Strength training while losing weight?

[Hmbre97]

Some background info: I am a huge fatass. I've been obese since early teens and have only gotten larger the older I get. My weight peaked about 5 years ago and I have since lost a little weight through diets like low carb and weight watchers but would always fall off the rails and start eating shitty again.

I decided last year when my son was born that I have to lose weight if I'm going to live to see him grow up. I haven't been eating AS bad and have lost a little weight but I just turned 30 and I'm tired of being a lard ass. I've got a diet planned out but a few people I've talked to have given me mixed info on if I should do strength training while dieting. My exercise is mainly going to be focused on cardio but would like to start strength training to break up the monotony of cardio workouts.

I know there are some fitness professionals on this board so what's the general consensus?

[R1psycho]

I lift 5 days a week and do cardio everyday. I've lost over 80#s in the last 6 months so it can be done. Most will say hit cardio only to lose, but try both out and see what works best for you. You will want to do at least an hour of cardio to really cut down fairly quick. Make sure you eat clean

[ELVIS]

download c25k (couch to 5k) on your smart phone. it will change your life. good luck.

god bless.

[ceyko]

I'm not an expert and go fat to in shape to fat to in shape all the time. IMHO, weights with running/cardio are the best ways to lose weight. I have no scientific proof, but it feels like I lose more/burn more calories keeping more muscles worked than when I just run.

[Z06killinsbf]

Building muscles burns more calories than running ever will. Yes you need cardio to get the leaned out shape but lifting heavy weights will continue the calorie burn for a longer duration. Also, increase your meals to multiple small meals during the day to boost your metabolism.

If I were you, I would put in 30-45 min of a weight lifting plan with a 20-30 min run session. OR do a circuit workout in and you won't have to do cardio.

Go to here http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/ and see what fits you best and what will push you.

[Strychnine]

Also, increase your meals to multiple small meals during the day to boost your metabolism.

If it helps you stay on track then stick with it, but there is no science to support that myth.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985

published in 2009 in The British Journal of Nutrition, involved groups of overweight men and women who were randomly assigned to very strict low-calorie diets and followed for eight weeks. Each subject consumed the same number of calories per day, but one group took in three meals a day and the other six.

Both groups lost significant and equivalent amounts of weight. There was no difference between them in fat loss, appetite control or measurements of hormones that signal hunger and satiety. Other studies have had similar results.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-06/health/sc-health-0606-nibbling-20120606_1_meals-metabolism-studies-show

Researchers from the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa published a study of 16 obese men and women in the 2010 British Journal of Nutrition that compared low and high meal frequency of equal calories and found no weight loss-enhancing effects from higher frequency eating.

And, specifically regarding alleged metabolic boost, "No difference in total daily energy expenditure has been documented as a function of daily meal number," wrote France Bellisle, a professor of eating behavior in Paris in a report of the research in a 2004 Scandinavian Journal of Nutrition.

Going back to 1993, Dutch researchers from the University of Limburg published in the British Journal of Nutrition a study of 10 men also showing high meal frequency having zero effect on metabolic rate.

[stangin4lyfe]

If it helps you stay on track then stick with it, but there is no science to support that myth.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...m-studies-show

Those articles miss the point though...
Smaller, more frequent meals will actually make you feel FULLER and help to keep you from overeating(due to the quench to satisfy the hunger craving…we all eat faster and even more when we are HUNGRY).

I do agree somewhat though...timing of meals isn't near as important as let's say...total nutrition consumed.

[Strychnine]

Those articles miss the point though...
Smaller, more frequent meals will actually make you feel FULLER and help to keep you from overeating(due to the quench to satisfy the hunger craving…we all eat faster and even more when we are HUNGRY).

I do agree somewhat though...timing of meals isn't near as important as let's say...total nutrition consumed.

Right. I guess I should have clarified a bit more...
The science isn't there. It does not speed up your metabolism.
BUT, if it helps you for whatever reason, whether it be the feeling of fullness, helping with some ingrained eating compulsion, or even just the placebo effect, then by all means do what works for you. In the end everyone "knows" their own body better than some article knows their body. You just have to learn to listen to it and learn how it works and what it needs.

[Z06killinsbf]

^ agreed, I still believe that over time it would have a benefit to raising metabolism if maintained.

[MULEY4X4]

I've lost close to 55# in a calender year. I do 30-40 minutes of cardio 5 days a week and lift/crosstrain 5 days a week. I do not do the crossfit workouts but do similar type excercises. I see results. I also ride my road bike 40-120 miles a week. I would say eat better and stay away from the fast foods and work out. It's a long in depth process. I am in the best shape of my life I think. I played four years of college football so that's saying something.