Should I try to focus on my defecit and cardio THEN start back with weights?

halmsafit

I am so easily stressed about my eating and weight and reading every article about the right way to lose fat has me conflicted! I am 5'6, 175 lb-ish and around 31-32% BF. I am trying to relax and just eat healthy food but overthinking it causes me to get stressed out and eventually reach for whatever is unhealthy on the counter at work! I need to simplify this whole thing. Could I focus on eating good and healthy yet remaining at a defecit and walking/cardio 4-5 times a week OR lift at a split a few times a week and try to do a few cardio sessions as well?

leggup

The deficit is the most important thing to lose weight. Cardio can help you create that deficit by burning more per day (earning you more calories), but even cardio isn't required. You can lose weight just by eating less. Lifting is hard for me on a deficit. I feel super hungry when I lift heavy while in a cut. However, lifting can help you maintain lean mass (muscles!) which means better health and perhaps better body composition at the end.

Ideal world: lose weight by eating less, choosing a diet rich in vitamins, minerals, etc with adequate protein, lifting, and cardio all for health.

Required to lose weight: Eat fewer calories than your body needs to maintain your current weight.

stanmann571

The best time to start physical training is today. The worst time to start is tomorrow.

Also, focus on deficit first, and "healthy food" as less interesting as long as you're meeting your nutrient needs.

kshama2001

In all the years I've been reading posts here, not one person has expressed regret for starting to lift weights "too early", but many have wished they had started sooner.

My 80 year old mother with osteoporosis sure wishes she'd started sooner.

tinkerbellang83

To lose fat all you need is a calorie deficit, how you best achieve that depends on what works for you.

Exercise should primarily be for health and fitness. You are likely over-complicating this by viewing single foods as healthy and unhealthy. a healthy balanced diet can be made up of a variety of foods including those that might be of less nutritional value than others, you just have to moderate them.

Set yourself to 1lb per week loss, get yourself a food scale, log your normal intake for a couple of days, see where you can make small sustainable changes to your current diet to get down to your calorie allowance given by MFP
this could be by:

• reducing portion sizes (this is where the scale comes in handy especially when it comes to higher calorie items)
• bulking out meals with lower calorie filling foods like fruits and vegetables
• finding alternative lower calorie versions of foods
• changing the way you cook/prepare your food

give it a couple of weeks to get used to that and then once you're comfortable with that make small changes to improve your nutrition by setting and tracking your macros.

You can lose weight without ever stepping foot in a gym from what you do in the kitchen, however a little cardio will help to bump up your calories burned (allowing you to eat a little more or to have a slightly bigger deficit) and strength training will help in maintaining muscle.

RoxieDawn

Simplified? The calorie deficit will take care of fat loss. The exercise will take care of all your fitness goals and needs. Establish your exercise goals/needs, then create an exercise plan to get the results you want from that.

What ever you want to do for exercise is perfect as long as it something you get some enjoyment from and its something you can stick to. This said, lifting is good in a calorie deficit (total body workouts will do well in a deficit) it helps you maintain your muscles and some cardio sprinkled in will help you burn calories all while reaping many health benefits from both.

AliceDark

The best way to lose fat is the way that works with the rest of your life. The "best" exercise program is worthless if you can't stick to it, but doing something (anything, really) is better than doing nothing.

Start with the deficit. That's required, no matter what else you do.

As you're thinking about doing just cardio vs. cardio + lifting, which one sounds like more fun to you? Which one sounds like it would be easier for you to do consistently? I'm a HUGE proponent of lifting, mainly because that's what I enjoy, but consistency trumps everything else. If you're interested in lifting, start now. You'll be happier in the long term if you start sooner. But if you're not interested in lifting right now, do whatever sounds good to you now.

firef1y72

kshama2001 wrote: »

In all the years I've been reading posts here, not one person has expressed regret for starting to lift weights "too early", but many have wished they had started sooner.

My 80 year old mother with osteoporosis sure wishes she'd started sooner.

Although I did start (relatively) heavy compound lifting 6 months in to my weight loss and am still going 18 months later, I wish I'd started from the get go (rather than the light weights on machines I started with). Because of lifting I've managed to maintain enough muscle mass so that I'm at least 14lb heavier than the last time I was this size (UK 10/12). I'm pretty sure that I've also strengthened my bones. The way I see it :

Diet is for weight loss
Cardio is for heart and lung health (and to allow me to eat more, I love my food)
Strength training is for bone health and to look good at my lower weight.

I've combined all three to lose 142lb and as I said am at least 14lb heavier than last time I was this size and look so much healthier than I did way back then.