Excercising Like Mad But Losing Nothing!

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ehte_h
ehte_h Posts: 295 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
This last year or so has been a weird one. Back in Sept 2010 I joined the gym, I was given a program which told me to basically lift heavy and do 15-20 mins cardio.

I religiously stuck to this for 6 months and lost 6lbs. Which is reallllllllllllly slow. Even I used to get comments from people saying that they couldn't see the affects of my efforts. Then I hit a brick wall, got fed up and packed it in resulting in me gaining those 6lbs back. I'm now back in but doing cardio, however everywhere I go & everyone I speak to swears by lifting heavy to lose weight. My concern is why am I so different??? Should I ditch the weights and just run everyday? I've really cleaned up my diet as well but i'm having no luck in shifting any weight at all since the initial 'water weight loss'

Replies

  • timeforme23
    timeforme23 Posts: 461
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    You definitely need more cardio. 15-20min isnt gonna cut it.
  • timeforme23
    timeforme23 Posts: 461
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    If youre just lifting youre just gaining muscle (extra pounds) you need cardio to burn the fat.
  • ehte_h
    ehte_h Posts: 295 Member
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    timeforme23 would you ditch the weights all together and just run for an hour a day?
  • reallivefitness
    reallivefitness Posts: 99
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    Try kettlebells. They are a good way to still get a strength training workout, while getting your heart rate up so you get some cardio too. I was doing hardcore cardio only (running, Insanity) for a long time and never lost any weight until I ditched the cardio and did kbells only. Now I can definitely see the changes, after only a month.
  • Mike523
    Mike523 Posts: 393 Member
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    This site has the tools to help you get on target with your food intake and exercise habits.

    1. If you haven't already done it, enter all your info and your goals into the MFP calculators, set it preferably for 1 to 1.5 pounds of loss per week, and see how many NET calories you should be eating per day.

    2. If you don't have one, get yourself a good quality heart rate monitor with a chest strap (Polar is a very good brand) so you can get a reasonably accurate estimate of calories burned during your workouts.

    3. Enter ALL your food into MFP every day, as well as the calories burned from exercise.

    4. Eat the number of calories recommended by MFP every day for 1 to 1.5 pounds of loss per week, PLUS eat back the extra calories you burned from exercise to keep your NET calories at the right level for the loss you're looking for.

    5. Do 3 days per week of weight lifting, and 3 days per week of cardio, on an alternating schedule. Sessions should be at least 30 minutes, but not much more than an hour. There are many great programs out there that can give you a routine to follow, like Power 90, P90X, Supreme 90, etc, which all follow the alternating weights/cardio schedule.

    6. Eat healthy clean foods on a regular basis to fuel your body with the nutrition it needs to perform and burn away the fat.


    This exact regimen is working for me, and I've lost 46+ pounds so far. Go for it, you can do it!
  • Mike523
    Mike523 Posts: 393 Member
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    And to answer your question, you're NOT so different. Something in your routine, whether it was your exercise routine (not enough/too much) or your eating (not enough/too much) was off target and that is why you were not getting results. Measure your food, count your calories, calculate your exercise calories burned, and work within the numbers. It WILL work for you.
  • JustMichelleB
    JustMichelleB Posts: 290
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    Personally, I don't think 15-20min of cardio is enough. I'd aim for 45 min of cardio 3times a week, alternating with weight/circuit training on the other days.
  • ehte_h
    ehte_h Posts: 295 Member
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    Thank you for all your support!

    And MWM thanks for your detailed post to.... I will definitely do as you all have suggested and get back on it. (I have already adjusted my profile) and get back on it.

    3 x weight training sessions followed by 3 x cardio sessions & a more clean diet here I come. Thanks for listening to my complaining lol
  • muffintopteri
    muffintopteri Posts: 83
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    mwm53 has great advice. as far as weight training and cardio go you need both. weight training will continue to burn calories when the work out is over cardio won't but cardio is great for your heart and your energy. They both burn calories but weight training will tone as well. if your cardio is brief make sure you are pushing it as hard as you can. don't give up because you saw that when you did you gained what you'd lost. any loss is better than gaining!
  • ehte_h
    ehte_h Posts: 295 Member
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    Thanks again :)

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