Losing fat & toning up - some advice appreciated

Areaw wrote: »

Hi, hoping someone can give some advise...
My exercise at the moment just consists of cardio. I read that as muscles are underneath fat, there is no point toning them until have dealt with fat loss first.
Now I keep reading about 'skinny fat' and wonder if I am best doing toning along side my cardio? Or do I carry on as I am, and worry about toning up after.
Thanks (sorry if silly question, just not sure which way round to do things)

You should be doing some sort of resistance exercise while losing weight. Doing that, along with eating enough protein (studies show that .64-.82 grams per pound of bodyweight is a good minimum), and eating in a sensible deficit will help you retain as much muscle as possible while losing fat. Failure to work the muscle you have while losing is akin to telling your body "I don't need this muscle" and in the end you end up losing more than is optimal. That is how many people end up with the "skinny fat" look that you don't want.

You don't have to lift weights if that's not your thing. Bodyweight work--pushups, (assisted) pullups, etc.--is resistance exercise. If that kind of thing interests you, a good beginner's program is the Nerd Fitness beginner bodyweight program (find via google.) I also like startbodyweight.com's basic program since it gives you the different progression for each exercise.

In the end, resistance training along with your cardio routine will create a better fat loss than cardio alone (dependent upon your level of intensity). Cardio burns calories while you do it while adding more lean muscle will burn more calories even at rest. You can start with bodyweight exercises as jemhh said but should move to weight training as the resistance exercises you are doing become easier. Don't wait until you've lost the fat to build and strengthen the muscles, you'll definitely regret it. Additionally, if you just do cardio with no resistance training while eating in a deficit, it is more likely that you will lose a substantial amount of muscle that you do have. At the very least, doing a strength training program while you're in a deficit will help retain the muscle you do have.