* Myth: Running, cycling, or other cardio activities are more fat burning once you've been doing them for more than 15 or 20 minutes.
The Truth: Technically, once you've been exercising for 15 or 20 minutes, your body has made the shift to using a higher percentage of fat for fuel. But again, if you're trying to lose weight, it's about the total number of calories burned, not necessarily the fuel source.
For example, say that at rest you burn up to 60 percent fat. When you enter the initial phases of intense exercise, the ratio changes. You may now burn only 30 percent fat because your body is using quick-energy carbohydrates. Once the exercise is sustained, the body switches back to using a higher percentage of fat to fuel the movement (up to 75 percent fat). In this aerobic phase of exercise, a higher percentage of fat is being used for energy. But if you aren't working out for a very long period, you may still burn more total calories and, therefore, more fat calories working out harder. Put another way, if burning as many calories as you can is the best way to lose weight, even a dummy can figure out which activity of the following is going to give the best results (answer: jogging and sprinting), even though their fat-burning quota is on the low end of the ratio.
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Thank you very much, this is about the only sensible piece of advice here, along with Troutman's counting calories advice.
To the OP, thermodynamics is very simple. If you consume more energy then you expend each day, you are going to gain weight, and definitely have a hard time losing it.
If you consume less energy than you expend each day, you will experience said weight loss.
Yes, there is a lot more that goes into it, but this is very basic thermodynamics here.
Upping your exercise is not the way to go. Nutrition is the primary variable in any weight loss equation, and I would be willing to put a lot of money on it that this is the area that you are screwing up.
FYI, a very generalized rule of thumb for determining your maintenance caloric intake is to multiply your body weight by 15. That means, 15 calories per pound of body weight gives you a ball park figure for determining your maintenance.
If you don't know what maintenance is, it is simply the estimated caloric intake where you will be burning roughly the same amount of energy as you are consuming each day, hence, maintaining your current body weight.
From there, simply begin to reduce your caloric intake in small increments based off of your maintenance until weight loss begins.
Of course, what you are eating is also important, but digest this first.
Just switching to salads or subs might help..in anycase, avoid fries and burgers and such.. You have to keep eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle to make sure the lost weight doesn't creep back..