How your body adjusts to weight loss

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ready4fit
ready4fit Posts: 39
in Fitness and Exercise
OK, I love love love the elliptical but I am afraid that my body will get used to it and I will not lose anymore weight. Is this true? Even though I change my incline and resistance every week. I absolutely hate the treadmill and the stair stepper terrifies me. Help?

Replies

  • thomasxaviersayles
    thomasxaviersayles Posts: 47
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    Variety is important to weight loss and resistance training (weight lifting) is necessary. Stair step machines will make a big difference to thighs, calfs, quads, gluets, so give them a try even if it is just for a few minutes. And yes your body adjusts to about any fitness training. Cardio is important but just one aspect.
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
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    Your weight loss should come from eating less. Exercising for weight loss is very hard because your body will try to regain the calories it lost.

    Your better off using a hrm and eating back the calories you burn up to the point of your calorie deficit. Given the choice for weight loss your better off doing weight exercises than long bouts of cardio.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    Weight loss does slow down for various reasons, but using the same machine isn't one of them.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Weight loss is mostly diet. Doing the same exercise every day will not change your rate of weight loss. Especially if you're compensating for increased strength and endurance by progressively upping resistance/distance/speed.

    Do whatever exercise you enjoy to get in shape. Keep your diet in line for weight loss. You will do well.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    The more efficient you become at a specific exercise (like running or the elliptical) the less it is going to change your body. its still great for your heart, brain, etc... but the best way to change your body is to put it through things that it is VERY inefficient at.

    Yes you can change your incline, add hills, change the intensity - but eventually you will have to branch out.

    You are not doomed to the stair stepper, you might find that you love high intensity cardio like circuits and bodyweight circuits. If you can master the elliptical - imagine if you put your mind to things like pullups and kettlebells - and the changes that learning those things will make on your body? phenomenal.
  • Jxnsmma
    Jxnsmma Posts: 919 Member
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    Weight loss does slow down for various reasons, but using the same machine isn't one of them.

    Im sorry but it totally is!!! The key to success is to keep your body guessing . I used to do an hour on the elliptical every morning and didnt see any difference after an initial weight loss. i added in weights and started running as well and saw results again. Your body adapts to what youre doing. Ive read in several places that you should change your workout up every month.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    I don't believe you need to keep your body guessing, but I do believe you need to change things up in order to not want to shoot yourself in the head instead of go through with your planned exercise. Take classes, take up a new sport, go for a run on a road or on a trail, ride a bike, lift some weights, do a boot camp, try circuit training, tabata/HIIT, crossfit, take martial arts, hire a personal trainer, or a tennis coach, sign up for a triathlon... so many choices.

    I'd kill myself if my only option was riding an elliptical.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    I've read that after about 6-8 weeks, your body becomes more efficient at accomplishing your exercise, so you burn fewer calories. It's not a bad idea to change it up every couple of months just to keep your body working hard.
  • RachelLovesHockey
    RachelLovesHockey Posts: 37
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    Don't let the stair stepper scare you. I think the next time you go to the gym you should own that machine.....and then tell me about it. Get it, girl!
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    Weight loss does slow down for various reasons, but using the same machine isn't one of them.

    Im sorry but it totally is!!! The key to success is to keep your body guessing . I used to do an hour on the elliptical every morning and didnt see any difference after an initial weight loss. i added in weights and started running as well and saw results again. Your body adapts to what youre doing. Ive read in several places that you should change your workout up every month.

    I've been doing the same thing for 2 years and am making progress just fine.

    Intensity/duration needs to be changed, the specific exercise does not, especially if you're talking about simple weight loss.

    Calorie deficit is what matters, even if an exercise burns slightly less than it used to, you can still easily maintain a negative calorie balance.
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
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    Weight loss does slow down for various reasons, but using the same machine isn't one of them.

    Im sorry but it totally is!!! The key to success is to keep your body guessing . I used to do an hour on the elliptical every morning and didnt see any difference after an initial weight loss. i added in weights and started running as well and saw results again. Your body adapts to what youre doing. Ive read in several places that you should change your workout up every month.

    The change no doubt came from the weights which if your doing it right you only need to change it every 6 months to a year. Due to the progressive weight increases your changing your workout every week. Honestly unless you have a cardio aim anything that raises your heart rate will work.For weight loss cardi is optional. Not for long term health but for weight loss all you need is a deficit, If you want to look good add weights. If you want a healthy heart throw in some form of cardio.
  • Madholm
    Madholm Posts: 167
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    Lots of conflicting information in here.

    As your body becomes 'conditioned' to do a certain exercise it becomes less taxing on you. Hence, you won't burn as many calories as you aren't pushing yourself unless you pump up the intensity to compensate.

    Changing to another exercise benefits you by targeting a different group of muscles or using the same ones in a different way. The benefit is that you are building other muscles which will increase your base calorie burn throughout the day.

    Personally I believe that you should keep improving or increasing the intensity of your favorite activity (eg running) while adding cross training (cycling, lifting, stair master) to improve your overal muscle tone and fitness.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Weight loss does slow down for various reasons, but using the same machine isn't one of them.

    Im sorry but it totally is!!! The key to success is to keep your body guessing . I used to do an hour on the elliptical every morning and didnt see any difference after an initial weight loss. i added in weights and started running as well and saw results again. Your body adapts to what youre doing. Ive read in several places that you should change your workout up every month.

    Sorry, but it totally isn't. The term "muscle confusion" is marketing gibberish. So is "keeping the body guessing".

    Your need to vary your training stimulus, but that is necessary for continued fitness improvement, not necessarily weight loss. And "varying your training stimulus" doesn't necessarily mean varying the activity-- just the combinations of intensity of duration.

    Cross training (doing different activities) can be helpful for injury prevention, to keep people interested, or to help recreational exercisers maintain a higher volume of exercise, but it is not necessary for weight loss.

    Over time, people who do the same workout over and over again can see a plateau. However, that is usually due to reduced mass from losing weight and for behavioral reasons--not because they didn't change up their workouts.

    Changing workouts too frequently can actually work against you because you never become good enough at anything to really push yourself to a new level.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I've read that after about 6-8 weeks, your body becomes more efficient at accomplishing your exercise, so you burn fewer calories. It's not a bad idea to change it up every couple of months just to keep your body working hard.

    Not true--see my other post.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I don't believe you need to keep your body guessing, but I do believe you need to change things up in order to not want to shoot yourself in the head instead of go through with your planned exercise. Take classes, take up a new sport, go for a run on a road or on a trail, ride a bike, lift some weights, do a boot camp, try circuit training, tabata/HIIT, crossfit, take martial arts, hire a personal trainer, or a tennis coach, sign up for a triathlon... so many choices.

    I'd kill myself if my only option was riding an elliptical.

    That's a psychological issue, not a physical one, and it will be different for each person. It's good that you have figured out what works for you.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Lots of conflicting information in here.

    As your body becomes 'conditioned' to do a certain exercise it becomes less taxing on you. Hence, you won't burn as many calories as you aren't pushing yourself unless you pump up the intensity to compensate.

    Changing to another exercise benefits you by targeting a different group of muscles or using the same ones in a different way. The benefit is that you are building other muscles which will increase your base calorie burn throughout the day.

    Personally I believe that you should keep improving or increasing the intensity of your favorite activity (eg running) while adding cross training (cycling, lifting, stair master) to improve your overal muscle tone and fitness.

    When the exercise "becomes less taxing", it does not mean you are burning fewer calories (unless you have lost weight). It means your max fitness level has improved so that the workload intensity is a lower percentage of your maximum. It means you can burn MORE calories now because you can work at a higher workload at the same level of perceived exertion. People who use HRMs assume they are burning fewer calories, when the truth is that they just haven't updated their settings to reflect the higher fitness level.

    Changing cardio activities will not "build...other muscles), certainly not in any signficant way, and certainly not enough to appreciably increase resting metabolism.

    As I said in another post, cross training can have benefits for your overall workout -- injury prevention, ability to maintain a high exercise frequency without building residual fatigue-- but it has NO DIRECT effect on either muscle building or calorie burn.
  • moejo3
    moejo3 Posts: 224 Member
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    I find that if you can walk outside at a track you can get in a really good workout.

    I actually do better walking outdoors at the High school track clears my mind and doesn't feel like a workout then I feel refreshed and eating a bowl of ice cream afterwards is out of the question. I have a lost weight with regular exercise (nothing extreme due to injuries and adrenal failure) the best results were after I went gluten and dairy free. just put on some ankle weights and go. I also practice yoga about 5 hours a week which is good resistance training. A few vinyasa's and you can really feel it!
  • GomesDavid
    GomesDavid Posts: 149
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    OK, I love love love the elliptical but I am afraid that my body will get used to it and I will not lose anymore weight. Is this true? Even though I change my incline and resistance every week. I absolutely hate the treadmill and the stair stepper terrifies me. Help?

    It's actually a lot easier on your joints than something like a treadmill or the stepper. And if anything, just do a few minutes at a time at first and eventually it will become easier.

    Besides, the majority of your weight loss will be as a result of your eating habits, not your exercise. As you do any exercise more often, it does become easier. Just persevere in the beginning! Don't worry about being able to burn a lot of calories doing it right now, just get your eating on the right track and do a little bit of the elliptical and each time you'll get better and better and eventually you'll be able to do wayy more time on it than you could imagine yourself being able to do right now.

    The elliptical is actually any obese person's best bet. It removes the impact issues that heavier people suffer from when using treadmills and the like. You will find it easier to push yourself hard on it, as screaming knees and ankles will be far less of an issue.

    Best wishes in your journey! :)

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