Finding the time in your work schedule for more cardio

[Tricon7]

I'm trying to lose a lot of weight (45 lbs. worth), and I've been walking on the treadmill lately. On days I workout, I walk two miles; days I don't workout, I try and do three miles (I don't walk every day, but most days). I would love to exercise more and accelerate my weight loss, but I only have so much time during the week (I work 8-5). I suppose I could go in super-early before work and walk, but that would mean two showers a day and two change of workout clothes a day. I'd have to go buy more workout clothes. But if I went that route, I figure I could walk at least two miles in the morning regardless of whether I workout that day or not. I just don't think I'd have the energy to walk 5-6 miles in one workout - at least not yet.

I was just wondering if anyone else has worked in extra exercise time and how did you do it?

[induced_drag]

Exercise is not a terrible efficient weight-loss tool. Eat less. If you have 45 lbs to lose, my guess is that is just to get you in the ball park of being 'fit' . (meaning there is a great deal more fat than just the 45lbs)

At that point, you can safely start with up to a 1000 cal deficit. (2lbs/week). If you want to do cardio....so be it. Why not do some weight training to try to at least hold on to some muscle in the weight loss journey?

[kimm4]

More exercise/cardio is not your answer. Control your weight/fat loss through your diet. Get in the right calorie deficit, stick to your numbers and you're good.

Best of luck!

[Tricon7]

Exercise is not a terrible efficient weight-loss tool. Eat less. If you have 45 lbs to lose, my guess is that is just to get you in the ball park of being 'fit' . (meaning there is a great deal more fat than just the 45lbs)

At that point, you can safely start with up to a 1000 cal deficit. (2lbs/week). If you want to do cardio....so be it. Why not do some weight training to try to at least hold on to some muscle in the weight loss journey?

Yeah, I know about the cardio. But I'm hoping that it will long-term raise my metabolism enough to help in the weight loss. I'm already weight lifting during the week - maybe four times or so. I don't have the time for more than that.

Calorie-counting, which I've done in the past, is so freaking tedious. Right now I'm doing low-carb/high protein and careful with the amounts. I haven't been at this long, so I'll see in a week or two if I'm making progress. And I'm using my waist as a yardstick for my progress instead of the scales which, with water weight fluctuations, can often be discouraging.

[Garage Rat]

Your body will eventually adapt to the work given it(cardio) and you'll stop losing weight at that point.
You need to high intensity interval type cardio.
It's more efficient for fat loss and takes up less time.
Short bursts of speed with steady state between those bursts for 10-20 minutes will rev up the fat burning.
But as i mentioned this may only work for a period of time until you adapt.
Use different tools bike,stepper,treadmill,kettle bell ect.
The other thing is to record your diet with all macros and calories if you are serious about your fat loss.
There is no other way to be accurate about it weighing and recording your food intake so you can adjust when needed.
A tape measure around the waist is a good tool as well as the scale to measure weight loss.
Picture from month to month will also help so you can compare.
Good luck.

[blue9steel]

Exercise is not a terrible efficient weight-loss tool. Eat less.

Sad but true. I have personal experience with trying to out exercise a bad diet and can confirm it just doesn't work.

[ChuckersT]

I'm trying to lose a lot of weight (45 lbs. worth), and I've been walking on the treadmill lately. On days I workout, I walk two miles; days I don't workout, I try and do three miles (I don't walk every day, but most days). I would love to exercise more and accelerate my weight loss, but I only have so much time during the week (I work 8-5). I suppose I could go in super-early before work and walk, but that would mean two showers a day and two change of workout clothes a day. I'd have to go buy more workout clothes. But if I went that route, I figure I could walk at least two miles in the morning regardless of whether I workout that day or not. I just don't think I'd have the energy to walk 5-6 miles in one workout - at least not yet.

I was just wondering if anyone else has worked in extra exercise time and how did you do it?

I dont know that walking to lose 45 pounds is very efficient. You burn very few calories walking. My initial 40 pounds of weight loss came from diet and running 3 miles 4-6 times a week. This would also eliminate the need for more time. If you walk a 15:00 minute/mile pace, but can run a 10 minute mile pace, you are able to go 6 miles in an hour versus 4 miles.

[blue9steel]

Calorie-counting, which I've done in the past, is so freaking tedious.

Yep, but unlike most of the other methods it actually works. Use myfitnesspal, setup your meals and foods and after a bit it becomes pretty quick.

[induced_drag]

Yep, but unlike most of the other methods it actually works. Use myfitnesspal, setup your meals and foods and after a bit it becomes pretty quick.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS

The above is true 100%. When I hear things like "counting calories is 'hard'" First thing I think of is this person will fail and I am probably wasting my time even trying to respond.

Yes, it is 'harder' than just eating what you feel like for the day and guessing. But unhappy are you carrying the extra weight you want/need to lose?. There in lies the answer.....How bad do you want it.

Otherwise, be like most people. Complain endlessly that you cant seem to ever lose weight. Try various fad diets, all ending in the same result. Complain again when in 3 months you have not made much progress. Then eventually quit only to a year from now make another attempt that is doomed to fail before you start.

You pick. The advice you have been given works. Examine just really it is you want.....not what you feel you want. Sacrifice is all part of achieving your goal. Both in intake AND time.

[shaneinga]

It is so tedious to count calories I actually have mine done days in advance.

People typically eat a lot of the same things. A good calorie app like the ones mentioned keep track of things you eat, which makes it literally as easy as clicking the food and hitting the add button.

Add a food scale for good measure so you can see what actual servings sizes are of your favorite foods and that will get you in the ballpark for your beach body that you are wanting.

I am not one to bash cardio as I think it is important as the rest of the word is vascular. Hence your heart, so yes, cardio should be implemented at some point of your training.

Pick something that is not tedious and you enjoy doing. Hiking, riding a bike, playing a sport. All of these can be done with the family.

[Cass40]

Unpopular opinion: you have to count calories to lose weight.
You have to "feel hunger" occasionally during the day (or night depending on when you want to eat)

Trust me, I've done it my whole life and that's how it works.

You don't really have to do cardio but it helps, especially if you're used to feeling hungry and it doesn't bother you but doing a lot of cardio and not counting calories is not the greatest idea for weight loss.

[Plateauplower]

Unpopular opinion: you have to count calories to lose weight.
You have to "feel hunger" occasionally during the day (or night depending on when you want to eat)

Trust me, I've done it my whole life and that's how it works.

You don't really have to do cardio but it helps, especially if you're used to feeling hungry and it doesn't bother you but doing a lot of cardio and not counting calories is not the greatest idea for weight loss.

Well that’s sucks. I thought I was special snowflake and the only one that had to live hungry to be lean I’m kinda fat right now (relative) but it’s funny how you do/can get accustomed to being always a little hungry. Fuking survival mechanisms, wanting us to store some fat for famines.

On cardio. I’m a person that thinks it’s good in moderation. For me, LISS is the way to go. A brisk walk at lunchtime makes a noticeable difference if you have a sedentary job. If you have an active job, I’d probably just lift and eat less.

I talked to some random old ripped lady today briefly at the resort we were at. She was standing next to me and said you obviously train, do you compete? She was a personal trainer blah blah blah. She was peeled though for a women of my age or so.

[rehantahir]

Having a balanced approach of eating the right amount of calories and getting enough movement to create an energy deficit will be how you ultimately lose body fat and maintain lean mass.

A combination of both usually works best. You can't really expect to exercise the fat away, if you are not paying attention to the diet. Put into perspective that it takes about a daily deficit of 500 kcal a day (3500 a week) below your body's total daily expenditure to lose 1 lb of body fat. If you think about how much exercise you will need to accomplish that, it's not usually efficient use of your time to do that at least for the long term.

As others have mentioned here, figure out what your basal metabolic rate is, then figure out your total daily energy expenditure. Once you've done that, you can figure out how much exercise is doable (between weight training + cardiovascular/aerobic/HIIT), and then you can eat within your caloric needs from there.

There are other things to consider, and this would need tweaks every few weeks, but that's the gist of it.

[Cass40]

Well that’s sucks. I thought I was special snowflake and the only one that had to live hungry to be lean I’m kinda fat right now (relative) but it’s funny how you do/can get accustomed to being always a little hungry. Fuking survival mechanisms, wanting us to store some fat for famines.

On cardio. I’m a person that thinks it’s good in moderation. For me, LISS is the way to go. A brisk walk at lunchtime makes a noticeable difference if you have a sedentary job. If you have an active job, I’d probably just lift and eat less.

I talked to some random old ripped lady today briefly at the resort we were at. She was standing next to me and said you obviously train, do you compete? She was a personal trainer blah blah blah. She was peeled though for a women of my age or so.

If you eat bigger meals and have more time between meals or have fewer meals total, you won't feel "always hungry".

That's one of the reasons some prefer IF style of eating.

[Plateauplower]

If you eat bigger meals and have more time between meals or have fewer meals total, you won't feel "always hungry".

That's one of the reasons some prefer IF style of eating.

Yeah, it depends a lot on circumstance for people to do IF. When I trained early morning it would have been both hard to impossible and unwise from a MPS standpoint. Now that I’m training later I can put off my first meal until 11-1. Doesn’t matter though, I still want X amount of calories. The body knows what it wants. The mind knows what it can do.

[induced_drag]

Yeah, it depends a lot on circumstance for people to do IF. When I trained early morning it would have been both hard to impossible and unwise from a MPS standpoint. Now that I’m training later I can put off my first meal until 11-1. Doesn’t matter though, I still want X amount of calories. The body knows what it wants. The mind knows what it can do.

I have been running intermittent fasting since January. The main reason that I run it is I have zero hunger even in a deficit state which was never the case before.

I am consistently the leanest that I have ever been in maintaining it without issue and without hunger. Even continuing to lean out slowly just by feel.

Just my experience with it. It's a single most transformative thing that I've done to change my training in the last 5 years.

[Cantplankwell]

I tried IF some months ago for a month or so, and I like what I saw. One of the biggest underrated affects it had for me was how it vastly simplified my meals, it uncomplicated things because I did not have to take the time to plan, make/pack/clean up and also count the calories for breakfast and coffee break, plus I could eat pretty much whatever we made for dinner, especially if lunch was "light". When you have not eaten in 16 hours a tuna salad sandwich and carrot sticks seems suddenly like a big meal. Additionally I tried doing fasted cardio at different times, this may be a little anecdotal but the days I did Cardio at 11am..the 15th hour..it seemed to have a bigger affect at the next days weigh in. I would also add I did not try doing weightlifting while fasting...during April and May I was lifting early in the evening or at lunch.

[gipper53]

I'm trying to lose a lot of weight (45 lbs. worth), and I've been walking on the treadmill lately. On days I workout, I walk two miles; days I don't workout, I try and do three miles (I don't walk every day, but most days). I would love to exercise more and accelerate my weight loss, but I only have so much time during the week (I work 8-5). I suppose I could go in super-early before work and walk, but that would mean two showers a day and two change of workout clothes a day. I'd have to go buy more workout clothes. But if I went that route, I figure I could walk at least two miles in the morning regardless of whether I workout that day or not. I just don't think I'd have the energy to walk 5-6 miles in one workout - at least not yet.

I was just wondering if anyone else has worked in extra exercise time and how did you do it?

As a person who did a similar journey starting in 2018 (lost almost 60 lbs), I can tell you what worked for me. There is lots of good advice in this thread already.

For me, I did all of my exercise late at night. I work 8-5 and have two kids under 12 with busy schedules. "My time" is usually 9-10pm to workout. Yeah I'd rather be on the couch at this time, but this is what worked for me. Find your time and make it work. Excuses are easy to find, but if this were that easy then everybody would do it. You've gotta want it enough to make the time happen. Once you make the time:

1. Do heavy weight training consistently. 3 times a week. This will build some muscle but is also a fantastic fat burning tool. Find a good beginner program (I ran Fierce Five Novice routine, it's on these forums) and stick with it. Lift heavy. Plus when you finally do shed the weight you will have a semi-decent physique instead of just being a 'skinny fat' guy.

2. Diet is absolute key to this. Not so much what you eat, but how MUCH. As others have said, you can't lose weight if you are in a calorie surplus. You can eat the same stuff you do now, just eat LESS of it. Try to figure out what you were eating on an average day before, and then figure how to drop 800-1000 calories out of that. You'd be surprised that it starts with just one less slice of pizza with dinner and skipping the large french fries at lunch. Most of us don't realize just how many calories a day we eat. 3000 or more is easy to hit if your diet is largely fast food. I dropped my first 35lbs or so by just doing this. I wasn't accurately counting, just cutting food back. If the weight loss slowed or stalled for a week or two, I dropped another couple hundred calories per day and it started coming off again. Simple. As you see results come, you may naturally start making better food choices just because you're excited by what you see in the mirror.

3. I believe in cardio for weight loss! I know weight loss is simple calories in vs. calories spent, but burning 300+ in 30 minutes helped that "calories spent" side of the equation for me greatly. But try something more vigorous than walking, either jogging, biking, or use an elliptical machine. You should get your heart rate up for a while and break a decent sweat IMO for best results. 30 minutes is all you need. Early morning cardio for me also 'jump starts' the day, and I feel much more awake and ready to go when I get to the office. That's me, you may be different.

4. Recovery is critical, especially if you're not 22 any more. For me, I made sure to have at least 1 day a week to just rest. Also about every 6-8 weeks my body needed a "Deload Week" on the weight training. Otherwise I just felt weak and run down. Don't ignore recovery otherwise you will burn yourself out. At age 38 I've finally been committed to health and fitness for the long term, and I've been going strong for over 18 months now. Previously I never stuck with a routine longer than about 4 months, and spent all of my 20s to mid-30s as the chubby guy. Listening to my body and giving it a break when it needs it has been key to sticking with this. I'm in decent shape now but I know I'm not superman.

The biggest key for success here is CONSISTENCY. Just stick with it. Some days it will suck. Some days you'll question if it's working. Develop the will power to do your workout even on days when the couch is calling. Resist that donut at the office meeting. The hardest time is the beginning, but that will change. Progress is an incredible motivator. Just stick with it long enough to see some progress, and the snowball effect from there can be amazing! 4-5 months from now you can look like a totally different person if you want to. Good luck!

[CommitmentRulz]

OP, at 100 calories a mile, are you prepared to walk 1575 miles with NO CHANGE in your current diet?

[tblodg15]

Everyone is different but currently I am making less time for cardio in my schedule. When I first lost over 60 pounds near the end I was doing short, intense cardio 3 to 4 days per week.

Over the winter I gained weight on purpose and now am trimming back down and am doing just one day of cardio per week. I found the cardio was cutting into my recovery for lifting weights so this time around I am doing less cardio but eating less calories to get the desired calorie deficit. I actually prefer eating less calories and doing less cardio because I am still progressing in the gym while losing weight.

[Oldfart64]

Only cardio I'm currently doing is walking my dog in the morning. Couple miles, low steady state. Only reason I'm doing it is because my doctor wants me to.

[waknickm]

I do IF, which allows me time at lunch to do some cardio instead of eating, so it is a win, win, but I can't do it when I have to go into the office.

[Plateauplower]

I have been running intermittent fasting since January. The main reason that I run it is I have zero hunger even in a deficit state which was never the case before.

I am consistently the leanest that I have ever been in maintaining it without issue and without hunger. Even continuing to lean out slowly just by feel.

Just my experience with it. It's a single most transformative thing that I've done to change my training in the last 5 years.

Yeah moving my first meal back does help some with satiation overall and specifically later in the day. I would typically have an 9 hr "eating window" previously as well, but I was training in the morning (waking up at 3:30am to train 5:00-6:15 or so). I would NEED to eat by 8am just due to hunger. My last meal was typically around 5pm so 15hrs fasted. That said it is easier now to sleep until 5:00 or so and make my first meal later because I'm not as hungry then have more calories for the remainder of the day. Just being back on "hardcore diet mode" since Saturday returning from vacation and have been able to come in around 1800 cals/day maybe a little less without much hunger. The way I am eating would qualify loosely as "keto" as well primarily lean meats, veg and some added fats from nuts, olive oil etc. In combination this seems to work well for me. I am convinced I really have some kind of issue with starchy carbs....While I enjoy them (immensely) they just make me hungry and lethargic. Its a pretty restrictive approach but its a lot easier than starving all the time. The other benefit of training in the afternoon is a lot of times when I wake up my back and sometimes shoulders etc hurt and by the afternoon I'm loosened up. On cardio topic, I got my lunchtime walk in today. 40 mins at 4 mph, doesn't do a ton for TDEE but it helps a bit when most of the day is sedentary. LISS actually seems to help me recover, especially legs...

[Cass40]

I've been watching videos on YouTube of some folk who say that they train fasted, and your body actually adjusts to training fasted but it takes some time.

It makes sense in a way because humans have always worked hungry, it's just very recent that we've had access to food any time we want.

It's kind of weird to think that we came up with the idea you have to eat every three to four hours when nowhere in human history have we ever been able to do that.

[ChuckersT]

I've been watching videos on YouTube of some folk who say that they train fasted, and your body actually adjusts to training fasted but it takes some time.

It makes sense in a way because humans have always worked hungry, it's just very recent that we've had access to food any time we want.

It's kind of weird to think that we came up with the idea you have to eat every three to four hours when nowhere in human history have we ever been able to do that.

I trained fasted for endurance events for 18 months, 7 days a week. I would do 2-3 hour runs and 4-5 hour bike rides fasted... also two mile swims.

I did this because I hit the wall in a marathon a few years back. Training fasted, I have never hit the the wall again. To test fasted training, I did 2 Half Marathons in back to back weekends. One on a 12 hour fast, and one on a 16 hour fast. My pace for both was 7:18/mile, which is only about 5 seconds higher than my PR. So it does work.

8 weeks ago I started lifting weights. OMG! When lifting fasted, I would get the most intense hunger pangs. I dont know how strength is different from cardio, but I have to eat before lifting. I cant handle it.

[induced_drag]

Yeah moving my first meal back does help some with satiation overall and specifically later in the day. I would typically have an 9 hr "eating window" previously as well, but I was training in the morning (waking up at 3:30am to train 5:00-6:15 or so). I would NEED to eat by 8am just due to hunger. My last meal was typically around 5pm so 15hrs fasted. That said it is easier now to sleep until 5:00 or so and make my first meal later because I'm not as hungry then have more calories for the remainder of the day. Just being back on "hardcore diet mode" since Saturday returning from vacation and have been able to come in around 1800 cals/day maybe a little less without much hunger. The way I am eating would qualify loosely as "keto" as well primarily lean meats, veg and some added fats from nuts, olive oil etc. In combination this seems to work well for me. I am convinced I really have some kind of issue with starchy carbs....While I enjoy them (immensely) they just make me hungry and lethargic. Its a pretty restrictive approach but its a lot easier than starving all the time. The other benefit of training in the afternoon is a lot of times when I wake up my back and sometimes shoulders etc hurt and by the afternoon I'm loosened up. On cardio topic, I got my lunchtime walk in today. 40 mins at 4 mph, doesn't do a ton for TDEE but it helps a bit when most of the day is sedentary. LISS actually seems to help me recover, especially legs...

Interesting. I too was one of those guys that had to always be eating. My wife would make fun of me for getting 'hangry' if I was even 15min late to eating next. For much of my life, I think I just have genetically had low blood sugar. 2 years back at a physical, my fasted blood sugar was 52! My Dr looked at me like 'wtf is wrong with you'... He looked back at my bloodwork the past 10 years and I was always right at the bottom of the scale. He said it was probably just the way I was made up.

Funny thing happened. I made the switch to IF in Jan and had a physical in April. Within the first several weeks of IF I could feel my body was acting differently. No more 'hangry' episodes...etc. When I went in for my physical, for the FIRST TIME ever, my fasted blood sugar was mid range!

Only one test, but I will be curious to see over time. SOMETHING is different for sure!

[Plateauplower]

Interesting. I too was one of those guys that had to always be eating. My wife would make fun of me for getting 'hangry' if I was even 15min late to eating next. For much of my life, I think I just have genetically had low blood sugar. 2 years back at a physical, my fasted blood sugar was 52! My Dr looked at me like 'wtf is wrong with you'... He looked back at my bloodwork the past 10 years and I was always right at the bottom of the scale. He said it was probably just the way I was made up.

Funny thing happened. I made the switch to IF in Jan and had a physical in April. Within the first several weeks of IF I could feel my body was acting differently. No more 'hangry' episodes...etc. When I went in for my physical, for the FIRST TIME ever, my fasted blood sugar was mid range!

Only one test, but I will be curious to see over time. SOMETHING is different for sure!

I'd be willing to bet part of the reason that your blood sugar normalized and the reduced hunger is partially related to being in slight ketogenic state. If you are still gradually leaning out, and doing IF it is almost assures you are burning fat for energy (ketosis). This happens even when you eat carbs BTW in a deficit, in fact your body making ketone bodies from fat stores is how your body always burns fat. When I eat low carb my hunger is very manageable. From my own blood testing results with a meter, my Blood sugar stabilizes around 80 when my BHB levels are around .8-1.2 mmol/DL

[Tricon7]

Everyone is different but currently I am making less time for cardio in my schedule. When I first lost over 60 pounds near the end I was doing short, intense cardio 3 to 4 days per week.

Over the winter I gained weight on purpose and now am trimming back down and am doing just one day of cardio per week. I found the cardio was cutting into my recovery for lifting weights so this time around I am doing less cardio but eating less calories to get the desired calorie deficit. I actually prefer eating less calories and doing less cardio because I am still progressing in the gym while losing weight.

At the moment, my primary focus is on losing weight, hence my emphasis on cardio to help speed up the process wherever I can. I'm currently at 220 and want to get to around 175. I am doing weight lifting, maybe four times a week. As soon as I get below 190, I'll cut down on the cardio amount.

[tblodg15]

At the moment, my primary focus is on losing weight, hence my emphasis on cardio to help speed up the process wherever I can. I'm currently at 220 and want to get to around 175. I am doing weight lifting, maybe four times a week. As soon as I get below 190, I'll cut down on the cardio amount.

In your situation with fat loss being the primary goal that is a good strategy, good luck!