Can I still lose fat if I only make it to the gym twice a week sometimes?

strive2behealthy
strive2behealthy Posts: 74 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
My nutrition has been pretty great, but physically it has been really hard going full force into an intense work out regimen and I keep being told that it's imperative to do cardio 3-4x a week in order to lose body fat. I've been incorporating more exercise these last two months--I'll do lifting 2x a week along with high intensity cardio, but I find it difficult to find motivation to go more than that in a week. My macros each day are very good and I'm still losing but I don't know if it's fat that I'm losing.

I know fast weight loss isn't the key, I'm trying to do this realistically, but I am going to an event in late May and would like to lose at least 8 pounds.

Replies

  • strive2behealthy
    strive2behealthy Posts: 74 Member
    Another thing is that I'm working at a job 4-5 days a week where I'm constantly running around and scoopng ice cream... I feel like this may be why I don't always have the energy or motivation to be doing intense workouts 4x a week..
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    strive2behealthy wrote: »
    I keep being told that it's imperative to do cardio 3-4x a week in order to lose body fat. I've been incorporating more exercise these last two months--

    That's BS. While cardio is great for your health, you can lose fat just fine without it. To lose fat, you just need a deficit. And, frankly, being more active in your day-to-day life will burn more calories than a couple of hours a week at the gym anyway.
  • karenzehob
    karenzehob Posts: 87 Member
    I've barely worked out these past 3 weeks (1-2 times) and I've steadily been losing 2lbs a week. It's not necessary :)
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    As others said, deficit is all you need to lose. Cardio can help you get there but it's not necessary. Strength​ training will help preserve muscle as you lose.

    To give you an idea, when I lost about 15 lbs after my second baby I reduced my body fat % and retained muscle... I only did strength training 2-3x per week (30 min per session). The only cardio I did was walking and breastfeeding lol.
  • ChristopherLimoges
    ChristopherLimoges Posts: 298 Member
    Sure your weight loss can still be positive if you only workout twice a week. You could try Yoga and Pilates or a combo of the two. I find separating my meals throughout the day and consuming a little more of the energy boosting foods in the pre-workout meal one to two hours before workouts effective(having more grams of fat or carbs in said meal than in the other meals through the day.)
  • crazyycatlady1
    crazyycatlady1 Posts: 292 Member
    edited April 2017
    You can lose weight by going to the gym 0 times a week. Weight loss happens when the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals happen. Exercise gives you a bit more calories to play with, but as far as weight loss goes it plays a pretty minimal part.
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