How should I lose weight?
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xNausicaa
Posts: 61 Member
I went to my doctor and she told me that I should do 30 minutes of cardio and little to no strength training because that won't help me right now. She said to do this 6 days a week and that it is the best way to lose weight at my weight. I feel like that's not enough and I know she's a doctor, but I would just like a second opinion. I'm currently 260. I would like to drop about 70 pounds for many reasons. I wanted to do an hour of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training 3-4 days a week, but I was shot down and told that would be ineffective and that I shouldnt focus on strength training until I lost enough weight. Should I carry on with my workout plan or listen to her? I have no health conditions that limit me from doing anything.
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Replies
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You should lose weight by working out your calorie goal for weight loss, logging all your food and sticking to the calorie goal.
The exercise you do on top of that will be a bonus - do something you enjoy, that you'll keep doing. I love strength training, and it's a bonus that it helps maintain muscle whilst in a deficit.2 -
1) Weight loss comes from the calorie deficit. Set up the app/website here and see what calorie goal it gives you for each day, and aim to be around that number (a little higher or a little lower is fine)
2) Exercise is great for fitness, but when it comes to weight loss, it is (for most people) much easier to not consume the 500 calories than it is to try to burn it off in the gym. There are many great reasons to workout, weight loss can be supported with exercise, but weight loss should not be your primary goal with exercise.
3) There are some advantages of strength training as you lose. The main one being that while you are eating in a calorie deficit, your body will break down both fat and muscle, strength training will help protect the existing muscle mass that you have. It is easier to keep existing muscle than it is to lose it and then try to rebuild it. That being said, strength training typically causes some water retention in the muscle for repair, which makes the scale not move a lot initially, so you need to be prepared that your efforts may not show as immediately, but the magic is still happening.
ETA: (These are based on my experiences and opinions, others may feel differently. Find what resonates with you.)7 -
I'd do what makes you happy! You're much more likely to have success if you're doing something you enjoy!3
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You lose weight through being in a calorie deficit which you can create through diet, exercise or both. You should lift weights now though as this will help you retain as much muscle as possible/.4
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I already know about having a good diet, I just want to know about my exercise regimen.0
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Thank you very much!SoxyKitten wrote: »I'd do what makes you happy! You're much more likely to have success if you're doing something you enjoy!
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Losing weight is 80% diet 20% exercise, maybe even higher.
Eat less calories than you burn and do whatever exercise you enjoy. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so it is kind of important to build up muscle.0 -
3rdof7sisters wrote: »Losing weight is 80% diet 20% exercise, maybe even higher.
Eat less calories than you burn and do whatever exercise you enjoy. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so it is kind of important to build up muscle.
You loose weight through diet alone. Exercise is for overall health. You can use exercise to offset calories, but I don't believe it's reliable enough.0 -
I went to my doctor and she told me that I should do 30 minutes of cardio and little to no strength training because that won't help me right now. She said to do this 6 days a week and that it is the best way to lose weight at my weight. I feel like that's not enough and I know she's a doctor, but I would just like a second opinion. I'm currently 260. I would like to drop about 70 pounds for many reasons. I wanted to do an hour of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training 3-4 days a week, but I was shot down and told that would be ineffective and that I shouldnt focus on strength training until I lost enough weight. Should I carry on with my workout plan or listen to her? I have no health conditions that limit me from doing anything.
So, it's unfortunate your Dr is trying to steer you away from strength training as that is very important to retaining as much of your current muscle mass as possible as you lose weight. Your plan and her plan both theoretically could be effective...but that is entirely based on you're ability to eat at a reasonable deficit.
One thing I like about her plan (shorter but more often) is that 1 you'll get into a better daily routine. 2 usually people can find a little bit of time every day 3 being a beginner jumping straight to an hour of cardio could be a bit much and lead to injury.
My suggestion-Follow a basic progressive overload, full body strength training plan, 2-3x per week, doesn't have to be too extensive as long as it hits everything. Then add in 20-30 minutes of cardio the rest of the days. Follow that for a month, see how you feel and increase either the length or intensity of your cardio as you get more fit. (or a combo of both)5 -
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I would suggest treamil in walking on incline or do stairs at home. That's what i did. The treamil slowly increasing inclined until I was able to do highest of 45 minutes. Builds up your endurance and shed pounds. I last 60 lb last year. Just few days ago I beat my record of 531 floors on fit bit. Get step tracker like charge 2. Tells you how much you walked and how many floors you climbed and your heart rate and its a great thing. Trust me. Money well spent. You will not regret it.2
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I was told a similar thing back then when I had much weight to lose, I still did the strength training cos I enjoyed it so much. If eating is the key to lose weight, exercise is key to preserve muscle and shape things to look good. For me at least it is like that.1
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Do both cardio & strength. Start strength training now! It will help you retain muscle while you're losing so you'll be stronger, feel better, and look better when you get to goal.0
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Do what you enjoy. Your food intake will be most important. Don't count the calories burned, as you'll most likely overestimate unless you are doing a serious amount of work every day. Start small so you aren't super sore and less likely to do it. If you feel like you can do 1.5 hours of cardio and strength, absolutely go for it. Strength training is for strong bones, general health, etc, not weight loss.2
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As far as I'm aware, the actual weight loss/nutrition/etc training that regular doctors actually have is shockingly low, so I wouldn't take the doctor's word on a topic like this as gospel, unfortunately. As others have said, the best exercise to do is the one that you're going to enjoy and stick with. And yes, there is definitely a benefit to strength training, in that it will hopefully help you preserve muscle mass as you lose weight2
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The way I'm taking what you wrote (and maybe I'm wrong) is that you're asking if what the dr recommended is enough. Between watching calories and the cardio, sure...it's enough.
But if you're genuinely interested in strength training, then definitely go for it! It won't hurt anything and but certainly help (despite her thinking otherwise). She's making it sound like nothing is worth doing if it won't lead to weight loss, which is kinda stoooopid....
Lift those weights and have fun.3 -
Okay thank you everyone for the responses! They were all very helpful and I appreciate it!0
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From experience the most weight I ever lost was from implementing weights 4 days a week for 10 mins. I lost weight quicker and changed shape quicker than when I just did cardio.0
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There's a paradox to exercising. Exercising more may not significantly increase your weight loss as your body requires fuel for the exercise and people who tend to exercise more also tend to eat more (after a long Sunday run I'm ravenous and will easily eat a 1,000 cal breakfast).
From a fitness point of view exercising for longer periods will improve your endurance and certainly I would never try to talk someone out of strength training unless there was a specific medical reason that contraindicated it.
I wonder if your doctor is recommending the 6 day a week approach from the point of view of injury prevention (if you're going from zero to an hour there is an increased chance of overuse injury depending on the type of cardio you're doing) and the 6 day approach is more consistent, making it easier to internalize daily activity.
I'd probably do a bit of a blend......start off with the 30 min cardio 6 times weekly (and feel free to gradually buildup from that if you're exercising injury free and not feeling unduly fatigued) and incorporate strength training several times a week. I'm not a doctor but IMO it's never too early to start strength training (again, tailoring it to your current fitness levels and goals) as it helps with injury prevention on the cardio side)0 -
You've got alot of great advice already. Personally strength training has been the greatest decision I've ever made. Done it for 3 years now at my heaviest and from the very start of my weight loss. There are so many benefits. It has changed my life. I'm surprised your Doc suggested to wait. It really makes no since to me.
I shared my story on Success Stories.
120lbs down, 37 lbs to go. You might find some encouragement in it.
Whatever you do. Rock it!0
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