spectrum.

For example, for me, 1000 calories is a 15 mile run or a 50 mile uptempo (not leisurely) bike ride. And you better believe that if I'm running 15 miles, I am going to get home and eat MY ENTIRE HOUSE.

There is a reason most first time marathon-runners gain weight during training. Hard/long cardio (running speedwork, full-day bike rides at training speed, etc, HIIT-type stuff) can ramp your appetite way up, definitely beyond the energy you're actually using.

Serious strength training also makes me ravenous.

I do find that lower-intensity cardio, especially walking not-fast, does not increase my appetite. The thinnest I've ever been, all I was doing was walking! (But let's not talk about the calorie burning math of walking for me, rotfl...that was me not being hungry and consequently not eating that much.)

WhatMeRunning

I suppose it is worth noting that my cardio consists of maintaining half marathon distances and beginning of training for a full marathon. Thus most likely why I am more hungry on my cardio days.

But cardio or not, I still have the same deficit goal on any day. The question is whether or not I can maintain it, because sometimes that hunger gets to me and I eat.

I have gained about 5 pounds since beginning this training. But I am stronger and faster so it doesn't bother me too much. If I keep gaining though...well...that would probably begin to really tick me off.

cheshirecatastrophe

grimmeanor wrote: »

I have gained about 5 pounds since beginning this training. But I am stronger and faster so it doesn't bother me too much. If I keep gaining though...well...that would probably begin to really tick me off.

I feel your pain.

10 pounds half-marathon? No prob; look how fast I got! Another 15 marathon? MFP.

Wheelhouse15

My exercise, not just cardio, is 1K+/day over my sedentary job and former lifestyle and was the main reason I lost weight. There are a small percentage of people who lose and maintain that lose through exercise alone but diet and diet + exercise are far more common. As long as your intake is below your output then you will lose and it doesn't matter how you get there.

As for the body adapting to exercise and burning less, no that's a myth for the most part, there may be small efficiency gains but not significant enough to worry about. Also, the body tends to undergo some adaptive thermogenesis while losing weight no matter how this is achieved but the EPOC induced by vigrous exercise should help to balance off some of that effect.

As for tips, lift heavy things along with your cardio so that you preserve muscle while losing. If you don't have a lifting program that is challenging your muscles, i.e. something heavy so that you cannot lift it for more than say 8-10 reps, then you should find such a program.

GiddyupTim

Very few people who train for a marathon actually lose much weight while doing so. There is a reason for this. Running far leaves you starving. My point is: You might be able to outrun your calories for a bit, but you may find it hard to maintain that -- if you don't put an emphasis on your diet.

glevinso

Last marathon I trained for I tried dropping about 15lbs during the training process. I succeeded in dropping the 15lbs but my performance on race day suffered. I was running a tight calorie deficit trying to make sure I was not underfueled for the training, but just underfueled enough to lose weight.

Losing weight and endurance training don't really work well together. You can do both at the same time but you won't truly be successful at both.

I guess I should add that I was not training to just complete the marathon which I think is something you *can* do successfully while dropping weight. I had a rather lofty time goal that I was aiming for and I figured I needed to be lighter to even consider running that fast.