I want to loose weight..

Lift. Lift heavy. Cardio is pointless.

Agree. Disagree.

I think the best method of getting in shape requires three basic things:

(1) proper eating-this means the right amoutn of calories, and the right amount of Micro and Macro nutrients

(2) lifting heavy- cuz nothing makes better use of your time. 3-4 x's a week.

(3) Cardio. There. I said it. I lost 40 lbs using primarily cardio. And it's part of a good fitness program. If you are strapped for time, try HIIT or tabata type cardio. I also sometimes do crossfit style exercises as cardio. 20 mins, 3x's a week is probably sufficient.

Lift. Lift heavy. Cardio is pointless.

Agree. Disagree.

I think the best method of getting in shape requires three basic things:

(1) proper eating-this means the right amoutn of calories, and the right amount of Micro and Macro nutrients

(2) lifting heavy- cuz nothing makes better use of your time. 3-4 x's a week.

(3) Cardio. There. I said it. I lost 40 lbs using primarily cardio. And it's part of a good fitness program. If you are strapped for time, try HIIT or tabata type cardio. I also sometimes do crossfit style exercises as cardio. 20 mins, 3x's a week is probably sufficient.

Nicely said.

Lift. Lift heavy. Cardio is pointless.

Wrong. Just plain wrong. Cardio is the best thing you can do for your heart, along with eating healthy.

Have you seen what regular runners look like? They look so lean and healthy!

Strength training should definitely be a part of your routine for maximum calorie burn. But you can also bulk up like crazy if over do it.

ugh.

the "bulky" stuff... AGAIN.

WRONG WRONG WRONG.

I focused on cardio for a decade and focused on lifting for a year. Nothing has made me bulky.

According to this, I should be eating between 1900 and 2200 calories a day. That seems kinda crazy, especially since MFP put my goal at 1400.

Trust the BMR calculations. MFP is great as a tool for tracking food/exercise, but as far as using it as a "you should eat this amount" there's a lot to be desired.

If you're honest in the calculations on the fat2fit site, it'll work for you and give you a much better number to live by than the blanket assigned number that MFP provides. After I had lost the biggest chunk of my weight, I couldn't figure out why it just stopped... for two months... thought I should eat less, then I started reading. Now that I'm eating at a TDEE deficit, I'm noticing a difference again.

It's not crazy. There are a ton of us who have ignored MFP's calorie goals, created a slight calorie deficit from TDEE and have successfully lost weight at a sustainable pace. If it weren't for "helloitsdan" I would be chewing my arm off during the day from hunger And trust me, I eat everything under the sun except the kitchen sink :laugh:

According to this, I should be eating between 1900 and 2200 calories a day. That seems kinda crazy, especially since MFP put my goal at 1400.

Please allow me to explain:

MFP method gave you 1400. With this you are to add in your exercise calories.

The other method (TDEE) already incorporates exercise, so you do NOT add more calories to your diet because you worked out today.

The benefit of the TDEE method is it makes more sense of you are strength training because as you may have noticed, 1 hr of strength training doesn't give you as much "calorie credit" as 1 hour of cardio does on the MFP program. But if you are strength training (or doing certain types of cardio like HIIT actually) you continue to "burn calories" after your work out. This means you need to be eating more than the small pittance of calories you burn in the 60 minutes of lifting you just did (or 20 mins of HIIT).

They are just different ways of going about it.

Lift. Lift heavy. Cardio is pointless.

Wrong. Just plain wrong. Cardio is the best thing you can do for your heart, along with eating healthy.

Have you seen what regular runners look like? They look so lean and healthy!

Strength training should definitely be a part of your routine for maximum calorie burn. But you can also bulk up like crazy if over do it.

Do you know why we look so lean and healthy? Most of us lift weights or do some kind of strength work

Women do not produce enough testerone to bulk up unless they are hiding a nut sack (as someone previously mentioned).

-First, go to the website I listed before (a friend just gave it to me and its great) and calculate your TDEE. Once you have that number, subtract 20%. That should be the amount of calories you eat, however, if you skip the gym, make adjustments and eat less calories.
http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

-Next, go to the next website and calculate your BMR. Never eat below this number.
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

-Lastly, start strength training. Lifting weights will help you lose the weight you want to. All the cardio is great, but you will have to continually increase the amount you do to get the same results. Try a bodypump class or a circuit training class if you do not feel comfortable going out in the "big boys" area at this time. But strength training is important for long term weight loss.

^This. I'm willing to bet a box of chickens (live, high quality) that you aren't eating enough.

I went to that link and it told me to eat 1905 calories a day.. I would be overeating if I was eating that much!

Lift. Lift heavy. Cardio is pointless.

Wrong. Just plain wrong. Cardio is the best thing you can do for your heart, along with eating healthy.

Have you seen what regular runners look like? They look so lean and healthy!

Strength training should definitely be a part of your routine for maximum calorie burn. But you can also bulk up like crazy if over do it.

ugh.

the "bulky" stuff... AGAIN.

WRONG WRONG WRONG.

I focused on cardio for a decade and focused on lifting for a year. Nothing has made me bulky.

It really depends on the body type. You can't say that you haven't seen women who bulk up from heavy weight lifting. I've seen it happen first-hand.

Strength training and Bulking up are completely different.. maybe you should read a book on it.

YOU WON"T BULK UP!!!!!!!!!! I am getting SMALLER from doing strength training exercises.

So I have been dieting since Jan. 3rd, more of a lifestyle change and an eye opener, keeping my calories around 1200, drink 64 ounces a water typically, and going to the gym and running on the elliptical and the stationary bikes.. And going to Zumba 3x a week.. Please dnt make me feel bad with any rude comments.. Please use tact.. I have seen some weight loss.. But just I'm not patient.. Am i seriously going to have my body back before summer?...

Things I have changed in my daily routines:
I use to not go to the gym and now I'm in the gym all the time
I use to drink 2-8 cokes a day.. and I haven't had a coke since Jan. 3rd
All I drink is water
I use to never count calories, or carbs.. Now I count them and count my sugar intake..


Is there anything in the gym I could be doing that will help me get my results?

1200 calories is too low for a lot of people. You don't have a massive amount of weight to lose, and you're exercising, so there's good chance that 1200 is too low for you. Large calorie deficits can be counter-productive. What kind of body are you hoping to have by the summer? If you want to see some muscle definition (ie "toned", not "bulky") then I'd definitely recommend strength training, as heavy as you can. You won't get huge, especially as you're eating at a calorie deficit. I'd also recommend eating more than you are doing now.

As far as patience goes... seems to me if it's really a lifestyle change, and not just a diet, you wouldn't need to be patient, you'd just be living your life. :flowerforyou:

I really didn't know that testosterone had so much to do with it. Thank for the info.

I should also clarify, I did exaggerate when I said "bulk up like crazy"... didn't know you guys would get this defensive about it!

There's a reason I still have 40 lbs to lose... geeeez people!