Cardio effect on weight loss question

no...because I always fueled it.

If I maintain on 2400 calories without cardio and only eat 1900 calories, I will lose about a pound per week. If I add cardiovascular fitness and my maintenance moves to 2900 calories then I eat 2400 to lose about 1 Lb per week...

you should look at exercise and fitness for the sake of fitness. And of course, if you used exercise to make your deficit bigger, you'd probably lose weight a bit faster...but you'd be failing in fueling your fitness which ultimately leads to recovery issues, etc.

also, there is such a thing as too steep a deficit...just go search the "HALP....I lost my period" or "HALP...my hair is falling out" threads...lots of young women trying to lose weight "fast"

Thing is, weight loss is a slow process...you're just going to feck yourself trying to go fast.

I ALWAYS fuel my fitness

From September 2014 through late spring 2015 I lost ~50 of my 70 pounds to date without making major changes to my diet but by increasing my activity level from sedentary to active. Yes I trimmed some excesses from my intake, but the biggest change was brought about by getting active and fit again... a slow process at first but well worth the effort. My favourite activity is running with a preference for running mountain trails.

As I've become much more fit and therefore more efficient at running, and of course much lighter, I noticed that jacking up my activity level alone wasn't enough so I joined MFP to more accurately track my intake calories and that has helped me maintain an average 1kg a week loss even accounting for a couple of pauses along the way.

While I do some body weight strength training to maintain my upper body my fitness focus is on running and secondarily on cycling. I'm delighted with my fitness improvements. Neither strength training nor dietary change alone would have brought me to this point.

Lots of cardio, 3x a week weight training, and eating at a deficit allowed me to lose ~10 pounds a month for a long time. I ate back approximately 1/2 of my exercise calories to insure I was fueling my fitness. This worked wonders for me personally.

It depends on how good I am with my diet. If I've got my intake under control, then no - cardio isn't part of my weight loss as I eat enough to compensate for calories burned through exercise. When my diet isn't as, uh, controlled as it should be, then yes... I sometimes exercise more to help create/increase my calorie deficit. Personally, the latter is a bad mindset to get in, but it happens none the less.

I've always read; "combining" cardio with strength training is the best way to go for weight loss....for many reasons. Try it for 30 day's and see if you don't see a big difference! Good luck!

@kami3006 "Fueling it properly"

Please define. Hopefully you don't mean eating 100% of your cardio burn calories.

Hint: the fat we over-fat people carry is "proper" fuel. One can do significant cardio and maintain a calorie deficit and remain healthy while dropping weight.

Its been very importnat for me as a part of getting fit and helping with the aspect jemh has pointed out.


Being able to fuel your workout properly doesnt mean you have to eat 100% of your calories back.

You do have to put a lot of work in to burn significant calories though. I'm all for a mix of cardio and weights.

Lola2248 wrote: »

fab, thanks for the range of advice. Its a mini heatwave here in the UK right now, so I'm not walking to work, so I am feeling sluggish. I am thinking of a cardio session tonight and Saturday, and PT (Strength focussed with occasional HIIT sections) on Thursday and Friday.

I think it might be try and see what happens, as everyone is different. But I don't feel so guilty about not doing cardio :-D

hi hun, i too am a livid walker but refuse too in this heat im from the midlands - yesterday it was actually quite cool in my living room so i found body combat on you tube and smashed it out that way ( whilst the kids were trashing the place) lol

To lose weight you need to maintain a consistent calorie deficit. A person can create this deficit in the following ways:

1) Through diet alone
2) Through exercise alone
3) Through a combination of diet and exercise

Many people prefer 3) as it involves a smaller reduction in food than 1) and less time commitment to exercise than 2).

So, cardio can add to your deficit which adds to you weight loss. However, some people find that exercise makes them hungrier and so end up eating more than the calories they burned through exercise thereby losing the advantage, from a weight loss perspective.

In addition, some people care more about maximising their sporting performance than the weight loss side of things. Peak performance relies on energy availability rather than energy deficit. Therefore they eat to fuel their training and take the hit on smaller to no weight loss.