Hey there!,

It's been awhile since I have posted but fret not, I am still on the weight-loss train. However, I have kicked up my gym routine. You see, I am moving to Spain in late September/early October and am trying to get a bit leaner before I go. The thing is, I have been going to the gym for around 2 hours about 3 or 4 times a week. Today I plan to go for 2 hours and 30. That includes an hour of cardio, boxing, and some weight training. I've never had a problem with it but then I learned about cortisol. If I continue to go for this long, will it actually HARM my weightloss? I have a muscular type body that responds really well to exercise. I still have around 80lbs till goal weight and I don't know if the articles I read where it said it would hinder muscle growth were more for people who were at normal BMIs or not. Does anyone have any insight into this? Basically, if I workout 1 hour and a half to 2 hours and half, sometimes three, will that actually cause me to GAIN weight? I've not seen any effects just yet and I am eating a clean diet. Any advice?

Latest scientific facts say that it can. You workout program is really a lot to do the rest of your life and if you cut back you will gain. Weight loss is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise.

Articles I have read recently, including this one http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cort...en-matter.html , claim that it doesn't matter as much as they were trying to make people believe.

That said. You cannot build muscle mass while in a calorie deficit. So right now all you are doing (if still dieting) is burning a ton of calories which will definitely help you lose weight if you are not eating back your exercise cals. If you are eating them back, then the strength training (if you are lifting heavy) is at least helping your body to prevent muscle loss as you lose weight. And the cardio and kickboxing are good for all the normal reasons they are good for you.

If you do stop doing that level of exercise and do not alter your eating habits, Quilter is right, you will either gain or stop losing because the body is used to what you are doing and will no longer be using that energy.

ETA: While you can't build muscle in a cal deficit. Strength training can mask weight loss as the body will hold more water and your bones will gain density. If you aren't measuring or tracking in another way that the scale I do recommend it. I had a trainer for 6 months awhile agao, that 6 months I lost maybe 5 lbs but lost a ton of inches

Yes, I have seen many inches go. It's a good thing. Like I said before, I am eating clean and on a low-cal, lower carb diet. I do know about the 80% what you eat and 20% what you do. That's why I am so strict with my diet. So I am not eating back what I have been burning the majority of the time. Some days I do, to keep my body guessing and to not enter into 'starvation mode'.

I plan on going to the gym for an hour or an hour and half at least three times a week for the rest of my life or at least while I am able. I can guarantee that at 95 years of age. Ha, ha.

But, it seems that cortisol can make a slight impact but not as much as once thought. I read the article, especially if you drink an EAA and carbs, it seems not to spike as much. I drink a protein shake after my workout anyway, so hopefully that can even out the levels. All I can say is the body is a wondrous machine.