Eliptical or not? Completely Clueless New Girl!

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Lahneen
Lahneen Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
I am desperate for any ideas on how to kick start my weight loss process.....I typically use the elliptical at the gym everyday and try to reduce my portions but basically eat every thing. Not on any strict diet but try to remain under my goal everyday...
I prefer the elliptical because it I dont get sore after...but I am not sure if I am short changing myself...Any tips?
You can have a look at my food diary and exercise log to have an idea of what I do i my new regime...Thank you
:huh:

Replies

  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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    To lose weight, you need to be in a caloric deficit. MFP gives you a goal, you're supposed to try to get as close to that goal as possible. So diet alone will result in weight loss. However, exercise is a must in my book.


    As far as exercise, do what you enjoy doing. When I first started out, I started on the elliptical, then moved to the 30 day shred program, then I got into running, then I did the Insanity program, and now I'm lifting weights (Stronglifts 5x5 program) and running on the off days (although I've been slacking on that).

    What are your goals? There are endless possibilities as to exercises one can do.
  • Seraphemz
    Seraphemz Posts: 84 Member
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    I am desperate for any ideas on how to kick start my weight loss process.....I typically use the elliptical at the gym everyday and try to reduce my portions but basically eat every thing. Not on any strict diet but try to remain under my goal everyday...
    I prefer the elliptical because it I dont get sore after...but I am not sure if I am short changing myself...Any tips?
    You can have a look at my food diary and exercise log to have an idea of what I do i my new regime...Thank you
    :huh:

    Are you using a heart rate monitor? Is the elliptical constantly showing your Heart Rate? I bust my *kitten* on that machine and after about 40 minutes the most I burn is about 700 - 800 calories.

    I see that you are doing about 1k or above at times. How do you get that number?
  • vixtris
    vixtris Posts: 688 Member
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    the elliptical is a great machine for beginners. its low impact and and good cardio. when you are ready, you can try to do HIIT on the elliptical (youtube it if you dont know) which can help the burn even more. I still consider myself a beginner, I am currently doing HIIT on the elliptical as my exercise. I am thinking of doing 30 day shred in the near future.
  • scoutbelly
    scoutbelly Posts: 8 Member
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    The elliptical is fine, it works for me. I have had surgeries on both knees, so I have to stay away from any high-impact exercise. Even the Jillian Michaels videos are too high-impact for my knees, sadly. So I alternate between the elliptical and the bike for my cardio, just to use some different muscles. With the elliptical I also do short intervals of high intensity, or just using my arms, or pedaling backwards, to keep it a little more effective over time.
  • nayeliholmes
    nayeliholmes Posts: 12 Member
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    I go with the no pain to gain philosophy. To much pain and not letting your muscles heal in between workouts is bad but if your not sore at all it probably wasn't that difficult of a workout for you!

    I also think you should switch up your workout in order to work various muscle groups!
  • tarynchatfield
    tarynchatfield Posts: 43 Member
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    The elliptical does wonders for me. Changing the incline will work different muscles, as will shifting your weight to the front or back of your foot. Make sure you have proper running form during and aren't hunched over to make the most out of it, and try doing interval training.
  • skparker2
    skparker2 Posts: 132
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    The elliptical is a God-send! I average 100 calories/10 minutes, so I get a good almost 400 calories burned every time. However, I don't ONLY do that. I mostly do 35+ mins on the elliptical, then use my cool off time or my 2nd half of my work out to do some of the weight-lifting machines. Kicks up the metabolism & makes me feel stronger. It supposedly helps the body burn calories hours after you work out.

    I wish ya luck!

    P.S.- Haven't read the other posts...yet :)
  • skparker2
    skparker2 Posts: 132
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    The elliptical does wonders for me. Changing the incline will work different muscles, as will shifting your weight to the front or back of your foot. Make sure you have proper running form during and aren't hunched over to make the most out of it, and try doing interval training.


    Amen, sister! I switch up the incline all the time and then I also pedal backwards for periods at a time, then go back to pedaling forwards to "confuse" or "trick" my legs!
  • Live4theLift
    Live4theLift Posts: 329
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    Make sure you are tracking your foods to maximize your weight loss. On another note i found better results from the bicycle at the gym than the eliptical
  • Lahneen
    Lahneen Posts: 9
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    Thank you so much. The machine has a heart rate monitor and has a calorie counter as well...I just log in here what the machine gives as a summary at the end of the session. I have read severally that most machine aren't accurate but I just in my head put the estimate at 20 percent more or less than the actual reading...
  • bonjour24
    bonjour24 Posts: 1,119 Member
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    i have an XT in my garage (picked it up for $20!) and i love it. but i use it when i can't do other stuff, and i use it for interval training. i'll usually spend an hour on there, get really sweaty and out of puff intermittently (i usually keep the thing spinning at 75 rpm, then i speed up from there for a minute at a time to 90rpm or so), and in that hour i'll burn roughly 600 cals if i've put in a lot of effort. i know because i wear a hrm.
    i do like to run outside, lift weights (currently doing nrol4w), and do drills with my kids!
    find whatever it is you like and stick with it. if you like the xt then keep on keeping on!
  • vstraughan
    vstraughan Posts: 163 Member
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    Check out a lot of sites and they will tell you the eliptical is one of the highest calorie burning machines in the gym. I read your post and said "yep, aha, I'm with you"

    Here's my personal story ...

    Because of bad back, knees, neck (blah blah bleurgh) I can't do impact work so have been on the XT since day 1.

    Although I started at just 20 mins on level 5 a year ago, I (like others on this thread) am now doing HIIT training on it 3 times a week for 75 minutes, across levels 8 up to 12. For the first year I wasn't dieting at all.

    In the last few months I started spinning (for cardio) twice a week and have improved (but not overhauled) my diet and have lost 8lbs in the last 4 weeks.

    Go gradual. Increase in time, intensity, resistance bit by bit but i would suggest introducing something else or your body will just get 'muscle memory' and you'll hit a wall after a while. My 'something elses' are PowerPlates and Spinning.
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
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    I started out doing 30 minutes on the elliptical per day, and I picked that one because I could burn the most calories per time compared with the other cardio machines. Plus, I have a previous knee injury and it's easiest on my knees.

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