We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
Drop calories or do cardio? Which would you prefer?
Replies
-
How many times are you gonna post this question? :huh:0
-
Just twice.0
-
CharlieRuns7225 wrote: »
Exercise calories are an addition-too, not a replacement for your BMR !CharlieRuns7225 wrote: »
Exercise calories are an addition-too, not a replacement for your BMR !
Yes that too
0 -
Yes that is correct but if you expend calories and put them back you are at square one again. But i do understand what you are saying.
err no because there are benefits from doing cardio other than a direct calorie burn.
You are also making the assumption that you eat 100% of your calories back.Sigh, lol. What matters is if getting your desired goal becomes easier, and if its easier to gain the result you are after then thats a good thing (Maybe better) This approach i can keep 8% BF easily at over 90kg. But every other way I've tried has cost more time in the gym , a lot MORE. This was the best and easiest way to get the result i wanted (and hold it) hence why I'm trying to show the perspective as it might help someone else and make life easier Like it did for me.
Honestly your explanations just look confused. I am getting more from ageikks explanation of what you are trying to say, which is IF suits you and its a way to control calories. Your thread title is bonkers and seems to be on a completely different subject.0 -
I weigh about the same as you. My BF is a bit higher but my TDEE is about 2700 (vs your 1900). That is 800 cals I can play around with more - creating a larger deficit, or eating.
Plus I enjoy the "cardio" that I do - running, bouldering, etc provide more than just a calorie burn to me. I'll keep the health benefits, thanks.0 -
CharlieRuns7225 wrote: »
Exercise calories are an addition-too, not a replacement for your BMR !
You do realise Charlieruns is 100% correct above and your understanding is fundamentally flawed. How can you be so confused about such a simple concept?
Oh and my answer was, its a balance of both and will depend on the day whether I have enough energy and willpower to do more exercise (subject to an overtraining excess) or whether I want to eat less or sacrifice some of my deficit.0 -
Do Cardio dropping anything you enjoy is a recipe for disaster0
-
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.0
-
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!
0 -
I hate cardio. With a passion. I'd rather eat less. But I have alot of discipline when it comes to eating.0
-
I like cardio and I like eating the calories it burns so I do both.0
-
Yes both are very effective together!0
-
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"
0 -
+2
For me I like the health benefits of cardio.. but I totally see what OP is saying..0 -
Double post... this new upgrade MFP rolled out cause me issues..0
-
I'm all about out exercising a poor diet.0
-
I use my diet for weight control and exercise for fitness.0
-
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.0 -
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.0
-
+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 sayand find the easiest way to achieve the result you want .
0 -
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.
0 -
0
-
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
0 -
ReverendNewman wrote: »
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.
0 -
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.0
-
A typical cardio day for me is about 28% of BMR, and I'm not that special.
That's pretty darn significant.
0 -
carolynmo1969 wrote: »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
0 -
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.0
-
carolynmo1969 wrote: »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.
Haha0 -
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.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394.5K Introduce Yourself
- 44K Getting Started
- 260.5K Health and Weight Loss
- 176.1K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.7K Fitness and Exercise
- 444 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 16 News and Announcements
- 1.3K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.8K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions