Dumb question about calorie deficits and weight loss

[Phteven]

If pure calorie burn/fat reduction rather than increased cardio fitness is what you are after the the 60% - 70% is better. It's something to do with how your body uses oxygen and creates energy. It called the fitness zone.
70% - 80% is the aerobic zone. You still burn calories but your body will convert less energy from fat and more from muscle.
80% - 90% the anaerobic zone. This is where you want to go for endurance training.
90%-100% red line. No-one can stay here for long.

I would say that you need to look at one or two sessions of resistance training a week. You can do it on the same days as cardio. The great benefit of resistance training is that it makes muscles and muscles mean that your body burns more calories at rest. It also creates stronger bones which your body will thank you for after menopause. Half the women in my Tuesday pump class are retired ladies with issues with bone density.
If you have no weights all the body weight exercises are great - push-ups, dips, squats, lunges.

Although it sounds counter-intuitive try not to work out when you're hungry but on the flip side don't reward yourself for a wok-out with food.

[nothing2lose]

Thanks

Exercise is totally foreign to me (which explains a lot ) i have never been to a gym You'll have to be patient with me!

So, I am 40, which makes my MHR 180.

60 per cent is 108
70 per cent is 126

I guess I will aim for 70 per cent at this stage. I have a Polar heart rate monitor which I am trying to set up. It has a 'zone' you program into it as a target. I guess I will set the 108 as the low and 126 as the high for now. Is this
right?????

Also, i am not likely to join a gym in the immediate future. I have an exercise bike. I also have Wii fit. DP has a weight bench thingo but it seems a bit daunting at this stage.

Do you think I should start with the bike, walking and Wii???? What exactly is resistance training??

Like i said, words like pump, spin, cardio, etc are foreign

Eta: I thought I should aim to burn 500cals a day through exercise. Thoughts?
What about eating back your calories??? Do you do this? (lol By 'you' I mean anyone out there!)

[Phteven]

Resistance training is weights.
If your DH has weights ask him to show you the proper form for some exercises then do 3 sets of each exercise at least twice a week (a set is 8 to 12 repetitons. I do sets of increased weight and lower repititions ie. first set is 12, then I put a little more weight on and do 10 then more weight and do eight). You should have enough weight that your set pushes you to failure. Which means that you would not be able to lift that weight again at the end of your set. After each set you have a break. To make it quicker I do another set in the break which means I do a set with one group of muscles such as tri-ceps then a set with something else ie quads then back to tri-ceps then back to quads. After 3 sets of each I pick 2 other muscle groups. If you are doing more than 15 reps that is cardio and endurance training which is good but it doesn't build large muscles. Don't fear bulking up. Women don't bulk up.

Even though you have weights I'm going to tell you to do push-ups again. They hit so many spots - start on your knees and work towards being on your toes. If you can do one push-up on your toes that means that in a week you will be able to do two. You can also do tri-cep push-ups.

And don't forget your core. Core strength is really important. It supports you for all your exercise. Get your DH to show you how to do a hover (start on your knees) and do sit-ups. There are so many types of sit-ups. I'll link you up to my favourite core workout and you can pick your favourites.
Abdominal Exercises for Boxers - YouTube

Keep in mind that when it works exercise hurts. You will feel your muscles the next day. And it's hard, but when you cheat the only person you cheat is you.
The pay-off is endorphins which make you feel foolishly happy about minor things.

Also - stretch!! Never forget to stretch.

ETA - I would say that you should start with 5 cadio sessions a week - bike, walking and Wi. Mix it up a bit. Walk one day then bike the next and so on. 2 days a week do some resistance training. You can do it on the same days as cardio. If there is a cheap yoga place nearby maybe yoga once a week and one day a week is recovery. That is important. If you are working your body hard it needs a day to rest.

ETA - 500 calories a day through exercise is quite a lot. According to the treadmill at my gym I need to run about 9 or 10kms to burn that. An hour of pump (a weights class that uses low weight in high reps to build endurance) is about 350 calories.

ETA - Have you heard of the couch to 5km program? You can download it and it will tell you when to walk and when to run the aim being for you to end up running 5km without overdoing it in the process.
One of the mistakes people make is pushing too hard to start with and then hurting too much so they take a break and lose motivation. C25K is meant to help with that.

And eating back calories - I have no idea. I eat in serves not calories and I'm not too brilliant at that. I have a protein shake for muscle gain after weights and pump.

[~*Niadalla*~]

Great posts Onyx!

N2L I have to burn 500 cals a day exercise wise. Takes me an hour. I have a polar and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!
I don't take any notice of the 'zones'. They don't really mean a lot.
If you have a HRM, workout to the 500 cal mark and don't worry too much about your heart rate. You'll learn after having the HRM for a while where you need to be to get the most out of your trainings. On Saturdays with the program I'm doing, we do a 1000 cal burn and have Sunday's off - no training.

I don't eat back my calories. EVER. Defeats the purpose of exercise and you may as well just eat right and not exercise at all IYKWIM.

[nothing2lose]

Okay, just for posterity. Did 15 mins on exercise bike in my 'zone'. It burned exactly 100cals. Oh, the last minute or two was over my zone.

[chody47]

Great work N2L! That's a great start!

[Feijoa Mum]

Have you looked at the million kilo challenge site??

They have an exercise circuit called Bondi Bum and its is wicked! It is a set of 7 different exercises like push ups, tricep dips, shuttle runs etc that you do for a minute at a time and do the circuit 3 times in total.
They change the exercises each week and I have just finished week two and I am really enjoying it. Well as much as you can enjoy sweating your ar$e off

Have a look at the site it is all free and you can download each weeks circuit to print out.
My DH is doing it with me and we push and motivate each other as it really helps having someone "dying and grunting" beside you

[C~Q]

I don't eat back my calories. EVER. Defeats the purpose of exercise and you may as well just eat right and not exercise at all IYKWIM.

I totally get what you're trying to say and if you're talking specifically to N2L then ignore me but sorry dude I have to disagree with you there. Not everyone exercises to lose weight, I could list heaps of reasons to exercise other than weight loss. I'm an extreme as i;m a Fitness Instructor and pretty small but I have to eat waaaaay more than I burn during my classes as I can't afford to lose weight. As I said, i'm an extreme but there are many, many (I call them skinny fat) people that are underweight or shouldn't lose weight but should be exercising for other reasons x

ETA...sorry there was nothing productive there for the OT...not really in the mood to type a heap of stuff but if you have any specific questions then go right ahead. BTW wen you do start exercising you should include it in the equation you use to work out your BMR and papow...I have a great one somewhere if yours isn't particularly specific x

[~*Niadalla*~]

I totally get what you're trying to say and if you're talking specifically to N2L then ignore me but sorry dude I have to disagree with you there. Not everyone exercises to lose weight, I could list heaps of reasons to exercise other than weight loss. I'm an extreme as i;m a Fitness Instructor and pretty small but I have to eat waaaaay more than I burn during my classes as I can't afford to lose weight. As I said, i'm an extreme but there are many, many (I call them skinny fat) people that are underweight or shouldn't lose weight but should be exercising for other reasons x

Cheers C~Q . I was more talking about what I do... being 131kgs it would be rather counteractive to my personal weightloss. I do totally get what you are saying and it will be something I will have to think about when I get down to my goal weight and want to maintain and tone rather than lose weight.

[nothing2lose]

Thanks CQ

Niadella, just wondering...Are you concerned about 'starvation' mode or putting the weight back on long term??

PS. I just want to add a little woo hoo Just walked to my chemist to fill a script - 44 mins, 316cals burned! With a little bit of bike and Wii this arvo, I should easily get to 500!