Hi guys,

I'm new here, so bear with me.

I'm 23 and I have GOT to lose about 50 lbs. Exercise is such a drag for me though. But i've decided there is no way around it. If I wanna lose the weight (which I am VERY serious about this time), I gotta sweat.

I've been easing into exercising by walking on a slight incline for about 30 minutes every other day on my treadmill. I don't know if it's really helping, cuz I don't get that sore feeling from exercising the next day I would get after doing really heavy duty cardio.

I just discovered all these great exercise videos on Demand. I'm thinking of checking them out, so I have lots of material at my disposal.

My main question:
Is 20-30 minutes of cardio every other day enough if you really wanna lose weight?
Anybody else have on demand and want to recommend some worthwhile videos?

THANKS!

Hmm...I don't think this thread quite belongs here....sorry.

If you really want to lose the weight they recomend doing:

Monday: 60 min cardio
Tue: 60 weight training
Wed: 60 min cardio
Thurs: 60 wieght training
Friday: 60 Cardio

Rotate your days to give your body a break. People who do weights and cardio lose more than people who just do cardio.

It is low weights with high reps too, you want to tone not bulk up.
This is just a suggestion though, I at least do 45 to 60 min of cardio a day and take Sundays off. Dont burn yourself out though, ease your way into it.

Your routine is a good place to start. You really shouldn't be exercising so much that you get "that sore feeling" the next day; sore muscles and injuries make people derail faster than if they took it at a reasonable pace. Exercise is great for your overall health, but honestly it isn't the biggest part of weight loss (except when it comes to the appetite suppressant and metabolism benefits). Even if you walked for sixty minutes at a mild pace you would only burn about 400 calories, which could be blown in two minutes with a couple of cookies and a glass of whole milk.

I would up my cardio to 60 minutes a day. I have been working out/dieting since January 4th and have already lost 19 lbs.

I don't have Demand, but my friend does and she likes to do the 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels.

I started out with 15-20 minutes a day because I couldn't do more, however I worked out every day.

I now get to the gym 4-5 days a week for 45-60 minutes of cardio and I like to try and get some movement in the other 2-3 days (walks, etc). I found that trying to do too much too soon discouraged me more than helping me, and it was best for me to work up to my current level of activity.

Also, with On Demand, the Cardioke videos make me laugh (but get me moving!)

Just to be the Yang to some people's Ying here, I wanna say I honestly have no idea how people do 60 minutes of intense cardio a day, like jogging on a treadmill.

But then again, I'm REALLY not a gym bunny at all. I hate staring at mirrors or TV or people's butts on the treadmill in front of me.

I don't think exercise has to be like that. Most of my exercise comes from either riding my bike in the summer (I ride my bike to and from work about 40 minutes combined, or just riding to the grocery store, around the neighbourhood, to friends house etc), in the Fall and early Spring I walk a lot. I do pilates videos, 30 Minute Shred (which is super popular here) two to three times a week and once a week I go to a hot yoga class. I also swim a couple times a month at an indoor pool near my house.

For me, finding a variety of fun activities to do is far more beneficial and something I can maintain. Tennis, karate whatever. You might not be able to burn as many calories as you would if you were on an eliptical for an hour but you'll be doing REAL things your body will do in real life not being on a machine.

Anyway, I don't know if I answered your cardio question, just thought I'd give my two cents on exercise