How often to exercise in the beginning of diet?

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1/19/13 5:33 P

along with diet mods, I started with p90 (noX)... which had cardio 3x a week and was quite mild but helped get you into the rythm of working out. Strength (the other 3days) builds muscle, which in turn eats fat.
Doing cardio in the morning will help increase your metabolism for the rest of the day, but as the others have said, diet is more important.
Also, if you do too much, you'll just end up hurting your muscles or joints, which will force you to stop doing anything for a significant time, so be sure to find a good level for you. You want to be a bit sore (especially when you just start from no exercise), but not in any real pain, and the soreness should leave in a few days to a week as your muscles adjust to their new activity level.

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1/19/13 5:22 P

Why do you have action changes in your plan based on weight lost? What do you imagine the effect would be if you took diet supplements during the first 10lbs loss, or did Insanity from day 1?

As Heather said, every person should just do as much exercise as is safe and comfortable for them, whatever that level is personally. Then, considering how much exercise you're capable of doing, you plan your dietary arrangements to bring about the desired loss.

I would also skip the supplements. If you feel a multivitamin would help on a reduced dietary intake, then start now. Why wait? Same with strength training - there is no reason at all not to do that from day 1. It helps at all stages of weight loss.

I think you need to do a bit of research on how much effect exercise has on weight loss, and how much effect diet does. You seem to have a very detailed idea of what you'll do for exercise, which is only going to give you a small result. Your main weight loss success is going to come from what you put into your mouth, not what work you make your body do.

(BTW, 45-60 minutes is enough cardio. If you want to do more, then go harder instead of doing 90 minutes. Make those 60 minutes COUNT. You'll get far better results from 60 quality minutes than 90 drudgery ones.)

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1/19/13 3:03 P

You exercise as much as you want and can do safely. 3 days a week of intense exercise is fine; it's how many people start! It's important to listen to your body, though, and look for signs of overtraining. You have to eat to support your activity level, though; whether or not what you're doing is too much is not about doing 3 workouts, but eating enough to support the activity you're doing.

Healthy eating is imperative for *all* stages of weight loss. This is because weight loss happens in the kitchen... you can't out-exercise a bad diet. Exercise is important for healthy living, but it's the diet that will cause weight loss, and it's also important to fuel yourself properly for intense exercise. Undereating while overexercising is dangerous, and can sabotage your efforts.

Strength training is important throughout your journey as well. There's no reason to wait until you lose weight, and the benefits start immediately. When you only do cardio, you burn muscle as well as fat. Strength training is important to preserve this lean muscle, boost your metabolism, and overall help you look and feel better. Don't wait!

Skip the vitamins and diet supplements. If you'd like a multivitamin, get a recommendation from your doc, but they will not help you lose weight. That's a myth, and they are good for ensuring you get the nutrition you need... not losing weight. Diet supplements are a waste of money, and the only thing they make lighter is your wallet.

Rather than focusing on specific weight loss goals for your milestones, why not go with small, sustainable changes in your overall health, and establish a program you can stick with for life?

Edited by: DRAGONCHILDE at: 1/19/2013 (15:04)

current weight: 187.4

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155

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1/19/13 2:50 P

Two weeks ago, I began my diet. In years past I would start increasing exercise, and incorporate healthy eating at different stages of weight loss. I found this helped my body from a severe plateau. (When I first had a big weight loss, I kept the weight off for 6 years). My question is whether 3 days of high intensity workout a week in the beginning of a diet is enough or too much? My exercise includes mainly cardio (mostly step aerobics, aerobics, kick boxing. ect) for an hour to hour and 30 min. My plan is to lose 10 pounds from this, and start again at gym. There I would incorporate running, biking. So far I have lost 4 pounds. Should I continue with this plan? Sorry for the long question, I'm finding it a little difficult to get back in shape.

First 10 pounds: high intensity cardio
Second 10: gym, incorporate healthy eating, begin adding strength training
Third 10: increase days of exercise, add vitamin/diet supplements
Fourth 10: begin Insanity workout