Question about exercise and weight loss?

[Anonymous]

What should I add to my gym routine to make losing weight/toning up happen faster?

Currently when I'm at the gym i'll run/jog on the treadmill for a half hour, and then spend a half hour on the elliptical. I do this every day, including on the weekends. In addition I eat healthily (for the most part).

I'm not too concerned about weights or anything, but should I be? I'm mainly trying to focus on tightening up my abs and stomach. If I continue this routine, approximately how long will it take me to become toned or shed some pounds?

Thanks

[sweatgirl]

doing that 7 days a week is to much. cut back to 5 days a week. I recommend taking Wednesdays and Saturdays off or Thursdays and sundays off from doing cardio. I would do weights three times a week example Monday, Wednesday and Friday , but do weights before cardio. you can not spot reduce. look at your family genetics if they carry their weight in the middle chances are you will to. age and gender also play a big rule in how quickly the weight will come off. you are young so it will actually come off quicker then someone who is in their thirties or forties. don't want to loose more then a pound-two pounds a week because anything after that is most likely water weight. I recommend eating every three hours up until 3 hours before bed. make sure you stick with 30% of your calories from carbs, 30% fat and 40% protein read labels. if you drink booze get rid of it and drink water or crystal light. YouTube has a lot of great workouts for someone who has never worked out before or take a class like muscle conditioning. don't eat less then 1,500 calories a day or your body will go into starvation mode. good luck

[Asker]

Thanks so much!

[sweatgirl]

your welcome. feel free to shoot me a message if you come up with anymore questions. if it takes me a few hours to get back to you I am not blowing you off. I work a lot!

[stubbsy]

You should always incorporate weights into any routine. Cardio alone will not help you achieve your goals. Many women worry about looking muscular if they work on the weights, but women are not going to get muscular unless they really wanted, and even then, its hard. So try and work on the weights 3 times a week and give the cardio a rest when you do. Do squats, dead lifts, cable rows, and dips, to really get your core working, once a fortnight, do a hour session on the kettle bells. Don't over do the cardio with running, as this is ineffective, and don't bother with sit up crunches, these are also in effective.

[Asker]

Oh so should I do cardio every other day and weights every other day?

[stubbsy]

cardio twice a week max. You will be doing cardio during a weights session, so you don't need to do to much cardio, and train weights 3 times a week for an hour at a time, x

[Theguyoverthere]

You can add weights in I would just not do them on the days you do your cardio. Look at yourself in the mirror and pick what parts you'd like to tone and do exercises to hit those areas.

If you're really looking to lose weight keep your diet in mind. I hear a lot of people who do cardio sometimes eat themselves back to square one by suffering an increased appetite. I've seen in firsthand with one overweight guy. He would do 30mins on a treadmill then say he was "treating himself" or something similar and go eat junk food.

[Asker]

Yeah that's what I do. Life is unfair that way