Who cares about burning calories? We want to burn fat, not

MooseWizard · March 2011

My gym had, on a white board near the exit, "Did you know doing too much cardio can make you GAIN WEIGHT?" I have been very sucessful with MFP thus far, and have not been over doing cardio or undereating, but I was still curious, so I 'googled' "too much cardio gain weight" and found this interesting article:

Too much cardio can make you fat!

By Mario Hostios

You know the commonly understood formula for weight loss. It is the premise that virtually every mainstream fitness routine accepts. However, it is an urban myth. What is it? Eat less + increase activity=weight loss. This is not true. It appears to be true just like the world appears to be flat, but you know it isn't true; the world is round. Follow this urban myth of weight loss and you will end up stranded somewhere, frustrated that you didn't reach your weight loss goal. Even worse, you may will circle the world of mainstream empty weight loss promises and come back to where you started, more overweight than when you started. Let put this urban myth to rest once and for all.

I repeat, Eat Less + Increase Activity DOES NOT EQUAL Weight Loss.

Why?

Here is the answer: Print this out, underline it, and paste it on your bathroom mirror?

Your body is not a calorie checkbook! Treat it like one and three things happen:

Phantom weight loss: some fat burning yes, but more muscle wasting and dehydration.
Weight loss plateau after 2-3 weeks due to your body developing a tolerance to what you are doing.
You gain all the weight back plus more once you quit due to a depressed metabolism.
This is the typical outcome of any diet and cardio scenario. This is the truth of burning body-fat, and staying lean, looking good, and feeling good all the days of your life:

Your body has a fat burning engine that we can compare to a campfire. To turn the engine on you will need the proper mix of wood (nutrition) and air (exercise) to keep the flames (metabolism) burning fat. The hormones or your body ignites the flames of your fat burning engine. As most women are keenly aware, hormone levels fluctuate over time so the ideal timing and ratio of wood and air to keep the fire burning does vary over the day, the week, or the month. To avoid weight loss plateaus, we need to account for this. Weight loss plateaus are the body's hormonal (and enzymatic) tolerance to what you are doing.

So what happens when we chose to cardio ourselves to death for 1 hour or more a day while cutting our food intake in half? Well let's compare it to the campfire scenario. What happens to the flames of the campfire when you take half the wood out and point a strong gust of wind at the campfire? That's right you got it. Without fuel to sustain the fire, and a strong wind blowing on the flames, the fire will burn out. Bye, fat burn, hello slow metabolism.

Excessive cardio, like a hurricane wind, blows out the fat burning flame because it because the body's hormones to "bottom out" and metabolism goes south. This response is even more severe if you "go on a diet" and the same time. Some exercise (air) is necessary to burn fat, and weight training with accessory cardio accomplishes this. Most people fail because they focus on burning calories. Who cares about burning calories? We want to burn fat'not calories.

This preoccupation with the calorie checkbook idea and endless cardio + hardly eating to "bring down the balance" continues to be accepted despite the fact it fails miserably to deliver. Even hormone conscious experts, like the people who have developed the zone and south beach diets don't recognize the application of their hormonal science to exercise, and its interrelationship to nutrition and the body hormonal clock. However, doctors are disease specialists and clinical nutritionists are food chemistry specialists. They focus on the science of the chemistry of the human body, not the art of applying strategies derived from science to a person's lifestyle to get fat burning results. Hey, most of them don't even follow their own advice. Not a criticism, just a acknowledging that they face the same challenges we all do. Personal Trainers are health and fitness experts, in the trenches applying proven strategies for results. We look to science, but it has to hold up under application, it has got to deliver. This is where the cutting edge lies. So this is the cutting edge on burning off body fat. Get rid of the notion of the calorie checkbook because that is bleeding edge of yesterday that leads to nowhere.

http://www.fitness-nutrition-weightloss.com/too-much-cardio-can-make-you-fat.html

Black_Swan · March 2011

This reminds me of the articles that say to eat your exercise calories back.

feathers1981 · March 2011

Hmm....interesting but the article doesn't seem to mkae the point I thin it is trying too very well.

I think the point is here that excessive exercise and undereating are no good for you. The way I understand this article is that if you exercise you need to eat enough i.e. you need to eat your exercise calories to retain you NET calories. You also certainly need to eat the right amount of protein and do some stregthening to help retain/build muscle mass. You will always lose a bit of muscle when you lose weight, but less if you eat more and eat more protein (put simply).

Lets face it 'exercise doesn't make you fat' but exercising too much and not eating enough could put you into starvation mode.

Feathers

lisa_lotte · March 2011

this is great, thanks for posting!!!

lareyna124 · March 2011

Hmm....interesting but the article doesn't seem to mkae the point I thin it is trying too very well.

I think the point is here that excessive exercise and undereating are no good for you. The way I understand this article is that if you exercise you need to eat enough i.e. you need to eat your exercise calories to retain you NET calories. You also certainly need to eat the right amount of protein and do some stregthening to help retain/build muscle mass. You will always lose a bit of muscle when you lose weight, but less if you eat more and eat more protein (put simply).

Lets face it 'exercise doesn't make you fat' but exercising too much and not eating enough could put you into starvation mode.

Feathers

I agree with F.

Barelmy · March 2011

...and that's why you eat your exercise calories back.

Huffdogg · March 2011

Neither of those comments is really wrong. Cutting your calories too far down can very easily sandbag your metabolism. The key is to keep your caloric intake at a level JUST low enough so that your body is forced to dig into its reserves but not so low that it thinks you are starving. To maintain that level, you should indeed eat back your exercise calories to preserve the intake level you are shooting for. For instance, my daily intake goal is around 2k calories. That means I want to get as close to 2k as I can without going over it in NET calories per day. Net referring to calories eaten - calories burned. This gives you the flexibility to rein in your consumption on a day when you are too tired to work out, OR to don a little extra cardio at the end of the day if you slipped up and went over your budget. What you don't want is being hundreds of calories under your benchmark on a continuous basis.

elizwelshman · March 2011

...and that's why you eat your exercise calories back.

Very true indeed.

leikelaferris · March 2011

That IS interesting, but I agree with feathers1981, what the article is saying is strike the balance between eating and exercise. I do cardio training as my exercise, but not the empty calorie counting kind (repetitive machines etc..), and I count calories through this website, but the webstie ADDS calories to my calorie goal when I work out, and I follow that. I do cardio that focuses on muscle gain, with constant movement changes and the use of weights. I eat really well, balanced meals with protein, carbs, dairy, and lots of fresh vegetables, some fruit, that follow my calorie count and I don't feel starved at all. I did feel a "plateau" for awhile, I was only losing a pound every two weeks, but once my muscles built up enough the fat has begun to melt off again, I lost 2 pounds in one week. So I think cardio is a very broad term, does the article mean rowing, eliptical, treadmills? Because yes, those are not going to build as much muscle over time, they focus on calorie burning, and eventually your weight loss will plateau if you don't eat enough and your body slows down your metabolism. I do cardio mixed martial arts, and The Biggest Loser Cardio Max, these make you sweat but they are building the muscles all over your body, muscle weighs more than fat, so you have to watch your weight AND your inches/body fat percentage on these workouts, you may not lose as much "weight" but your body will change for the better.

Shawna0101 · March 2011

Bump..because I have to get to work and just don't have time to read it all right now.

myofibril · March 2011

Hmm....interesting but the article doesn't seem to mkae the point I thin it is trying too very well.

I think the point is here that excessive exercise and undereating are no good for you. The way I understand this article is that if you exercise you need to eat enough i.e. you need to eat your exercise calories to retain you NET calories. You also certainly need to eat the right amount of protein and do some stregthening to help retain/build muscle mass. You will always lose a bit of muscle when you lose weight, but less if you eat more and eat more protein (put simply).

Lets face it 'exercise doesn't make you fat' but exercising too much and not eating enough could put you into starvation mode.

Feathers

Excessive exercise even if you have a reasonable calorie deficit is still counter prodcuctive. Why? Because it causes overtraining which prompts fat storage.

Our bodies simply have a finite capacity to deal with stress. Dieting down causes stress as does exercise. Balance of the two is important for optimum results.

I should make it clear that by exercise I also include resistance / strength training as well as HIIT, not just steady state cardio. In fact there is less risk of over training generally with low intensity work but that does not mean to say it cannot or will not happen.

Rest is a crucial part of the overall process.

punkrawkcutie · March 2011

It also relates to HR zones... if you maintain your cardio in the "fat burning" zone (55%-70% max HR) then all is well... Most people do their cardio workouts in the "fitness" or "cardio" zone (65%-90% max HR) which is great for training but puts you into the aerobic zone. Both have their place, but it's important to know WHAT you're doing and why you're doing it.

jodimitchell · March 2011

interesting

sauza · March 2011

thank you

RiverWild · March 2011

Hmm....interesting but the article doesn't seem to mkae the point I thin it is trying too very well.

I think the point is here that excessive exercise and undereating are no good for you. The way I understand this article is that if you exercise you need to eat enough i.e. you need to eat your exercise calories to retain you NET calories. You also certainly need to eat the right amount of protein and do some stregthening to help retain/build muscle mass. You will always lose a bit of muscle when you lose weight, but less if you eat more and eat more protein (put simply).

Lets face it 'exercise doesn't make you fat' but exercising too much and not eating enough could put you into starvation mode.

Feathers

Excessive exercise even if you have a reasonable calorie deficit is still counter prodcuctive. Why? Because it causes overtraining which prompts fat storage.

Our bodies simply have a finite capacity to deal with stress. Dieting down causes stress as does exercise. Balance of the two is important for optimum results.

I should make it clear that by exercise I also include resistance / strength training as well as HIIT, not just steady state cardio. In fact there is less risk of over training generally with low intensity work but that does not mean to say it cannot or will not happen.

Rest is a crucial part of the overall process.

Whoops, hit the wrong button.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Balance is important, I don't think there has to be such a war between strength and cardio training. Both are important, and needed. Your point about rest is really important. Thanks

pyro13g · March 2011

It also relates to HR zones... if you maintain your cardio in the "fat burning" zone (55%-70% max HR) then all is well... Most people do their cardio workouts in the "fitness" or "cardio" zone (65%-90% max HR) which is great for training but puts you into the aerobic zone. Both have their place, but it's important to know WHAT you're doing and why you're doing it.

The fat burning zone is a myth. The difference in fat burned is minimal. The big difference is in calories burned.

http://www.myfooddiary.com/resources/ask_the_expert/fat-burning_zone_myth.asp

heathersmilez · March 2011

I think what the article is trying to get at is a subtle reference to starvation mode. The line "so what happens when we chose to cardio ourselves to death for 1 hour or more a day while cutting our food intake in half?" demonstrates my thoughts that the author is just saying if at the end of the day your net calories are below 1200 there is a good chance you may lose lean muscle mass and will plateau in your weight loss pursuits. The author just tried to find another way to say it to differentiate themselves from the millions of other starvation mode articles.

The title of the article is misleading but otherwise this person is just saying the exact same thing as every other nutrition/fitness 'journalist'.

amycal · March 2011

Thanks for sharing! Good article.

MooseWizard · March 2011

The title of the article is misleading but otherwise this person is just saying the exact same thing as every other nutrition/fitness 'journalist'.

Yep, I agree. It is sometimes good to see things in a different way though. I have seen a number of posts here in the line of "I never understood it until I saw it explained that way...." or "Wow, now I get it..."

xraychick77 · March 2011

I think what the article is trying to get at is a subtle reference to starvation mode. The line "so what happens when we chose to cardio ourselves to death for 1 hour or more a day while cutting our food intake in half?" demonstrates my thoughts that the author is just saying if at the end of the day your net calories are below 1200 there is a good chance you may lose lean muscle mass and will plateau in your weight loss pursuits. The author just tried to find another way to say it to differentiate themselves from the millions of other starvation mode articles.

The title of the article is misleading but otherwise this person is just saying the exact same thing as every other nutrition/fitness 'journalist'.

I agree..I dont eat my exercise cals back. Why would I? If that was the case, then diet alone would be enough to lose weigh..why do you think people work out? to burn cals. why in heck would you eat them back?

Mindful_Trent · March 2011

While I think this article raises some important points (ex - overdoing cardio and not feeding yourself properly = not the best combination for fat burning), I don't think it's as clear cut as "don't do more than X minutes of cardio per day." I'm working on increasing my distance running - three to four days a week I am doing 45 min to over an hour of running, and one other day of the week I do an hour of cross-training cardio. Eventually I'll be doing even more. I need to continuously push myself to increase my speed and/or the length of time I can run to improve my cardiorespiratory fitness. I also incorporate weight training into my routine and I eat more than enough calories to keep my body fueled properly. I am NOT worried about slowing my metabolism because I am doing "too much cardio." I am continuing to lose weight (fat) and feel great. How many fat professional long-distance runners do you see? Not very many, and they do a ton more cardio than I do on a daily basis - probably what some would call "too much" .

Who cares about burning calories? We want to burn fat, not

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