How to lose fat....

[Chomper]

Originally Posted by willowey124

Thank you for all the interesting replies.

I am a 6 ft mesomorph - am fortunate to gain muscle easily. However, in the last 4 years I have also gained 50lbs (menopause has played a big part here).

I want to maintain my muscle, but lose those pounds - how do I train? Bearing in mind that I know it's a case of calories in vs calories out.

There have been some studies that you can maintain your strength with one total body strength workout a week. If you're focusing on losing fat, you might want to throw some circuits in there too so you're burning more calories and getting some extra strength work. Pick cardio you enjoy so you can be consistent with it.

[Alan]

Willowey, what are you doing now? If you aren't doing anything then a balanced fitness program including strength and cardio is a good place to start. As others have said there are "metabolic" programs which include both strength and cardio elements in the same workout.

[Sue B]

There's a link to a fat-loss rotation in this thread. Wonder if anyone has tried it?
http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=212267

Re: the menopause munchies (and associated weight gain): I had them, but now that it's been over a year, my appetite has dropped considerably and my weight has gone back down. I didn't take any hormones, so maybe this is due to "natural" hormone-reshuffling, I don't know.

[Sophie]

Originally Posted by mtngoat

The subjects of the study were young men, but the author says that they had similar results with women. He does state that the regime was grueling and likely not sustainable in the long run.

Yay McMaster

I saw that article earlier, and once I looked at what they were doing, in terms of calorie restriction and workout routine I completely agree - very few people would be happy living that way long term.

We gave them every single meal they were to eat. It contained 40 per cent less calories than they required. As soon as you start eating this diet, you are absolutely starving. By the end of these four weeks, all these young men could talk about was how hungry they were

They also all worked out together 6 days a week, and kept each other motivated in a competitive environment.

Even if the science is solid (I believe it is, it comes out of the same lab that did research on HITT), how many people can duplicate these results and maintain them?

[GinaXOXO]

Originally Posted by Kitten

I lost 45 lbs last year & saw huge strength gains. I started with the old P90 so, cardio 3x a week, strength 3x a week. I kept with that formula-except when I did a Body Beast over the summer-with great success.

As I'm now in maintainance weight wise, I'm doing Body Beast again to build up muscle.

Edit: I'm 5'7" so not as tall as you. I didn't know my body type so I Googled it. I'm an ecto/mesomorph.

What did you do diet wise?

Congrats on your weight loss!

[Footballnut]

Originally Posted by Kitten

I lost 45 lbs last year & saw huge strength gains. I started with the old P90 so, cardio 3x a week, strength 3x a week. I kept with that formula-except when I did a Body Beast over the summer-with great success.

As I'm now in maintainance weight wise, I'm doing Body Beast again to build up muscle.

Edit: I'm 5'7" so not as tall as you. I didn't know my body type so I Googled it. I'm an ecto/mesomorph.

If you don't mind my asking, how old are you? I am finding my old formula doesn't work for me any longer, but then I am 50.

[mtngoat]

Originally Posted by Sophie

Yay McMaster

I saw that article earlier, and once I looked at what they were doing, in terms of calorie restriction and workout routine I completely agree - very few people would be happy living that way long term.



They also all worked out together 6 days a week, and kept each other motivated in a competitive environment.

Even if the science is solid (I believe it is, it comes out of the same lab that did research on HITT), how many people can duplicate these results and maintain them?

Yes, articles about the study first surfaced a couple of weeks ago. I think I saw it in the NYT first.

It isn't a sustainable regime, but it does show that the belief that you can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time is false.

It's given me more motivation to keep up my lifting and Hiit workouts!

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Originally Posted by Sophie

Even if the science is solid (I believe it is, it comes out of the same lab that did research on HITT), how many people can duplicate these results and maintain them?

And there's the rub! I really believe sustainability is crucial. If you can't keep it up over the long haul, it will do you no good!

Personally, I've decided to just eat a nutrient-dense, satisfying diet, try to fit in a moderately challenging workout several times a week, and move around a lot throughout the day (I wear a fitbit and try to get in 10k a day without being a slave to it.) Then let the needle on the scale fall where it may. But that's me. As I said in an earlier post, I've tried to shed weight with more concerted effort, and nothing seems to work, so I'm just going to make my peace with it. My extra weight only really bothers me if I'm wearing clothes that don't fit me well.

[pricek]

Originally Posted by Kitten

I lost 45 lbs last year & saw huge strength gains. I started with the old P90 so, cardio 3x a week, strength 3x a week. I kept with that formula-except when I did a Body Beast over the summer-with great success.

As I'm now in maintainance weight wise, I'm doing Body Beast again to build up muscle.

Edit: I'm 5'7" so not as tall as you. I didn't know my body type so I Googled it. I'm an ecto/mesomorph.

Congratulations on your results! I'm starting Body Beast next month. Did you follow the nutrition portion of the program? I'm excited to start, but I still can't figure out how I'm going to eat 2800 calories a day!!!

[momofcha]

Originally Posted by Nuggie's Auntie

And there's the rub! I really believe sustainability is crucial. If you can't keep it up over the long haul, it will do you no good!

Personally, I've decided to just eat a nutrient-dense, satisfying diet, try to fit in a moderately challenging workout several times a week, and move around a lot throughout the day (I wear a fitbit and try to get in 10k a day without being a slave to it.) Then let the needle on the scale fall where it may. But that's me. As I said in an earlier post, I've tried to shed weight with more concerted effort, and nothing seems to work, so I'm just going to make my peace with it. My extra weight only really bothers me if I'm wearing clothes that don't fit me well.

Yep, and I'm in the process of doing what you did - purging all my too small clothes. Maybe I will forget all about them?