hello,
I am new to low carving just by a few months.
one of the main shocking things I've read was that cardio isn't that helpful for weight loss.
I've read "Why We Get Fat" and "The Art and Science of Low Carb Performance" and they BOTH briefly mentioned that cardio is good for you, but not that helpful for weight loss. I don't have the books on me at the moment, but during both reads I felt like I didn't grasp the concept.
Can anyone help explain this... or direct me if there is already a thread on this matter?

The basic point is that exercise makes you hungrier, and that the exercise itself doesn't burn off that many calories.

Both Taubes & Volek/Phinney are pro-exercise, and believe it has many benefits, it's just that both point out that weight loss isn't one of them.

There are many on this forum who have lost weight without exercise (I'm one of them) - I do hope to get regular exercise back into my life, but I'm really glad I didn't use my unwillingness to exercise as an excuse to not change my diet!

It's counter to the common belief and "official recommendations" but then so is a lot of the stuff related to low carb (eat fat, saturated fat won't kill you, etc)

Observational reply here :-).

Before I started on my LC plan, I was MTBing twice a week, walking about 4 - 6 miles a day at a speed of 4 mph. Most would consider that reasonable cardio work out. Then I added in K1 training twice a week. How much did I loose?
4 lb in months. Did I get fitter yes. Did I compensate and eat more. Cant comment but probably. It happens insidiously.

Now 6 weeks on LC and more or less the same exercise (swapped mtg for cross fit) and I am 22 lb lighter.

Is is diet of exercise?

Oh and swimming is the worst cardio you can do, great for fitness, but lowers core temp (or at least stops it rising) result is that you get out the water and are starving!!

I always wondered why I was hungry after swimming. Lowering core temp would make your body work harder and hence burn more calories. But, you do have the hunger effect after.

I have to admit I'm sad I no longer have access to a pool. I love lap swimming, the only exercise I truly enjoy! I never felt hungry after swimming and it fact my weight loss was usually good when I was LCing and also swimming regularly. My sister took up lap swimming and made no other changes to her life, and lost 30 pounds over the next few months.

Now I basically get no exercise at all. Have a bad knee so even walking distances more than about 1/2 a mile puts me in serious pain - but of course I could swim a long time without any pain. However the only pool available near me is at the YMCA, and I can't afford their membership fee.

how do we burn fat then?
I've been low carbing for 4 months. Lost 10lb in the first month or so but still have another 10 or so I would like to lose. But haven't made any progress in months.

background: I generally eat close to 0 carbs a day as I can. The only thing I have that has substantial carbs are these sugary coffee drinks on the weekend. I have them twice and they are 20+ grams of sugar each. I am 27 and thought that was fine. But starting this weekend I have stopped them so there is no longer any reason I should retain fat, if fat is caused by carbs.
what do you think? (I know that was kind of 2 questions in 1!)

Your asking a number of questions here.

My favourite exercise for any weight change is something that will build muscle, this changes the baseline metabolic component for the body, this means that when you do your cardio type exercise you will be burning more energy than you were before you started you plan.

Now that does not work for weight loss, but for inch loss it does .

You have not given much information about how much you are eating and what foods you are eating. To advise you on what to change people will need to know a bit more about you. Yes the sugary coffee is bad. 20gm of sugar in one hit will cause fantastic insulin spikes, and probably trigger some hunger pangs afterwards. So stopping them is a god idea :-).

I mainly eat: beef, salmon, eggs, salad.Sometimes chicken or meatloaf.

A typical day might be:
5 eggs breakfast

Lunch:
Beef, veggies and guacamole (fajitas)
or
Salad with ham and ranch dressing and cheese

Dinner:
Angus beef pattie with cheese
or Salmon

in addition, throughout the day I will eat a couple of handfuls of mixed nuts, some pepperoni slices, a few slices of cheese or cheese sticks, a protein powder drink ( only directly after a workout).

I move more in general but i don't do intentional exercise and have lost 147lbs in 8 months. Will eventually do strength training when 80-90% to goal but the WOE and mental determination in addition to the support of my love one and forums has taken me this far. I can't wait when the time comes.

OP,

I am very low carb (started again recently) and do cardio.

HIIT cardio (it's on google) can help you burn fat a lot quicker if you do it). HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training.

I look at exercising as an "add-on" or should I say "add-off" for me personally because I often start and stop exercising and cardio because of my schedule, and getting lazy.

I do agree (as I think almost all of of do here) that DIET is the key. Low carb is the key.

The cardio can accelerate the process.

In the other Phinney/Volek book they mention how some people have as much as a 15% reduction in metabolism when they do too much cardio.

Yeah, it is always a little surprising to find out what we've been told over and over is wrong. But get used to it!

Salt is good for you, fat is good for you, cardio isn't necessarily all that great.

Go to Mark's daily apple and search on "chronic cardio". Very good reading.

so how do we burn the fat then?
i know low carbing makes it so we dont gain fat, but i seem to have been keeping mine....

Your not the only one.

One of my daughters is a good example of all of this. She used to be a "lazy lump", but kept her weight down by eating low carb. She then met and married her husband, who is a fitness fanatic and who doesnt agree with low carbing. So, she now spends all of her spare time, either at the gym, running, swimming...... you name it. she now longer eats low car, but low fat. She is no longer slim - in fact I often think shes a good poster child for how exercise DOESNT keep you slim!

Jo xxx

You burn calories just being alive. Your brain is the most calorie intensive organ in the body, followed by (I think) the kidneys.

Some people respond well to exercise. Just a matter of genetics.