I am in need of some advice. I have been working out pretty regularly for the past several weeks. Mostly I have been doing a lot of walking, 3 miles everyday followed by a lower body toning video. Last week I switched things up a little due to time constraints and I did the 30 day shred. So my question is this, do you think that the hard work out for a shorter time is more or less beneficial than the longer workout at a more moderate pace? I want to do what ever will be better in the long run. I really enjoy the long walk with the legs, but I don't always have an hour to dedicate to working out in a day. The 30 day shred kicks my butt, but then I feel like I wimped out because it only takes 20 minutes. Is one better than the other? Should I continue to do a combination of the 2?
I have been working really hard on eating less and making better food choices. This is not an easy task considering I am feeding my entire family which is made up of two very picky eaters, so having better meals is not always welcome. Not that I allow my family to eat total crap, but there are days when nothing but comfort food will make them happy. I try to make things with more veggies and less red meat, but like I said, some days they aren't happy until they get meat and potatoes. I don't have the time or the money to cook two separate meals, one for me and one for them. So the workouts are super important to burn off some of the excess calories. So far what I have been doing seems to be working, I have lost 10 pounds in around a month, but I don't want to switch to a shorter workout and not get the same results, and at the same time who wants to spend a ton of time working out when you can do 20 minutes?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. What do you do to burn off the meatloaf and baked potatoes?
Hi!! So, here's my .02 and i've spent a lot of time thinking about and working on this, LOL. It's tough, right??
ReplyDeleteI believe that cardio and strength training are both essential to weight loss (for me.) I can't do one without the other. having said that, something (in a time crunch) is definitely better than nothing at all, and I think jillian's workout is really good at combining strength and cardio. in the long run, a schedule that has 3-5 (closer to 5) 30 minute cardio sessions and 2 at least 20 minute strength days (on alternate days or doubled up, either way) is what works for me to lose weight. fewer cardio days to maintain. if you have less time to play with one day, do the jillian and move a longer cardio session in on another day. that should work! but calories in is really important too and plays a role in whether or not you're burning it all off. id consider calorie counting, sometimes i have to make a meal for myself that's different than the kids (if they're on chicken burnout or something). i do myfitnesspal.com. if you don't calorie count, then a food diary is good too because if the calories are high, you will need to know that in order to know what workouts to do to burn the most. it sounds more complicated i think. but usually (at least for me) i have to be doing all three of these things in order to see any loss. hope it helps!!! xo
What ChristieO said :) LOL. I was going to say a mix of the 2 is best. Also, mixing up your workouts helps prevent burnout and injury (but don't listen to the girl who is pretty much just running these days because she doesn't have the time/desire to cross train).
ReplyDeleteThanks you guys, that totally helps! And I have used myfitnesspal.com, I think it is time to log on again!
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