how often to excercise for weight loss?

slogan

hey folks, i need some advise on excercising for weight loss! i'm currently doing 2 cardio fitness classes a week, and walking at least 30 minutes 5 times a week, but a friend of mine thinks i need to do at least 5 fitness classes to see a difference in my weight..

i'm afraid if i do too much, i will lose interest and motivation! my calorie in take remains between 1,200 and 1,500, and i rarely exceed my daily allocation. any advise and tips would be greatly appreciated :-D

LotusF1ower

hey folks, i need some advise on excercising for weight loss! i'm currently doing 2 cardio fitness classes a week, and walking at least 30 minutes 5 times a week, but a friend of mine thinks i need to do at least 5 fitness classes to see a difference in my weight..

i'm afraid if i do too much, i will lose interest and motivation! my calorie in take remains between 1,200 and 1,500, and i rarely exceed my daily allocation. any advise and tips would be greatly appreciated :-D

I exercise three times per week and it is fine.

Lots of people exercise everyday, I used to do that but I ended up overtraining and doing my back in.

Anyway, think about it carefully. When you first start your weight loss programme, exercise as you are doing twice per week on cardio, the weight comes off and on you continue. Suddenly for a few weeks you find no weight coming off - that's okay you can now bung in another training session and the weight starts to come off again.

However, if you start off your weight loss programme with training five or six times per week, how the hell do you leave yourself any leeway for when the weight loss starts to slow down? Answer is, there is no leeway not unless you start exercising more than once per day and for some people that is impossible because of their work and other things going on in their life.

The long and the short of it is, if you are exercising twice per week and the weight is falling, what's the problem? Are you happy? If the answer is yes, then let your friend do their thing and ensure they let you do things your way because it is YOU who knows, deep down, what is really best for you, not them, as they are not you

sheyna1983

Usually I only need about 30 minutes a day to lose weight.....most important factor is eating right......I've heard that weight loss is 60% diet / 40% exercise

slogan

thanks very much...that makes a lot of sense! i have started to see a small difference so far, and to be honest dont want to do too much too quickly with the fear that i will just put all the weight back on.

also, do you mix up your training programme? i am doing the same fitness classes each week, body attack and zumba but wonder if i should mix it up week to week!? i really enjoy these classes, and still feel they challenge me enough!

sheyna1983

I just do 20 minutes eliptical and 10 minutes weights (rotate arms/legs every day) - and 3 sets of crunches on my exercise ball - Pretty boring routine but seems to work.

Every now and then I switch it up with a few hours of tennis or a bikram yoga class. Is Zumba that brazillian dancing workout?? I heard it's INTENSE.

Unless you're really trying to sculpt your body, I don't think it's totally necessary to switch it up all the time. As long as you're burning calories daily and keeping your metabolism going you're all good

slogan

Yeh, Zumba is a bit intense but great fun :happy: the woman that takes my class is always mixing it up with different moves and songs, so it doesn't get at all boring! good to mix dancing with aerobics too, i would highly recommend it! great class to do with friends, or if you want to make new ones!

at the moment, just trying to lose weight before worrying about getting more definition...one step at a time and all that! hehe

sheyna1983

Cool, I'm gonna look into classes in my area. I like to try all the latest workout trends at least once. I might try cross fit soon but I'm scared I'll crumble.....have you done crossfit?

LotusF1ower

thanks very much...that makes a lot of sense! i have started to see a small difference so far, and to be honest dont want to do too much too quickly with the fear that i will just put all the weight back on.

also, do you mix up your training programme? i am doing the same fitness classes each week, body attack and zumba but wonder if i should mix it up week to week!? i really enjoy these classes, and still feel they challenge me enough!

With me, I just do interval training on the treadmill, but do different stuff each time. Sometimes I might go for an four to eight mile walk (real walk on the street that is).

You would be okay doing the same thing each training session, but you might find you get stale and bored and that is enough to kill off any enthusiasm and motivation :laugh: If you are happy in your classes, continue!

mhotch

Some one once told me, You eat to lose weight, and you exercise for good health!