Gym -How long before I notice the effects??

mrs_B_5

I'm also trying to shift some weight, not for my wedding (that was in June 2011!) but for health reasons & the fact we're trying for little peeps! I'm managed to shift a stone so far but it's taken some work. I found keeping a food and exercise diary really beneficial (I had a paper one which I can email if anyone wants it) and also allowing myself the odd treat is helpful because it stopped me craving all the things people normally tell themselves they can't have!

Food-wise, I've just cut out unnecessary processed foods, crisps etc and kept an eye on my portion sizes. Like OP I have a liking for carbs (potatoes in particular) so definitely needed to make some adjustments to the portions I was eating. I also have some handouts relating to the eatwell plate & portions per day, and portion sizes in relation to objects/your hands, which were really helpful & I can email those too.

In terms of exercise, the fastest way to burn fat is cardio work. When one of the gym staff changed my programe by halving my cardio & adding in weights, my weight loss virtually stopped I've increased my cardio & my weight loss is happening again I still do some weights but keep the weights light & just do more reps. The other exercise I do is pole dancing It's been fantastic for my upper body, better than any of the work I've done in the gym! It's also been amazing for my confidence & mental health, I can't recommend it highly enough!

If anyone wants any of the handouts I have, just drop me a PM and I'll do my best to send them over asap! HTH

lizd87

mrs_B wrote: »

In terms of exercise, the fastest way to burn fat is cardio work. When one of the gym staff changed my programe by halving my cardio & adding in weights, my weight loss virtually stopped I've increased my cardio & my weight loss is happening again I still do some weights but keep the weights light & just do more reps.

Not true I'm afraid. The quickest way to burn fat is by building muscle. Muscle burns 50 calories when you're resting (let alone working out), fat burns 2. Your weight loss won't change because muscle is heavier than fat, but overall you'll end up burning more fat and tone up as well. That's why the gym staff did it. You'll plateau very quickly just doing cardio, and after a few weeks you'll stop noticing a difference.

Idiophreak

lizd87 wrote: »

Not true I'm afraid. The quickest way to burn fat is by building muscle. Muscle burns 50 calories when you're resting (let alone working out), fat burns 2. Your weight loss won't change because muscle is heavier than fat, but overall you'll end up burning more fat and tone up as well. That's why the gym staff did it. You'll plateau very quickly just doing cardio, and after a few weeks you'll stop noticing a difference.

I don't think it's as easy as "building muscle's better than cardio". For one thing, obviously, cardio actually builds muscle as well. For another, you burn *many* more calories doing an hour's cardio (1000ish) than you do an hour's weights (500ish). You'd need to add a lot of muscle before you burnt off, say, an extra 500 calories per day.

In terms of a plateau, I don't believe this is necessarily time dependent, but more to do with your body fat %. If you maintain a calorie deficit and there's plenty of fat still to be lost your body should just keep losing fat. I lost 2 stone gradually over some 6 months just by burning a little more than I was eating - and I only started to plateau when my body fat % got to a healthy level and my body started to resist consuming it at the same rate.

Naturally, however, I believe that the most effective way of exercising is to prevent your body from becoming specialised and keep mixing things up - and I think this is why people experience the plateau you're referring to - because their bodies learn to cope with doing, say, an hour's cycling at 12mph pretty easily and they simply stop burning as much fuel when they're doing it.

mrs_B_5

lizd87 wrote: »

Not true I'm afraid. The quickest way to burn fat is by building muscle. Muscle burns 50 calories when you're resting (let alone working out), fat burns 2. Your weight loss won't change because muscle is heavier than fat, but overall you'll end up burning more fat and tone up as well. That's why the gym staff did it. You'll plateau very quickly just doing cardio, and after a few weeks you'll stop noticing a difference.

I agree that muscle tissue uses more calories than fatty tissue. However, in the initial stages, cardio is the most effective way to lose weight and build muscle at the same time, especially when you're new to exercising. Its pointless spending hours in the gym simply doing weights to build muscle when there's a layer of fat over the top of everything.

I understand where the gym staff were coming from because a programme of purely cardio is going to result in a plateau fairly quickly but changing my programme (by halving my cardio work to include the weights) stopped the weight-loss completely near enough & now I've gone back to higher levels of cardio and small amounts of weights my weight-loss has increased again.

JBD

lizd87 wrote: »

Not true I'm afraid. The quickest way to burn fat is by building muscle. Muscle burns 50 calories when you're resting (let alone working out), fat burns 2. Your weight loss won't change because muscle is heavier than fat, but overall you'll end up burning more fat and tone up as well. That's why the gym staff did it. You'll plateau very quickly just doing cardio, and after a few weeks you'll stop noticing a difference.

I disagree with this. I have lost nearly 4 stones with cardio [mainly swimming], I'm still waiting to plateau.
OP if you can swim I really recommend it, it is great for your figure. It will tone up your shoulders , arms and legs. I have noticed that backstroke has really improved my stomach as well.

roses

Hollie84 wrote: »

TBH i dont go to the gym but do zumba and sit ups at home.when you say eating healthy what are u eating? before xmas i thought i was eating healthy I.E fish,now ive started using an app on my phone and in 10days ive lost 5.5lb when i went shopping i was going to buy some fish until i looked at it and each fillet is 330cals,it was smoked cooked mackeral each packet is 3 small fillets so u would normally have them all,its no wonder i wasnt loosing weight.u may find u loose it quicker if u use a calorie counter and exercise.im allowed 1200 cals a day,i brisk walk/jog some evenings aswell as 4 days of zumba and sit ups at home.i honestly recomend calorie counter u sometimes think u are eating healthy when infact u are having a ridiculous amount of calories,working out and not getting fast results

1,200 is quite a task! Do you mind if I ask how much you weigh now and your goal?

I am 47kg & 5ft tall. 1,370 is what myfitnesspal recommends to maintain my current size 6 dress size.

BLUis

mrs_B wrote: »

I'm also trying to shift some weight, not for my wedding (that was in June 2011!) but for health reasons & the fact we're trying for little peeps! I'm managed to shift a stone so far but it's taken some work. I found keeping a food and exercise diary really beneficial (I had a paper one which I can email if anyone wants it) and also allowing myself the odd treat is helpful because it stopped me craving all the things people normally tell themselves they can't have!

Food-wise, I've just cut out unnecessary processed foods, crisps etc and kept an eye on my portion sizes. Like OP I have a liking for carbs (potatoes in particular) so definitely needed to make some adjustments to the portions I was eating. I also have some handouts relating to the eatwell plate & portions per day, and portion sizes in relation to objects/your hands, which were really helpful & I can email those too.

In terms of exercise, the fastest way to burn fat is cardio work. When one of the gym staff changed my programe by halving my cardio & adding in weights, my weight loss virtually stopped I've increased my cardio & my weight loss is happening again I still do some weights but keep the weights light & just do more reps. The other exercise I do is pole dancing It's been fantastic for my upper body, better than any of the work I've done in the gym! It's also been amazing for my confidence & mental health, I can't recommend it highly enough!

If anyone wants any of the handouts I have, just drop me a PM and I'll do my best to send them over asap! HTH

Thanks, I have sent you a pm
x

stir_crazy

roses wrote: »

1,200 is quite a task! Do you mind if I ask how much you weigh now and your goal?

I am 47kg & 5ft tall. 1,370 is what myfitnesspal recommends to maintain my current size 6 dress size.

Roses, I too am using the myfitnesspal app to lose weight, I input my details - height: 5ft 5", weight: 175lb, goal weight: 147lb and exercising 6 times a week for 30 mins each time and want to lose 2lbs a week. Its given me 1200 calories each day as well.

BLUis

Well I'm still at it, went to the gym yesterday and weighed HEAVIER, which I wasnt happy about, but this morning, my OH said that he can tell I am losing weight, so I guess its working!

Decided to step up the cardio more and not do as many weights, but still the main ones that I need to do to tone the places I need toning!

Going to try and do 5 more minutes every 2 days until I am doing around 45 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the cross trainer. I know that I need to step it up a notch, but I am still quite unfit (although I can bike over the hill now and not move down a gear!!) so I want to take it steady.

balmk

Best way to gauge weight-loss is to see how your clothes fit rather than by weiging yourself alone. Another good way is to use scales which incorporate a body-fat monitor.

Muscle is heavier than fat, so whilst you are losing fat, your weight may stay the same or even increase as you tone and build muscle.