Drop calories or do cardio? Which would you prefer?

Options
135678

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Options
    I like cardio and I like eating the calories it burns so I do both.
  • mtvstaff
    mtvstaff Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    Yes both are very effective together! :)
  • mtvstaff
    mtvstaff Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    joejccva71 wrote: »
    I hate cardio. With a passion. I'd rather eat less. But I have alot of discipline when it comes to eating.

    Yes I'm the same as you. And when I found out that I burnt solid calories not eating as explained above it gave me a different perspective/approach on how I viewed leaning down, alot different than I use to have. I was also taught things like u must eat every two hours "stoke the metabolic fire etc" and you will go into "starvation mode and lose muscle" if you dont eat for a while or a day. All these things makes us think more about doing more exercise or worrying about the next meal when simply eating less you can aqquire the weight your after. Never did I say cardio has no health benefits, but if u don't enjoy something the chances are slim you will keep doing it. And if you want something in particular "in my case to carry Low body fat year round"..why not make life easier. Others here prefer alot of cardio and that's great! I prefer weight training 7 days a week and that's great to! .they look like they do. I look like I do. The choice is ours. :) but how you get there and how you feel doing it is what matters. "If you can maintain it, you can keep it"
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Options
    mtvstaff wrote: »
    swktg47 wrote: »
    I don't thing mtvstaff is trying to promote IF per se, I think he was just trying to explain that you burn a pretty impressive number of calories simply by being alive when you compare them to the number of calories you burn while doing cardio. And, for him, that's his motivator to EAT less rather than to do MORE cardio. Being alive is a pretty powerful calorie burner, he hates cardio, and he has the ability to restrict his calories a lot without suffering. I don't see where any of that was confusing.

    THANK YOU! :)

    +2

    For me I like the health benefits of cardio.. but I totally see what OP is saying..
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited April 2015
    Options
    Double post... this new upgrade MFP rolled out cause me issues..
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Options
    I'm all about out exercising a poor diet.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
    Options
    I use my diet for weight control and exercise for fitness.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Options
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I use my diet for weight control and exercise for fitness.

    Winner winner chicken dinner. And I use both for enjoyment. Imagine that.
  • carolynmo1969
    carolynmo1969 Posts: 120 Member
    Options
    For me, a healthy heart muscle is more important than shapely delts. However, since I mix up cardio and strength training, I'm getting to be smoking hot on the inside and out.
  • mtvstaff
    mtvstaff Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    gia07 wrote: »
    mtvstaff wrote: »
    swktg47 wrote: »
    I don't thing mtvstaff is trying to promote IF per se, I think he was just trying to explain that you burn a pretty impressive number of calories simply by being alive when you compare them to the number of calories you burn while doing cardio. And, for him, that's his motivator to EAT less rather than to do MORE cardio. Being alive is a pretty powerful calorie burner, he hates cardio, and he has the ability to restrict his calories a lot without suffering. I don't see where any of that was confusing.

    THANK YOU! :)

    +2

    For me I like the health benefits of cardio.. but I totally see what OP is saying..

    Agree, by no way am I "Anti-cardio" do what you enjoy i say :) and find the easiest way to achieve the result you want . :)
  • MelRC117
    MelRC117 Posts: 911 Member
    edited April 2015
    Options
    mtvstaff wrote: »
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Let me explain what is confusing about your post, so you can explain what you meant :)

    Let's say my BMR is 1500. Totally random but nice round number.
    Take a medium apple and say it has 100 calories. Again, probably not accurate but nice and round number.
    So, I can eat 15 apples per day and not gain or lose weight. And do nothing.
    So, I decide to sleep 9 hours per day, and eat 1 apple per hour I am awake. 15 hours awake = 15 apples.
    The next day, I decide to spend 10 of my awake hours in my back yard, staring at the clouds passing over me, and not eating. Then I eat 3 apples per hour the remaining 5 hours. So, 15 apples, again.
    In one scenario, I was eating every single hour. In the second scenario, I have managed to not eat a single calorie for 10 hours.
    Why do you think there is a difference by the end of the day ?

    So 1500 divide that by 24 you will have your calories per hour. (A handy way to think I was trying to mention)

    Or weekly, 1500 x 7 days = 10,500 per week

    Lets say you slept 10 hours and in that 10 hours you burnt 620 calories (by not eating) as your maintenance is 1500 sedentary.

    You have 14 hours left of the day.

    Doing nothing and eating nothing you will burn the remainder of the 1500 that is the last 880 calories.
    Now Lets say this was a Monday so your coming into Tuesday with a solid 1500 Deficit.

    Tuesday you eat your 1500 maintenance. And you do the same the next 6 days.

    There fore instead of hitting the total of 10,500 calories for that week you hit 1500 under because of Mondays antics.

    People forget when you do not eat your body is still using calories and those calories can ad up!… because your body its still burning.

    You can use this as an additional tool to supplement your regime like I do. And it works.

    My example showed 1500 less by not going to the gym. This was done in 24 hours to make it simple but it can be spread over days. :D
    You must be new here...

  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Options
    MelRC117 wrote: »
    mtvstaff wrote: »
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Let me explain what is confusing about your post, so you can explain what you meant :)

    Let's say my BMR is 1500. Totally random but nice round number.
    Take a medium apple and say it has 100 calories. Again, probably not accurate but nice and round number.
    So, I can eat 15 apples per day and not gain or lose weight. And do nothing.
    So, I decide to sleep 9 hours per day, and eat 1 apple per hour I am awake. 15 hours awake = 15 apples.
    The next day, I decide to spend 10 of my awake hours in my back yard, staring at the clouds passing over me, and not eating. Then I eat 3 apples per hour the remaining 5 hours. So, 15 apples, again.
    In one scenario, I was eating every single hour. In the second scenario, I have managed to not eat a single calorie for 10 hours.
    Why do you think there is a difference by the end of the day ?

    So 1500 divide that by 24 you will have your calories per hour. (A handy way to think I was trying to mention)

    Or weekly, 1500 x 7 days = 10,500 per week

    Lets say you slept 10 hours and in that 10 hours you burnt 620 calories (by not eating) as your maintenance is 1500 sedentary.

    You have 14 hours left of the day.

    Doing nothing and eating nothing you will burn the remainder of the 1500 that is the last 880 calories.
    Now Lets say this was a Monday so your coming into Tuesday with a solid 1500 Deficit.

    Tuesday you eat your 1500 maintenance. And you do the same the next 6 days.

    There fore instead of hitting the total of 10,500 calories for that week you hit 1500 under because of Mondays antics.

    People forget when you do not eat your body is still using calories and those calories can ad up!… because your body its still burning.

    You can use this as an additional tool to supplement your regime like I do. And it works.

    My example showed 1500 less by not going to the gym. This was done in 24 hours to make it simple but it can be spread over days. :D
    You must be new here...

    Lol

  • ReverendNewman
    ReverendNewman Posts: 23 Member
    edited April 2015
    Options
    mtvstaff wrote: »
    :):p;)


    Calories! Always! Losing weight (fat) is 80% diet. Trust a guy who lost 115 pounds. For years I thought I had to eat "big" because I was lifting weights. Heavy weights. Only after decades did I finally learn how little food the human body really needs. For the AVERAGE person. Olympic athletes, Tour de France cyclists of course need much more. The trick is not to cut too much or you will put ur body in a starvation mode and weight loss will just shut down. That being said, diet is far more important. U can lose weight with moderate exercise, but DIET is the key. And I mean DIET. not A diet. LOL
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Options
    mtvstaff wrote: »
    :):p;)


    Calories! Always! Losing weight (fat) is 80% diet. Trust a guy who lost 115 pounds. For years I thought I had to eat "big" because I was lifting weights. Heavy weights. Only after decades did I finally learn how little food the human body really needs. For the AVERAGE person. Olympic athletes, Tour de France cyclists of course need much more. The trick is not to cut too much or you will put ur body in a starvation mode and weight loss will just shut down. That being said, diet is far more important. U can lose weight with moderate exercise, but DIET is the key. And I mean DIET. not A diet. LOL

    Ahhh, no.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Options
    I never do cardio just to be able to eat more, but I do like that I can eat more because I don't sit all the time.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Options
    A typical cardio day for me is about 28% of BMR, and I'm not that special.

    That's pretty darn significant.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Options
    For me, a healthy heart muscle is more important than shapely delts. However, since I mix up cardio and strength training, I'm getting to be smoking hot on the inside and out.

    +1
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    edited April 2015
    Options
    I'm only maintaining my current weight, not trying to lose any. Therefore I am definitely not dropping any calories. As for cardio, I still do 3 days of HIIT and 3 days of weight lifting. I excercise to keep fit, not to eat more.
  • mtvstaff
    mtvstaff Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    For me, a healthy heart muscle is more important than shapely delts. However, since I mix up cardio and strength training, I'm getting to be smoking hot on the inside and out.

    Haha :)
  • TravellStuff
    TravellStuff Posts: 2 Member
    edited April 2015
    Options
    Thank goodness for cardio. I use it to boost my calorie limit because that 1710 calories goes awfully fast. Actually even if I stayed at 1710 calories I would not be able to meet my goal of 1 lb per week. With vigorous cardio I have enough calories to be satisfied and I am losing weight.

    The recommended HR of 220 - age number is nonsense. It depends on your level of fitness and in my case the effect of a medication that lowers my heart rate.

    I recently discovered VO2 max training. I got my doctor's permission and started training this way. I push to my maximum (my highest HR so far) + 1-2, push to that and sustain for a bit and back off, repeat several times. Keep increasing that over time. I'd love to have the test done to measure my real max, but in the meantime this approach seems to be working.

    From what I've read, VO2 training burns both stored fat and uses up calories from recent meals.

    BTW, ask this question once a month. Diet, exercise and making them part of our life is a process. I bet most people will have different answers. Besides it gives new members a chance to answer it.