weight & cardio combo?? How much?

[minirunner]

I have been on a quest to lower my body fat percentage and build some muscle. I am less concerned about weight than I am about losing body fat. I have been on a weight lifting program alternating with cardio. When I started out I was lifting HARD 20 min. followed by 30 min. Hard interval cardio. My body fat was dropping well but then I read all these articles about needing an hour of cardio to shed body fat so I upped my workouts.

 

I am lifting 60 minutes a day and then doing 60 mintues high impact cardio the next. Unfortunately my body fat jumped from 20% to nearly 24% while doing this, my diet is exactly the same! I have a very mundane diet: Green smoothie with brown rice protein every morning, snack: half apple and 6 almonds: lunch is either salad with tempeh or tofu, a wrap, or steamed veggies with tempeh or tofu. Dinner is generally the same. I am 4 ft. 11 inches tall and 106 pounds.

 

What is the best to do, I've read so many conflicting articles my head is spinning. Is there some way that by doing so much cardio and weight lifting that could cause a sharp increase in body fat? In fact, I even quit eating desserts and sugar, which I didn't even have to do with my less intense program but I was desperate and that didn't help either. I have been trying to lower my body fat percent back down since January. I would really appreciate some feedback. It has been hard to workout for an hour a day and see absolutely no results, I keep feeling like I want to give up because I've been at this for years trying to lose this body fat, it worked for awhile then I kicked up my workouts and now I'm back where I started and 4 months later, still struggling. Thanks in advance for your kind help.

[Veganator]

Your goal is lean muscle. So, I would suggest three angles of attack.

 

First, and most important if not just equally important your fat intake and reguarity of meals:

 

You increase your body's fat burning capabilites by having small portioned regular meals 4-5 a day. Staying true to a vegan diet and refraining from faux meats will help also.

 

Secondly, cardio to weightlifting ratio:

 

I run approx. 10 mins on a treadmill, hard start up a sweat. The intensity and stucture of your weightlifting enhances your cardio if done in a particular manner(for example), small rests in between exercises super and triple sets. Fluctuating the motion so ur not so tired that u can't train (ex. incline, flat then decline). You can also do light weight and and double your reps changing your weightlifting into more of a cardio workout.

 

Finally, run, run, run:

I also end the workout session with another 10 min run might be hard or not advised if your doing legs that day.If you're having and joint pains make sure you're streching and try using elipticals stepper's or bikes. Swimming is another low impact cardio thats an excellent cardiovascular full body workout.

 

I hope something in here helps you accomplish your goals and any questions about my info I'd be glad to answer!

[Marcina]

If you were losing bodyfat by doing only 30 minutes of cardio, then stick with it.

There ARE tons of conflicting articles out there, so the best way to learn is by trial and error. Do what works for you.

[Gaia]

I agree. You can read everything, and it still won't work for you. The way I look at it, is that they really are just suggestions on what could work for you and your life style. So try them out, and if they work, then keep fine tuning it, but if it doesn't work out then on to the next thing to try!

 

The only other thing I would advise you to do is keep on trying to figure it out. Keep on researching and trying new things out. Perhaps write down your experiences and analyze them every now and then for results and to plan your next attack on bodyfat!

[Theresaann]

This may sound un-politically correct here, but I found something extraordinary in my quest to shed bodyfat. You may want to consider that you could be overtraining. That will halt and even reverse fat loss due to elevated cortisol even if you are working harder and eating leaner.

 

Read Brenden Brazier's book "the Thrive Diet". He explains the stress/cortisol/fat gain-loss cycle very clearly.

 

I dropped from 6 days of hard working out (hard cardio and weights) to 4, plus making sure to get more sleep, and the fat is dropping off with no change in diet. In fact I feel like I'm working out a lot less but getting a lot leaner. It goes against logic, but consider trying it. You may be really surprised, as I was.

[SeaSiren]

You may want to consider that you could be overtraining.

 

This is my opinion as well. You have stalled your system. Back off on the training a bit. and you really need to bump your calories, especially once per week.