[séduisant]

So I've been working out this whole month 5-6 times a week for more than an hour and been cutting my calorie intake to about 1000-1200 but have seen little to no weight lost!
I know your metabolism is a huge factor in losing weight but does your metabolism need to be good before you actually see weight loss?
Since I started cutting calories, I think my metabolism got worse since I can't eat as much.

So basically should I first maintain a good metabolism as opposed to cutting calories to lose weight? Thanks!

[Junebug88]

Hey menkui,

I'm a nutrition major and I can tell you that focusing on calories too much is not the best way to lose weight. Instead I would focus on just eating nutrient dense foods while doing cardio AND strength training. If you really want to see results, you can't ONLY do cardio. Strength training will build more muscle mass and increase your metabolism for a lot longer of a period of time than cardio. Also when you eat, make sure you eat breakfast right after you wake up. If you wait too long, it really slows your metabolism and be sure to also eat small meals frequently (4-5 hour intervals). So YES, metabolism I believe outweighs calories. In my opinion, Calorie counting can be bad because it can lead to making someone become too obsessed with the act of eating food rather than really enjoying and savoring food. Hope that answers your question. =)

p.s. your calorie intake is very lowwwww. I'm not sure how much you weigh, but normally this is way below normal. You might have lost weight pretty quickly in the beginning this way, but after a week or so, you plateau because your metabolism has dropped tremendously.

[laris]

i'm a nutrition major too, so props ^

[asianpanthers]

well...bio bs...and that IS good info. if you're going to be carb heavy, do it in the morning. insulin reactions are much higher the longer you are awake.

but i dont think that looking at labels is bad...if you don't have a screwed up idea of dieting...but i guess that excludes most of the people i see posting here, so...i guess what i'm trying to say is...good advice...if you MUST carb, carb early!

[Hax]

Not to downplay metabolism or anything, but if you don't put a lot of emphasis on counting calories, how do you lose weight? Without a stringent check on what you eat, you can easily overeat your daily workout away. I guess its because I've counted calories basically ever since I started to lose weight that I cant fathom another way around it. Its probably because I snack a lot so without a good check on calories, I would easily eat my gains away .

[Vi3t102]

And much do you weight, and how tall are you also plays a role.

[trishaa01]

If you're cutting out too many calories, your metabolism will slow down.

[Hi August]

I don't really cut down my calories but I cut down my meal size. I would eat 4-5 times a day but each time I eat it's very little. I guess that subliminally cuts down my calories, too. The key is to do weight training and cardio. For me I focus more on weights and do half an hour of cardio each day. I've been doing that for a little over two weeks and I've lost six pounds. And those two weeks are only counting days where I work out, not including weekends. I don't do anything on the weekends. I work out for two hours each day and sometimes walk an hour in the morning prior to my work out. And always eat breakfast! Since I work out early in the morning I eat a small apple so I can have energy to workout. If I need more I'd each a sandwich or cereal, it varies. Then after breakfast I rarely eat carbs and focus on mostly fruits and proteins. I get my veggies during dinner and more fruits. And drink water more frequently.

For me I think metabolism is more important. If you cut down too much calories your body will go into deprivation mode which in turn slows down your metabolism. Just don't take TOO much calories; maintain the daily average intake.