What's the best way to lose weight? I'm 5,5" and weigh 147 pounds and have a gut.

Swolvero95
Swolvero95 Posts: 1
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
What's the best way to lose weight? I don't know where to start, I am eating healthier but what should I stick to and what should I avoid? Also how much exercise do I need to do? More cardio or more muscle work? Please help me out.

Replies

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    There are no specific foods to avoid or eat. Just eat less calories than you're burning to lose weight. You don't need to exercise at all to lose weight, if you're eating less than you're burning. Exercise is for fitness and to give you more calories to eat.

    As far as cardio or strength? It looks to me like you don't really have much weight to lose. I think you'd get much better results if you focus on strength training while eating at a slight calorie deficit to reduce body fat.
  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    No specific comments but I'm in the same boat with similar stats. For me, I am focusing on losing 5-10 lbs first, and then will do muscle work. Not much into cardio and it just makes me more hungry.
  • lisaanne1369
    lisaanne1369 Posts: 377 Member
    eat less,move more.I took up running and the weight fell off!
  • joepratt503
    joepratt503 Posts: 191 Member
    Eating at a deficit may allow you to reduce your overall mass (weight loss) but exercise is gonna help you from getting "skinny fat" and it will help you manage your food/calorie more effectively...because you can ultimately eat more (which was said). The alternatives is that it helps improve caloric burn across the day and would let you do more with your body. I suppose all of that could just mean that you can eat more food but there is much more value than just that.

    The healthy food vs junk food IS also important because, again, it allows you to eat more volume of food which would also have better secondary nutrients (consider MACRO as primary nutrients) which does help improve overall health. A calorie may be a calorie but a fat is not a fat and a sugar is not a sugar. Vitamins/minerals are not present the same way in all food nor will your body absorb them the same way regardless of the food you eat.

    Ultimately, a calorie deficit is part of the big picture response for losing weight but it seems that's all anyone has to say around here...and its not the whole story.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    lbride wrote: »
    No specific comments but I'm in the same boat with similar stats. For me, I am focusing on losing 5-10 lbs first, and then will do muscle work. Not much into cardio and it just makes me more hungry.
    I waited and now I regret waiting. If you're eating at a deficit and not exercising you're going to lose some fat and some muscle. More muscle than you would doing cardio or weights since you aren't using that muscle and your body wants to conserve its fat stores. It's also much easier to retain muscle you already have than to build new muscle. So, if you wait you'll end up with less muscle.
  • juliemouse83
    juliemouse83 Posts: 6,663 Member
    I'm surprised nobody' has referred this one, yet:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants#latest

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    juliemouse83 wrote: »
    I'm surprised nobody' has referred this one, yet:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants#latest

    While this is a good post, certainly, the OP is a 19 year old male who doesn't have much weight to lose. Body recomp is going to be more important than losing weight.
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    There's no best way!

    Read some of the stickies on these forums, as they're fantastic.

    I also recommend separating your goals:

    Weight loss comes from caloric deficit -- it could be all pop tarts, if it's a deficit, you'd lose.

    Nutrition is important but is a separate goal, and you can choose to work on it or not, and how much. If so, it should be more about what works for you, keeps you feeling emotionally stable and well. You can figure it all out on your own, which is actually totally a good way to go. If you feel lost, you can look at some popular plans, but don't adhere too strictly -- keep what you like and what works for you, only.

    Fitness is also nice but a separate goal. And fitness is actually many components (7? I think?) so even if you are working on your fitness, you may be focusing more on some goals than others (such as strength, but not flexibility).

    You can try to improve in all areas at once. You can try to go all out. You could try to improve a very small amount in each area, or a lot but in only one, or whatever is sustainable for you. But separating the goals can be really helpful for tackling road blocks, for seeing progress that isn't just in the scale, and for helping you pare down if you're feeling overwhelmed, or go further if you're feeling stuck.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    Use MyFitnessPal to determine the recommended level of calories consumption for you. Then consume less calories than you burn, you will lose weight.
  • luckypony71
    luckypony71 Posts: 399 Member
    AT 5'5" and 147lbs I would say lift weights. You are a healthy weight range. The older I get and the longer I do this, I find that lifting fixes a lot of our issues.
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