There is no way to target specific areas of fat. You just need to expend more energy than you consume and you’ll get skinnier. So do lots of exercise, decrease portions, eat healthier and sleep better. It sounds simple but it takes a long time and a lot of effort to build and maintain good habits.
There’s a lot of bro-science in here (“Your body metabolizes sugar to basically fat”, no, it doesn’t, sugar is just a simple, easily metabolized carbohydrate, and as long as you aren’t exceeding your caloric intake regularly, it’s fine).
You can loose weight by exercise alone, but it’s a challenge; most people tend to start eating more (consciously or not) once they’re exercising. Exercise is only have of the equation. Diet is the other part. Most people are very, very resistant to changing their diet, because they have an emotional connection with food. Think about that; is what you eat more important to you than how you feel? Are you willing to make life-long changes, or are you just trying to have a beach body? “Dieting” is setting yourself up for failure; you want to be changing your entire lifestyle and relationship with food and movement.
So, let’s start off with something super-important: talk to a registered dietician. Don’t make radical changes to your diet without consulting a professional that’s qualified to give answers to YOU.
Second: spot fat reduction is not a thing, unless you want to go the surgical route. You need to reduce body fat all over in order to reduce fat on your neck and waist.
Third: do a resting metabolic rate test, and find out how many calories you burn just existing. That gives you an idea of what you need to eat to maintain your weight, what you need to your macros (daily carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake), and where you need to be as far as exercising. At one time you could get them done at certain Lifetime Fitness locations, and they were a couple hundred bucks. Without knowing this, dieting and exercise is being done blindly.
Fourth: Once you know your metabolic rate, and you’ve consulted with a dietician, start keeping track of everything that goes in your mouth in a day. Start by just taking a photo, and get used to that. (And yes, everything; every drink that isn’t plain water, every single thing you swallow.) Once you’ve gotten used to that, then start writing it down. Once you can reliably write everything down, start measuring everything. How many ounces of Cheerios go in your bowl in the morning, how much milk, and how many eggs are you scrambling? Once you’ve got that? then start comparing that to your macros. How many grams of carbs, protein, and fats are in your Cheerios, milk, and scrambled eggs (and don’t forget to count the butter that goes in the pan before you scramble your eggs!)? That tells you where you are, and where you need to add, and where you need to cut.
While you’re doing that:
Start with cardio, just to get in the habit of moving. I would suggest buying a heart rate monitor (I have a Garmin Instinct). Figure out your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age), and generally work at 60-80% of that, for 30-60 minutes at a time. Working above 80% increases your aerobic threshold, staying below 50% isn’t going to give you a significant benefit.
Weight training should be your bread and butter. Cardio burns calories now, weight training burns calories for up to 3-4 hours after you’re done in the gym, and muscle burns more calories just existing than fat does. If you have never done weight training before, I would strongly suggest that you hire a personal trainer. Look for a trainer that has at least a BS in exercise science or kinesiology, and a training certification from ASCM (American College of Sport Medicine) or the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Assoc.). Other physical trainer certifications are worth about as much as the paper they’re printed on, and I say this as someone that was certified through NASM. ASCM and NSCA have a very strong science-based approach that other certifying bodies lack. DO NOT sign up for months and months of training, unless you simply can’t motivate yourself, or are unable to replicate training prompts on your own; you want someone that will create a program for you to follow for several months that isn’t just trendy, bullshit exercises (see also: fitness “influencers”), and coach you through the proper way to complete the motion so that you can do it safely and effectively. Unless you have significant movement deficiencies, your goal should be to use freeweights and for almost everything. A trainer should be able to tailor your programming to your goals; there’s no one-size-fits-all. Generally speaking, if you’ve never lifted weights before, 30 minutes of fairly intense work is about all you’ll be able to manage.
Finally: Best case, with perfect diet and exercise, you should be losing no more than 1-2 pounds of fat per week. That’s the most that will be sustainable. Don’t worry about raw weight; worry about measurements, and body composition.
Is this a lot? Yeah, it is. And it’s barely scratching the surface.
There’s a lot of bro-science in here (“Your body metabolizes sugar to basically fat”, no, it doesn’t, sugar is just a simple, easily metabolized carbohydrate, and as long as you aren’t exceeding your caloric intake regularly, it’s fine).
+1 to this. I have a pretty terrible diet (I make ice cream fairly often) but I’ve been able to control my weight by cutting calories elsewhere.
According to the video below, exercising doesn’t actually cause you to burn more calories as your body just chooses to delay non-essential stuff for another time.
As I understand it, if you increase your muscle, your body will burn more calories n a daily basis whereas cardio just burns calories in the current moment.
So focus on eating less calories than you burn (really helps to just cut out the crap and eat “whole food” rather than ultra processed crap - read “ultra processed people” for more info on this). Consume more protein to help muscle growth.
You unfortunately can’t target specific areas for fat burning, it’s pretty random.
Lots of great advice here. CICO is fundamental BUT your most successful diet will focus on reducing sugar intake. Your body metabolizes sugar to basically fat. Also, increase your fiber. Those two are key to faster results.
Grant yourself a cheat day from time to time but stay on your diet the first months. I’ve been on a diet for about three years now and I can have a cheat day once a week.
Expect it to be something you have to commit to the rest of your life but believe me, it gets easier. Don’t go on a crash diet but do something that you realistically can maintain.
Then start with some moderate exercise. Just walking more often is a great way to lose weight.
You can’t target zones to lose weight but you can tone zones by building muscle. Bigger shoulders lake your waist look thinner.
Stick to it. You’ll feel better overall. Good luck.
I started by just eating less. I cut portions and started counting calories. I did the math and started staying under my number, and the pounds just melted off.
A couple months later, I added biking and walking. I’m trying to walk at least 30 minutes daily, which is just a nice break from everything.
I’m down 120 pounds. I want to drop more, but I’ve been pretty stationary for the past 3 months or so. I’m already a new man, and my doctor says I’m fine where I am. I’d like to drop another 10 just to be solidly below 200 for the first time in decades.
I went to a personal trainer for some ideas on exercises, and I need to fit those workouts into my schedule. I haven’t done that yet, but I need to.
For me it took a full 6 months of intermittent fasting along with 40 + hr fasts, bodyweight exercise and then cardio to see any significant loss.
Anyone trying to lose weight should plan for minimum 6months time frame. You won’t see results for at least 3 months.
Get a digital scale and track ur water weight so UK when you’re actually losing fat.
Regarding weight loss, diet is more efficient to exercise. But exercise has tons of other benefit, especially regarding mental /physical health and it can also be the base of healthy habits to improve your lifestyle. Just compare one hour on the threadmill with a starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte.
Gym is not for everybody, there is tons of other sports, if you want to stick with it, find a sport you enjoy in a club with nice persons. If you exercise like you clean the toilets you won’t be regular, if you have a fun time with friends you will.
If you can afford a couple of kickstart session with a trainer, go for it.
Depending how overweight you are avoid running, and do body weight training and elliptical
Also consider non-exercise energy expenditure. This is considered to burn the most calories per day. Therefore try to walk more, take the stairs always etc. This will help you reduce weight without even trying and often is the only form of exercise a severely obese person can do.
Also spot fat reduction is a scam. So expect that you can’t only burn fat in your belly and chin. Fat will be burned from everywhere in your body. So it will come out of chin and belly too.
It will build muscle, which will amp up your metabolism, which will make burning fat easier. You’ll also be stronger, look better, and be much less likely to injure yourself. Learn and be diligent about using proper form and don’t push too hard.
Note: muscle weighs more than fat, so remember to look in the mirror and take measurements…your weight is only part of the equation.
Fuck yea, nail it. But promise yourself one thing. That you’re not going to quit. And I don’t mean you’re not going to stop at some point. We all do. But don’t quit. It took me multiple kicks at the can. And the results will come, slowly at first. Even slower later on. But the way you feel better will grow with each work out. Each kick at the can you’ll realize you still remember all the stuff you learned last time and now you’re just adding to your knowledge base.
What you should do is do what feels right. Lots of options. But get comfortable just chilling at the gym and making it a place to hang. I started with just walking on treadmills listening to podcasts. Then like 6 months later weights. Then running. Then a mix of running and weights. Eventually I went full home gym. Have fun, treat it like a hobby. Be as consistent as you can and you’ll reach your goals.
One cool thing j learned late, running and walking burn the same calories if you go the same distance. So for me, I can walk an hour or run 20 minutes. Same calories burned for. But I can walk everyday, I can’t run everyday. Tricks like that help in cutting weight. But keep in mind that’s like a cheeseburger burned, it ain’t much. True weight loss occurs in the kitchen.
Please dont feel like you need to try to do everything at once. But when you’re ready get a calorie counting app like my fitness and start tracking calories for a few weeks, see what you’re taking in. Over time you’ll get a feel for what amount of food you can. eat in a day to lose, maintain, gain weight. It takes time but it can get fun when you see the results. It can get frustrating when you realize some gains/lose are just shadows or a full bladder lol. But most important thing is just doing something.
You’re not going to have a lot of luck targeting areas, regardless of what Internet and checkout lane magazines might claim. Your best bet is generalized diet and exercise based weight loss plus building areas you want to build (arms, legs, butt, chest, whatever).
I’m going to disagree slightly with the majority of the comments here and say that excersize is still very important for weight loss.
First off though, because I’m sure some folks are already getting their pitchforks out, all weight loss is CICO, and you can absolutely hit any goal weight just by diet alone without ever getting off your couch. Additionally, what works for weight loss (in terms of actual techniques to achieve a net Calorie deficiency) varies from person to person, what I say below may totally not be the case for you, and that’s fine.
All that being said, I think you’re going to have a much easier time of it if you also workout in some way.
For one thing, more excersize means more calories out. You can easily (well, your definition of “easy” may vary lol) burn 500 calories during a single workout. If you’re making smart eating choices, 500 calories is a lot of food. You would be hard pressed to be physically able to eat 500 calories of an air fried vegetable medely for example. This means that you can lose weight while not feeling starved. And even for less healthy choices, it’s still a fair bit of food. You can eat 2 slices of pizza for that one workout and still break even from a calories standpoint.
Basically, excersize = free food - most people fail their diets because they’re tired of being hungry all the time and tired of not being able to enjoy the foods they love. Adding excersize into the mix means you can eat more, and still enjoy sensible servings of your favorite “treat” foods while still losing weight.
Secondly, for me at least, working out gives you motivation in the kitchen later. It’s a lot harder to cave and order that pizza instead of making the salmon and veggies you had planned for dinner when you know that doing so means “wasting” all that sweat and effort you put in at the gym earlier that day. Remember how earlier I pointed out that a single excersize = 2 slices of pizza? Well that also works the other way around - when you go to reach for a slice of pizza, you wind up asking yourself “is this one slice of pizza worth half a workout?” for me at least, the answer is often no, and even when it’s yes (every diet needs room for your favorite junk foods in moderation), I keep asking myself that for each slice, and so will stop eating before I go overboard.
Finally, you probably don’t just want to lose weight. OK, maybe you do, idk you - but if you succeed and hit your goal weight, you’ll probably just transition to being insecure about fat deposits to being insecure about being scrawny. If your goal is to look good, at least some muscle tone is necessary, and if your goal is to be generally healthier, than it’s even more important to add exercise to the mix.
Just my $0.02, Im no dietician or personal trainer, but I’ve been working hard at getting in shape and have lost 13 pounds in the last month through a combination of diet and exercise, and I truly don’t think I could have done it without having added excersize to my routine
Very true, I have a friend who wants to lose weight and said “but eating makes me happy.” Easiest way to keep your current habits and lose weight is just add on going to the gym, and the more you go the more you can eat. Added bonus is no matter what happens you’ll just feel better in daily life.
Me and my wife are big foodies, so cutting out all food that isn’t strictly “healthy” was never an option lol. I usually burn ~800 calories at the gym, that’s a whole stick of butter lol
We still have been making healthier choices in general (protein pasta instead of regular, chicken breast instead of thighs, and less oil/butter while cooking, but weve been able to get healthy while for the large part eating the same as how we did before.
The biggest change is that were a lot more cognizent about protein, and we log our meals, but neither of those is an issue
The only weight loss benefit to working out is that it increases CO. That’s it.
Targeted exercise doesn’t do anything for targeted weight loss. Your body loses fat however the fuck it wants to and the only way to lose belly fat is to lose fat everywhere else your body chooses to first. And that happens with or without exercise.
Sure, if you ignore all the psychological and habit forming benefits that it provides. Saying that the only benefit to exercise is increasing CO workers would be true if you were just a robot who was fully capable of making rational choices 100% of the time. And if that’s you, then you wouldn’t need weight loss in the first place…
Exercise does a lot to help individuals stick with the Calorie restriction part of CICO, for the reasons I mention.
And also like I said, pure** weight loss is rarely anyone’s actual goal**, id wager that close to 100% of people trying to “lose weight” are actually working towards either looking better, or being more healthy (or both, of course) - and for both of those goals, exercise is very important.
Targeted exercise doesn’t do anything for targeted weight loss. Your body loses fat however the fuck it wants to and the only way to lose belly fat is to lose fat everywhere else your body chooses to first. And that happens with or without exercise.
The other thing to note is that nearly all the “permanent” weight you lose (the loss you can actually maintain) is lost from exhaling carbon. Water weight comes back when you rehydrate (and you should hydrate). You don’t poop much weight out (it’s a lot of water and dead blood cells). But the output of the Krebs cycle (respiration) is carbon dioxide.
Your second point is a big one for me. If I hit the gym in the morning, I’m more likely to make better food choices throughout the day. Conversely, if I skip a planned gym day, i’m more likely to binge on anything I can get my hands on…
For overall health? Working out and healthier eating is best.
Just losing weight? You can do that with only eating less and zero moving around (I did before with Keto, lost 14 kg in under 3 months. Now I was finally skinny, but skinny doesn’t look great on a guy either).
Wow. That’s a bit more than 1kg per week. I don’t think you’re supposed to do more than that. And your body will probably get rid of both fat and muscles if you just sit around, right?
Supposedly the really difficult thing is to stay at that (new) weight.
Anyways. Wish anyone the best and hope they’ll get what they’re working towards.
Yeah, it was definitely a little too fast, had a tiny bit of hair loss going (but that can always happen when you lose weight). But I just wasn’t hungry in that time. When you only eat meat and veggies with a side of greek yogurt and berries the volume you can eat calorie wise is huge.
But Keto has other issues unfortunately (like possible diarrhea) so it’s iffy. Also really tough to stick with it because you get carbs everywhere.
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