30 min of cardio 7 days a week enough?

miles0213

Is that enough exercise to lose 2lbs a week on a 1200 cal diet?

armylife

There is not nearly enough information in your post to answer that question. Your weight, age, sex, height, and current diet will all be necessary to know that. But, 2lbs a week means you will be losing muscle as well as fat, unless you have a high starting body fat percentage. One pound is a more sustainable goal over the long haul.

MeanderingMammal

Is it enough? Who knows, as cardio covers everything from walking to tennis to cycling to prancing around in front of a DVD to droning away on a machine in an air conditioned room.

However, losing weight is about a calorie deficit, not about how much exercise you do. If you're on a 1200cal intake target then eat to 1200 cals. I do appreciate that it can be more satisfying to do some training and eat more. When I was first losing weight I was on a 1600 cal intake and if I just ate to 1600 cals didn't feel satisfied, but if I ran off 400 and ate 2000 I felt satisfied, for the same net outcome.

I've found that it's worth thinking about your goals, and then planning towards those. If it's just about weight loss, then you don't need to train at all. If it's about fat loss, or improving your bodyfat percentage, then you need to think about a combination of a moderate calorie deficit, some cardio exercise and some resistance training.

That said, I'd also agree with the post above, 2lb/wk is a pretty aggressive target. Again personally when I was at 1600cals/ day I struggled to fuel my training, was tired all the time and my health wasn't that great as I was undereating.

oh_happy_day

Agree with the above - depends on the rest of your stats, what you're doing, calorie intake etc. At a certain point, 2lbs a week is no longer achievable in a safe/healthy way. As you get closer to your goal weight, the weight comes off slower. From your previous thread, I recall you were eating 900 calories a day and had lost 40lbs in less than four months. I'm glad you're increasing your calorie limit to a healthier amount - your organs will be grateful! Also at 1200, that should be your net calorie intake, not your gross/total intake.

If your goal is to alter your body fat percentage/body composition as well as just lose on the scale, it's worth considering the importance of maintaining what lean muscle you currently have. Body composition will impact your measurements (e.g. what dress size you wear) and how you look - people can have the same weight, different body compositions and look substantially different. Creating aggressive calorie deficits increases the amount of lean muscle you lose. If you're not already lifting weights, I'd recommend starting. Weights have done more for how I look than any amount of cardio ever has!

It's worth considering what your goals are, how you can meet them in a realistic way, and how you'll be able to maintain your weight. I've observed a number (well, a lot) of people on here who have overly restricted their calories and done stacks of cardio which has resulted in quick losses that they have then had difficulty maintaining.

fi_b

My biggest point of concern is rest days! Obviously it depends on what kind of intensity of cardio you're talking about, but training every single day doesn't give your body any time to recover and over time you will just fatigue leading to injury, but also just feeling flat and unmotivated. As a bare minimum 1 rest day a week is fairly universally accepted as normal.
If you genuinely love cardio, then awesome! However you do need to be aware that you do adapt and will find you plateau with your fat loss from just doing cardio. Have you considered any kind of weight or strength training? Building a little muscle will do wonders for burning off fat stores.

Wiz_Joe

As the previous user(s) commented; there is little given regarding your weight loss in relation to your physicality.

Mind you, depending on the: ratio of your intake at the moment, your age and height; you may have done a great job, losing 2lbs in a week.

There is still a little room for me to say that 30 minutes will be enough. There is more into this and not just the timing.

Therefore, consider burning more fat from activities that will consume the extra storage. As "fi_b" shared about strength. This helps you to stay healthier and less drousy.

Seriously look into your consumption and channel the distribution for healthier and desired results. Keep yourself motivated and keep active until you start to feel the urge of wearing your work out outfits again and again.

Good luck.

Christine_72

fi_b wrote: »

My biggest point of concern is rest days! Obviously it depends on what kind of intensity of cardio you're talking about, but training every single day doesn't give your body any time to recover and over time you will just fatigue leading to injury, but also just feeling flat and unmotivated. As a bare minimum 1 rest day a week is fairly universally accepted as normal.
If you genuinely love cardio, then awesome! However you do need to be aware that you do adapt and will find you plateau with your fat loss from just doing cardio. Have you considered any kind of weight or strength training? Building a little muscle will do wonders for burning off fat stores.

well I guess I'm doomed then, as cardio /walking is the only exercise I do. .