30/08/2021
This comes up quite often with both clients and in casual conversation. Cardio has been elevated to some level of mystical importance in the ‘eat less, move more’ weight loss strategy that typically fails you after you lose that first 20 pounds and then see it come crashing back and then some… I’m not saying cardio is bad, it’s just often used improperly. For weight loss, your goal is to be in a calorie deficit. As such, you need to eat fewer calories than your body needs for both regular day-to-day activity and any purposeful workout that you do.
Cardio can be that purposeful workout activity if you like, however there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, cardio doesn’t just burn fat. You lose both fat and muscle over time from cardio. Most people are good with losing fat, but kind of want to keep what muscle they have if not improve that in some way. Second, your body can metabolically adapt to the cardio over time. This is troubling because your body not only becomes more efficient when you are doing your chosen form of cardio, but it also slows metabolic function when you are not working out. Now you have to eat even less food to maintain that caloric deficit you were after in the first place.
This outlines why ‘eat less, move more’ is a race to the bottom. Luckily, there is a better way. Instead of running from your problems (see what I did there), focus on making changes in a different order.
Your first priority - by an absolute landslide - should be to correct the way you eat. Notice I didn’t say diet. You can lose weight eating significantly more calories than what most people think they need. This can be seen as a sustainable lifestyle change instead of a diet that is typically associated with major restrictions. The focus should be on eating a calorically balanced diet with macro-nutrients fit to your unique needs that includes mostly minimally processed food.
If you feel the need to workout while trying to lose weight, the most effective thing you can do is….lift weights. Where cardio causes both fat and muscle loss over time, weight training can bolster muscle causing both men and women to tone up in the areas you likely want to look better. Increased muscle leads to more metabolic need so you won’t have to reduce your calories as much as you lose weight.
If any of this is confusing, I’m happy to explain in more detail. I offer a free initial consultation and we can talk about the challenges you’ve had making changes to your body. I want to help you achieve your goals while decoding the fitness myths and mis-information so you can better understand how to take control of your health and wellness. There is a program that can work for you - even if you don’t like cardio! Message me today to get started.
