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Does exercise alone have an affect on fat loss?

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Some good points here, but eating "clean" doesn't really become a necessity or make a significant difference unless you're into single digit bodyfat percentages and need to get absolutely shredded. I'm cutting at the moment and I've dropped 20lbs in 5 weeks whilst maintaining muscle mass - I'm still having chocolates and sweets pretty regularly and the odd bit of fatty crap. Main thing is that you track your caloric intake and if you're looking to maintain muscle mass, then get plenty of protein.

Though, obviously, in terms of practicality, complex carbs will keep you fuller for longer and provide sustained energy, and foods high in fats possess a pretty poor food volume:calories ratio (i.e. they contain a high amount of calories per mouthful meaning they're a bad choice for a low calorie meal if you wish to satisfy hunger). So you'll naturally find yourself drawn to sources of food that are pretty clean anyway :wink:

Impressive weight loss! However I'm somewhat sceptical as a lifter of your strength maintaining strength through such a heavy deficit! :smile:

Original post by WoodyMKC

In terms of what cardio you should choose... the consensus is that whilst low intensity cardio (such as an hour's walk) is more effective at mobilising bodyfat especially whilst fasted, intense cardio (such as HIIT) will continue to burn extra calories well after the exercise is finished due to "oxygen debt" and so on, which obviously will lead to more weight loss. So take your pick really.

Original post by WoodyMKC

Alcohol should be avoided though for sure - all the while your liver is busy dealing with alcohol, your body doesn't process nutrients as efficiently and you end up storing a large amount of anything that you eat or drink (including beer carbs or sugar in alcopops, for example) as bodyfat as it's easy for the body to just store it away there.

Unless you're alcohol poisened this isn't the case. Your liver can deal with a hell of a lot (that's not a challenge to anyone reading this!). It's not the nutrient partitioning that is the problem. It's more the feeling terrible the next day and not eating/ drinking!

Original post by Unistudent77

Cheers for the reply. (Last question) Do you think cardio work will help reduce muscle loss too (when cutting), for example running or Golf or football etc? I presume any exercise will make the body think it needs to retain that muscle and therefore get rid of the excess adipose tissue first....

No lifting will maintain muscle mass, cardio is there to help maintain the deficit. :smile:

Reply 21

It's****ingWOODY

Original post by Angry cucumber

Impressive weight loss! However I'm somewhat sceptical as a lifter of your strength maintaining strength through such a heavy deficit! :smile:

LISS fasted is not proven in an sizeable study to be more effective than non-fasted. It's much more a personal preference. It was suggested to be in a recent study, but sample size was tiny and was only a introductory study.

Unless you're alcohol poisened this isn't the case. Your liver can deal with a hell of a lot (that's not a challenge to anyone reading this!). It's not the nutrient partitioning that is the problem. It's more the feeling terrible the next day and not eating/ drinking!

I'm doing okay, lost small amounts of strength but that's more due to the lack of energy I feel haha.

Yeah it's not gospel, as I said it's just the general consensus at the current time. Also starting eating a bit later in the day as a result of pushing it back to make way for the fasted cardio will generally lead to less meals and potentially an easier time eating less calories. Not majorly, but it can make a difference. I haven't done fasted cardio but I've pushed meals back (call it half-arsed IF if you like).

I'm not convinced tbh. Done a lot of reading on the topic and talked to several people about it, while not absolutely proven, there certainly seems to be a lot of suggestion to what I was talking about. What I do know for certain is, alcohol puts fat on me like nothing else :lol:

I've tried lowering my caloric intake to make way for the drinking and ended up being at maintenance or even a bit below sometimes, but it doesn't work and I'm pretty much convinced that it's because I eat whist intoxicated. I wouldn't want to drink without eating or I'd be sick as a dog the next morning haha, so I've pretty much knocked it on the head.

Reply 22

Krown

Original post by trifleontoast

Ive gained weight like alot and my bmi is now 24 I dont have muscle so, I am inactive and I dont really know why Ive gained over half a stone but I need to lose it. Will running help get it off quick

Hey OP, doing anything more than you're doing right now will 'help' theoretically speaking.

however depending on where your goals are then you might have to incorporate other avenues. let me know if you have any questions as this is my field of study :smile:

Reply 23

trifleontoast

Original post by Krown

Thanks, Im trying to tone my body up actually. I want to lose the fat and tone up, my stomach mainly. It has the most amount of fat on my body, chest and hip area. I need to clean up my diet and exercise but Im a total beginner dont know where to start!

Reply 24

Krown

Original post by trifleontoast

ok, so technically speaking theres no way to spot reduce fat. that means in order to lose fat in your stomach area you must lose weight overall. the rate at which you lose fat on your stomach will depend on how you genetically store fat.

the goods news is that you can lose weight through your diet alone. this is done by finding out what your maintenance level of calories is (the amount of calories you need to maintain your current weight) and then eating under that level of calories. I suggest only a 300-500 deficit as larger deficits will cause you to lose muscle which will not give you the toned look you're going for. instead you'd look flabby.

the next port of call is to make sure that your macro nutrients are in order. in order to best lose fat you want to have about a 40/40/20 ratio of calories coming from carbs/protein/fat respectively. I know this sounds like a lot of info but once you get the hang of it, you won't even have to think about it!

exercise is helpful because you burn calories during exercise which will put you in the direction of a negative calorie balance. so you can use that as you will although it is not necessary for fat loss. it will however help you build the toned physique as more muscle and less fat on the same frame will have more definition.

hope that helps! :smile: