I am trying to lose 25 pounds. In conjunction with a restricted calorie diet (about 1300 daily), I have been working out on my elliptical machine 4-5 times a week for about 25-30 minutes. 2 of those sessions I do HIIT and the others I just work at a moderate pace throughout.

This is my second week doing the workouts and I was just wondering if this is adequate to compliment my diet to help me lose weight. (??) I have lost 8 pounds so far at the rate of 1 pound a week.

SW-140
CW-132
GW-115
5'2", F

That looks great. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif If it gets too easy or if you start to plateau, start increasing the time some. Maybe one 45 minute session a week or add 5 minutes to all of them. But really, what you are doing looks good.

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

Thanks a lot! I guess I just wanted some reinforcement on that routine. Currently I am on the number 1 resistance level on my elliptical. So there's always the option of increasing that to vary the routine a little.

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

I am 5"3 and 130 pounds. I was doing treadmill for 30 minutes and I guess 30 minutes is not enough for me. One of the personal trainers I know told me that your body starts to lose calories enough to lose weight after at least 50 minutes of cardio.

I am happy that you've lost 8 pounds! Go GIRL!!


http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

50 Minutes! No way, IMO that's waaay too much. I heard it was 20 minutes....

Thanks for the replies. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Originally posted by michelleM123:
One of the personal trainers I know told me that your body starts to lose calories enough to lose weight after at least 50 minutes of cardio.

Your body starts to use more calories as soon as you start exercising, or doing anything for that matter. I think what they probably meant was that the longer you work aerobcally for, the higher the % of fat your body uses for energy (as opposed to carbs as glycogen). As long as your overall caloric intake is lower than your output though, it dosn't make that much difference to general fat loss.

Your plan looks great; however, as you progress, you may want to consider dropping a day of cardio and adding in at 1-2 days of weight training.

Xia:

Well I would like to do some weight training, but I don't have any weights. I am not going to pay for an expensive gym membership just to work out 1-2 days a week.

Is there any other alternatives? Maybe some free weights at home? But then I wouldn't be able to work my legs, just my arms.

Actually you would be able to work out your legs too with free weights, but your options would be pretty limited. Currently I do squats and lunges for my leg workouts. I too use free weights. You can pick up a bench with a leg extension attachment on it for fairly cheap.

Make sure not to cut your calories anymore and make sure you are getting a decent amount of protein in your diet and you will see great results...eventually.

Good luck.