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I don't exercise aside from doing a lot of walking and hiking (min 3 miles/day), and I lost weight and am maintaining it. As part of this, earlier in my weight loss, I was doing some short sprinting along with my walking, just 1 or two minute sprints ever so often.
Now with the shorter days and colder/snowy weather Im thinking I need to do more gym-style exercises, such as using treadmills, exercise cycles, and so forth.
Ultimatly, though, I think that one has to really adjust calory intake (downward) and eat less fat or sugary things to lose weight and still not exercise that much. I don't think I really am losing that much by staying active, but its more of a psychological thing for me.
Hershey, if you are a guy particularly, you might lose fat but gain *weight* depending on how muscular you are now. And that can be OK. Pay more attention to your belt - if you are taking it in, you are good, regardless of what your weight is doing.
From what I have read, longer-duration lower intensity aerobic is the best fat burner. I have read from dr. flash gordon that if one burns 300 calories a day (walking, whatever) for about 2 weeks, every day, that this causes a change in your metabolic setpoint, taking your body out of what he calls "cave mode".
Keep in mind, too, that the first 10 minutes or so of exercise is just depleting energy stores in the liver (I forget the details) so 30 minutes of work is 2X as good at burning fat as 20 (net 20 vs net 10).
Txsizzler is spot on in saying that this is a permanent lifestyle change, not just a crash effort to lose the gut..
Keep in mind that eating sweets and developing a gut means you are headed in the direction of diabetes, not a place you want to go really.
I know. I also have a family history of diabetes so I need to develop a better lifestyle.
Focus on your body composition change rather than what the scale says. You may lose a few lbs at the very least, but it's all about how your clothes feel on you that should be the determining factor, not the scale.
I am living proof. I am a beast in the gym. I burn over 1000 calories per session but then I come home and eat like a pig. Obviously, I gain weight. A weight loss occurs when I workout 3 - 4x per week, at a reasonable workout level and EAT SENSIBLE. Working out is important but your consumption is the bigger key...hands down! As crazy as it sounds, I have a bigger problem controlling myself in my workouts.
Yes, you can lose weight if you work out three times a week and contol your eating. If you eat half of what you normally eat you will definitely lose weight even if you do not switch over to healthier eating habits, which is preferable. I currently eat whatever I want, but in small quantities and the belly fat is gone.
snack: organic 100 cal popcorn (actually pretty low carb and filling) and a small glass of light chocolate silk soy milk.
Soy makes people gain weight as it slows thyroid function. Matter of fact soy is what they use to fatten cows for market and corn for pigs.
As far as the whole big belly discussion...might I add high cortisol can cause one to carry weight more on the belly especially in women (the OP stated she is a woman). With much of the world under tremendous stress right now high cortisol is a likely culprit.
Focus on your body composition change rather than what the scale says. You may lose a few lbs at the very least, but it's all about how your clothes feel on you that should be the determining factor, not the scale.
This is exactly what I do. I find that being obsessed with the numbers on the scale is not only misleading (depending on when you weight yourself) but it's discouraging. I think it's part of incorporating working out into your life, but I focus on how my clothes fit and how I FEEL. If you're working out consistently, you're going to feel good, aside from a little muscle soreness.
And something I've been trying lately that's really helped is change up your work-out to keep yourself interested. I was doing the same work out every time; it gets so boring! And inevitibly I start dreading the gym and thinking of reasons not to go. Lately I've been changing my cardio, trying different machines, including intervals that I make-up (not the pre-programmed), going to yoga when I'm tired of the gym, biking ect. You just have to find an activity that you like doing and alternate with the gym.
To quote universal nutrition;
"you'd rather skip a training session than a meal, **** diet is that important"
It's not only about going to the gym, it's about having an active lifestyle with a (at least somewhat) responsible mealplan, in short the answer to OPs question is YES but only if bla bla bla Im not gonna take it all it's in hundreds of threads here by now.
You need to combine all of the above advice. Weight loss is simple math; always has been. Expend more Kcals than you take in. The problem people run into is finding the healthy balance to maintain weight loss after they have succeeded. As far as the gym goes, you need to maximize the effort you put in during the time you are there. An hour could actually be too long if you need the time. You can exhaust your systems and burn more efficiently by raising the intensity of your work outs in the time that you're there. EX: 20 minutes on the treadmill at 6.5 speed with 0.5 grade. You will feel that. Another trick is to try and reach a goal: 300 cals in 20 mins, then 500 in 30...just makes your routine more fun and challenging.
I'm a (NESTA) certified personal trainer in the S. Jersey / Philly area.
GraysFerry-thats an interesting approach. I will give it a try in the upcoming days. thanks!
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