Most bang for your buck?

skinnygrlwithin

So I wanted to get people's opinion on what kind of exercise you think is most efficient with regards to weight loss... cardio or weights? I obviously understand that a combination of the two is ideal, but I only have an hour to workout in the morning and I have an event coming up in a month, so I'm trying to decide what I think is worth focusing my time on most for the next few weeks to drop the most.

Overall I want to get down about 20 pounds (not in the next few weeks...just a general goal...) I was a little overweight heading into the summer months, and then after about 2-3 months of vacationing, barely working out, and never paying attention to what I was eating... I definitely did some damage, and have finally convinced myself it's time to get back on the healthy life style band wagon. My goal is to workout 5 times a week between going to the gym in the morning, or a cardio kick boxing class after work (I make it to this class once or twice a week.) I also have a part time job at a restaurant so that keeps me on my feet 2 nights a week, but I try not to count that as a "workout" because my level of energy spent varies too much depending on how busy we are.

Sssooo thoughts... during my morning workouts do I focus my hour on mainly light weights with high repetition, or do I focus my hour on cardio...

soehlerking

PERSONALLY I'm super-impatient, so I did cardio (running, elliptical, cycling, with a few DVDs too) for the majority of my weight loss. I did 60+ minutes/day 6 days/week and lost 42 pounds. I've just recently begun incorporating strength training, and I would say I look a lot better. I can't speak toward the weight loss effects of strength training (as I simultaneously increased my calories to near maintenance), but it definitely just makes you LOOK like you're slimmer b/c your muscles are more defined. I'm not sure if that helps or not, but good luck!