To Cardio or not ?

k2max67

Hi
I am 129 kgs and 6’2.I ve lost around 4 kgs in the past 3 weeks (gained back 2 due to glycogen,thats a different story)
I was on a 1780 calorie diet as suggested by mfp, now am on 1550 cal.
I can do elliptical or stationary bike only .Due to some reason i cant weight train for sometime.
My question is should i do cardio or would it make my body hold weight?
If i should workout on the elliptical then how much time is sufficient,i can do 2x20 mins.And how many days a week?
Thanks!

heybales

k2max67 wrote: »

Hi
I am 129 kgs and 6’2.I ve lost around 4 kgs in the past 3 weeks (gained back 2 due to glycogen,thats a different story)
I was on a 1780 calorie diet as suggested by mfp, now am on 1550 cal.
I can do elliptical or stationary bike only .Due to some reason i cant weight train for sometime.
My question is should i do cardio or would it make my body hold weight?
If i should workout on the elliptical then how much time is sufficient,i can do 2x20 mins.And how many days a week?
Thanks!

Sounds like you have a decent amount to eat already without exercise even being accounted for yet (that's how MFP works).
So is the exercise for merely burning more so you can eat more?

Be aware your eating goal already has a deficit for weight loss with no exercise expected.

If it's for heart health, do it 3 x 30 min then. Enjoy the extra food to keep a hopefully reasonable deficit as a side benefit.
Do whichever is more enjoyable. Or swap around!

TavistockToad

you need to stop confusing water weight with gaining fat....

k2max67

heybales wrote: »

k2max67 wrote: »

Hi
I am 129 kgs and 6’2.I ve lost around 4 kgs in the past 3 weeks (gained back 2 due to glycogen,thats a different story)
I was on a 1780 calorie diet as suggested by mfp, now am on 1550 cal.
I can do elliptical or stationary bike only .Due to some reason i cant weight train for sometime.
My question is should i do cardio or would it make my body hold weight?
If i should workout on the elliptical then how much time is sufficient,i can do 2x20 mins.And how many days a week?
Thanks!

Sounds like you have a decent amount to eat already without exercise even being accounted for yet (that's how MFP works).
So is the exercise for merely burning more so you can eat more?

Be aware your eating goal already has a deficit for weight loss with no exercise expected.

If it's for heart health, do it 3 x 30 min then. Enjoy the extra food to keep a hopefully reasonable deficit as a side benefit.
Do whichever is more enjoyable. Or swap around!

Exercise is for heart health and also so i can burn more and loose more but i guess i cant loose more than the current goals.
Also i like doing cardio.
In my case i would need to eat the exercise calories burned right? But i dont need so much calories so should i skip cardiofor a while or do limited.

Ive also read on mfp that cardio makes muscles hold on to water weight?

k2max67

TavistockToad wrote: »

you need to stop confusing water weight with gaining fat....

Can you please elaborate a bit?
Water weight is also weight right? I need to lose water weight as well right?

Nony_Mouse

k2max67 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

you need to stop confusing water weight with gaining fat....

Can you please elaborate a bit?
Water weight is also weight right? I need to lose water weight as well right?

No, you don't need to lose water weight. Being over fat is what causes health problems, that's what you need to lose.

Doing cardio will cause a small amount of water retention. This is necessary for muscle repair, and it levels off.

heybales

k2max67 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

you need to stop confusing water weight with gaining fat....

Can you please elaborate a bit?
Water weight is also weight right? I need to lose water weight as well right?

So your body makes many improvements from exercise.

Increased blood volume to handle cooling and reaching more vessels going into your muscle with oxygen - that increased water.

So you going to drain blood to get rid of that water weight?
Why would you need to try to fight what the body is doing as an improvement from exercise.

Also, if doing more endurance cardio - you are asking for body to store more carbs in muscles for use - water stores with the carbs there.
Another improvement.

No need at all, desire from improvements from exercise you are doing is asking for water weight increases.
Good increases, increase metabolism too dealing with it.

jjpptt2

k2max67 wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

you need to stop confusing water weight with gaining fat....

Can you please elaborate a bit?
Water weight is also weight right? I need to lose water weight as well right?

Technically, yes. Water weight does impact the number on the scale, so if you lose water weight, the number on the scale will probably go down as well.

But, that's kind smoke and mirrors. People want the number on the scale to go down so they can feel good about making progress and more easily measure/track that progress. But what most people want for SUCCESS is to reduce body fat. This has a greater impact on overall health, appearance, and usually how you feel in general. Losing a little water weight won't do that.

Additionally, water weight will fluctuate naturally. So gauging progress based on water weight will be, at best, frustration. Also, the amount of water weight you can lose is pretty small. The amount of body fat you can lose is almost always significantly greater.

CSARdiver

Why be concerned with water weight other than to know it's there?

My pre-run weight yesterday was 227.8 lbs. After running 4mi and walking 6mi I weighed in at 222.8. After rehydrating I was at 226.4 lbs.

Do what you love - cardio, weight lifting, etc. It's all good!