workouts and diet

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balguy
balguy Posts: 19 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
about 12 years ago I lost 25lbs or so , with a diet and slim fast. I did not workout, kept weight off for 11 years until I went on medication. Started working out intensly about 7 years ago.Gained 30 lbs last year (on meds) went off meds lost 10 lbs. I feel that it is harder to loose weight while working out and I am considering not working out and going as often or as intensly. Perhaps just doing twenty mins a day of very light body weight exercise or 1hr of yoga for next two months to see if I can loose weight that way easier. Any thoughts on this? would like tips from people who have knowladge from either been a personal trainer, nutrisionist, or having personally experienced something related to my question? any thoughts on medifast? I have a 19% body fat percentage and want to get it to 15% this year. thanks.

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  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    You can lose weight with or without working out. It's dependent on your preferences and goals. One reason it may be more difficult while working out is if you do not properly fuel your body (eat a few more calories when you exercise) you may become lazier and less active during non-exercise time, which means you'll burn fewer calories. You also may be more apt to go off diet at unplanned times due to feeling more hunger.
  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
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    ^^^ totally agree with above. The fact is that losing weight with exercise is a different process than losing weight just by calorie restrictions. Exercise demands more fueling, and it's not unusual for people to put themselves at too much of a deficit and feel the lethargy set in from it. 19% body fat is pretty good for someone who hasn't been very active. I think your 15% goal is very attainable with a good exercise and nutrition plan and depending on your timeline you can push that under 10%.
  • mshanepace
    mshanepace Posts: 23 Member
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    Just be careful you don't get what's referred to as skinny fat. Not that dieting without exercise makes you such but you are MUCH more prone to it when you go that route.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
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    balguy wrote: »
    about 12 years ago I lost 25lbs or so , with a diet and slim fast. I did not workout, kept weight off for 11 years until I went on medication. Started working out intensly about 7 years ago.Gained 30 lbs last year (on meds) went off meds lost 10 lbs. I feel that it is harder to loose weight while working out and I am considering not working out and going as often or as intensly. Perhaps just doing twenty mins a day of very light body weight exercise or 1hr of yoga for next two months to see if I can loose weight that way easier. Any thoughts on this? would like tips from people who have knowladge from either been a personal trainer, nutrisionist, or having personally experienced something related to my question? any thoughts on medifast? I have a 19% body fat percentage and want to get it to 15% this year. thanks.

    The quickest way to lose weight is to restrict your calories (eat at a reasonable deficit) with either no exercise, or with steady state cardio. You will lose body fat and you will lose lean mass. Your overall weight will drop, but you won't necessarily be in better shape, and your body composition might not change much from your current 19%.

    If you want to get from 19% to 15% body fat, the quickest path is to restrict calories and lift heavy weights. Since you haven't been lifting recently, you should be able to take advantage of "newbie gains." That is, you may be able to lose fat while at the same time gaining muscle mass, or at the very least, maintain most of your current muscle mass while most of the weight lost will be fat. Your overall weight loss won't be as dramatic using this method, but you'll be in far better, healthier and more attractive shape.

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