I answered this question on Quora but thought I'd repost here-
That the only way to lose weight is to do cardio when, in fact, lifting weights might be better.
There has to be a balance. Obviously you should eat well and do cardio and lift weights.
However, lifting is underestimated for losing weight.
Think about it: everyone thinks, 'I need to get rid of this belly fat, so I better start jogging.' But, ideally, what you want to do is increase your metabolism. Your metabolism is the rate that your body burns calories at rest.
So, how do you do that? You can get a metobolic boost from doing cardio, but it only lasts as long as your workout does (or shortly thereafter) because you've stopped doing the thing that burns the calories.
However, when you lift weights two things happen: you build muscle and you strain your body.
Some have said that the strain on your body means that you get a metabolic boost for up to 39 hours after you finish lifting (that's much longer than cardio)! Second, as you build muscle your body burns calories by sustaining that muscle.
My original post is here: quora.com/Exercise/What-are...
