What exercise is best to aid weight loss?

[friedandfrazzled]

I know losing weight is mainly diet but I want to move more as well. Is it better to do cardio (spin/running/walking) then when I’ve lost the weight then look at adding strength classes like body pump? My goal atm is just to lose weight so anything else that can help in addition to me eating in a deficit is what I’m looking for.

As you say.. it’s almost all diet.

What there is good evidence for is that building an exercise habit significantly increases the chances you will keep the weight off, because it means you no longer have the lifestyle that caused you to gain weight.

So rather than splitting the tiny differences between types of exercise, I would focus on building exercise habits that you can maintain. It’ll probably take some experimenting.

I agree - the best exercise to lose weight is one you can maintain as a long term habit.

When you say weight loss, do you actually mean that the most important thing is a smaller number on the scales? Or is it to be slimmer/lose fat/fit into smaller clothes?

Agree with both of the above. Try a few things until you find the thing or things that you enjoy and want to stick to. The great bonus for me with exercise was that it helped with weight loss in an unexpected way. The more exercise I did the less time I had sitting around and this led to less time for snacking 😁

I want to lose two stone and be slimmer, and I want to fit into my pre-baby clothes. My DD is 1.5 and I’m ashamed that I still haven’t lost the weight

Strength work and upping the protein within your calorie limit will help you build muscle. If you have more muscle, you burn more calories when resting than you would without. That said, about 90% of weight loss is down to diet.

Weight bearing exercise is really important as we age to counter natural muscle wastage and for women it's doubly important for bone density.

Haha good point; I definitely need a distraction from snacking lol

as pp say.

any exercise will be good.
it's best to do a mix of cardio and strength. but 'the best' exercise is what you actually enjoy and keep wanting to do.

I have always been into exercise, but gained a lot of weight a few years ago and have spent the past couple of years losing it and getting back in shape.

By the way, I'm a living example that diet is more important than exercise for losing weight. At my heaviest (and I was heavy), I ran over three hours per day but also had a cake-making hobby!

My trainer (excellent and highly qualified) thinks that cardio (like running, cycling) is not the best use of exercise time but I enjoy it and think it helps a little with my weight loss so still do it at moderate to high intensity three or four times per week for 40 minutes to an hour.

I do agree with my trainer and the physio (I had an injury and needed serious rehab) that strength-training and functional work (bodyweight stuff) has been particularly effective. I also do yoga and pilates for mobility and targeting auxiliary muscles that are often neglected in weight-training. Building muscle has increased my fitness a lot and as a result, I can exercise more and at an intensity where it does aid weight loss. I also see evidence that having more muscle burns more calories.

All that said though, you can't go wrong. The physio, doctor, trainer all say that the main thing is to move. As another commenter already said, do whatever you can continue to do. When your fitness increases, you'll find you can do more. Don't feel like you have to achieve an Olympic level of training right now. Just get into the habit of moving more. Good luck.

My point is that the same volume of uscle weighs more than fat.

In your shoes i would do hiit (incorporating resistance work) and pilates.

It is almost all diet but yes exercise is important too or your metabolism slows right down to conserve energy. Remember that you are evolved to be a famine survival machine. Diet creates the "famine" but if you don't exercise then the body will do everything to avoild burning fat. Exercise should be a 50:50 mix of strength work and cardio because strong muscles burn more fat. This can mean putting on a small amount of weight at the start if your new muscles start building faster than the fat is burned but long term the result will be more weight off, and easier to keep it off.

Brisk walking for a minimum of an hour a day.

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.

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).

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.