Help Please! What mix cardio:weights to lose weight?!

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  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    My opinion/experience is :
    1- Doing something is better than doing nothing. If you're exercising, you're doing something right, so don't freak out if you don't have the "perfect" workout
    2- If you don't love it, you won't stick with it. If you hate running, don't run. Find something else. (Same for most exercises)
    3- I like the way I look more when I include some weights, at least. Either alternating days, or doing cardio then weights. Or, what I'm doing right now, which is my "only weights" option … that may be misleading, because I lift 4 days (and I lift heavy and hard), run 1 day, and do some light walking/dancing/etc the other days, so there is a bit of cardio, but my focus is really mostly the lifting.

    To lose weight, simply eat at a calorie deficit. To lose weight and preserve muscle (thus lowering BF% more), eat at a deficit and workout, preferably including resistance training. I "could" try to get down to 105 lbs or something (I'm 5' tall), but I'd rather be 120-125, 20% body fat, and able to bench my own weight or more, not to mention be independent and not wait for my husband to move the furniture (or, when we moved, wring my hands because it was just my husband and me carrying the heavy stuff) laugh

    I agree with the above.

    Any exercise is better than no exercise.

    The key to weight loss is in maintaining a calorie deficit. To lose body fat, you actually don't have to do any exercise at all. You just have to eat less.

    Weight lifting is good because it helps maintain and build muscles so that you don't lose muscle in addition to fat while you are on a calorie deficit.

    Cardio is good because it helps keep your heart healthy, helps you build endurance for physical tasks, and burns a few calories that can be nice if you want to eat a little more food.

    Bear in mind that unless you are doing crazy cardio, though, the amount of calories you get out of it aren't that great. I do 30 minutes of recumbant bike riding on a Cybex 750R on level 5 weight loss mode and I burn 120 calories. That's about a slice of bread or 1.5 ounces of cashews. Not much to write home about. In fact, I try not to eat back my work out calories but rather use them as a buffer in my calorie log to make up for inaccuracies in logging.

    I do both lifting and cardio. I do lifting for 30 minutes, and the exercise bike for 30 minutes, at least 3 times a week.

    The most important part of my weight loss program is the diet, though.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    I came back. What I saw hurt my eyes.......

    ....should have stayed away.
  • mantium999
    mantium999 Posts: 1,490 Member
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    Holy confusion Batman!!! A thread from 2011, which had died with less than 1 page of responses, evolved into 5+ pages of.....well, I am not sure what this became. Well done to the new poster who brought this back to life by posting a link (which is the same site linked in his one and only other post).
  • NicoleAthenaGreene
    NicoleAthenaGreene Posts: 1
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    Strength training is important. Women forget this. Muscle burns calories even when you are asleep. Get 30 minutes 3 times a week. Cardio burns calories too, but that's it. Get 30-60 minutes 3-6 times a week. I have lost 51 pounds doing this.

    Nicole.
  • mantium999
    mantium999 Posts: 1,490 Member
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    Strength training is important. Women forget this. Muscle burns calories even when you are asleep. Get 30 minutes 3 times a week. Cardio burns calories too, but that's it. Get 30-60 minutes 3-6 times a week. I have lost 51 pounds doing this.

    Nicole.

    First post after being a member for 2 years and you revive a dead thread?

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