Cardio gets the fat off! If you’re in the early stages of this weight loss, I just want to share and point out, that the best thing you can do to see inches lost and pounds keep coming off is Cardio! And tons of it. Cardio can be boring. I’ll agree. But it’s soooo effective in getting the heart rate up and also building the endurance required to get through those intense weight training sessions when they are added into your exercise regimen.
I have been doing some tests on myself just trying to figure out my body. I am a gym rat at this point nearly 7 months post op. I do a lot of strength training and cardio. I notice some weeks I just don’t have the energy reserve to weight train, but because my endurance is so great I just go cardio crazy just to say I didn’t sit on my a** all week. This usually happens about 1-2 weeks before my menstrual comes along. I notice during this period I lose pounds (somewhere between 4-6 pounds in a week if I go consistently 5 days straight at 1 hour each day). Then when I jump back into my weight training, there is no loss, but rather a small gain (usually about .5-1 pound) but inches are loss. I’m guessing this is because muscle is replacing fat, and a pound of fat is much fluffier than a pound of muscle, thus why weight stays the same but body looks and feels smaller. Unintentionally I have been playing this game with my body, and it happens to work! Bodybuilders would call this cut and bulk phasing. Where they’d do massive weight training and eat like crazy to bulk up and gain some serious muscle, then do massive cardio and cut calories to cut some serious fat. They play this game alternating week by week sometimes longer, and this is what creates that chiseled ripped look. You bulk up for muscle, and cut to get rid of excess fat!
In spite of it all, if you’re beginning to work out, don’t overwhelm yourself trying to weight train. Leave that for later when you’ve plateaued and want to switch up your regimen and jump start your metabolism. Just get into cardio for now. Your intake is already limited. The cardio will do its job for you. Become comfortable (not bored) with it. Switch it up. Try walking 30 minutes a day. When that gets easy, try a treadmill at the same pace but with an incline. You’ve doubled calories burned that quick! When that gets easy, jump on the elliptical (low impact and easy and burns a ton of calories once you get your breathing right). When that gets easy, add the stair master. Incorporate programs like 0 to 5k to increase endurance. Just work on that heart! It is essentially what burns fat and boosts the metabolism. Once you’re good with that, start weight training. You’ll have the endurance necessary to get through the workouts, and you’ll begin to tone and build muscle.
The best thing for your body at this stage in the game is to get active. Don’t just sit around because your stomach is the size of a tennis ball and wait for the weight to fall off! Be proactive! Nothing worse than a skinny fat person! Meaning a person that is in the ideal weight range as far as BMI but has a body fat % of over 30%. Believe me, most skinny people are fat! Also don’t get bogged down with BMI charts. They are very misleading. For example, a man 5’8 at 200 pounds is considered to have a bmi of 30 which is obese. But what if he is only 8% body fat (like most bodybuilders)? Is he really obese or unhealthy? Or in vice versa, a female that is 5’5 at 130 pounds and 38% body fat. Her BMI is 21 which is in the normal range, but she is unhealthy. Build muscle, burn fat! And the best way to jumpstart that is cardio. You will look better and feel better.. hope this helps you guys, especially the beginners!
Thanks.. well I started at 353 sooooo I knew it was gonna be a lil faster at the beginning. I eat every 3 hrs about 3-3.5 ozs at a time. I drink tons of Water and theres only been few times ive gone under 80 grams of Protein a day. I stick with lower carb options. I mostly eat meat and cheeses. Havnt incorporated much veggies and fruit into my diet bc I focus on Protein first so I rather fill up on steak than peas.. yanno? I dont "cheat" and havnt fiven myself and food rewards. I figure I can relax when im at a more desirable weight. I walk at least 5 days a week around 1.5miles... I track my steps with my fit bit zip... andi go to the gym 2xs a week for strength training for an hour.
All of you look fabulous! I just want to mention to anyone who may be stopping by that is post-op or VERY recently sleeved, please do yourself a favor- TAKE FULL LENGTH PHOTOS! I hadn't found this forum until after I'd already started my journey and NO ONE prior to being sleeved mentioned photos. I have no full-length photos of me at my highest weight and though I'm a freelance photographer, I photograph landscapes and architecture, not people, certainly not myself. So, please keep those cameras handy to document your awesome progress! :)
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