I'm new to this forum and I have a question which I am hoping I can get some answers here.
I have been doing everything from eating right to working out to get back into shape! I know Cardio is the way to go if you want to loose weight. However, I am guessing since I have not seen any major results I'm probably not doing enough of it.
I have a treadmill at home...how many days a week and for how long should I be running in order to see maxium results?
PLEASE Help!
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Cardio & Weight Loss
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Try doing interval training for 40-45 minutes a day. Stick to 5 days a week and don't have the off days back to back. Your body need some recovery time per week, but two concurrent days of nothing, will not be beneficial for weight loss.
So these are the sort of options you could take.
Saturday off day. Tuesday or Wednesday second off day.
Sunday Day off. Wednesday or Thursday off day.
Of course you should have 5 days of Cardio, to fit your weekly schedule, but if you follow the format I gave you, you shouldn't exceed 3 days of Cardio on the bounce, before you have a days break from it.
You say you eat healthy, with your diet, but what kind of things do you do, you might be eating healthy choices, but your ratios might a bit erratic or portions too small.
Not trying to criticise your diet regime.
Hope all that helps.
Let us know if there's anything else we can help you with
.
So these are the sort of options you could take.
Saturday off day. Tuesday or Wednesday second off day.
Sunday Day off. Wednesday or Thursday off day.
Of course you should have 5 days of Cardio, to fit your weekly schedule, but if you follow the format I gave you, you shouldn't exceed 3 days of Cardio on the bounce, before you have a days break from it.
You say you eat healthy, with your diet, but what kind of things do you do, you might be eating healthy choices, but your ratios might a bit erratic or portions too small.
Not trying to criticise your diet regime.
Hope all that helps.
Let us know if there's anything else we can help you with
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belladiamondz
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:08 pm
Wow..thanks for the input and advice.
Right now I'm working out at least 5-6 days a week.
workouts vary but I usually try to do 45-60 minutes on the treadmill every other day...and afterwards I do some strenght training weights and use a stability ball to strenghten "core". On the days that I am not using the treadmill I work out longer and harder with weights, and I try to add in a Tae Bo Cardio Video, etc.
I have been doing this routine for what feels like an eternity...I've lost inches...but I have not lost significant pounds! (only 5lbs)
As far as diet goes, I am a vegetarian so I get protein from tofu, soy beans, I love love veggie burgers, mixed beans and I also eat loads of veggies and healthy salads. I dont eat any chips, candy, ice cream....I have great will power when it comes to tempting treats!
I just dont understand why I am not seeing better results. It is getting very fustrating! I am trying to not think about it and just stay focused.
I consulted with Dr. and she advised me that genes play a role in weight loss...and metabolism is probably running super slow due to some medications that I used to take on a daily basis (I had some terrible back problems and was on every kind of pain killer/muscle relaxer out there!) I have stopped with the meds for about 6 months now though...
Its just so sad to me that I was always fit and trim and never this heavy...I am only 5'2 and I was always 110 -115 max....
Since back injuries restricted me from doing any type of cardio, bending, etc. I have gained about 50lbs!! I just want to be healthy again!
Right now I'm working out at least 5-6 days a week.
workouts vary but I usually try to do 45-60 minutes on the treadmill every other day...and afterwards I do some strenght training weights and use a stability ball to strenghten "core". On the days that I am not using the treadmill I work out longer and harder with weights, and I try to add in a Tae Bo Cardio Video, etc.
I have been doing this routine for what feels like an eternity...I've lost inches...but I have not lost significant pounds! (only 5lbs)
As far as diet goes, I am a vegetarian so I get protein from tofu, soy beans, I love love veggie burgers, mixed beans and I also eat loads of veggies and healthy salads. I dont eat any chips, candy, ice cream....I have great will power when it comes to tempting treats!
I just dont understand why I am not seeing better results. It is getting very fustrating! I am trying to not think about it and just stay focused.
I consulted with Dr. and she advised me that genes play a role in weight loss...and metabolism is probably running super slow due to some medications that I used to take on a daily basis (I had some terrible back problems and was on every kind of pain killer/muscle relaxer out there!) I have stopped with the meds for about 6 months now though...
Its just so sad to me that I was always fit and trim and never this heavy...I am only 5'2 and I was always 110 -115 max....
Since back injuries restricted me from doing any type of cardio, bending, etc. I have gained about 50lbs!! I just want to be healthy again!
A few things to consider.
1. Metabolism could have been affected in the past by the Meds, as the Doc says.
2. Portions could still be low. Somewhere else, I recently saw someones public listing, of a presumed healthy diet for a particular day.
One meal contained a bit of Lettuce, 2OZ Salmon, and a portion of Stringbeans. Effectively that's only 5g of Stringbean Carbs, and about 12g Salmon Protein, and Lettuce Leaves are around 1 calorie per leaf.
So approximately 70 calories, excluding Salmon Fats, which would increase that to around 90-120 calories, depending on the Salmon type.
For the meal to be healthier, it should have been around 3-3.5 times that amount of Calories, as a healthy female intake per day is about 1,800-2,000 calories in most cases, so I believe.
The persons calories per meal on that one day, were ranging between 70 and about 180 calories meal, ending up about 1,000 to 1,200 below the right amount.
If your diet has meal portions similar to that, with healthy food in conservative portions, you run the risk of conditioning your Metabolism to want less Calories, and putting them up by a large increment, could result in a lot Fat conversion, from what the body views as excess, or other things may include excreting or vomiting some excess.
I would say should your Caloric intake be on the conservative side, you may need to somehow graduate your intake up, by adding a small amount of calories back into each meal, that the body can cope with, give the body a few weeks to adjust, then increase a little bit again, until in a few months, you're at a better level.
Should this be the case as of now, your Metabolism will not be functioning optimally, and weight loss will be stifled, and continued undereating of healthy foods, can even lead to weight gain, the more you let Metabolic functions decline through small portion intake..
3. It could be water intake.
4. It could be Cardio, so you might need to switch to something the body can't adjust to, like Interval, Sprints, a different machine each session, etc etc.
These are just educated guesses, I can't give you a solid reason for your slow losses.
1. Metabolism could have been affected in the past by the Meds, as the Doc says.
2. Portions could still be low. Somewhere else, I recently saw someones public listing, of a presumed healthy diet for a particular day.
One meal contained a bit of Lettuce, 2OZ Salmon, and a portion of Stringbeans. Effectively that's only 5g of Stringbean Carbs, and about 12g Salmon Protein, and Lettuce Leaves are around 1 calorie per leaf.
So approximately 70 calories, excluding Salmon Fats, which would increase that to around 90-120 calories, depending on the Salmon type.
For the meal to be healthier, it should have been around 3-3.5 times that amount of Calories, as a healthy female intake per day is about 1,800-2,000 calories in most cases, so I believe.
The persons calories per meal on that one day, were ranging between 70 and about 180 calories meal, ending up about 1,000 to 1,200 below the right amount.
If your diet has meal portions similar to that, with healthy food in conservative portions, you run the risk of conditioning your Metabolism to want less Calories, and putting them up by a large increment, could result in a lot Fat conversion, from what the body views as excess, or other things may include excreting or vomiting some excess.
I would say should your Caloric intake be on the conservative side, you may need to somehow graduate your intake up, by adding a small amount of calories back into each meal, that the body can cope with, give the body a few weeks to adjust, then increase a little bit again, until in a few months, you're at a better level.
Should this be the case as of now, your Metabolism will not be functioning optimally, and weight loss will be stifled, and continued undereating of healthy foods, can even lead to weight gain, the more you let Metabolic functions decline through small portion intake..
3. It could be water intake.
4. It could be Cardio, so you might need to switch to something the body can't adjust to, like Interval, Sprints, a different machine each session, etc etc.
These are just educated guesses, I can't give you a solid reason for your slow losses.
if metabilism is slow you can increase it by either:
- eating small frequent meals daily
- exercising intensley (this means doing wts as heavy as you can with short rest using free weight compound multi joint exercises only as wellas performing High Intensity Interval Training instead of 45 - 60min cardio sessions)
- building more muscle (see above)
you should and I hope you are using a protein supplement...if not than you'll be finding it almost impossible to recover let alone rebuild the muscles after training...if you aren't I would want you to have one at breakfast and immediately after training
- eating small frequent meals daily
- exercising intensley (this means doing wts as heavy as you can with short rest using free weight compound multi joint exercises only as wellas performing High Intensity Interval Training instead of 45 - 60min cardio sessions)
- building more muscle (see above)
you should and I hope you are using a protein supplement...if not than you'll be finding it almost impossible to recover let alone rebuild the muscles after training...if you aren't I would want you to have one at breakfast and immediately after training
Re: Cardio & Weight Loss
Cardio is not necessarily the way to go if you want to lose weight. Nutrition is at least 75% of the success ratio. Then, a combo of strength training and cardio makes up the rest.
I would suggest your workouts be done differently. Strength training at the beginning and maybe short cardio after some workouts, and on some days no strength training, just cardio.
Taking a good look at how you are eating is going to make the difference. A solid nutrition plan is what will do it for you. Since your metabolism is slowed by meds you are on eating right is super important. Also make sure you are drinking plenty of water.
Let me know if I can help at all.
Sarah
I would suggest your workouts be done differently. Strength training at the beginning and maybe short cardio after some workouts, and on some days no strength training, just cardio.
Taking a good look at how you are eating is going to make the difference. A solid nutrition plan is what will do it for you. Since your metabolism is slowed by meds you are on eating right is super important. Also make sure you are drinking plenty of water.
Let me know if I can help at all.
Sarah
belladiamondz wrote:I'm new to this forum and I have a question which I am hoping I can get some answers here.
I have been doing everything from eating right to working out to get back into shape! I know Cardio is the way to go if you want to loose weight. However, I am guessing since I have not seen any major results I'm probably not doing enough of it.
I have a treadmill at home...how many days a week and for how long should I be running in order to see maxium results?
PLEASE Help!
_________________
-
belladiamondz
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:08 pm
first and foremost, i want to thank you all for the great tips and advice posted here.
I must first say... water intake is defintely not the problem...I always drink 10-15 glass a day! I never drink iced tea, soda, juice etc...occasionally i will have some crystal light.
Now i noticed that the major thing here is diet..I feel as if I am eating normal quantities...I dont eat huge portions or too small portions...(i did weight watchers for a while so I am pretty keen on serving sizes per person). I am however not taking a protein supplement. I have some "Nutrilite protein powder" in pantry I guess I could mix that with some skim milk, yogurt, fresh fruit and have a protein smoothie...or should I be taking something else??
Then as far as strength training goes...i guess i will switch it up and do it before runs. The days when I should just do cardio...I guess I could add some ab workouts...I have the 8min abs, buns, etc. would those be good??
Once again, any advice, and/or input is greatly appreciated...I am new to this site and I am finding it very motivational and informative.
I must first say... water intake is defintely not the problem...I always drink 10-15 glass a day! I never drink iced tea, soda, juice etc...occasionally i will have some crystal light.
Now i noticed that the major thing here is diet..I feel as if I am eating normal quantities...I dont eat huge portions or too small portions...(i did weight watchers for a while so I am pretty keen on serving sizes per person). I am however not taking a protein supplement. I have some "Nutrilite protein powder" in pantry I guess I could mix that with some skim milk, yogurt, fresh fruit and have a protein smoothie...or should I be taking something else??
Then as far as strength training goes...i guess i will switch it up and do it before runs. The days when I should just do cardio...I guess I could add some ab workouts...I have the 8min abs, buns, etc. would those be good??
Once again, any advice, and/or input is greatly appreciated...I am new to this site and I am finding it very motivational and informative.
Protein keeps you feeling full. This doesn't mean over indulge in Protein sources, but if you're getting enough, as part of your P/C/F ratios, you shouldn't have any major hunger pangs before another meal.
Latest science also proves Calcium reduces Fat, so the Yoghurts skimmed milk etc etc is okay.
The female intake is about 1,200 mg's a day. You should be fine to go a bit over that, to perhaps 1,400 a day, just so long as you don't go nuts, and have Calcium sources like they're the most important aspect of a diet.
They're not, but keep that kind of stuff in there. Just be careful about having too much, or the overdoing of such products, could work against the Fat loss capabilities, if you get drift.
Latest science also proves Calcium reduces Fat, so the Yoghurts skimmed milk etc etc is okay.
The female intake is about 1,200 mg's a day. You should be fine to go a bit over that, to perhaps 1,400 a day, just so long as you don't go nuts, and have Calcium sources like they're the most important aspect of a diet.
They're not, but keep that kind of stuff in there. Just be careful about having too much, or the overdoing of such products, could work against the Fat loss capabilities, if you get drift.
-
belladiamondz
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:08 pm