Cardio alone or paried with weights

sandman933

I have started MFP about 3 weeks ago and have lost 12 pounds so far. First it was 6, then 4, then 2. I am wondering why the downward trend. I have been doing about an hour of cardio 3 or 4 times a week. In the beginning I was doing cardio and weight training (more high weight low reps) and now its just been cardio. Is that was has been causing my progress to slow down a bit? I am not upset with 2 pounds because that is what I have been slated to do per week. I just want to maximize my weight loss.

luv2ash

your first week of 6 pound loss was prob due to the excess water weight we all tend to get rid of on our first week. I think a 2-pound loss is what should be expected each week.

I would do cardio one day and weights another. If you are lifting heavy weights and low reps this could make you sore, and that in turn will also show on the scale. You just have to have comfort in knowing you are doing all the right things and not be so obsessed by the scale.

udallmom101

Well, I can't exactly tell you why you are doing that, other than at first I did lose weight pretty quick, but then I evened out to about a pound a week. A pound a week is great! It has been told to me on many occasions that 1 pound a week is pretty average, and the slower it comes off the more likely it is to stay off. I have found that when I am doing something for about three or four weeks I really need to change it up. I do, and have always, done cardio with circuit training. I do my elliptical, but I also do a couple different DVD's with weights and cardio together. Just know that you may slow down the weight loss, but that is okay. Bump the exercise up to a different zone, don't let your body get too used to one thing. Confuse it with zig zagging your calories.
You are changing your life, just remember, more isn't always better.

Hova1914

A lot of your problem is probably fat to muscle conversion. When you first started working out, you hadnt built any muscle yet, so it was solely fat burn. As you continued to work out, you built up more muscle mass. And as you may or may not know, muscle weighs more than fat. Hence the skewed numbers on the scale. I would recommend investing $2 in a tape measure. The scale is not the best way to determine if you're slimming down. I guarantee you if whenever you weigh in, you also took your measurements, you'd see a steady decline in your waist, neck & hips.

ukgirly01

I've heard that its only possible to lose 2.5lbs of fat a week anything else is excess water. To be honest I dont care what it is as long as its coming off. Doing cardio will burn fat and doing weights will help you burn more calories in the long run. Im doing both but mainly concentrating on the cardio (interval running 4 times a week and increasing the run time every monday) its working a treat 17lbs in January. If I lose 2lbs a week from now on I'll be v v happy.