what helped you lose weight?? : Calorie counting mostly, exercise
what motivated you? : I was tired of being dissatisfied with myself, I was bored of feeling sorry for myself, My life was in flux at the time and my health and appearance was something I felt like I could take control of.
what was your routine?: Calorie-counting 7 days a week- 6 days in weight loss mode, 1 day (my cheat day) eating at maintenance level. I worked out a lot too. Anywhere from 4-7 days a week. But to be honest, in terms of the scale, diet was more effective than exercise. In terms of toning up, exercise was important.
what exercises did you find helpful?: Cardio mostly. I don't really like weights at all. I do some body resistance strength training and light weight work. But mostly cardio. I started with C25K, a running programme, I still run, and do the elliptical but mostly I do workout videos (all of Jillian Michaels and I'm just getting into Kickboxing and loving it!)
im debating on buying the workout dvd called insanity workout has anyone done it and saw or got results?
I haven't yet got Insanity (although the programme is definitely on my wishlist- expensive though
) but I am quite familiar with the programme and have who has used it and have done a couple of the workouts a couple of times. It's really really intense cardio so I would ask you first how fit you are. It is NOT really a programme for beginners. You really should be in pretty decent shape (minimum: intermediate-advanced exerciser) to even attempt it in order not to hurt yourself or get too discouraged. However, I suppose a beginner could do it and pace themselves and take lots of breaks even though it would lose a little of the insane intensity of the workout. Results-wise people who've done it said they didn't lose much the first month but they did lose quite a bit the 2nd month. There are many other effective yet less "insane" workouts you could do if you are not sure about your fitness level. Ultimately though, for weight loss-type results, it's mostly diet, exercise will however tighten your body up if you're eating right. I saw in another thread, you mentioned you'd begun working out more. What kinds of workouts are you doing now? What's your fitness level?