Krav Maga & weight loss

[kharsa]

I've been reading everything I can find on the net & in books about Krav. Obviously, the no-nonsense self-defense aspects of it interest me big time compared to what I'm used to e.g. Hapkido. My short-term goal regardless is fat loss, roughly 20lbs. Has anyone personally lost about this much weight with consistent practice (3x/weekly).

[rosie]

I've lost twenty pounds and kept it off since mid-October. I normally do Krav two to three times a week for a total of 4-6 hours, unless I'm injured. Plus I do other workouts so that I am active most days of the week.

BUT the main thing that helped me lose weight was adding a restricted calorie diet on top of my activity. When I first started doing krav, I found that my appetite increased with my activity level, so I ate more and my weight didn't change. I had to learn to increase my activity level AND restrict caloric intake so that I could achieve a negative caloric balance. You will only lose weight if you have a negative caloric balance. A safe negative caloric balance is between 500 and 1000 calories per day, by which you can lose 1-2lbs per week (3500cals = 1lb of body weight). Any more of a deficit than that could slow your metabolism and leave you feeling fatigued.

The amount of calories you burn doing krav varies depending on your weight. I estimate that for my body, one hour of krav burns between 500-600 cals. So it's a great start towards your weight loss goals. Take a look at http://www.caloriesperhour.com/ for more info on calories and weight loss.

[kharsa]

Thanks rosie for the link & advice. Were these 'the last 20' that you needed to lose? I guess what I mean is that I've lost excess weight easily in the past, but after modifying my eating & introducing running I've reached a plateau .

[rosie]

Nope, these were the first twenty. I'm working on the last lbs now - about 15 to go. They're coming off slowly but surely. It's hard to see and feel the effects of losing weight at a safe (and long-lasting) rate, unless you take a long-term view of it.

When I reach a plateau in my weight loss, here's what I do.
1. Keep my food diary honest. Count everything I eat and drink and be honest about portion sizes.
2. Only weigh myself once a week, on the same day of the week, same time of day.
3. Make sure I'm eating enough for my activity level (i.e., make sure my negative caloric balance is not too high).
4. Drink at least half my body weight in ounces of water every day. More if I do Krav or other exercise that day.

For me, hitting the plateau means I've gotten too comfortable at my weight and I'm cheating too much, and I need to set a goal to motivate me. Krav-related goals are great for that. Doing krav is more fun when you are lean and mean. Plus, it's a really great workout. As long as your diet is on the right track, it will definitely help you lose those last pounds.

[kharsa]

Thanks, this helps a lot. What you said about overcoming a plateau makes sense, I just need to remind myself of it everytime I get down on myself. These are the last 20 for me so I'm going to have to be diligent. I still haven't signed up for the krav classes, the only thing holding me back is the commute (roughly 1/2hr one way). But I figure twice on the weekdays and once on the weekend shouldn't be too bad. By the way, the place I'm considering is 'the Core' in Louisville, KY.

[Ktulu]

\"BUT the main thing that helped me lose weight was adding a restricted calorie diet on top of my activity.\"

My experience is much the same. The first six months after I started KM I lost very little if any weight. I started tracking my calorie intake and activity. I got a good idea of how many calories I took in and burned in a day. I really had no clue. Once I started taking in fewer calories than I burned, I started loosing weight. Over the last few months I've averaged a pound in a half a week.

I'm not sure what my weight was for sure when I started but I am at least down 10-15 pounds since early Feb and I'm 20 pounds off the heaviest I've been.

Although I've tried half assed methods of loosing weight before to no effect, I find loosing weight now to be rather easy. When compared to the quick, gimicky diets it seems pretty easy for me to loose weight with hard work and discipline.

One more, thing. :) Donít starve yourself. When our bodies are deprived of food, even between meals, they go into a survival mode. In this mode they store more fat than normally. For men this ends up around the waist and women store it predominantly on their hips. Instead of eating 3 meals a day with fasting in between, eat 5 to 6 meals a day. Obviously, if you need to take in 1800 calories a day and you usually eat 600 calories a meal youíll have to eat 6, 300 calorie meals.

Good luck.

[MyAslan]

Do you do weight lifting as well?