Hello my first day.

cathymoore92775

I need help with, how much exercise should I do each week to lose weight and tone up?

AnnPT77

We can lose weight with zero added exercise, just by managing the eating side of the equation.

On the flip side, I stayed overweight/obese for over a decade while training hard 6 days most weeks.

Exercise is great, but a person's still got to get the eating in line, because exercise alone doesn't automatically cause weight loss.

For toning, follow a good beginner strength training program. (To help you find one, there's a post here in the Fitness and Exercise category under the Most Helpful Posts link.)

The program you pick will determine the time needed. There are good programs that are 3 days a week. Recovery is where the magic happens: Don't overdo.

Start that, then as your fitness improves enough that you're not dragging though your days, gradually add some kind of cardio you personally find fun (or at least tolerable and practical) for cardiovascular health (and attractive vivacity).

Work your way up to 150 minutes a week of moderate cardio (without getting overly fatigued), ideally spread over at least 5 days of the week. If you later work up to more vigorous cardio, that counts double in the minutes per week.

Fuel the exercise, i.e., don't lose weight too fast, because that's unhealthy as well as negative for appearance. (Who wants thinning hair, brittle nails, draggy lassitude, y'know?)

For a bonus, get good overall nutrition. For sure, you need adequate protein for your toning goal. We women especially need some healthy fats. Include plenty of varied, colorful veggies and fruits for micronutrients and fiber, and you're all set.

That's what I'd suggest. Best wishes!

springlering62

Start by weighing and logging your food. Get a firm handle on that.

I strongly suggest getting a fitness tracker that syncs with MFP- Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit.

I had zero nada zilch concept of calories in versus calories out. I had no concept of serving sizes, either.

I honestly thought that walking three miles negated the whole family pack of Oreo Double Stuff I was going to eat when I got home.

It wasn’t til I began logging food and recording exercise that I began to understand the “cost” of food versus exercise. I was shocked to learn that three mile walk didn’t burn even off two servings - four lousy Oreo cookies!!!!!

That was when the lightbulb clicked for me.

I began exercising regularly for health reasons, but also to “buy back” a few extra calories to eat.

Nowadays, recognizing how precious calories are, there is no way in hades I’m goi g to blow them on an Oreo. Like a wooden nickel, I’m going to pinch and stretch those calories til they scream for mercy. I can have a giant bowl of something waaaaaay better than a couple of wee disappointing Oreos for the same calories. 😂

AnnPT77

@cathymoore92775, here's the link I was talking about to find a strength training program:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Despite the title, it isn't just weight lifting, there are other programs, such as bodyweight strength exercises.

"Toning" is a matter of having some muscle, and low enough body fat, balancing those two so that the muscle shows in a way that you personally find most aesthetically pleasing.

Some women worry about "getting bulky" or looking like a man (whatever that means to them). This is not a thing that happens quickly, if ever, for an individual.

Adding muscle is a slow process, requiring patience. Women bodybuilders work very hard - typically for years - to gain substantial muscle mass, then they lose body fat down to punitively low levels (and dehydrate!) so that the muscles show during competitions when they're maximally pumped. Some even use dangerous performance enhancing drugs along the way.

If you start lifting, the changes will be relatively slow - maybe even frustratingly slow! - and when you reach a look you like, you simply stop with a building program, and move to a maintenance program.

Same deal with the fat loss side of this: You lose weight until you like the look. One must be quite low body fat to get a ripped appearance, lower than most women would prefer to be. Women tend to have a small layer of subcutaneous (under the skin) fat all over our bodies. At a low-ish but moderate body fat, that will give a smoothness to the body, while some muscles underneath create the basic pleasing shape.

Low body fat with very low muscle mass is just skinny, not toned.