My weight loss journey began 5 weeks ago, and I've lost 10 pounds. I walk a mile in the morning 5 days a week. I just started riding dirt bikes with my hubby. Oh my! So we do that about twice a month.
At first, I started walking. Then I hit a plateau and I was not losing any weight, so then I started the C25K program and I started dropping weight almost instantly. Then I got bored with the C25K and hit another plateau. So, then I started biking and I started dropping weight again. Then I hit another plateau and no weight loss. Then I found a local boot camp in my area and the weight is dropping off again. I guess my body gets accustomed to the same thing or else I'm slacking and not pushing myself and it shows when I hit those plateaus. So, I figure I have to change my workouts to continue losing the weight.
I walk to and from work each day (25 minutes each way)
I hit the gym 2-3 days a week for some jogging (stay on the treadmill for an hour, usually run for 15 minutes then walk on an incline after that)
I've started doing a 3 hour series of classes every Saturday that is yoga, Pilates, and Zumba
I have found that my weight loss is ALL diet so I don't spend tons of time working out. I mainly just do it because it's good for the body and mind
I began an exercise program a month ago, almost 3 weeks with a trainer. My weekly routine is this:
3 days a week of strength/core training with 30-40mins of cardio (90mins total each day)
2 days at the gym strictly cardio (60mins each day)
1 day of outdoor running/walking (60-90mins)
I think what's helping me is both the diet and exercise. With just dieting in the past, I lost weight but I didn't have the energy and strength I am gaining now which keeps me on track. I have a long way to go but I am focusing on smaller goals such as lifting heavier each week and my endurance which is improving greatly.
I don't lose a lot more weight on weeks I exercise versus weeks I just eat clean but I like the way I feel when I exercise regularly and my body looks noticebly more toned after 3-4 weeks of excercising. Right now I'm doing 3-4 days a week for 60-90 minutes. I always include cardio and weight training (weights are my favorite). Typical routines involve 30-45 minutes of cardio (usually elliptical, recumbent bike or spinning class, or treadmill) and rest weights.
I don't really make a correlation of weight loss being due to counting calories or working out. I think the two work hand in hand. Well scratch that. Not think. I know. We lose weight by having more fat stored than calories ingested, so what isn't used is disposed of.
I work out 30-60 minutes per day and count calories burned AND ingesting, always having some left over, and my weight loss itself varies.
I do quite a bit of muscle training so though I'm losing inches, the fat loss v. muscle gained almost balances out some weeks. :P
I don't really make a correlation of weight loss being due to counting calories or working out. I think the two work hand in hand. Well scratch that. Not think. I know. We lose weight by having more fat stored than calories ingested, so what isn't used is disposed of.
I work out 30-60 minutes per day and count calories burned AND ingesting, always having some left over, and my weight loss itself varies.
I do quite a bit of muscle training so though I'm losing inches, the fat loss v. muscle gained almost balances out some weeks. :P
EXACTLY!
How you burn the calories off doesn't matter, but you need to burn them off. It doesn't necessarily mean you need to work out to burn them off.
I've been on a weight loss journey for 10 years now (many ups and downs) but the good thing is I have learned a lot about myself. I found that the times I buckled down, worked out every day, became a gym addict were also the times I crashed and burned eventually and gained it all back and then some. For me, counting calories and moderate exercise- 3x a week works best.
I do a three mile walk with the dog, and then a three mile cycle every day. On the days I'm at college , I tend to walk from town to college before, and from college to town after. It's a mile each way, so most Monday-Thursdays I do 8 miles a day! (It's a big difference from doing absolutely nothing!)
I actually started losing weight a year ago, and lost about 25-30 pounds. But the past 6 months, nothing has happened. So I thought to myself, I'm joining a gym for the first time in my life! And I did. So the past week I've been doing either afropowerdance, zumba or latinmix every day + two of the days I did a 2.5 mile run on the tread mill. I'm planning to do this everyday, since I for once in my life found that dancing as an exercise is SO much fun! I'm looking forward to the zumba (or whatever I'm doing that day) everyday. And I'm the kind of person who NEVER thought the slightest about enjoying exercise.
How you burn the calories off doesn't matter, but you need to burn them off. It doesn't necessarily mean you need to work out to burn them off.
Glad to see you're lifting. You won't regret it!
Totally agree with this the above post, Exercise is a great way to increase how many calories you burn and has a variety of other health benefits BUT....If you are still eating more than you are burning you are gaining weight, it's as simple as that!!!!
I need to work on that.
