Do I need to prioritize fat loss?

For the past three years, I stopped training in gym and hadn't really exercise much due to the pandemic and my own laziness. I gained a tremendous amount of fat, grade I fatty liver and an unhealthy body. I also noticed that I lost quite a bit of muscle mass, strength and cardio-pulmonary function. I went back to gym three months ago and lost 20 pounds already. My bench press recovered to 95KG.   Deadlift and squat 110KG*1 on smith machine. I currently weight 109KG and have 33.3% body fat. For my health, I will try to keep training and do some aerobics. I cook my own meals now and am getting used to the healthy diet which I used three years ago when I was 18. 

Some of my friends told me that I need to use less time on weightlifting and aerobic because my schedule is already filled with courses, finance club and internship application. On the other hand, my mother thought that by losing excessive fat, I will be able to look better in a suit and succeed in my interviews. Some of my friends agreed with my mother's opinion and told me that HRs and interviewers prefer good-looking interviewees.  

Should I prioritize fat loss or do it in a mild pace? I wish to get some great advises from WSO bankers who understand this industry. Really appreciate that.

19 Comments
 
JamieDiamondHands

No one cares how attractive you look in a suit if you re coming in for intern SA roles. Don t aorry ab that.

But obviously u should hit the jiim and get swole for your own sake. Good luck!

“jiim” ??? bruh

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

If it’s causing serious interference with your courses, I’d perhaps temper it. However, working out and being in good shape pays dividends for everything else in your life. If you’re on the grind, I would keep with it.

 

Your appearance says a lot about your character, especially in interview situations where first impressions matter a lot. You won't be dinged for being fat if you outperform everyone else; however, if your performance is comparable to everyone else, you better believe that you'll be at a disadvantage. Not saying that recruitment just sits there crossing off all the fattys, that would be discriminatory (lol). It's more a subconscious thing. We all like to work with beautiful, fit people. 

Your friends who told you to cut the time on exercise are dickheads btw. Listen to your mother and prioritize fat loss first, 109 kg is crazy heavy. I recommend you watch this video to begin with: 

and go through all the related videos on that channel. Hands down the best information you can get for free on YouTube.
 
Most Helpful

Prioritizing fat loss & doing it in a mild pace are not mutually exclusive brother. All u have to do is to figure out your maintenance calorific requirements, then eat in a deficit. And you know what the best news is? Since you are basically untrained (ik you have trained b4 in the past, but after 3 years of inactivity you have already reverted to an untrained state), you can do what bodybuilders call 'recomp' - gain muscle and lose fat at the same time with just a decent diet and workout schedule, which is generally not possible for trained individuals.

Since you have a lot of fat, i recommend a slightly more aggressive cut - start with a 500 calorie deficit, experiment tuning it up to a 800 calorie deficit if you feel alright and are making good progress. 

Some of my friends told me that I need to use less time on weightlifting and aerobic because my schedule is already filled with courses, finance club and internship application

This is wrong. Since you are in an untrained recomp (stands for recomposition btw) state, all you is like 2 full-body workouts a week, 60 minutes each. Squat and bench on the 1st workout, deadlift and bench on the 2nd workout. Sprinkle in accessories accordingly. That's 2 hours a week, sums up to 1.19% of your time. Experiment if you want more or less workouts accordingly. Working out is more manageable than the vast majority of people think, don't let the uninitiated bring you down. Interns know to not give people advice because they don't know stuff, idk what makes regular people think they have the right to give fitness advice

 
  1. Weight yourself each morning (studies concluded that people who are concious about their weight tend to lose more weight)
  2. High protein breakfast (oatmeals, eggs, protein powder, etc.)
  3. Compound movements on the gym (4 - 6 reps) + accesories movements (8 - 10) // 5 or 6 days p/w
  4. No carbs after training, only proteins and healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts, etc.)
  5. More coffee during the day (x2 - x4 cups) + cinammon in coffee (0.5 tbspn in total per day, no more cuz it could become toxic) // + more green tea
  6. Good sleep (8 - 9 hours)
  7. A lot of water + cut sodas
  8. Cold shower
  9. Garlic also accelerates metabolism. To avoid mouth smell, cut it in small pieces and swallow it with water (2 - 3 pieces per day, after eating)
  10. Find hobbies where you need to be active (e.g. Playing Xbox = bad; Playing football = good).

And that's how you accelerate your metabolism. 

Cardio would improve your overall health but isn't as a good for losing weight compared to lifting. When you lift weight you burn calories for an additional 48 - 72 hours.

P.S. Smith machine = pussy. Go free weights.

P.S. 2. Fuck your finance internships and clubs and extracurriculars if you are a fat ass, health is 1st priority. Looking good = fucking more on campus. That's immensely more pleasurable than what your wannabe-patrick-bateman incel friends may tell you (i.e. focus on extracurriculars cuz iNvEStMeNT bAnKiNG is THe wAy). Why be a nerd when you can be a Chad.

tl;dr WE GO JIM. PERIOD.

 

95% of fat loss comes from diet, not exercise. I lost 100 lbs without going to the gym one time, all because I severely reduced my calorie intake. Food=fat, weights/gym=muscle.

Remember, always be kind-hearted.
 

kindheartedconsultant

95% of fat loss comes from diet, not exercise.

Wayyyyyyyyyyyy wrong 

Nah Bruh GIFs | Tenor

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

The secret to weight loss is a calorie deficit. What makes a greater calorie deficit? Working out. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I am not sure how this topic and investment banking are related. You gained a lot of weight and now lost some of it, which is great.  How is it possible that your body fat is 33.33%?  

 

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