How often do you workout in a week

4-6 times a week, need least two rest days

I am soooo new to exercise.... :huh: I have been working out & eatting 1200 calories for about 2 weeks now. I am able to do 60 minutes on the elliptical machine. That is pretty much all I am doing at this point. I am getting to the gym 3 times a week. Is this enough? I am trying to lose weight (40-50 pounds) and tone up. Should I go more often? I eventually want to start lifting weights but I was thinking I should get rid of some of this fat first. I don't know. I would love some ideas on a weekly work out schedule for someone just starting out...
Thanks for any and all responses :bigsmile:

Welcome to the world of fitness!

The only thing wrong with using the word "tone" is that it's a bit of a pet peeve to the diehards. It's basically a made up word that makes women comfortable with strength training because many are under the very wrong impression that they'll bulk up like men or professiona women bodybuilders do. Fact is, we're just not built like that and it takes a strict diet and exercise regime to even come even remotely close to getting "bulky". Plus, as women, we naturally have more body fat then men which softens the look of our muscles. Again, it takes fairly strict diet and training to have that more defined look.

So what you really mean to say is that you want to start strength training. And there's no need to wait. In fact, the sooner you start, the better off you'll be in the end. Strength training helps to retain the muscles many lose while dieting and the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn. You may build a bit of muscle in the beginning but as a woman and as someone on a caloric deficit diet, it won't be much. Make sure you'll also eating plenty of protein to retain that muscle. The minimum set by MFP is quite low by fitness standards so don't be afraid to let that one go in the red on a regular basis.

Now to answer your original question:

I personally workout at least 5x per week for 40-45 minutes. This time of year I usually start doing someting on the weekends regularly as well because it's warm and I want to get out for a walk or run.

As far as what "enough" is depends on your goals. What are you looking to achieve?

And by the way, you didn't mention it so I'm going to mention that you need to be eating back at least half of your exercise calories. MFP already sets you up with a deficit and if you don't eat the earned calories back, you're making that deficit too high for healthy weight loss. If you don't feel like you can eat more, try incorporating calorie dense snacks like nuts, seeds, eggs, etc AND get rid of any diet foods and eat the regular versions.

Good luck!

4-6 times a week, need least two rest days