Confusion about cutting calories (or not???)

egeurin

I'm confused and a little torn I keep reading these things from multiple sources:

1) Weight loss is determined more by what and how much you eat rather than how and how much you exercise.
2) If you want to lose weight, you must be in calorie deficit (eating fewer calories than you use).
3) Building muscle with increase your metabolism because muscle burns more calories at rest.
4) Building muscle is accomplished most effectively through a weight lifting/strength training program.
5) It is basically impossible to build muscle if you are in calorie deficit.
6) (I may have this one wrong, or be confused about the circumstances in which this happens) Your body is more likely to consume muscle than fat if you're exercising a lot in calorie deficit.

I feel stuck right now. I exercise a TON but most of what I do is cardio (hot yoga, RYBO, cardio dance workouts, etc.). Whenever I do any kind of mild strength workouts (pilates, strength-oriented zumba workouts, pole fitness classes), I feel WIPED OUT for the next few days... which I am betting is because I'm not supplying my body with enough rebuilding materials.

I would really like to start weight lifting (NROLFW), but I am hesitant because my main goal is losing weight. Building muscle is not my biggest concern, though it would be really nice to be stronger and get the metabolic benefits... Are the two really mutually exclusive? Do you basically HAVE to pick one or the other?

Finally... and I know I'm just throwing a wrench into everything I just said... truthfully, my main goal is split between "losing weight" and "losing inches/FAT." But, obviously, they go hand in hand. My goal is pretty much to get back in shape, be more physically able to do more things and to look better, and losing pounds has to be part of that... but I'm not as obsessed with an exact number on a scale as I am with being in a healthy weight range, feeling better, and dropping to a lower clothing size.

I guess I just don't know which approach will serve me better - cutting calories & doing oodles of cardio, or eating more (scary!) and weight lifting.

I've been losing about 1 lb/week consistently so far, exercising about an hour and half or more per day and eating about 1500 calories per day. I'm 5'1" and weigh 150 lbs. My weight loss goal is to lose 35-40 lbs, but just losing 30 would bring me back into what's considered "healthy"

dlaplume2

I know it seems confusing, but it is not THAT bad. You do want to lift weights and tone as you are losing weight. It will help with your metabolism, as well as your energy, stamina and physical appearance. That being said you don't need to become a body builder. If you incorporate weights, like the pilates, yoga and weight lifting, you will become stronger and leaner while you are losing weight. It will help you metabolism too. You do need to make sure you are getting enough calories, but that doesn't mean you can't have a deficit. You can still lose weight and build muscle. You just won't build huge muscles while calorie resticting.

Lozze

I would really like to start weight lifting (NROLFW), but I am hesitant because my main goal is losing weight. Building muscle is not my biggest concern, though it would be really nice to be stronger and get the metabolic benefits... Are the two really mutually exclusive? Do you basically HAVE to pick one or the other?

If you main goal is losing weight, you NEED to start lifting weights. The main reason being by having more muscle, your metabolism is kicked into gear and burns fat even when you're not exercising.

Women can't bulk up just by lifting weights. We don't have enough testosterone to do so.

If you're wiped out from doing cardio then yes you are not eating enough. I can't see what plan you're doing, but if you're on 1200 calories and doing a lot of cardio you need to eat your exercise calories. Otherwise you're not supplying your body with enough nutrients.

Put it this way, do you want to lose weight quickly but be flabby and untone and potentially put it back on just as quick, or do you want to lose slowly and have a nice toned body at the end of it?

atomdraco

Lozze is right, lift weight (heavy), read:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/myth-of-women-lifting-heavy.htm

egeurin

I'm not worried about "bulking up." I know it's not a possibility. It just seems like all the advice makes it out to where losing weight and building muscle are two mutually exclusive things.

I guess what I mean when I say that "building muscle is not my biggest concern" is that I'm not concerned about challenging myself to be a lot stronger. I just don't have those specific strength goals. I feel like I'm strong enough now to do everything I want to do on a daily basis, and I WILL be able to build the strength I need for all the other kinds of exercise I do just from doing them.

This isn't to say that I don't EVER want to increase my strength. It's just that losing weight has more of a priority with me right now.

As to not eating enough... believe me, I really try to make up the calories I burn, but I feel like I'm gorging myself x.x I don't even know how I'd eat my recommended 2000 calories a day + make up for calorie burn if I were to start lifting weights.

cheri0627

I love the weights and the lifting that I do. Yes, it completely wipes me out. I work out at 5:30pm 4 days a week - 2 days boot camp, 1 day Olympic weightlifting and 1 day CrossFit. I will actually feel more exhausted by 9pm after the O-lifting than any of the other workouts, but they all are rough and kick my butt.

Adding the lifting to what already involved a lot of strength training has made a huge difference. I'm more flexible after 2 months. I'm able to hold tings like a squat or a wallsit when I couldn't have done those things before.

I will disagree that women "can't bulk up" though. My legs are bulkier than they used to be; however, they look a lot better than they used to. There is definitely muscle and tone there that didn't used to me. I always have had strong legs, though, so I wasn't surprised in the least. Know your own body. If you've got a tendency to bulk a little bit, you might have more visible muscle. Most women don't though. (And no, I don't look like a man. I'm a short woman with strong legs. That's how the women in my family are built.)

plantgrrl

So the "Can't gain muscle on a deficit thing" is about your BMR I think. SO my Basal Metabolic Rate is 1377 calories a day (how many calories I burn just by existing) at my current weight. SO, to do weight training and lose weight while gaining muscle at my current weight I need to consume at least 1377 calories and make sure I exercise while doing so to create a deficit through exercise (so your body will burn fat reserves and not muscle--your body will do that if it thinks you're "starving" yourself or if you are eating enough protein).

As a science minded person I don't buy the one or the other camp idea that you:
a) can't build muscle while doing cardio (then why do my muscles hurt the next day, huh? I must have broken down some tissue to be rebuild! Riddle me that!)
b) that I can't achieve decent results by splitting my time at the gym between the cardio and the weights.

I think there's just a lot of hate between "builders" and "runners"--everyone is convince that their side is better. Just do both and you'll see moderate results in no time. Don't worry about getting "ripped" or whatever. As women, we naturally have a higher body fat % because our bodies were build to store a little extra to take care of our babies in times of famine. And, because we don't have the elevated testosterone levels in our body that allow men to easily build nice big muscles. Female body builders are so cut because they spend LOTS of time building their muscles with specific techniques and ultra carefully managed diets. Not that you couldn't do this if you wanted to, but it didn't sound like that was your goal.

Anyhow, much love! Do what all the other moderates on this site do, ignore the blood feud between all or nothing folks and walk the middle path.

Paige1108

The most important thing for me was eating enough food to fuel my body, so it didn't feel the need to "store" energy in the form of fat. When I was only eating 1200 calories a day, I just couldn't lose weight. So I upped my calories to 1350 and started eating all my exercise calories. I never stopped losing again, until I was done.

I went from 135 to 115. The only exercise I did was biking to work everyday, 35 minute bike ride, each way, along the beach, and I love it. While I was losing weight, I ate about 1800 calories a day, on days I biked, and about 1500 calories on days I didn't bike. Now that I'm maintaining, I eat about 2000 calories a da,y on days I bike, and 1600 calories on days I don't bike. I lost about a half lbs every 10 days, which is great when you are close to your goal weight. I've maintained my loss for 9 months.

I believe in the: losing weight it's 80% food and 20% exercise, statement and so that's what I did.

Everyone has a system that works for them, you just need to find what works for you. Because if you don't like what your doing, you wont keep doing it, all the weight will come back, and bring some friends.

Good luck on your journey. I hope you find away that works for you.