Just cardio or weights aswell?

A calorie deficit is what's needed for weight loss. Cardio strengthens your heart, weights help maintain muscle, but they won't help you lose weight if you don't know how much you're eating first.

Lifting heavy weights will give you the kind of body you're hoping for.

malibu927 wrote: »

A calorie deficit is what's needed for weight loss. Cardio strengthens your heart, weights help maintain muscle, but they won't help you lose weight if you don't know how much you're eating first.

I second this. You need a calorie deficit to lose weight.

Cardio and weights will help to build and tone the muscle underneath the fat!

I recommend 3-5 times a week of HIIT cardio, and weights 3-5 times a week depending on your program. I personally do strong lifts 5x5. Its a great weight program and relatively easy to learn. The HIIT cardio is pretty customizable, so do the most you can do.

Please don't avoid weights as many women think they'll get "bulky" and "manly" from them. You won't unless you supplement with steroids. lol.

Doing a combo of cardio and weights its best as you get the benefits of each. Also, have some protein after working out to get the most muscle growth.

Both are good for you but a calorie deficit is all you need to lose the weight. If it makes a difference, almost everyone that waits to start lifting until after they have lost the weight, regrets not lifting sooner.

Both. I was very consistent lifting weights for a long time. I got a dog, start walking him several miles a day, and stopped lifting regularly. I felt like I looked less defined, so I got on the scale and weighed myself for the first time in about two months. I'd lost 3 lbs, but looked puffy and less "toned". Needless to say, I've been pushing myself to get back on my regular lifting schedule.

alicer461 wrote: »

thanks for all the help guys, i think i will change and do cardio 3 days and 2 days of weights/ cardio mix . when people say cardio deficit what does this mean? burning off more than you eat? I'm sticking to a strict 1200 calories to beguine with

Yes. A deficit would be eating less calories than you burn, a surplus would be eating more than you burn.

alicer461 wrote: »

god wow! I'm going to have to step up my cardio then to burn 1200 calories haha

No you won't. Your body probably burns more than 1200 calories just by existing. Your heart beating, lungs working, cell repair. You burn calories when you eat, sleep, drive a car, take a shower, etc.. Most of the calories we burn per day are due to normal body functions and day to day activities.

alicer461 wrote: »

god wow! I'm going to have to step up my cardio then to burn 1200 calories haha

No. You don't have to burn 1200 calories during your workouts. Your body is constantly burning calories, even while you sleep. "Eating less than your body is burning" refers to ALL the calories your body burns throughout the day. In other words, your TDEE, which is different from your BMR, which is the amount of calories your body would burn per day if you were in a coma - just what's required to keep you alive and functioning. Eating below your BMR is a bad idea if you're also exercising. My guess is that 1200 calories is below your BMR. I hope you're eating back some exercise calories.

There's no need to eat so little when you're working out five days per week. Your body probably isn't performing nearly as well as it could if you gave it more fuel. I lost most of my weight eating 1850 calories per day and I have a desk job. I'm no special snowflake - don't be scared to eat.

As for all cardio vs. cardio and some weights, I vote all weights, no cardio. However, a mixture of both is ideal.

BecomingBane wrote: »

darrenj1987 wrote: »

Try looking for a metabolic circuit training plan its great for weight loss and includes weights depending on the circuit but alot of muscle fitness I just finished a 8 week plan lost 40lb and gaining alot of muscle growth

This person seems to float around threads giving exactly the same answer.

The answer is that everyone has different goals and methods work differently for everyone. Try both, find what you like and what you think works. If you lift, find a program that you like and stick with it for a while. Don't program hop or you will defeat your purposes. If you like cardio, do cardio. They both have different purposes and lead to different results. It depends on your goals.

No not exactly how I work on these if you saw the same answer I gave on another thread it's because I felt the same answer applied sure advice is advice regardless if it's copied or taken from elsewhere is it not? Why try writing it twice when some clever sod created copy and paste :

alicer461 wrote: »

thanks for all the help guys, i think i will change and do cardio 3 days and 2 days of weights/ cardio mix . when people say cardio deficit what does this mean? burning off more than you eat? I'm sticking to a strict 1200 calories to beguine with

1200 calories + exercise calories* is eating at a deficit. *Exercise calories are overestimated...just eat a portion back.

The term is skinny-fat.....not skinny. Think of it like this: diet with zero exercise is a smaller version of the current you. If you have some "puffiness" some jiggle.....zero exercise will help you maintain the puffiness and the jiggle. Adding all cardio will have virtually the same effect....only you get there faster because you burn some additional calories.

Strength training helps you keep existing lean muscle. This helps you get rid of the puffiness & the jiggle because you are losing (mostly) fat.

Skip the strength/cardio ....just do strength days. OR you could cut back on "just" cardio because your strength/cardio is taking care of that.

darrenj1987 wrote: »

Try looking for a metabolic circuit training plan its great for weight loss and includes weights depending on the circuit but alot of muscle fitness I just finished a 8 week plan lost 40lb and gaining alot of muscle growth

How is losing 40 pounds in eight weeks healthy, assuming one is not morbidly obese? How is it possible without giving birth to multiples?

darrenj1987 wrote: »

daniwilford wrote: »

darrenj1987 wrote: »

Try looking for a metabolic circuit training plan its great for weight loss and includes weights depending on the circuit but alot of muscle fitness I just finished a 8 week plan lost 40lb and gaining alot of muscle growth

How is losing 40 pounds in eight weeks healthy, assuming one is not morbidly obese? How is it possible without giving birth to multiples?

Being 273lbs currently now 221lbs I was in the gym 3 to 4 times a week invested in a personal trainer to get me working on what I needed to for a few weeks so hard work and a good diet how can losing weight become unhealthy? There is not real limit to how much you can lose in a space of time as long as it's done in the correct way. I have just done 5 weeks of maintaining weight and back this week on a diet and high work rate to lose another 40lb I have a very active job also but I had quite alot to lose to begin with

I think the point that I and others are trying to make is that generic advice is still generic. You need to know more about the person, their goals and what works for them before telling them that your method works for everyone. No one method works for everyone and it depends on many factors. While it may work for you, you did have to hire a trainer. This trainer, provided they are worth their salt, is getting paid to find out what works for you and tailor a program specifically for you to accomplish your personal goals.

As someone who has as much to lose as you do, and starting from the place that you are starting from, your advice might be sound... for you. Not everyone is in the same situation as you, nor are they you. Everyone's metabolic state will be different, their goals different, their dietary habits different, their personal strengths and weaknesses different. Get my drift?

Everyone is happy that what you are doing is working for you currently, but odds are, as you lose more, even your own methods will have to change at some point or another as it gets more difficult to lose weight/body fat as the amount that you have decreases. No one is knocking your progress, just saying that what works for you might not be optimal for others and giving generic advice to someone is never the correct answer.

darrenj1987, askes how can losing weight become unhealthy? Answer: when it comes from muscles, which it most certainly will with quick weight loss, consisting of greater than 1% of body weight per week. As much as 25% of your loss is coming from lean tissue. A body will only metabolize a finite amount of fat in a finite time period, no matter how perfect your diet and exercise routine. The worst part about it is it can be vital organ muscle that can be depleted, like your heart.