thank you for saying it.
biggest mis info is that by changing your diet you somehow lose fat along with muscle:smash2:
your body has layers, but it is not JUST layers. there are 3 types of fat that hang out in your body. adipose fat is one of them and thats what you would call a beer gut. fat on the surface your body stores in places for heat and protection. i forget what the other forms of fat are called (too lazy to google search just like you guys were obviously) and they reside in muscle tissue and around important organs heart, liver, your nads.
so you changed your diet and you lost muscle how? how did you measure it? you flexed in the mirror and you didnt look as big so you musthave lost muscle right? wrong. along with your adipose fat you are losing the fat intertwined with your muscle. YOU DO NOT LOSE MUSCLE BY CHANGING YOUR DIET YOU ONLY LOSE IT BY NOT USING IT (or sustaining major damage to the tissue)
listen to zerodaze. it is very simple stuff until you start getting specific (read as: you are a body builder or fitness competitor and need a structured diet and workout plan)
you need over 20 minutes min to do something that is considered cardio. this is a gray area for most people but i cinsider lifting a form of cardio because i take short breaks and do light weights and focus on excercises that have range of motion (my heart rate is elevated for the better part of the hour it takes me to lift). most wouldnt consider this cardio because the heart rate isnt higher than a certain percentage of your normal so if you want to go by their rules then do AT LEAST 20 min cardio with a 10 min warm up and a 10 min cool down withe the warm ups being enough to get your blood flowing and the 20 min having enough intensity to get you winded but not to the point you cant carry on a conversation (you can increase this as you get more comfortable). i do NOT reccomend treadmill unless you are confident you have strong joints. recumbant bike is great, low impact and it doesnt squash your jewels. row on a rowing machine every 3 days to switch it up if you want.