How much exercise ??

gigi2892014

Hey guys, I need some advise. I am fairly new to this. I am trying to lose about 20 pounds as quickly as possible. How often should I be working out? I do hip hop abs at the moment of 30-50 min per day. In the past for some reason I would not lose weight when I used to exercise... But I want to be healthy so I am trying to lose that way... Any advise please??

Yi5hedr3

Yeh - aerobics won't cause much weight loss. Pumping iron will help some, because building muscle increases your metabolism. Also keep carbs below 100/day.

nordlead2005

You don't need any exercise to lose weight. All you need to do is eat at a deficit. Plug your stats into MFP and eat what it says. Add exercise and eat that back too. Use a scale and weigh your food and log everything you eat. Do that and you'll lose the weight at a healthy rate.

If you want to be healthier than just losing weight, then get 2.5 hours of moderate cardio (fast walking counts, or you can do 1.5 hours of intense cardio like running) and 2x full body resistance training in every week.

75in2013

Diet = looking good with clothes on
Diet + workout = looking good without clothes

From my experience diet+workout was always "slower" because I lost less muscle mass. But after losing 10kg without workout I don't look as good as losing 8kg with workout

gigi2892014

Thank you so much...

emmycantbemeeko

Exercise often increases appetite, plus there's a tendency for people to overestimate their calorie expenditure at exercise and underestimate what they eat/feel like the deserve "rewards" for working out. It's very easy to burn 200 calories at the gym and then eat it all back and then some with a 400 calorie smoothie on the way out. That plus a tendency to retain water after novel exercise and (to a small degree) putting on additional lean tissue can add up to weight gain if you start exercising without tracking your intake- hence the weight gain you report when beginning new exercise in the past.

None of which is to say that you shouldn't exercise- exercise is good for your heart, helps you retain and build muscle, and can "earn" you additional calories to eat, which is especially important for small women whose baseline caloric need is low and even lower when eating at a deficit. It's just important to track what you're eating and burning accurately to avoid the above pitfalls.

You don't need to work out at all, let alone at extremes, to lose weight, though. You just need to eat less than you burn. If you do work out, starting moderately with an activity you enjoy is more likely to become a habit you stick with, and you shouldn't aim for massive caloric deficits through exercise.