losing weight/fat with no cardio?

Sat in a chair you use energy (calories) and a fair proportion of them from fat. While you can burn more energy doing cardio, at the time you're doing it, you don't have to do it - you just take a bit longer without it.

Weight lifting is intended to increase muscle mass which increases the energy you use sat in a chair.

Hey.

The math for this is very simple. Your body needs a certain amount of energy each day (calories) to work. As standard you get this from the food you eat. If you do not eat enough food to get the energy your body needs it will eat into your fat deposits as that is just what they are. backup energy deposits. So if you eat less food than your body needs. You lose fat.

Doing cardio is not needed to lose fat. But it helps as it raises your total energy requirement for the day. But its not needed

Weight lifting is so good as in the process of losing weight you will also lose some muscle, doing strength training means that you lose less muscle than just by cardio alone.
As i understand it our bodys are prepped to adapt to survive so if you do cardio your body will lose weight to make the cardio slightly easier but you also lose muscle as you dont need your whole muscle mass for just cardio. Whilst doing weight training your body adapts to preserve that muscle mass as you need to keep it to keep lifting this is why long distance runners have less muscle mass than weight lifters.

It's math...your body burns calories 24/7...the majority of your calorie requirements are derived from you simply existing...your heart pumping...lungs and kidneys functioning, etc. On top of that, you are doing other things throughout the day...puttering around the house, driving her and there, going to the store, etc...this stuff burns calories too.

So let's say you don't exercise at all...you're still "burning" calories in your day to day and burning calories just existing...the average female maintains weight without any deliberate exercise on around 1800 - 2000 calories or so. So to lose about 1 Lb per week you simply reduce your intake by 500 calories per day and eat 1300 - 1500 calories or so (for this example). You've created your weight loss deficit in your diet...no exercise required here...you're not trying to create your deficit with exercise with MFP.

Now lets say you exercise...this increases your calorie requirements...the more activity there is, the more calories your body requires. Lets say you go for a 3 mile run everyday and burn around 300 calories. Now your maintenance number is no longer 1800...it is 1800 + 300 = 2,100 calories....so you can now lose that same 1 Lb per week eating 1,300 + 300 = 1,700 calories. Weight lifting is going to burn calories too, just not as many as a cardio event would for the time spent. You can lose weight without the cardio, but someone who does cardio in addition to lifting is going to have a higher calorie requirement and thus be able to eat more and still lose weight than someone who only lifted weights.

It's just math. I would also have you note that the purpose of exercise isn't burning calories...burning calories is just a nice bi-product of rocking your fitness.

Hey everyone all great points. I am doing just that I really just wanted to know the big deal about weight lifting and how it plays a part in what happens after you lift weights vs cardio.

Weight lifting as the main form of exercise vs Cardio alone

Weightlifting is about maintaining muscle mass.

As you put yourself in a caloric deficit (either through eating at a deficit, exercise, or both), your body will start to cannibalize itself for energy. And it will NOT take only the fat - it will take precious muscle with you.

Weightlifting during a cutting phase is all about maintain the lean muscle mass while you are losing weight. So that instead of losing half fat and half muscle, you lose more of the weight in fat, and lose less muscle.

So, this is why many people consider weightlifting a critical element of the weight loss strategy.

My suggestion is always the same:

1) Eat at a *slight* deficit. Only a couple hundred calories from maintenance. This is easier on your sanity, helps create a good relationship with food, and makes it so you do not feel starved or deprived.

2) Lift heavy things to maintain the muscle mass you already have. You're going to want those muscles later.

3) Walk. It's the easiest cardio exercise there is, and will help you create a larger deficit than if you were only eating less. And, of course, all the standard cardio benefits apply...

Hey everyone all great points. I am doing just that I really just wanted to know the big deal about weight lifting and how it plays a part in what happens after you lift weights vs cardio.

Weight lifting as the main form of exercise vs Cardio alone

Weightlifting is about maintaining muscle mass.

As you put yourself in a caloric deficit (either through eating at a deficit, exercise, or both), your body will start to cannibalize itself for energy. And it will NOT take only the fat - it will take precious muscle with you.

Weightlifting during a cutting phase is all about maintain the lean muscle mass while you are losing weight. So that instead of losing half fat and half muscle, you lose more of the weight in fat, and lose less muscle.

So, this is why many people consider weightlifting a critical element of the weight loss strategy.

My suggestion is always the same:

1) Eat at a *slight* deficit. Only a couple hundred calories from maintenance. This is easier on your sanity, helps create a good relationship with food, and makes it so you do not feel starved or deprived.

2) Lift heavy things to maintain the muscle mass you already have. You're going to want those muscles later.

3) Walk. It's the easiest cardio exercise there is, and will help you create a larger deficit than if you were only eating less. And, of course, all the standard cardio benefits apply...

yep all good stuff here

Yep, definitely lift weights!