Training to Lose Weight

[quote]jskrabac wrote:

[quote]staystrong wrote:
First: losing fat is about diet. NOT your workout. The routine is a very minimal variable when it comes to losing weight. What you eat and how much is way, way more important.[/quote]

I’ve been around much longer than my screen name suggests. I’ve seen your posts from back in the day, your first diet thread, your competition thread. I know you understand this stuff, what my statements mean, and why I said them to the OP in response to his posts in the thread.

Yes changing your workout can cause you to burn more calories, which since calories in vs. calories out is the main factor will shift that equation a bit due to you burning more calories. I think I even alluded to that in one of my posts here, but since it’s been a couple months and I’m in the “quote” page right now can’t really double check.

Do you truly believe that what and how much you eat are in fact NOT more important than the workout routine? Do you believe the workout program you do is actually a very large variable when trying to lose weight, and that diet is a minimal variable? The classic argument at this point would be “you can’t out-train a bad diet” and it doesn’t matter how much you burn in a workout if you eat more than you burn. While I think that first statement can be read in a way that makes it pretty useless, the second statement seems pretty sound logically.

You can lose fat/weight easily without any cardio or changes to a workout; you can also lose fat/weight by increasing calories burned. But you still have to eat the right macros and amounts to lose weight despite increasing your calorie expenditure. If you change your workout to burn another 200 calories yet don’t pay attention to your diet so you don’t accidentally add 200 calories, it’s useless. Since eating the proper amounts in both scenarios is what drives the progress, not the actual change in your workout routine, would it not make sense to conclude that “losing fat is about diet. NOT your workout. The routine is a very minimal variable when it comes to losing weight. What you eat and how much is way, way more important”?

I’ve lost weight (down to a six pack) without changing my workout program at all. I’ve gotten fat working out extra days in a week with shorter rest periods and running sprints 2-3x a week. Burning those extra 200 calories in a workout is not as important as understanding what to eat (i.e. macros) and how much. You can easily negate those extra 200 calories burned if you don’t take care to focus on the nutrition side to prevent that.

Maybe that sums up my long *** post best: “You can easily negate those extra 200 calories burned if you don’t take care to focus on the nutrition side to prevent that.”

That is what was meant.

[quote]jacobcapra wrote:
About 6 weeks since my last post, I thought I would update again. Weight loss has slowed compared to the first 4 weeks, although I’m still seeing moderate composition changes; bodyweight down from 220.2 on march 21st to 213 today on may 15th.

Even still, I guarantee I am also gaining muscle, my squat and deadlift have gained about another 50 pounds each and about 20 on bench! In a powerlifting setting I’m nearly totaling 1300 and have broken into the 500 Deadlift club.

I’ve cut my calories down to around 2000 a day, and my fat intake down as well. Also I go to the gym 5-6 times a week now, with at least 4 of those focused on powerlifting.

[/quote]

Excellent progress so far man, good job! Losing weight + getting stronger is awesome, keep working hard in the gym and in the kitchen. You’re going to be amazed how great you look and feel as you continue to progress!

Another six weeks, another 7 pounds lost. Weighing 206 in the morning now, and have been for about two weeks. Once I hit 206 I began eating my maintenance calories and focusing on lifting since I completed my cut to 205 for a meet in August. coincidentally, I’ve continued making strength gains, especially lately; total’s in the low 1300’s now.

I look basically the same so I figured a photo was pointless. I’ve noticed that more of the fat loss I’ve encountered this last six weeks has been from my legs and arms and not my center of mass. After the meet I plan to diet below 200 and see how feasible a cut 181 would be.

I have to say, this has just opened my eyes to how consistent weight loss can be if you get good advice and follow it. Been losing a pound a week without miss for 12 weeks!

A year will go by in a few days since I opened this thread and adopted a lifestyle that involves lifting and conscientious eating. I thought I’d post a pic of today versus then.


I’ve been basically dirty bulking since a meet in july, I’ve gained about 14 lb in 7 months. I a year I think I put some decent mass on my chest, shoulders and legs.

I’m about to cut to 198 again over 90 days leading to another meet, will post some pics

Thanks again to the posters who came and dropped some knowledge on me a year ago :smiley:

Good work, glad to hear you took the advice myself and others gave you and did something with it.

Inspiring progress brother. Good work.