Is this enough exercise a week to lose weight?

Losing 21 lbs in a month isn't something you should aim for actually. Whatever you did last time wasn't good, so don't repeat it. Losing more than 2lbs/week means you're losing a lot of muscle and not just fat.

Protein: .65g - .85 g of lean body mass
fat: at least .45g of body weight
carbs: whatever is left over

dontgiveup2319 wrote: »

So it's only how many calories you eat? I don't understand how you can eat whatever you want and never exercise and lose weight?

You can't.

Unless "whatever you want" happens to be less food than your body needs.

tincanonastring wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

dontgiveup2319 wrote: »

So it's only how many calories you eat? I don't understand how you can eat whatever you want and never exercise and lose weight?

You can't.

Unless "whatever you want" happens to be less food than your body needs.

That's what she's saying by "So it's only how many calories you eat?"

I'm referring to the OP's second sentence. You can't lose weight eating "whatever you want" unless there are some really big caveats around that.

dontgiveup2319 wrote: »

I go to the gym 6 days a week and its usually for 60 mins. Mostly cardio with some weight training. I need to lose 60+ lbs. I do all the classes like Zumba, Body Pump, Grit, Step and Strength, etc. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Yes you are getting some good exercise in!

Punch in your food you eat. Weigh that food. Get a digital scale for a whopping $22.

Eat to your calorie limit and do that amount of exercise .... and you will lose weight.

It would be good to understand how weight loss works. As mentioned read and read all the info for newbies.

Very helpful stuff

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

Fgs read the stickies. It's so clear that you haven't... they're there for a reason. Here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177910/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest

Go read those. All of them.

Weight loss comes from a caloric deficit.

Exercise is for fitness.

Read.

The Getting Started board also has a good batch of stickied posts: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177907/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

tincanonastring wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

tincanonastring wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

dontgiveup2319 wrote: »

So it's only how many calories you eat? I don't understand how you can eat whatever you want and never exercise and lose weight?

You can't.

Unless "whatever you want" happens to be less food than your body needs.

That's what she's saying by "So it's only how many calories you eat?"

I'm referring to the OP's second sentence. You can't lose weight eating "whatever you want" unless there are some really big caveats around that.

You can eat whatever you want and lose weight. You can't eat however much you want, but it doesn't matter at all what you eat.

"however much" is part of "whatever".

If I have to make a choice about what I'm eating, I'm not eating "whatever I want".

dontgiveup2319 wrote: »

So it's only how many calories you eat? I don't understand how you can eat whatever you want and never exercise and lose weight?

A calorie is a unit of energy. Your body is a machine and like any machine, it need energy to run. The fact that you merely exist requires a *kitten* ton of energy...for many people, their BMR (what you burn merely existing) makes up the greatest portion of their energy requirements.

After that, you have your day to day stuff...getting out of bed, driving to work, working, cleaning the house, cooking, etc..this stuff is known as your NEAT...you also have TEF (Thermal Effect of Food)...the energy you burn by breaking down certain foods. In RE to "eating whatever you want", certain foods are harder to breakdown than others...so you can have a higher TEF eating certain foods...but diving into that too much is pretty much majoring in the minors.

After that, you have EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)...the energy required to fuel your fitness. For the vast majority...unless you're an athlete or training like one, EAT will represent the smallest portion of one's energy requirements.

so, you put all that together and you get your maintenance calories from which you take a cut to lose weight...that's what these calculators do...they use statistical averages given your stats and other information you put in to arrive at an estimate of maintenance and then they cut from that number depending on your desired rate of loss. Note that MFP does NOT include exercise in your activity level though...this is why you log that activity and the calculator will give you calories to "eat back"...just make sure you leave some allowance for estimation error...ie don't eat them all back...most people eat some percentage back that they feel comfortable with.

Your diet is for weight control; exercise is for fitness. You don't have to do any exercise to lose weight...your calorie allotments will be paltry, but exercise isn't necessary to lose weight.

I cycle around 60 - 80 miles per week and lift 2-3x per week and I run a couple of 5Ks every week...sometimes I swap out one of those for a swim or something. I also walk my dog every other day, do a little hiking and in general I'm just pretty active outside of my job. I've lost weight, maintained weight, and gained weight doing all of that stuff. With all of that stuff I maintain weight on roughly 3000 calories...if I consume less than 3000 calories per day I will lose weight...at 2,500 calories per day for example, I will lose about 1 Lb per week. If I eat over that 3,000 calories on a consistent basis, I will gain weight. If I didn't exercise, my maintenance calories would drop to around 2,500 calories...so that's where exercise comes into play calorie wise...I can eat quite a bit more when I exercise and accomplish the same thing.

Hey Op, I'm no expert ,but I've done what you are doing. That is tons of cardio with weights, and it kept my weight neutral. Always lean and the same look. Never saw improvement, really, i just maintained. Until i read several articles (cant remember their names but from Body building .com) and all basically said to stick to lifting weights and do light cardio about 3 times a week. That way your muscles use all that fat(you have stored) as fuel. It has so far worked soooo well for me. I gave birth in December, slowly got back to the gym and i started at 140lbs and now i am 122 lbs, seeing my body change. My self confidence has gone up and my abs are appearing slowly. Never thought doing weights would change me and my body so quickly, i started lifting heavy at 4 months post partum, i walk 3 times a week because i already lose a ton of calories with breastfeeding.
A friend also told me to do weights in the beginning of a workout and end with like 10 minutes of cardio. Whether is interval training like walk/sprint in tredmill or a Hiit program, even your zumba classes. I hope it helps.

My idea is just don't think "is this enough" just every time you have the minutes/hour to go to the gym, give it your all and keep achieving new goals with weight/distance ran/time. Optimize every minute you choose to be at the gym and if the weight comes off, it comes off, if it doesn't consider more time. Use phone apps or a mini notebook to keep track of what you did and set a micro goal from that.

I find that asking "is this enough" on the forums youll get a lot of random feed back but only you can listen to your body and put more or less effort when desired. Im not trying to bash asking but just see if you can reinvent how you approach it. Think of it as a full time job, doing just enough wont get you as far as someone who is willing to go above and beyond Its worked for me so far at least!

dontgiveup2319 wrote: »

dmt4641 wrote: »

20 lbs by November is a reasonable goal. You aren't wasting anyone's time. Having goals to eat healthy/unprocessed food is great. But don't be so restrictive on yourself that you end up binging on the foods you restricted. It happens all the time. A lot of people follow an 80/20 type rule - eat healthy 80 % of the time but leave room for a few treats. Eat at a reasonable deficit, get adequate protein and fat, and lift some heavy weights. Do that consistently and you will see results over time without drastic measures.

If I have myself treats like chocolate (my favorite), then I would go back to eating junk. That's why I cut it out completely lol. But thanks for your answer :-)

Do you plan on never eating chocolate again, though? Because if you reach goal weight and just go back to how you were eating before, you'll gain it all back. It's better to try to portion out small amounts of treats.

dontgiveup2319 wrote: »

I go to the gym 6 days a week and its usually for 60 mins. Mostly cardio with some weight training. I need to lose 60+ lbs. I do all the classes like Zumba, Body Pump, Grit, Step and Strength, etc. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

In order to lose weight you need calorie deficit. Period. How you induce that calorie deficit is up to you, weather it be through diet or through exercise. Imo get your diet in check and try to do more HIIT during the week.

The amount you move around each day outside of exercise = your activity level. If you are sedentary except for exercise, choose sedentary in your MFP settings. It will automatically give you less calories and therefore you will still be in a calorie deficit.

Don't make it too complicated or hard on yourself. I know you are super motivated right now and that is wonderful. But maintaining this level of focus and drive for months on end gets exhausting and people crash, burn and go back to old habits.

Just set up your MFP to lose 1.5 or 2 lbs a week, log accurately, eat back maybe 1/2 of your exercise calories. You will lose weight if you do this CONSISTENTLY. Doesn't matter if you eat those calories in twinkles or kale. Eat enough protein, lift some weights.