Too much of cardio? No weight loss!

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rishika1990
rishika1990 Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi.
I started working around 3 weeks back and have managed to hit the gym on an average 3-4 times a week.
I am doing 40 mins of cardio but no weight training.
I do one hour of yoga which involves exercises as well as meditation.

I haven't been losing weight on the scale (my initial aim) but my face seems to have become thinner and I think,THINK that i have lost inches on my waist.
I am eating very much in control with almost no sugar or junk.My meals also contain small or no portions of rice or grains(chapatis). I try to take in salads and veggies

I know this question has probably been raised many times but I am just concerned about the weight.
If someone could give an opinion it would be great!

I am new to the forum :smile:
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Replies

  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    How many calories per day are you eating?
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    If you're not losing weight, you're not in a deficit.

    You say your eating is "in control". What does that mean? Are you tracking how many calories you're actually eating? Because how many calories you're eating is going to dictate your deficit (AKA weight loss)
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
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    Hornsby wrote: »
    How many calories per day are you eating?

    This. You need to know how many calories you take in as compared to what you burn.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
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    rishika1990 wrote: »
    Hi.

    I am eating very much in control with almost no sugar or junk.My meals also contain small or no portions of rice or grains(chapatis). I try to take in salads and veggies

    Are you weighing and measuring all your food to make sure you are in a calorie deficit? Eating no sugar or junk is not a guarantee that you will lose weight. Same with limiting rice or grains. Losing weight is making sure your CI is less than you CO.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    Do you use digital food scale to weigh all your foods?? If not get one, more then likely you are eating to much.
  • Juicyneedslessjuice29
    Juicyneedslessjuice29 Posts: 2 Member
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    You have to also consider strength training, lifting weights. Cardio is good for the heart but building your muscles will help you lose weight faster. Now, you may gain weight first due to the muscle gain, but you will eventually lose the weight and more because of the increase of your muscles.
  • I_amnr
    I_amnr Posts: 129 Member
    edited April 2016
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    try intervals with your cardio
    40 second rest and 20 second intense.. at the end of the 20 seconds you have to be almost out of breath and for the 40 seconds just bring the intensity right down .. may help with burning more calories in the 40 mins and bring you into deficit .. also measure your waist.. if you are losing on your waist it almost doesn't matter what your weight is.. just make sure you weight your self on the same day in the morning, use the toilet , with no cheat meals/large meals the night before..

    I have also noticed a lot of women comment on the fact that certain times of the month you retain more water and can be several pounds heavier.. but as you can see I'm no expert on that topic best if the ladies give you more information on that one
  • BeYouTiful94
    BeYouTiful94 Posts: 289 Member
    edited April 2016
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    What is the cardio? If it's jogging or something, your muscles might be retaining water to heal because they aren't used to you doing exercise. Could also happen with walking, particularly at a brisk pace/with a high incline, but would be more of an issue if you're doing some new strenuous exercise.

    I would suggest you add some strength training. As you eat in a deficit to lose weight, you'll lose some muscle. Strength training while in a deficit will not result in any amount of significant muscle gains, you'd have to eat more for that. But, it helps with retaining the muscle that you have so that you lose fat and not a whole bunch of muscle that you'll then have to rebuild later when you stop eating in a deficit. Basically, it helps with the whole "skinny fat" concept.

    Also, invest in a food scale. Eyeballing is one of the worst things you can do for your deficit efforts. It'll undermine the whole thing. Weighing things out will be tedious at first, but it'll become a habit as you realize just how useful it really is. It's not about cutting out junk and grains. You can eat all of that and still lose if you'll just accurately measure and log things and come in at a deficit. CICO is real

    Best of luck! Stick with it. You won't lose every week, and that's just fine

    Edited because I misspelled something lol
  • ElJefeChief
    ElJefeChief Posts: 650 Member
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    It doesn't matter how much or how little strength training or cardio you do, or "eating clean," or starvation mode, or whatever - it's all about successfully eating at a deficit. To repeat what others have said: get a food scale, weigh and measure everything. If your cardio involves running or walking, consider getting an activity tracker (I have a FitBit) as its a great way to automate calculation of your calorie burn.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    Juicyneedslessjuice29 wrote: »
    You have to also consider strength training, lifting weights. Cardio is good for the heart but building your muscles will help you lose weight faster. Now, you may gain weight first due to the muscle gain, but you will eventually lose the weight and more because of the increase of your muscles.

    if she is trying to lose weight and eating in a deficit she most likely wont gain enough muscle for the scale to go up. to build muscle you need a surplus of calories. its hard to build much if any in a deficit(aside from newbie gains which would be small,or of she is returning to weight lifting and built muscle before),not to mention a female will build muscle slowly even in a surplus.when you lift in a deficit you can get stronger which does not mean muscle gain,and you can retain lean muscle mass if getting enough protein, but any real gains are going to be small and will taper off. its not going to make much of a difference in scale weight either
  • jessicakrouse12
    jessicakrouse12 Posts: 2 Member
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    You should do more than 30 minutes of cardio I have done lots of research on how to loose weight effectively and they say you only start to burn fat after 30 minutes of working out so maybe instead of 40 minutes strive for 60 to 65 minutes... also you should do some strength training... focus of reps don't focus on how much weight you are lifting the more reps you do the more fat you will burn and you will start to tone and build lean muscle which in return the more lean muscle you have your body will burn more calories in return!
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    jessicakrouse12 wrote: »
    You should do more than 30 minutes of cardio I have done lots of research on how to loose weight effectively and they say you only start to burn fat after 30 minutes of working out so maybe instead of 40 minutes strive for 60 to 65 minutes... also you should do some strength training... focus of reps don't focus on how much weight you are lifting the more reps you do the more fat you will burn and you will start to tone and build lean muscle which in return the more lean muscle you have your body will burn more calories in return!

    you dont build lean muscle in a deficit. as for cardio its done mainly for health to lose weight all you need is a deficit,
  • BiggDaddy58
    BiggDaddy58 Posts: 406 Member
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    #1 Not enough information for anyone to give you suggestions, you'd have to share your stats, age-weight etc and how many calories a day you are eating. W/o that info it is impossible to offer any suggestions of worth. You need to have a reasonable idea of how many calories you consume each day..and how many you are burning.
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
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    jessicakrouse12 wrote: »
    You should do more than 30 minutes of cardio I have done lots of research on how to loose weight effectively and they say you only start to burn fat after 30 minutes of working out so maybe instead of 40 minutes strive for 60 to 65 minutes... also you should do some strength training... focus of reps don't focus on how much weight you are lifting the more reps you do the more fat you will burn and you will start to tone and build lean muscle which in return the more lean muscle you have your body will burn more calories in return!

    Wherever your "research" is coming from, never visit those sites again, thanks
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
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    The same thing happened to me in the first weeks of starting an exercise program. I was also just doing mostly cardio and the scale wasn't shifting. Luckily for me, I had also started measuring myself and could see that the inches were dropping. The lack of weight loss could most likely be attributed to water retention from the new exercise. It will eventually go away but it's not uncommon for this to go on for weeks.

    Your only guarantee during this time, is the measuring tape. If your measurements stop dropping, AND the scale is not shifting, then that will mean you're not in a deficit and you'll need to scrutinize your diet or increase your exercise.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    jessicakrouse12 wrote: »
    You should do more than 30 minutes of cardio I have done lots of research on how to loose weight effectively and they say you only start to burn fat after 30 minutes of working out so maybe instead of 40 minutes strive for 60 to 65 minutes... also you should do some strength training... focus of reps don't focus on how much weight you are lifting the more reps you do the more fat you will burn and you will start to tone and build lean muscle which in return the more lean muscle you have your body will burn more calories in return!
    @jessicakrouse12
    No you don't need to do a set period of time to burn fat.
    Fat burning is a totally normal part of daily life - you even burn it while asleep.

    The blend/proportion of fat/glycogen you burn during exercise is determined by exercise intensity not duration.

    The "lean muscle burns more calories" is massively over-stated - absolutely minimal effect.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    jessicakrouse12 wrote: »
    You should do more than 30 minutes of cardio I have done lots of research on how to loose weight effectively and they say you only start to burn fat after 30 minutes of working out so maybe instead of 40 minutes strive for 60 to 65 minutes... also you should do some strength training... focus of reps don't focus on how much weight you are lifting the more reps you do the more fat you will burn and you will start to tone and build lean muscle which in return the more lean muscle you have your body will burn more calories in return!

    None of this is correct.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
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    I've noticed that if I alternate high activity days (running/strength training) with low activity days (walking/strength training) I lose weight the morning after the low impact days. I take one rest day a week (If I take more than one day off, though, I usually backslide); the morning after rest day is my official "weigh in" day, when my weight is at its lowest. I've learned on MFP that muscles constantly under stress will hold water, giving an artificial increase in weight.
  • sarahmichelle820
    sarahmichelle820 Posts: 11 Member
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    You can lose fat and gain muscle. I have had that happen before, that's why I have a scale that measures body fat percentage! Something to think about.
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    1. How are you measuring your foods? [are you using a food scale, yes/no?]
    2. How are you measuring your cardio? [eg, using a fitness tracker, or just estimating?]

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