Cardio or weights?

Both. I do cardio 3x a week and strength training 3x a week and then a rest day. I won't lose weight just watching what I eat (I know some people can) but everyone is different.

Today I am going back to the gym and don't know what to concentrate on. I have 56 pounds to lose to get to my goal weight.

Should I just do cardio first to get rid of the fat? I carry most of my weight in my mid section.

Any advice would be appreciated.

The only thing that gets rid of fat is a calorie deficit. The fat will go, from where it wants and when it wants and you have no control of where it comes off, but if you keep up the deficit it will all go away, I had it in all the ugly spots and it finally went with lots of patience. The slow turtle wins this race.

You want weights AND cardio although both are to develop your lean body mass so it looks good when the fat is gone and make your body healthy and strong.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You can not make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.



And if I could encourage you to lift weights. I recently went for my DXA scan and I was told that my 51.5 year old bones are that of a super fit 30 year old. My experience with cardio, running marathon after marathon thinking I could lose the fat didn't work, but I found that a calorie deficit finally did the trick, and the lifting and running gave my body something pretty once the fat was gone --> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/740340-i-lost-60-lbs-at-age-51-anyone-can-any-workout

I wrote a whole lot of stuff that would probably bore you so I'm going to shorten it and say:

Both

Weight Lifting burns twice as many calories as Cardio...80% of being fit lies within your diet. Keep the calories clean and try to stay higher with the protein and lower your carb intake.

There's more to life than weight loss. For example strength and fitness.

See above. Weight loss is a result of calorie deficit, so your diet is the key factor. Abs are made in the kitchen.

That being said, cardio helps you get to a calorie deficit in the short term, which will help reduce body fat and overall weight, and keeps your heart and lungs in good shape so you can be active and enjoy living life. HIIT gets a bunch of attention these days and is probably the most efficient use of your cardio time, but there are things to be said for long slow cardio as well, especially if you enjoy it (I do).

Strength training helps you maintain muscle mass so your metabolism stays higher long term, which will help reduce body fat and overall weight. It also makes you stronger, more toned, and generally more fit-looking, so you can be active and enjoy living life. Free weights and exercises that involve large groups of muscles (i.e. squats, lunges, deadlifts) are probably the most efficient use of your weight training time, but there are things to be said for spot training as well, especially if you enjoy it.

I think Crossfit and similar workouts are a great overall combo of the two and a very efficient way of getting an effective workout in in short order, but intelligent minds can disagree.

*editing for clarity*

I should say I mean that you should have cardio days AND weight days, not both on the same day.

Do both.

I find it beneficial to have equal cardio time to my weight time. Also, give yourself time for a stretch/rest day.

This approach will help you retain your lean body mass while losing fat. It will be slower, but in the long run, it will keep your metabolism higher and help you lose weight.

How many days do you work out per week?

Agreed^^ I did this myself to lose the majority of my weight. I did HIIT on day, weights the next. Saturdays were always my off days. The more lean muscle mass you have, the more calroies your body will burn. Also, muscle "takes" up more space than fat, not weight more which is a common misconception. In other words, you could be toned up well and look like you weight 125 pounds when you really weigh 140 *Example only*.

Jamie Eason has some good programs to folow too. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html

Both do what they are supposed to!!!!

If you want to run a marathon, then you must run

If you want to bench press your weight, then you must lift.

If you want to lose weight, then you must eat better.

Set a freaking goal, and do what is necessary to achieve it.

:drinker:

Almost everybody should do some of both to be healthy, but the best combination depends on genetics and what your goals are. For significant weight loss high intensity interval training really helps. Look into it.

If you spend some more time doing lower or moderate intensity cardio you can eat more and still have a caloric deficit. Find something fun that you will want to do regularly. 

Strength training doesn't have to be done at the gym with weights. Any kind of resistance will benefit you as long as you are reaching muscle failure.

i walk my dog daily and do crossfit 4 times a week. as someone previously said, you do burn calories with everything you do in crossfit. the negative i find with tracking it on mfp is that it doesn't add any calories earned for strength training exercises. and i know that with the amount of sweat, constant movement, and fatigued muscles i get from an hour long class, i am burning hundreds of calories. only cardio exercise calories burned get factored in to your daily allotment. but i know that i have a lot more to "eat back" on crossfit days. and so it will look like i have gone over on calories when i really haven't.

as for cardio vs. weights, in general, the question you need to ask yourself is this: what is more important, the number on the scale or the way your *kitten* looks in jeans? weights are going to add muscle mass which is going to keep your weight higher initially, but your figure will quickly change for the better. cardio is going to shed pounds, but your body won't look as fit as what you think should match your weight until you begin to tone it.

i was once taught that the right balance for getting healthy is:
50% diet
40% strength
10% cardio

theres strength training under cardio which will help add back your calories used