Stupid question, please answer anyway!

obwize
obwize Posts: 102
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm 170 and 5'3". I have 100-ish lean mass. Obviously need to lose weight. Thing is, I know what I'm willing to do long term, (about half an hour a day walk or bike ride accompanied by only unprocessed healthy eating) to maintain good health. In fact, ive been excersing like that for years, and about 3 months ago cut out processed food and really started making sure my food was nutritious. And while doing those things does have me slowly losing weight, I wouldn't mind getting out of the obese range a bit faster.

Now for the dumb question (yeah, we all know our teachers lied about that one). If I did something like 30 day shred, while eating at a healthy deficit (so maintaining muscles without building), how easy is it to then maintain that weight loss? Or people talk about weight training to lose fat, but then do you have to maintain the muscle? Okay. That's two questions. Now I'm done.

(edited to clarify, when I previously mentioned not the best health, only meant obesity isn't healthy.)

Replies

  • Docmahi
    Docmahi Posts: 1,603 Member
    I was 260 or so (dunno too scared to hope on the scale) when I started weight training, and it shredded through calories initially, and I wasn't watching what I was eating at all. Even on a large deficit for the first few months you lift heavy you will build muscle and lose weight - I did hit a plateau after about 40 pounds so I had to start watching my diet then.

    I haven't lost muscle but now I am not building much if any (although my strength is increasing) because I am continuing the resistance training on a caloric deficit. 30 DS is fantastic cardio but it isn't really weight training at all - you would want to look at starting strength or some other beginner template for weight training - but I do like 30DS a lot for weightloss.

    I dunno if any of that helped was a bit off topic :P
  • NerdyJenn
    NerdyJenn Posts: 20 Member
    We have very similar stats :)

    If I'm reading you right, you are thinking of two options to "jump start" a bigger loss. The 30day shred or doing some (heavy?) lifting. But then is the issue that you know going forward you don't want to maintain the 30 Day Shred intensity or the lifting for muscle?

    So will it backfire in some way to up the intensity through the Shred or weights if you know you won't stick with them?

    I guess my question to you is if it's possible you will stick with either one? Could you end up getting into a more high-intensity mindset going forward?

    But for what it is worth, I have successfully knocked myself down a 10lb level via higher intensity and then maintained via good eating and "basic" fitness.
  • farsteve
    farsteve Posts: 157 Member
    If I did something like 30 day shred, while eating at a healthy deficit (so maintaining muscles without building), how easy is it to then maintain that weight loss? Or people talk about weight training to lose fat, but then do you have to maintain the muscle? Okay. That's two questions. Now I'm done.

    If you do not change your eating habits (i.e. maintain the same number of calories per day) and you increase your workouts (30 Shred or lifting weights), you are manipulating the "calories in vs calories out" equation. So you're increasing calories used (out) but if you do not change calories in and then stop burning those additional calories you will gain back weight. Your "equation" reverts back to the original situation.
  • DarrelBirkett
    DarrelBirkett Posts: 221 Member
    I think I know what you are getting at. Its a minefield of info out there for one. Your body generally needs to be under its TDEE to shrink and above TDEE to grow.

    Shrinking - should be done gently in a controlled fashion. I usually say to people aim for 20% under your TDEE. Thats alongside eating clean and training. If you do that then the "shrink" can come largely from fat and not muscle.

    Grow - Same applied, eat clean, eat maybe 500cals above TDEE (to start) and train hard to get growth with minimal fat gain. This is hard any why you hear people doing cutting (shrink) and bulking (grow) periods.

    Me personally aim for the long term results. I would eat maybe 5% above TDEE to grow but very cleanly to minimise fat.

    FYI Ive shed around 30lb fat and 4lb lean tissue in 6 months. Im slowing my fat loss now and keeping check how my body responds. Making small changes to my diet and measuring / tracking.

    Ive no idea if that answers any of your question!
  • obwize
    obwize Posts: 102
    If I'm reading you right, you are thinking of two options to "jump start" a bigger loss. The 30day shred or doing some (heavy?) lifting. But then is the issue that you know going forward you don't want to maintain the 30 Day Shred intensity or the lifting for muscle?

    So will it backfire in some way to up the intensity through the Shred or weights if you know you won't stick with them?

    Yes! That is more coherently what I am asking. I would be able to stick to either to reach a goal, but I simply don't like cutting time out of my day for intense exercise. Some people Enjoy it, but I don't. A walk or bike ride is meditative for me, which is why I will continue those. The only time I'd do more for years would be if I moved to where I could have a dog. Then I'd run half an hour to an hour so the pup would get her needed energy out.
  • redraider08
    redraider08 Posts: 33 Member
    I'm 170 and 5'3". I have 100-ish lean mass. Obviously need to lose weight. Thing is, I know what I'm willing to do long term (about half an hour a day walk or bike ride accompanied by only unprocessed healthy eating) to maintain good health. But I don't have good health right now. And while doing those things does have me slowly losing weight, I wouldn't mind getting out of the obese range a bit faster.

    Now for the dumb question (yeah, we all know our teachers lied about that one). If I did something like 30 day shred, while eating at a healthy deficit (so maintaining muscles without building), how easy is it to then maintain that weight loss? Or people talk about weight training to lose fat, but then do you have to maintain the muscle? Okay. That's two questions. Now I'm done.

    I see two main issues here:

    #1. If you don't have "good health right now", I'm not sure a program such as 30 Day Shred (I assume you're referencing Jillian Michaels' dvd?) may be a bit too much too fast. I'd suggest starting out with walking or some other low-impact activity to get you in the habit of exercising daily.

    #2. I'd humbly suggest dispensing with the "when I get to the end/ when this is over" view and embrace the true "longterm-ness" of a fit lifestyle. I think that if and when you reach your goal, much of your concerns will probably be moot points.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    as far as not having good health right now, definitely talk to your doctor about starting an exercise program. depending on what he/she says then you might want to start out with something more moderate.

    i agree with redraider about forming the habit first with doing something and then later going balls to the wall. trying to do both at the same time is either going to be a setup for failure or set up for health issues if you really arent particularly healthy right now


    in terms of maintenance, the ease with which you do that is going to be based on how you fast you make changes to your lifestyle. if you're looking at this as just as temporary thing and are jumping on crazy diets or crazy workout schemes solely for the purpose of weight loss, then odds are you wont be able to sustain that and will gain weight back.
  • CassieJTS
    CassieJTS Posts: 13
    This is absolutely NOT a stupid question, I think it's awesome that you realize that you at least need to maintain. A lot of people seem to think that it's enough to just lose the weight and then go back to total crap and the other half seem to think that a hard core lifestyle change to constant exercise is the only other option. A lot of us though are in the middle (myself included) I think that if you lose the weight that way then it's great, and yeah, once you begin maintaining through mild cardio alone you're going to lose a lot of tone and some of your muscle, but you'll likely maintain your weight (i.e. the number on the scale) as long as you don't go back to no exercise and a poor diet. So no, you won't look as good in the long term as you do at the end of shredding and lifting to get to goal, but you'll still weigh less and generally be healthier than you were before losing weight which is enough for most people. That being said, buying a set of home weights and lifting maybe twice a week for 20 minutes or doing a strength workout 1-2 times a week would go a little ways towards maintaining some of that tone without requiring massive dedication to a strength/DVD regimen. Also, there's nothing wrong with wanting to jump start your weight loss, I know that I needed the motivation of dropping a few pounds quickly to be able to stick with things. I hope that I interpreted your question correctly and that I was able to help a little :)
  • obwize
    obwize Posts: 102
    Thank you everyone for your input!!! It has been incredibly helpful.

    And to clarify, I'm not out of shape in regards to what I can do, 30 pushups in a row is doable, I go on hilly hikes with friends every now and then for an hour or two without any problem. When I said not in good shape, I actually mean the shape of my body is too big. But thank you everyone for your concern. I agree doing too much in bad health can do more damage than good.

Categories