What exercise is best to aid weight loss?

Weights, resistance bands and bodyweight are all forms of resistance exercise. You'll build muscle more quickly lifting heavy weights. You're unlikely to look like a bodybuilder unless you've trained like an athlete and have very low body fat so don't be put off.

I would really encourage you to do some resistance training. Weights are great, but also resistance bands or just bodyweight. Makes a massive difference to both how you look and your quality of life - when losing weight, you want to get rid of fat, not muscle.

Diet is the most important
Brisk walking is the best exercise

Hi OP

I am an online nutrition and strength coach with a degree in sport and exercise science - hoping I can help!

As you've already identified, losing weight will mainly come from nutrition and, in fact, trying to use exercise for this purpose can be frustrating and even a little depressing.

My initial advice would be to do the types of training you enjoy, it is far better to be consistent than sporadic when it comes to training. If you want to maximise your results, then I would recommend strength training with weights 2-3 times a week (you can of course do more but I don't know what your free time would be like). By focusing on getting stronger you will change the shape of your physique and lose inches - this is the key to dropping dress sizes. Often I find this is a more successful approach than solely targeting a lower scale weight (especially as a female, there can be significant fluctuations through the month due to your menstrual cycle). If you enjoy cardio, then absolutely add this in as improving your cardiovascular health will not only benefit your day to day but is also a great way of improving your overall conditioning.

With your nutrition, a moderate deficit is a good place to start (200-500 calories) - again the key is to be consistent and have something that is manageable. Two things you might find helpful in this process would be to focus on a higher protein intake (1.6-2g of protein per kilo of bodyweight) each day as well as monitoring your fibre to be around 20-30g a day. I would strongly encourage you not to cut out the foods you enjoy, as this can create too much restriction which makes sustaining results difficult long term.

Hope you found this information helpful but please feel free to message me directly if you have any further questions.

excellent advice for @Bubbles254 and @Normalsizedsalad . I haven't yet got into the fermented stuff (sounds complicated) but have cut processed ultra processed from my diet, apart from the odd binge, for years. Lots of veg, minimal meat, just need a whiff of it, simple flavourings like chilli paprika garlic. I think the secret is to focus on the effects of the food you are eating, not the surface rush of sugar or whatever.
Try to cycle/walk for near an hour every day - not hard to do if you incorporate it into your life.

Time to get the shoes on and go for a good walk - it's good exercise and time out from the stress of daily life.

People may say this looks miserable

It's not
It sounds simply like how I grew up. Very little UPF. Lost my ways, getting back into it and really boody enjoying it. Cake was always sat/sun morning and celebrayioms only in my house, cookies/biscuits very occasional. We had garden and gorved on food.
I have not had food poisoning in my life when I eat like that. Well once, very mild one. I am sure cast iron stomach is more like cast iron won't be bullied by some out of towner gut flora😂
You are even teasonable with sugar. Bit of sugar is not a problem.

Just to point out to anyone buying fermented veg like sauerkraut and kimchi. If it's in a jar on shelves and not chilled, it's dead.

Bell pepper with happy cow or something like hwrbed fromage frais etc is the snack of my youth😂

Basically eat to support your gut microbiome as it is the messages your gut bacteria send that control your cravings. If you have the wrong gut bacteria you will feel more hungry and find it harder to loose weight. You need to:

A) really reduce the amount of upf you eat- many of the additives harm your gut microbiome and your body does not know how to deal with this 'food' e.g emulsifiers weaken the intestinal barrier and harm the good bacteria
B) make sure you are eating at least 30g fibre (vegetables and pulses) (prebiotic) a day. You may need to build up to this gradually to give your microbiome time to adjust to avoid side effects
C) eat lots of fermented food (probiotic). Thus is far better than taking a probiotic supplement as it is more likely to reach the gut. Eat greek yoghurt, kefir, saukercrat, raw milk cheese etc
D) reduce sugar - if you cut out upf you will naturally reduce this but try not to have too many sugary deserts etc. I limit these to a couple of times a week.

People may say this looks miserable but honestly I no longer have any cravings for unhealthy food. I crave things like bell peppers and roquefort. This is becuase I now have lots of the right gut bacteria that are telling me to eat healthy food.

Weight training. A couple of Body Pump classes a week should tone you up.

Walking and swimming are probably the least effective for weight loss, but they're great in general.

Walking, walking, walking. Everywhere you can, every day.

>>If you perfect your diet you don't need distracting from food becuase the cravings stop.

can you say more?
Lots of veg maybe?
cut out processed food and minimise sugar?

(man here but some of diet/exercise principles doubtless the same, though am off to check out cortisol)

I think in many women too much cardio increases cortisol leading to belly fat, plus it makes you more hungry.

I found the winning combination was diet first, then strength training with some yoga/pilates to lower stress. If you perfect your diet you don't need distracting from food becuase the cravings stop.

I’ve been swimming 3 times a week for about 30 minutes for over a month now, I’m toning up for sure although I have no idea if I’ve lost weight as I don’t weigh myself. My hips are slimming down and I think I can see a tiny difference in the tone of my upper arms. Maybe a bit less wobbly! Not sure if this is me being overly positive and optimistic though 😂😂
Anyway I fit it in early, at the pool by 6 and out and showering at 6:30 - I’m really enjoying it and combine this with about 2 hours of brisk walking every day, either before work on a non swimming day and then during my lunch break or after work (broken down into an hour each time). It’s manageable and swimming is kinder on my joints than running which is what I used to do. It’s a nice way to completely switch off tbh.

Like others have said, do what you enjoy, what feels good, and what's sustainable. Weight loss, in my experience, has been mostly due to diet.

I accidentally lost a lot of weight when I gave up drinking for a period - I could almost feel it falling off, and I wasn't trying to loose weight! I think it's not only the calories in drinks, but also the effect on the metabolism. If you're not keen on giving it up (understandable!) then maybe look at drinks with less calories eg vodka & soda, etc.

I also think that foods that keep you fuller for longer are helpful with weight loss - lots of fibre/veggies, protein, and good fats (eg nuts). If you like rice, add some beans or veg to the rice.

In terms of exercise, I used to do a LOT of high-intensity classes v regularly, but didn't loose any weight. I sustained an injury and had to dial it right back down to gentle pilates and weight based training - I found this actually agreed with my body more, and I ended up loosing weight (though again, not intentionally - I am quite slim already). I think the high-intensity exercises were making me much more hungry, so I'd eat more.

Another thing is sleep - I find if I'm super tired I crave fats and sugars.

Hi OP, I put on alot of weight after having my dc's and decided enough was enough. I was feeling low about my weight and then a photo was taken of me on holiday and I couldn't believe it was me so I turned it all around.

I decided to join slimming world. Lost 4 stone. I added in excerise classes with weights/aerobics and walk the dog every day for a hour or more. It is hard to fit in excerise when busy with work, home, children and on top of it all feeling exhausted but do what fits in with your life style.
It was hard when my dc's were little so I used to excerise at home with workout videos which really helped me keep on track with my weight lost. I did it for 30 minutes 3 times a weeks before everyone had to be up for school/work. It kept me on track. It took me 18 months to lose my weight but I have kept it off for 4 years.
Goodluck

HITT worked so sell for me. I added 5kg dumbells into it.
It massively helped posture and firming and that made big difference to how much slimmer I actually looked.

If you are logging by time, I find logging half the time minus five minutes tends to work a treat. I do think it's important to eat back some of calories (and proteincount). That said, however much you measure everything, i personally think that all calorie counting is an estimate, your basically just tinkering until you find an estimate that results in weight loss for you.

Something you love doing so much you don't notice how hard it is, you can fit into your routine, that makes you feel great so you don't do as much emotional eating to mismanage difficult emotions and if it's sociable, something where the people you train/play/dance/run/walk with are good role models for a healthy lifestyle.

Very true. Too many challenging bike rides I have returned from to reward myself with food and drink. The human body is damn efficient, aided by cycling definitely is, and burns far less calories than some folk imagine.

My DD is 18 months and I haven't lost my baby weight yet. My biggest downfall has been bread/pastries etc. I've completely cut that out of my diet and I don't miss it anymore. I've lost nearly 3kg alone from just that. I find eating more of a Mediterranean diet/keto diet where I can has massively helped. Also I've told myself no food or snacks after dinner as that was a big problem for me and its helped a lot. I can now fit into my pre baby jeans comfortably. I need to get into doing more exercising around childcare but found a good walk each day is helping me a lot.

Whatever you choose to do, do not eat back the exercise calories burned. That way lies frustration and no weight loss as fitness watches and gym machines overestimate how many calories are burned as it's far more personalised that they can ever be.

I like swimming too, mostly because it causes my brain to completely blank out, but it also exercises everything at once and combines resistance with cardio, and also because once I’ve had a shower and got dressed I feel very very relaxed.

It is a really, really good idea to do weights/strength based exercise as soon as you start your diet.

Cardio is nice but not a really really good idea in the way weights are. I swim cos it's a bit of both

Survival/famine mode is a myth

I agree that it's mostly food, but I've been dieting with Slimming World since Christmas and get my best weight losses on the weeks when I cold water swim in the local sea pool. I wonder if it really stokes my metabolism (this is just an idle wonder and not based on science).

If you want to be slimmer to fit into your old clothes, I would definitely do some weights. May not burn a ton of calories, but your body will be smaller at the same weight.